Amsterdam Day 123: Black Friday

We also participated in the Black Friday festivities. As is expected, Black Friday is not really a thing in the Netherlands. The German Amazon.de does participate in the celebration, but I didn't bother looking for all that junk that we did not need. We found another fix to get all the junk we didn't need. 

It turns out that there was a local store that was going out of business on Friday. They were opening at 9, a very reasonable time for a Black Friday special. The deal was that they would give you a bag and everything you could fit into was €5 for the bag. By the time we arrived, most of the real useful stuff was gone, but that didn't stop us. Jaimee and I both filled out bags to the brim. 

We did get some important stuff, like cups for our Thanksgiving celebration the next day. But we also got all our celebration gear to celebrate the Dutch National Soccer Team, which failed to qualify for the World Cup (a travesty). We got shirts with capes, orange leggings, funny hats, mugs, side mirror covers for your car, boot covers, salad making lots,a giant clothes clip, phone tassels, a pair of boxer shorts (which Jannica picked up because she has heard they are so comfortable), balloons, picture frames, fake arm tattooes, and all manner of nonsense. We rung up all the junk which totaled €210. The cashier pushed a button and it switched to €10. Oh the joy and satisfaction in getting so much junk for so little. 

There was a purpose though. Jaimee's family has always done bingo games for thanksgiving. They always give out prizes for the winners, and eventually everyone. And these prizes are going to be amazing. 

Amsterdam Day 122: Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving day. I don't have work today since I still get American holidays. But the kids all still have school, since the Dutch don't celebrate Thanksgiving. So a big meal is not going to happen. No turkey. No mashed potatoes. No stuffing. No pilgrim plays. And no family. But no fear, we are having our expat "family" over on Saturday and we will enjoy all of the above. 

So what do you do on Thanksgiving day without most of the kids. We take Charlie to a fancy smancy Dutch art museum. We walked into the Mauritshuis Museum with Charlie and I immediately felt everyone's eyes on us and how dare we bring a three year old to this museum. After going through with him, I think they were right though. As we walked up the stairs to the first room, Charlie began to say, "Let's go find a tree frog."  Sure, why not. Let's go find a tree frog in a fancy smancy museum. 

The most famous piece in this museum is Vermeer's "Girl With a Pearl Earring."  I'm not much for art, but I do like this piece. There is something about the lighting and the her look that I just found amazing. 

Charlie was pretty impressed also. It might have been a different painting that he was impressed with though. He was laughing in the picture because of the picture below. 

This Rembrandt has people tickling a girls feet. That is pretty funny to a three year old, who then also had his feet tickled. 

And low and behold, what did we finally find in the art? The tree frog. Ok, maybe it wasn't in a tree, but it was a frog and we found it. Not pictured here is the amazing detail in the cow pie next to the cow. 

The Mauritshus museum is located in downtown Den Haag (The Hague). The view of the city looks pretty cool across from the canal. 

And as we were leaving the city back to our car, I couldn't get Charlie to follow. He saw the lights on the OPEN sign and went directly to it. I had to go over and pick him up to get him away, but not before I took a picture. Because I am that good of a parent. 

Amsterdam Day 120: Cameron Learned How to Say Hedgehog in Dutch

Jaimee went to pick up Cameron from school the other day.  He came outside with his stuffed animal hedgehog and he was describing the things that his hedgehog could do, but he was using the name of hedgehog in Dutch.

It turns out that the word for hedgehog is egel but sounds a lit different in Dutch (eh-hohl).  Jaimee had to go back inside the school to ask the teacher if she was understanding correctly.  We then went on a car ride where Cameron then proceeded to tell us all the things that his egel could do.  We could not stop laughing for about 15 minutes.  He asked us why we were laughing to which we just responded that I had said something funny.  And then he proceeded to tell us that his egel could do flips and that his egel could be hit.  Oh, the joys of learning a new language.

Amsterdam Day 119: Paris Day 4: Security

This is a picture of three military personnel with big guns paroling the grounds of the Eiffel Tower. This may be a common sight in third world countries, but it kind of sticks out in a civilized city like Paris. I so wanted to ask them to pose for a pic with the tower behind them, but I didn't think that was a great idea. I was even a bit scared to take this from behind. 

We saw patrols like this walking around all the major sights. This one happened to be three police officers walking around the Chrisfmas market. There were four military personnel at each of the entrances to the Christmas market. Additionally, there were so many patrol cars going throughout the city with their lights blazing. It made you feel like nothing bad could happen. 

Warning: Soap Box Moment

Several people have questioned our sanity for taking our children to Paris during these times. They ask why we aren't worried about what could happen. My first thought is that I have five of them, so I have some to spare. That is a joke and not a very funny one at that. But I think it helps to think rationally and to do some basic risk management. Is Paris really less safe than it was two weeks ago? Of course not. It may just not have been as safe as many believed. In fact, with all the security in place, Paris may be one of the safest big cities in the world right now. And it's probably safer now than going anywhere around my home town of Amsterdam. 

Again, thinking rationally about going to Paris, what is the real likelihood of being hit by a terrorist attack. I can say that it is infinitesimally smaller than my risk of dying in a car accident driving to Paris. But there are very few people that would question my sanity over risking my children's life's by taking them on a five hour car ride. 

Soap box over. 

Our friends had an experience in Paris while they were there which I thought was very appropriate to share. Stolen from Amber without her permission. 

"I wanted to share an interesting experience I had tonight. After we left the Eiffel Tower and were on the search for dinner, we climbed onto the metro and began talking about where to go next. A nice French business man was sitting next to Anika, and was listening to her talk. He said to her "Do you speak English?" She replied yes. He said "Are you American? Did you come here from America?" And she said yes again. He then put down his newspaper and said (looking at all of us) "Thank you for coming to Paris. Despite what happened. Thank you for coming to visit our city. We are a strong city. I hope you have a wonderful stay." 

Thank you random nice French guy! Your welcome! We are so glad to be here. We have noticed your strength, and we love your beautiful city. 🇷🇺"

Amsterdam Day 118: Paris Day 3

Last night, we took a stroll over to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night. It is absolutely beautiful. I think there were more security personnel around it than tourists though, at least at this time of night. 

Today we started off on a journey with the kids to see the Eiffel Tower, but made a few stops on the way. But some accidental miracle, I was able to catch Cameron without him knowing I was taking a picture in front of Notre Dame. I had a perfect picture with the 4 kids before a pigeon tempted Charlie and he bolted to chase it. 

On the way back from the tower, Bev, Charlie and I took the long way back. Actually, a normal person would have done the walk from the subway in 12 minutes, but we took about 55. I'm sure that it was me though that slowed us down. It's not likely that it was the kid that was touching every brick on the walls and laying down on the ground for minutes at a time. At one point, I thought that people were going to start giving us money as we sat as beggars in the side of the sidewalk. 

Then I took Ryan, Anika, and Chloe out on the town. I took them to the Opera house and the mall with the great Chriatmas lights. We then went to the Place Vendome, which is a big square that was completely surrounded by lit up Christmas trees. The highlight of the night was taking a trip around the Ferris wheel, all lit up in the colors of the France flag. Anika admitted that she was scared. I asked her if I had ever led her wrong on something that turned out to be scary. It turns out I have. Apparently, I have a history with this girl. I made her go on a roller coaster once at Six Flags, and I scared her so bad that she still hates roller coasters. I also batted a ball into her face once when we were playing baseball. It was a softer type of fluffy ball though so it wasn't that bad. Thinking about it, I'm not sure why she would do anything with me let alone trust me that she will be fine on the Ferris Wheel. 

We finished the night by walking through the Christmas Village along the Champs-Elysees. The girls wanted to buy everything and I said no. Ryan really wanted a 40 Euro pair of earmuffs. No was all I said and I walked away. We did end up with another Nutella Crepe because those things are amazing. 

Amsterdam Day 117: My trip to Paris by Ryan

I went to Paris. I got to sleep over at Anika's hotel room we stayed up late the next day we went to h&m and herd a grenade go off near h&m. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower and got hot chocolate 

This is back to Kelly now. I have checked on the story about the grenade. Apparently, there was a suspicious package that the police exploded. So it was a controlled explosion by the police. 

At the Arc De Triumphe though, Cam and Bev had a ballon in the shape of a sword and a hat. At two different times, they popped. A lady told Jaimee that she needed to be careful with the balloons because everyone is jumpy right now. 

Amsterdam Day 116: Paris Day 1: Arc De Triumph

So you have a couple extra days off of work and our of school. What do you do?  Why not go to Paris. So we did. We started off on our 5 hour 30 minute drive tots the city of lights. 7 hours later, with one hour of the most horrendous Paris traffic that I have ever been in, we arrived at our flat for the long weekend. Of course, the very first thing we did was get some crepes at the creperie on the corner. Then dinner with our friends Amber and Lee who are also visiting Paris for the week. 

Our first day of sightseeing included a trip to the Arc de Triumphe including the hike to the top of its 271 steps. Jannica counted, but I think she missed some. 

Cameron was very excited to see the Eiffel Tower for the first time. I'm not really sure what he was expecting, but he was pretty impressed. He was so impressed that he let me take his picture. He has gotten to the point where he does not like his picture taken and it can only be done a special occasions. I believe that he thinks the camera takes away his soul. 

The spiral staircase up and down the tower are pretty cool. Jannica and Bev looked up at me. I was a little afraid that I would drop my phone. And Cameron was hiding on the side so his picture would not accidentally be taken. 

Cameron is again hiding from the camera. That's alright though. I like these kids too. Ryan was off with Amber, Lee, Anika, and Chloe exploring some other part of the city. 

We also saw a cool park to the north of the main city called Parc Buttes Chaumont. It is a pretty cool looking setting. 

We also spent some time in Galleries Lafayette, a huge department store, that looks the opera house. The Christmas decorations are all over and it looks amazing. 

Amsterdam Day 112: Adventures in Learning New Languages

I am slowly trying to learn new vocabulary to add to my very limited Dutch. Up to this point I have had a hard time distinguishing between the H wound and the G sound. But I had an experience that forever helped me learn. The H makes a sound like the H in hi. The G to my American brain sounds like a very guttural H where you try to get flem out of your throat. I don't think that I am really exaggerating there much. To a Dutch person, those sounds are very different. 

So here I was practicing a scripture in Dutch to help get my pronunciation right. The scripture is about the Holy Ghost. In Dutch, holy is heilige. Well apparently my H was a lot more guttural like a G than it was supposed to be. On olde gentlemen was helping with my pronunciation and smilingly said that I need to make sure to use the H sound instead of the G sound. He wouldn't tell me why, but I was very happy for the help. And that is how I will remember the H sound verses G guttural sound. 

Oh yea, in case you were wondering, I was talking about a horny ghost instead of the Holy Ghost. That is embarrassing in church. 

Amsterdam Day 110: Sinterklaas' First Visit

There is about a 3 week period where Sinterklaas sometimes visits people houses at night and sometime doesn't. The tradition is that you put your shoes out with hay or carrots and Sinterklaas may or may not drop of a present. I don't think there is a very clear knowledge of how often he comes during this period. For some families it seems very random. For some it seems like every week. And for a few select families, he comes every night. We shall see how often he comes to our house. 

Cameron is at the age where he is very excited about this tradition. Very early we set out out shoes. Apparently we are supposed to sing songs by the fireplace because Sinterklaas hangs out up there to hear children singing. Since we do not know any Sinterklaas sings yet, we sang the song for Sint Maartin and we sang Jungle Bells. After all, we keep saying that Sinterklaas and Santa Claus are cousins. So maybe Christmas songs work too. 

Very early in the morning, Cameron ran downstairs and discovered that Sinterklaas had in fact come to our house last night. 

The shoes are up on the mantle because we are watching a neighbors dogs and we didn't want the dogs to steal any of the snacks. Later, I'm sure the shoes will be by the fireplace. Sure enough, each of the kids had a kazoo, a little finger flashlight, and a large chocolate letter, matching the first letter of their name. Seems like a very successful first night. Who knows how often he will come in the next weeks. We shall see. 

Amsterdam Day 109: Sinterklaas Came to Town

The official start of the Sinterklaas season was today. Sinterklaas joined us from Spain with his Zwarte Piets. Sinterklaas enters the Netherlands by boat and then goes to all the cities by horse. He went on a long parade through the city. We live near the end of the route so we had some time to explore before he arrived. As we entered the town hall, this was our first experience with the Zwarte Piets. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b8Y3GKbXf7U

Here is the description from Wikipedia about the Zwarte Piets. 

Zwarte Piet (pronounced [ˈzʋɑrtə ˈpit]; English: Black Peter or Black Pete, Is the companion of Sinterklaas, in the folklore of the Low Countries. The character first appeared in his current form in an 1850 book by Jan Schenkman and is commonly depicted as a blackamoor. Traditionally Zwarte Piet is said to be black because he is a Moor from Spain. Those portraying Zwarte Piet typically put on blackface make-up and colourful Renaissance attire, in addition to curly wigs, red lipstick and earrings. In recent years, the character has become the subject of controversy, especially in the Netherlands.

The parade did arrive around 1pm. It was a longer parade than I expected and a lot more Zwarte Piets than I had expected. Most kids were wearing their Zwarte Piet hats and their Zwarte Piet clothes. 

Here is Sinterklaas riding his horse Amerigo surrounded by a lot more Zwarte Piets. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VXvvCuLd_-0

Apparently, these guys and girls will be all over the city for the next 3 weeks. They were handing out candies and small gingerbread cookies to everyone as they went by. They also placed the treats in people's hats and pockets. They candy is not individually wrapped which I thought was interesting. 

In case you are wondering, there is a makeup kit for this. And here is a pic. 

Amsterdam Day 106: Sint-Maarten's Day

Sint-Maarten (St. Martin's Day) is a popular children's feast day in many parts of the Netherlands. Typically, in the early winter evening of November 11, small groups of children can be heard going up and down the street singing songs and reciting poems, armed with lit lanterns. As a reward they are given sweet treats, in a custom similar to American Halloween, but not quite as commercial.

Traditionally, the children's lanterns were made of hollowed out turnips or sugar beets dangling on a string tied to a stick, but these days Dutch children often make their own brightly decorated paper versions at school.

What probably started as a custom that allowed impoverished children to beg for alms during the harsh winter months has since become a fun holiday. There are no strict rules about what children may recite or sing, and many kids make up their own nonsensical rhyming songs, or songs that contain humorous or satirical elements.

Here is a group of children that came to my door singing songs about Sint Maarten. 

http://youtu.be/uv4KIT5bWlc

Jannica shared this about the holiday. 

For Sint Maarten a holiday that people in The Netherlands celebrate we give out candy to children who sing a song about Sint Maarten. Just a few minutes ago I was giving candy to a little girl and she said  (in Dutch) " ummm... Ik heb twee? " ( in English)          " ummm... I have two " it was really adorable. Love this holiday!

Amsterdam Day 104: Jannica's First Bike Accident

First before I say anything I am alright. Today when I was on my way home it was dark and rainy. I was riding my bike home without my light because it doesn't work now and we haven't had the time to get a new one. Not two minutes away from my school I was hit by the front of a car. He couldn't see me because I was really close to the side and he was also turing onto the road that I was on. He didn't see me and he ran into the front of my bike. He stopped and asked if I was okay and if everything was good. I told him yes and thank you for stopping. After he left I took a few steps and knew I couldn't continue to ride. I just put my bike on the ground and sat on my bike ( remember it is raining ) I call my stepmom to tell her that I got hit. This lady came up to me asking if I was alright and telling me that I needed to get out of the rain. She helped me get me and my bike to the apartments across the street where she lived. I waited there for my stepmom. This lady was very helpful to me. My stepmom picked me up and I got in the car and told her that my ankle was hurting on my left leg and that I scraped my right leg. I am at home being so grateful that I didn't get seriously injured.

Amsterdam Day 105: More Random Statues

I thought I'd start with this odd and disturbing statue that we spotted while leaving Bruge. I thought it was so odd that I flipped a u-turn in the car to come back around and get a picture. I can't quite tell if that is a very see-through and deep cleavage ballerina outfit, a slip, or some kind of lingerie. 

This beauty is also in Bruge, Belgium. This one was seen from across the canal so I couldn't get any closer. I have no idea what the statue is doing, but it appears to be looking at something, I think. 

This statue is in Antwerpen near the castle on the river. The little guys appear to be looking at the big guy's crotch. They seemed amazed and the tall guy seems proud. Not really sure about this one. 

I liked this one because it was made of a different material. That appears to be a woman laying down and a couple of horned deer next to her. I found this one in a small park in Zoetermeer. 

And this one from Rembrandt Square in Amsterdam is just cool. It reminds me of the giant chess pieces in Harry Potter. Apparently they remove them in the Winter for the Christmas market. 

Amsterdam Day 99: Fall Bike Ride into Amsterdam

Today we decided that we would adventure into the big scary city of Amsterdam in our bike and with kids. We have gone into the city before by bike. And we have gone into the city before with kids. But we have never riden into the city with kids on their bikes. That place is crazy. 

We started if in the Bos, the huge park right by our house. They have a fun rope park that the kids can play on and a cool fort building place. Plus it was a good break point for the kids.

We continued out adventure into the city. Bev did a really good job, although she kept swerving to the left. But it kept the bikers that were passing on their toes. 

We ended up spending a very large part of our day exploring the many children's play areas in Vondelpark. Vondelpark is so much fun and so huge. There was also a moment where we laid down on the grass and enjoyed the sun on our faces (because it was too cold to have anything else exposed to the sun). 

Bev did a great job biking all the way there and back. Cameron had a great time. And Charlie was able to ride on our bikes most of the time. Although at one point he was very mad that I made him get off his bike. It is just too dangerous for a 3 year old to bike himself on those paths. And sure he understands my concerns now. 

Amsterdam Day 98: Halloween

Halloween had always been one of Jaimee's favorite holidays. So it was a big bummer that we were going to be in Amsterdam for Halloween. Fortunately we have a couple of solutions for this travesty. 

1) Jaimee took Ryan and Cameron back to Georgia for the big ward Trunk-or-Treat. It wasn't only for that, but that was a big driver. 

2) We decorated up our house just like we were still in the states (maybe more). The front of our house is right on the road and there is not a large front yard. So it is very easy to see all our outside decorations. What the neighbors must have thought about these crazy Americans that just moved in. We did see a few other houses, but with a lot fewer decorations. I also saw some people with kids stop in front of the house to "admire" what we had done. I'm going to assume admire is the right word since the kids had smiles on their faces. 

3) The Americans club at the International  school organizes a trick-or-treat route. You have to donate candy ahead of time to participate and there are only select houses that participate. They give you a map and you go around begging for treats. 

There were a few roads that were completely blocked of because of the amount of trick-or-treaters. It was pretty incredible to see this many people packed into these small sheets. There were several people, not associated with this group, that were trying to go about there normal life's. There were cars trying to go down these roads. I kind of felt sorry for them. 

Amsterdam Day 97: Flat Stanley

The Today we had a visit from Flat Stanley. Flat Stanley is a dude that came to visit us by first class mail and is exploring the world. This stop is Amsterdam, The Netherlands, sometimes referred to as Holland. Our Flat Stanley was sent to us by Celeste. Here are the things that Flat Stanley learned while he visited us that Celeste should know. 

Everyone bikes everywhere in the Netherlands. Flat Stanley saw a really old couple on a tandom bike while he was visiting. 

It is not uncommon for grandmas and grandpas to still ride their bikes often. It also seems like children learn to ride a bike when they are born. Not really, but they do start learning very young. There are paths everywhere and cars always have to look out for bikers. The kids that Flat Stanley visited ride their bikes to school everyday. 

Flat Stanley went to an outdoor market when he visited Amsterdam. It is very common for many families to buy lots of things at outdoor markets. You can buy bread, cheese, pizzas, crafts, soup, bike locks, and even underwear at these outdoor markets. We have not personally bought underwear at the market but we could if we wanted to. 

One really cool thing about living in the Netherlands is that they have playground toys that seem a lot more dangerous than what they have in the United States. Just look at how high Flat Stanley is. And there are kids even higher. Do we trust that the kids won't fall or are we not scared of lawsuits?  I'm not sure. 

The Netherlands has a lot of great food. This is a mobile poffertjes truck. Poffertjes are like small fluffy pancakes smothered with butter and powdered sugar. They are amazing. Herring is also a traditional Dutch food, but we have not tried it yet. Herring is a small fish that is often eaten whole and often uncooked. Sounds pretty good, right?

Holland is famous for its flowers especially the tulips. Holland exports tulips all over the world for everyone to have beautiful flowers. There are a lot of flower shops all over Holland selling the beautiful tulips. 

It is October and many of the Christmas lights are up already. That is because in the Netherlands, the primary occasion for gift-giving is not Christmas. It is Sinterklaas and it is celebrated on December 5. Children put their shoes in front of the chimneys and sing Sinterklaas songs. Often they put a carrot or some hay in the shoes, as a gift to St. Nicholas' horse, Amerigo. The next morning they will find a small present in their shoes. On the evening of 5 December, Sinterklaas brings presents to every child who has behaved well in the past year. Tradition says that if a child has been naughty, Sinterklaas' helpers, the Zwarte Pieten, put all the naughty children in sacks, and Sinterklaas takes them to Spain. But I've never seen a child missing so I'm not sure if I believe this tradition. 

Flat Stanley has been having so much fun, I'm not sure that he is going to make it back in time. With all the traveling, he still hasn't figured out where the post office is. In the Netherlands, they deliver letters to your house, but they do not pick up letters at your house. You have to drop off letters at the post office. 

We really enjoyed out visit with Flat Stanley.