Happy Halloween!

By the way, I really want some candy corn right now!!!!!

Eindhoven

After getting back from Maastricht, Charla and I were ready for some dinner, so we headed out to the busy streets of Eindhoven and found a bar/restaurant that had an outdoor sitting area (complete with heat lamps b/c it was getting a little chilly). It was called the Wildeman, I believe. I was craving some cheese and bread (good thing I was in Holland!), so we ordered an appetizer platter complete with cheese, olives, sausage, and bread. It was delicious!!!! (Actually, I'm thinking that it sounds good right now, too!) We walked around for awhile after that and noticed that the famous street with 30 bars packed on it was quite empty. This was quite strange to me because it was a Saturday night and about 9:30pm or so....we soon found out that it doesn't get busy until about 11pm. By then, I was absolutely exhausted.

For some reason, I couldn't keep my eyes open and it wasn't getting any better. I'm sure that Charla wanted to stay out longer (sorry girl!) but I was ready for bed. We got in about midnight and I went right to sleep. Sunday, I left Charla's about 1pm and on the way to the train station, we ran into this:

How fun is this art?!?!?!

This is me laying on one of the pins. It was a gorgeous day (at least in Eindhoven--I soon found out how cold it was up in Den Haag).

All in all, it was a great weekend and I think I finally caught up on some much needed sleep (Sunday).

I've been informed that this blog frequents the BUMC. Hello church family!

Hi MacKenzie! It's nice to see you (on webcam)......

More pics of the apartment

This is the entrance to my apartment...see that little white door in the middle of the stairs and the bushes?.....yes, I know it looks like the door to a shed.

Inside that tiny white door is my laundry room (with no dryer). There's also a desk here, but I'm not planning on putting my computer there--right now it's setup on my table in the living room area...

This is one side of the kitchen...my refrigerator is the tiny thing to the bottom left of the picture....hmmm....I've never had such little space in the fridge before...

This is the other side of my small kitchen--you see that I have a microwave and a toaster oven...no real oven for Courtney...

This is my bedroom. The sheets and comforter are a little crazy, but I'm dealing. That orange thing on the wall is a light. (very ugly if you ask me...but oh well...) That door that is open next to the bed is where my shower is. The toilet is in a separate room off to the side of my bed, also. I don't think you can really see it in this picture...

Here is the potty room. Something interesting about the toilet is that the seat is a little smaller than ours at home and also, the flushing is different. There's a panel on the wall above the toilet about the size of a legal size piece of paper...and you push it to flush. Very different! I'll have to get a pic of it sometime...I know you're all thrilled.

This is the picture I was talking about earlier in a blog about the laundry overflowing....Tonight, I FINALLY did a few loads and its back down to normal.

This is my closet. It's double what you see here because the other door is not open--it's really not big enough for all my clothing.

Maastricht

Charla and I took a day trip to Maastricht, a town in the southern part of Holland. This is a picture of outside the train station when we arrived. Maastricht is the oldest city in The Netherlands and sits right next to Belgium and Germany. The next picture is of me in front of the Maas River that separates the city. We wandered around for awhile and had lunch at a small cafe on one of the small cobblestone streets. The day was quite dreary and rained for a bit, but that didn't stop us from capturing the beauty of the old streets, churches, and buildings. There was a huge red church (St. Janskerk) located next to a busy square that we noticed had people walking around on the very top. (You can see the red church in the background standing taller than everything else of the picture.) We paid a small amount of money and got to climb up a very narrow spiral stone staircase (I was pretty exhausted by the time I got to the top) that led to the outlook that we saw people walking on earlier. Oh my gosh, it was gorgeous up there! We could see over the whole city of Maastricht. I read later that the chance to go to the top ends at the end of October, so we made it just in time.)

We then went to a neat little bar after walking around the many shopping streets Maastricht has. The bartender introduced us to a couple of new and different beers they had on tap...the first was a "beer for the ladies" he explained, called Rose...imagine that. : ) After drinking what I thought tasted like fruit punch, we moved on to a Belguim beer called La Chouffe (sp?). It was more our style...

There are more pictures on another blog because this one doesn't seem to want to let me add more pictures to it.

...to KB.

Happy Birthday Kyle!

Dirty Clothes & Cards....

My fear of the washing machine at my apartment is really starting to be a problem! As you can see in the picture on the next blog, it's starting to pile up and the tons of clean underwear I shoved into crevices in my luggage is dwindling away. Most of you know that I'm not keen on doing my own laundry...and after my mother so graciously quit doing my mine, I reluctantly learned how to work the machines at my house in Buckner (it's easy, I know...but the point was that I was getting by without having to learn for so long that the thought of having to do it myself was perplexing...haha). So, this machine at my apartment is different than any I've seen and it's all in Dutch. If I had instructions, that would be great...but only if the instructions had pictures b/c it would also be in Dutch (are we catching on to a common theme here?). Tonight, I'm going to go home and try a load of towels (meaning that I can probably put 3 towels in this itty bitty washing machine) and see how it goes. I can't imagine there would be any problems....but who knows. : )

Well, I have been following the Cardinals through the headlines--and I see they are one game away from winning the World Series. Go St. Louis! Most people here keep up with the MLB and know that the Cards are in the World Series, but most don't know where St. Louis is....so that's a good way for me to explain where/what Missouri is.

Speaking of Missouri, I just requested an absentee ballot so that I can vote in the upcoming crucial elections. Make sure that you do the same!!! (Especially if you are voting the way I am...hehe...if you're not, then go ahead and be a typical lazy American and stay home or drive right on past the voting booth on your way to work--which I do sometimes...I don't remember voting in the election that put the notorious Buckner Mayor into power.)

Last night was the late-night shopping that seems so crucial to my survival here. As I've mentioned before, most or all of the shops close by 5pm and all are closed by 5:30pm....so there's really no way that I can do that when I work till 5pm and get on the bus shortly thereafter. Anyway, I made it to the Centrum (center of Den Haag where there are tons of stores and shops and restaurants) and returned the clothes I had purchased before getting my luggage--I didn't wear them and they were way too expensive for me to keep. I walked around awhile and believe me when I say that it was insane....it was packed with people. It must also be the cool place to go for kids in junior high and high school because they were out in full force and in their best gear. I came away with stuff for the apartment--like more plug-in adapters, hangers, etc. I'm avoiding getting clothes and shoes because I have a ton here and I'm sure I'll get some for Christmas. (That's what I'm trying to tell myself anyway.)

Tonight I am sticking around the house and doing some laundry. Yes, I'm tackling the foreign machine. Right now, there is a bunch of towels in there. I'll let you know how it goes.

Strike and Stripenkaarts

Hello all. Today started out with a strike. Yes, a strike. The bus and tram drivers in The Hague decided to shut down and stop driving. But, unlike the strikes that last days or weeks, this strike lasted 3 hours. Hmmmm..... The sign in the picture was put on each bus and tram stop and apparently it states that the strike will start at 9am today (Oct 25) and end at 12pm. Fortunately I get on the bus and to work before then, but I guess if I didn't, I would just stay home. (Just kidding....but since I'm officially not getting a car, it makes sense....to me.)

Anyway, I made it to work on time (no specific mandatory time that I know of) and the day was normal.

After work, I went to the central station and bought myself a month pass on the public transport. I had to get a picture taken and now I can just show the driver instead of having to have him stamp my cards (stripenkaarts). It was getting very expensive just paying each time I got on. Just going to work it cost me: 2.40euros per bus x 2 buses per trip x 2 trips per day x 5 days per week = way too much money considering it's almost the same amount as buying the monthly pass. Wheww...

This is a pic of the many stripenkaarts I bought and my month pass I got today. They stamp the stripenkaarts with a bunch of numbers that correspond to something--like where I started and how far I paid for...etc--and very often there are people at the bus stops or on the trams that check to make sure you've paid and you're okay to be on there. I haven't been asked for mine yet, but I'm sure I'll get my fair share. Its a huge fine when you are caught.

I finally got a decent amount of groceries tonight, so no more bread with peanut butter for dinner. : ) haha...

My first official weekend in Holland.

Friday night (10-20), I met with my broker to sign the contract for my apartment and got my keys. We went to the apartment and she made sure that I knew how to work all the appliances and did a quick check around the place to see that things were in order. What was missing to make the apartment 'fullly furnished', I was told I could call the landlord and request. So, how am I supposed to know what is missing if I don't know what is supposed to be there in the first place. I guess she just meant, for example, if I needed a couple more pots and pans...or more plates, then I could request that I get them. She said the landlord was very helpful. She took me back to my hotel and I waited for Kevin (colleague from Des Moines) to pick me up to go to IKEA. Whoohoo! I thought that I needed some rugs and various other things to make my apartment a little more home-like and comfortable...so he mentioned that IKEA would be great and that he needed to go, also.

Kevin had warned me that it might possibly be a mad-house (as it was every other time he had visited) so I sortof prepared myself. Luckily, it wasn't as packed as it usually was--maybe people actually have better things to do on a Friday night. haha--like go-karting. Yes, Jonny had called earlier that day and said that he and some friends were going to a go-kart place closeby that was a lot of fun. I'm thinking...okay....go-karting...I can do this....my family went several times on vacations. No big deal. Well,....on the way to IKEA, Kevin and I saw the go-kart place he was talking about and it's a HUGE building with an intense track. So, maybe I wouldn't have been ready for REAL go-karting as I had thought. (I did talk a little trash to Jonny--right Jonny?--but now maybe I'll keep my mouth shut)

After paying for my stuff at IKEA (by the way, I spent a pretty penny there--on rugs, sheets, storage boxes, pans, cups, and a plant) I was told to get one of the small ice-cream cones they sell...WOW....I love ice cream, but this was amazing! It really was a different taste....more creamier than any I've had before. We stuffed all the items we bought in the back of Kevin's little car (along with my two huge suitcases that were already there) and headed home. By then, it was already 10:30pm. We unloaded everything into my apartment and I went back to the hotel. After I got home, Jonny came and got me and gave me a tour of the 'unrestricted areas' of the Marine house--it was pretty neat--with a pool table, bar, big screen tv, etc.

We decided to still go out even though it was pretty late--like 2300 (everything here is in this form--its kinda hard to get used to, but it's getting better) or 11pm. We went to a place in Scheveningen called "Crazy Pianos" that is behind the Kurhaus (the huge hotel by the beach that is down the street from my apt). Obviously, this is a piano bar...and a great thing is that all the songs are usually American, or English, and I recognized most of them. The boys I went with knew the bartender, so went around to his side and enjoyed the evening so well that we left there and went to another bar (right jonny? I can't remember the name of it.) and finally left to go home about 5am. It was probably the latest I've stayed out for a really long time. I usually never last that long! I received 'trooper status' that night.

My wake-up call from the hotel came at 9:15 the next morning (yes, only 4 hours of sleep) and the resulting feeling wasn't to pleasant if you know what I mean. Not only was I tired and hungover...but I needed to pack everything up and be out of the hotel by noon. Also, Charla had informed me the night before that she would be leaving Eindhoven at 8am, so that meant she would be here in Den Haag at 9:30. Ahhhh! So, just in case I had to run to the train station to get her early, I had to get everything into my apartment soon. It was horrible and I couldn't find the right bus stop to get on--so I ended up being dropped off at a stop by the Kurhaus with my rolling piece of luggage, my backpack stuffed with as much as I could get in it, my bag of dirty clothes, and something else. Oh man...my hands hurt for days after draggin that around. The Kurhaus is not exactly just down the street from me, so it took a bit to get home and of course, I had shed clothing b/c I was sweating so much. haha. It would've been quite funny to see. Also, even though I was told that the Dutch are really nice, I encountered a couple on the way that showed me where the bus stop was (as they were going to the same one) and they didn't offer to grab even one of the small bags for me as they saw me drop things and stop every once in awhile to rest. I thought about it later and realized that they probably thought I was homeless--haha....my hair was gross, I smelled like smoke b/c of the night in the bars the night before, I kept having to pull up my jeans b/c they were falling off me, and I had no makeup on...and what makeup I did have on, was smeaed. I was sweating and looked tired. Yes, they definitely probably thought I was homeless--although I was speaking English to them and obviously was not from there. Hmmm....maybe if I had told them I had just checked out of a hotel that was €200 a night, they would've helped. : )

Needless to say, I was tired and when I got to my apt and set up my computer, I read the message from Charla saying she was leaving soon and would be there at 1:45pm. I struggled to get up from the chair, but had to b/c all my thing were in the entryway and the apt was a mess. If I had fallen asleep, its a very good chance that I would've missed meeting Charla at the train station.

I did stay up and I did meet Charla. That afternoon, we walked around a bit and found a restaurant called Tahiti to eat at. We struggled with the menu (as is was in Dutch) and finally the waitress let us know that she had an English version--very nice to know. I ordered a hamburger and fries, but when I got it, I realized that I had to order it on a bun. Oops. Now I know. The burger was by itself on the plate and a tomato sauce with onions was ladled on top. On the side, there was a small dish of the toppings-lettuce, cheese, tomato, cucumber, corn, etc. My fries were great, though! Of course, they were served with fritsauss and not ketchup. : )

That night, we went planned on going to the Crazy Pianos bar again b/c I had told Charla about it and she was excited. We got there and found out that there was a €10 covercharge and we weren't sure how long we would be there, so we decided to see what other places we could find out on the beach area. As we were walking, a group of people dressed in 70's clothing stopped us and invited us to the bar on the beach called Mambo. They were having a themed night called "Studio 54" and the beers were only €1.50 each. We had a few and headed home around midnight or so. I was pretty exhausted!

The next day I slept in and took Charla to the train station, then started on putting my apartment together. The pictures you saw in the previous blog are just my living room. I will walk around tonight and get pics of the rest (once I clean up a bit).

I will also get more pics up of everything I've taken so far... FINALLY!

Dutch word for the day: "spreekt u Engels?" = Do you speak English?

Sorry...

I know that I'm a little behind on my posts, but I will catch up everyone really soon.

Pictures of Apartment

Contact Information

Hi everyone...

This is a picture of the house I live in. They have made it into about 9 apartments, I believe. Cute, huh?

In case you need to contact me for any reason, my cell phone number here is

011-31-62-908-3596.

So, this includes the international outgoing code for the US (011), the country code for the Netherlands (31), and my number. If you need more help, check out a website on how to call the Netherlands. : ) Here is a good one: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/dialing.html

I did officially get the apartment and move in tonight. Yeah! The address is:

Antwerpsestraat 18
Apt. 2
2587 AG Den Haag
The Netherlands

Kevin is going to take me to IKEA tonight after I get my keys to the apartment and then I'm meeting Charla later tonight to go out for her birthday. I will post something later about the outings if any fun stories to tell appear.

Also, since my apartment doesn't officially have internet, I will be a little delayed on replying back to everyone. SORRY!!!! I'll work on the internet thing next week. (Maybe I can pick up someone else's wireless connection.)

kopie = copy (I see this on the copymachine all the time at work...)

Communication and Training

It's amazing how weird you feel going around without a cell phone to have access to. Well, soon my feeling of weirdness will be lifted because EY gave me my very own (brand new) Nokia "mobiel"--obviously means mobile phone/cell phone. It hasn't been activated yet, because the letter they sent me is in Dutch, so I have to wait for someone to translate for me, but things are looking up in the communicatoin department. I can't use it to call most people I know, but at least I can give people my number if they need to get a hold of me....and I have the phone in case of any emergency. (Hmm....do I dial 911? hehe) If I get a car (which is not likely anymore--but still a work-in-progress) I will have to remember that I can't talk while driving. I think it's even against the law to use the handfree, but I'll have to check into that. I don't think I'll be doing anything while driving, b/c it's really crazy here, but if I do, I'll have a hard time remembering not to answer the phone or call if lost while driving.

I found out today that I will be participating in a training program (in english) for two weeks in November. I will stay in the hotel where the training is the entire time and they even have classes on the weekend. Uh..... oh well. It should be an educational experience where i'm introduced to more of what auditing at EY is like. I can't imagine its any worse than sitting through an auditing class as CMS, but I could be wrong. The dress is business casual, so pretty much what i wear to work everyday. : /

My HR person also informed me that EY would be paying for my residence permit (Charla's too)--YEAH!!!! That's about $550 that I won't have to fork over to the Nederlands! I was beginning to feel like it was going to cost me to work for EY during these 7 months.

I'm excited about moving into my new place in Scheveningen and unpacking all the suitcases,...even though I don't have room for all the clothes I brought. I might have to improvise and put some in the kitchen cabinets. haha....just kidding. Kevin and I are going to go to IKEA on Saturday morning and get me some stuff--like rugs, cups, etc. The apartment is 'officially' furnished, but lacks character--besides the obvious Dutch style that I mentioned yesterday. It sort of seems cold, but if I put some fun rugs around, it might seem a little more like me...and warmer. : ) I have this thing about where I sleep, too. The sheets have to be cleaned if anyone else has slept in my bed....so, if they're dirty, then it was because of me. So, for example, if someone else is in my bed--like Mac and Burke!!!--then I must have the sheets cleaned. Also, the sheets have to be soft--high thread count is a must. My sheets here at the hotel are stiff and just plain horrible...they may seem fine to anyone else's standards, but to me, they stink...so I might have to spend some money on sheets. I could have my mom mail me mine, but it would take too long and cost a pretty penny. Normally, I'm not that materialistic, but certain things have to be high quality--especially something that you lay on for 1/3 of each day. Alright, enough about the darn sheets courtney!!! haha

I'm really trying hard to get pics on here. It worked at first, but for some reason, it hasn't been working lately....when I actually posted.

Some of you have been asking for my address here--it'll be posted as soon as I find out the zipcode. For some reason, I'm having trouble finding it. : )

Dutch word for the day: "dank je" = thank you. I'm really working on these and with two Americans in th office, we are having a fun time learning.

Apartment Search has ended...

Public transport in the Netherlands is amazing! They have buses, trams, and trains everywhere! It takes a little bit to get used to the procedures for using it--and the language barrier is definitely a factor, but every driver I've encountered speaks English, but only after you start talking in English.

From my hotel this morning, I took a bus to the client's office and it took 45 minutes. Yes, that is a long time, but the time really flies by fast. My stop is the last stop on the buses route and throughout the drive, tons of people get off and on--including a fair number of school kids. It gets rather crowded. and almost everyone here has an mP3 player--usually ipods...so I feel right at home using mine.

I got to work by 8:30 and I think this is a good time to be in the office--I also might try catching the earlier bus, at 7:15am, and be here by 8am. Then, I might be able to hit up some stores, the post office, bank, and everything else that closes before 5pm. : ) Work today was easy--I had Andrew teaching me about where the team was in the audit and how to work a few programs....but that was pretty much it. We spent the next hours looking at apartments online and surfing the net.

Speaking of bank (earlier)...i finally got an account at Fortis Bank here in the Netherlands and I just have to find the time to visit a branch and get my ATM/debit card and also a Chip Knip card. The chip knip card is like a gift card that you load money onto and then you can use it like cash...and its just like cash. There's no pin number or anything, so if you lose it, it can be used by anyone like cash. Most machines--like vending machines, parking payment machines, the train kiosks, etc all--use only a chip knip or atm/debit card. You can't get a pop out of the vending machine here at work with sticking coins in the machine. Also, everyone pays for lunch with their chip knip card--you actually can't use anything else. (I've had Kevin buy my lunch all week.)

Nicole, my broker, met me at my client's office after work and took me to see a few apartments. They are located in Belgisch Plein (Belgium Park) in Scheveningen--which is still The Hague, but they call this part Scheveningen. I was told before I went that it was a great place--luxury was the word Andrew used--and would be great to live in. The first one she showed me was on the top floor--very high up!...once again, my legs were burning. I'm sure I wouldn't need to go to the gym if I had one on the top floor. : )

Anyway, this one happened to not be available and someone was actually living there--oops. So we left and went to the next one. It was pretty cute and exactly what i was looking for. Nicole told me that she also had one more--that she thought was better. Around the corner was a separate entrance for an apartment with two rooms. It is what I call quaint and very Dutch-like. The two things about this one are that it's pretty far away from work, but in a great area--with lots of shops, bars, restaurants, etc and it's by the sea. The other thing is that it doesn't have a dryer in the apartment. Weird, I know. It has a washer there, but no dryer. hhmmmmm. But, the building has a dryer and two washers that everyone can use....so mine is really the only one with a washer inside the apartment. It has a couch, table, and tv (very small) in the living room and in the bedroom, there is a decent sized bed and an armoire for hanging clothes. I think I'm going to need some rugs and maybe a blanket to drape over the couch (it's a bit old and has frightening stains)...and I also need things to hang on the walls....posters, maybe. I might buy a few things and just leave them here for the next tennant...b/c they won't fit in my already bulging suitcases.

Anyway, I'm ready to unpack and get settled. In the hotel, I'm still living out of the suitcases....and it's not much fun.

I ventured out again tonight to the grocery store and this time, I went a different way and found a ton more stores that I could've gone to that weekend i spent the whole time in the hotel b/c I didn't know where anything was and it was cold out (no coat yet). I think my main meals are going to consist of deli sandwiches. The Dutch love bread and cheese,...and so do I, so I fit right in with that quality. The bread is so fresh!

So, two things accomplished today: bank account and apartment...both very important!

Dutch word for the day: "tot morgen" = tomorrow

Luggage has landed!

Today I was picked up for work by another one of my colleagues--Andrew. This time, instead of going to the office, we went directly to the client we are working on right now. (Actually, the whole time I am here, I will be working on the same client.) I didn't do much of anything at work besides get started on my bank account at Fortis and surf the net for cool places to visit here in The Hague. So, easy day for me at work.

Since British Airways said that my luggage would be at the hotel between 8 and 1 today, I called the hotel and asked if my luggage had been delivered. They said no, so Andrew and I planned to leave the office around 4pm to do a little shopping for at least a coat. Everyone around me asks where my coat is--even if its sunny and 70. I was informed that the Dutch wouldn't be caught without a coat/jacket...ever. I guess the weather can change at the drop of a hat, so they are always prepared.

Another thing about the Dutch is that they start riding their bike when they are 4 or 5 and ride it to school every day. There are no school buses. When they turn 8, they stop riding to school alongside their parent and ride on their own--usually with a group of kids their age. It's amazing to see cars drive down small streets next to a little one on their bike. It would scare the heck out of me. My broker explained to me that the Dutch are just used to being on the road with all the bikes and walkers, so they react really fast to everything. They are also very aggressive when driving...so it reminded me of trying to get out of the 'cage' at Fort Osage High School when I was there. (a bunch of cars trying to get out of a gate only big enough for one lane of cars after school was out) If I get my car from EY, I can't imagine how I will react when a little kid comes up on the side of my car peddling away as fast as he can and swerving a little. Yikes. The tram lines also run down some of the streets, so you have to watch out that you're not in the way of one of them, also. I'm a little freaked out to drive, but as I've been hearing lately, I probably won't get a car. It's alright--public transport is everywhere!

Alright, back to my day... Lunch at our client was very interesting and is going to take some getting used to. It's a really big cafeteria (as our client is huge, as well....second largest in Den Haag) with a ton of choices. It's almost as if everyone knows what they want before they walk in...because they mean business. They rush around, pay, sit down, eat, and get back to work. Some get two pieces of bread...put cheese slices on each and eat using a fork and knife. It's odd to me, but I love bread, so I'm very excited about that--because I love bread as well...well all carbs in general actually : ). The milk is free, but pop is incredibly expensive. Today I got a Coke light, but I think that I will try to drop that habit and start drinking more milk (melk).

All the Dutch are average size--not big--so they must be doing something right! After lunch, you take your tray to an assembly line of disposal where you put each item in its own bin--> trash in one, leftover food in another, cups in another, plates, trays, etc. They mean business with this, too. One lady behind me was rushing so fast that she bumped me and I dropped stuff. haha... Kevin and I just laughed and he was glad that someone else noticed how intense that part of lunch is. : )

So, about 4:15, Andrew and I head to the city centre of the Hague for a little shopping. We got there in time for me to shop for about 15 minutes. (because everything shuts down by 6pm and traffic is a little heavy) Everyone should know that it's not possible to do ANY shopping in that amount of time! (Remember the reason I wanted to get some things--'essentials'--was because British Airways was going to reimburse me for getting things to get by with until my luggage arrived..and b/c I called the hotel and they said my luggage was not there, I knew I needed something for the next day at work.) I ran into one store and bought underwear and then went to another store and just grabbed a coat, suit, shirt, and shoes (the 'essentials' regardless of the cost). The total I spent was about 350Euros. Ouch...that is about $430. As long as BA reimburses me, I'll be cool. That's a lot of money! I'll work on that one later. : )

I met my broker after shopping and she took me to see two more apartments. One was on the 5th floor of a building with spiral stairs and my legs were cramping by the time I got to the top. It was spacious, but there was no dryer (i'm not sure why the Dutch have something against drying their clothes using technology, but it seems that way. I would have to iron everything if I let them dry by hanging it on a line.) and just the fact that its on the top floor was horrible. The second one was even worse--the furniture was from the 70's and not the cool 70's looking furniture you see coming back in these days. The bathroom and shower were in a closet off the kitchen and the bedroom had only enough room for a bed...nothing else. It also didn't have a dryer....what's up with my broker showing me these when she knows I at least need a dryer! I wouldn't care, at this point, if it was a communal washer and dryer, but anyway...

So, tomorrow, I will meet her again and then we will go look at a place by the sea (Scheveningen) that is what she says "my style." We'll see. It's getting down to crunch time,...not that it wasn't when I arrived on Friday, but I only get the hotel til the end of the week. If this one doesn't work, I think I will take Kevin up on his offer to take me in until the apartment I liked (on monday) that is not available until Nov 1. It was exactly what I wanted--and had a DRYER!!!

BIG NEWS: I received my luggage!!!! Whoohoo!!!!

Say it with me..."Whoohoo!!!!!"

Actually, I haven't even opened it yet. I got home late and ate dinner and responded to emails (since you all just got done eating lunch and are in the middle of your work day). After this, I will get into them and sit in awe at all the stuff I have now!!! I finally have choices! Well, I am tired of writing...so....

Dutch word for the day is "goedenmorgen". It means good-morning. : )

Kudos to everyone that used "dag" in their emails today. I knew you all were reading this b/c of it.

First Day of Work

Today was my first day of work at Ernst & Young. Kevin picked me up at the hotel at 8am and we went to the office in The Hague. It's a really neat office--older building, but with a cool makeover. The heels I borrowed from Charla made an incredibly loud noise as I walked down the halls, though. I became a little self-conscious about it. : )

I received my laptop, passwords, and my fair share of Dutch conversations. I need to learn the basics--like hello, goodbye, have a nice day, etc. Yes, I should learn them--that is my goal for the week....heck, I will learn one a day.

Well, my luggage hasn't arrived yet. Poop! So, it's day 4 of wearing the same thing. I have fresh underwear at least!!! I did wash a pair in the sink just in case this happened and I had to go yet another day with none of my clothes.

I came home from work today and thought that I would run out to get some things--like jeans and maybe some stuff for work...but the people at the front desk told me that the shops close at 5:30 or 6:00 on everyday but Thursday. Great!!!! These Dutch really like their time off! (not that I blame them..but come on!....6?!?!?)

I borrowed two shirts from Charla, so at least I will look different tomorrow with the shirt being white instead of blue. Grrrr....I'm getting ticked off! but still smiling, I guess. It could be worse (but not that worse...haha).

I met with the Senior Partner today to discuss my goals and outcomes for the internship and that was kinda scary--I didn't want to tell him that I was already thinking that i wasn't going to like my job or that all I really wanted to do was travel around. haha... I have an email address at work, but I'll be able to check this one throughout the day (as you all are sleeping) when I get internet access.

So, apartment searching today was another interesting experience. The lady from Rots Vast (broker hired to find me a place several months ago, but seems to have failed at that so far) seems to be really helpful and wants to find me a great place to live for the 7 months I'm here...so that's great. We looked at two apartments. One was really tiny, but split into 3 rooms and a hallway. Think of splitting a room smaller than our living room in Buckner into a hallway, kitchen, bedroom, and living/dining area. The bed was about a queen size, too...and the refrigerator was in there with the bed! Also, there was no dryer and the washing machine was the size of a gallon bucket. The lady called it "old-fashioned". haha Needless to say, I didn't pick that one. The next one she showed me was great! The furniture was up-to-date, there was internet access, and there was a normal size washer and dryer (normal as in half the size as ours at home)...but the catch was that it isn't available for two weeks. Poop again! She is going to pick me up again tomorrow to look at a couple more. Hopefully these will work!!! (and i'll have luggage to move into it)...

Well, I just got off the phone with Kevin and he said that my luggage should be here between 8 and 1 tomorrow. Whoohoo! However, I was hoping to go spend tons of money on new clothes and toiletries before they got here and have British Airways reimburse me for them--although, I'd much rather get them sooner than go another day without my clothes and stuff.

Kevin also said that if the two apartments I am going to look at tomorrow don't work, I can stay here for the rest of the week and then stay with him and his family for the next week until the apartment I liked (described above) is ready--which would be awesome if I got it!!! So, we'll see how this goes tomorrow.

Dutch word for the day: "dag" = goodbye

Tackling the Trains

Today I decided to go see Charla (fellow CMSU intern) in Eindhoven to get some clothing from her (b/c my luggage still didn't arrive today) for work tomorrow. All I have is some windbreaker pants and the shirts that Jonny brought me.

To get to Eindhoven, you have to take the train and to get to one of the train stations in The Hague, you have to get on a tram. I asked one of the ladies at the front desk of my hotel which tram to take to Den Haag Centraal and she told me 17. I rode that for about 15 minutes and arrived at the main station in the central part of The Hague.

Once I got to a ticket kiosk, I soon realized that my ATM/debit card didn't work, and neither did my credit card...so I started walking inside the station to look for someone to help me or someone to buy a ticket from who would take euros. As I was walking a guy asked me if I knew how to get to Leiden--he obviously didn't see the distressed look that was on my face, also. I told him I, too, was having trouble and that I had already missed the train I had written down on my paper with all the planned times and stops listed. He didn't get the hint that I was in a hurry and started talking and being persistent on me answering his questions about myself. It was quite annoying and I finally just had to tell him I had to go. He followed and asked what was wrong--I told him I needed to buy a ticket, but didn't have the correct form of payment. He offered to buy on his card and I could reimburse him in euros. I agreed and he got me the ticket. Once I found my platform, he kept sticking around wanting to "hang out with an American." Yikes!!! It's a good thing I lied to him the whole time about who I was and what I was doing there. Crazy dude!...but I at least got the ticket and got on the train.

The train loudspeaker announces everything in Dutch, so it was hard to pull out the names of the stops as we were going and getting ready to stop, so I had to pay close attention. Sometimes I would have to ask someone what the next stop was b/c I had to switch trains in the middle of the trip.

Charla was at the station waiting for me when I got there. We walked to her apartment--which is very cute, by the way, and visited for awhile. She gave me two shirts, a pair of pants, and some shoes for work. On the way to the station, we stopped at an appliance store and I picked up a hairdryer and iron (with European plugs). They were cheap, but seemed reasonable and useful.

I made it to my train for the return trip with no problems. When I got to the station, I had somewhat of a difficult time finding the tramlines--but when I did, I made it home by 7pm or so. When I got home, I saw an email from my mother stating that she had talked to British Airways about my missing luggage and they told her that they would reimburse me for anything I had to buy because of the loss of my luggage for this long. So, instead of spending $50 to go to Eindhoven, I could've spent $0 and gotten new clothes out of it!!!! Geez....

Until tomorrow....

Holland...catching up...

For those who weren't aware, or who didn't realize I had left already, I'm participating in a 7 month internship with Ernst, & Young, a global accounting firm who has an office in The Hague, Netherlands. Actually, they have many offices here...but I was sent to Den Haag.

Packing for my 7 month trip to Holland was a little more intense than I thought. My grandma got me some of those space bags that you suck the air out of and it flattens your clothes down to paper-thin packing size....okay, not that small, but close. My mom and I put two huge petty coats in one and it was amazing how small they became. We did this to most of my clothes and thought we had room for more, so I pulled out more clothes from my closet that I wanted to bring and put them in the mix of things to pack. Well, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do...but oh well. I also took a ton of electronic stuff, but put them in my carry-on so they wouldn't get thrown around in transfer. The airline's limit on luggage was 70 pounds per bag and that included a $25 charge for anything over 50 pounds. When I got on the scale with both pieces, they were so close to 70lbs, that I sorta freaked out a little. We did a little repacking and weighed them again. My dadd got in on the action and thought I was crazy for owning enough to cause my luggage to weigh that much. haha...

I arrived in Holland October 13th, 2006 after a couple days of crazy traveling. Flights were delayed going into Chicago and I ended up flying through London instead of connecting through Dublin. I also ended up being about 4 hours late to the airport in Amsterdam, but luckily Kevin Zaugg, my teammate at EY (Ernst & Young), was still there at Schipol airport waiting for me. Then, to top it all off, my luggage wasn't on the same plane I was--which I think I expected all along, but did some wishful thinking the whole time. The first really exciting thing that happened after my horrible series of flight mishaps was that someone at EY had booked me a hotel room in The Hague for the next week. It's called The Golden Tulip Bel Air and my first real Dutch meal was roomservice Friday night. It was a kipburger and fries. The kipburger is, to me, chicken (kip) mashed up with a bunch of small pieces of vegetables (like corn and green beans) and then fried a bit to keep it together. It was alright tasting, but the fries were great. Yes, they did serve them with fritessauce (mayonnaise).





I just got back from my first adventure out of the hotel--a long walk in a very random outfit (remember that I don't have my luggage yet--which contains all my clothes and toiletries) in a place I've never seen before. I exited the hotel and just began to walk. I picked a couple random streets and ventured down them in hopes of finding somewhere to buy some deoderant at least. About 10 minutes later, I saw a busier street and there was a small grocery store on the corner. I went in and immediately asked one of the workers if I could use my ATM card there (b/c I didn't have any Euros yet) or what I could use. The worker didn't speak or understand much English, so I waited for her to get someone else that did speak English and she told me where the ATM was and how to get Euros out of it. I felt pretty silly, but I guess that is all I could do, really.

So, I picked up a few things--like cereal, bread, lunchmeat, cheese, bananas, apples, coke (diet, of course), and m&m's. : ) Oh yeah...and I got some deoderant!!! That was the point of my adventure and also very important to the welfare of anyone I encountered after my luggage disappeared. They don't give you the option of paper or plastic and once I noticed that, I was kinda in a bind and had to ask again where I could get a bag that everyone was carrying around. He sold me two and I headed back to the hotel...and here I am.

Tomorrow, I plan on making my first trip using the train to Eindoven so that I can borrow some clothes from Charla if my luggage doesn't arrive. She said she has some shoes that are too small for her--which would be perfect for me--and also some shirts and a pair of pants that can tide me over until I get my luggage or find a shopping area to buy some. I sure could use some jeans and a jacket soon. But most importantly, I need work clothes for Monday.

The webcam that Kyle got me works great! I talked to my parents this afternoon and then my grandparents brought Brianna and Brittany to my parents' house to chat with me on the webcam, also. The picture is great and there's only a small delay. I have yet to talk to Kyle using it, but then again, its not even noon in California, so he might not be awake yet. haha...

The weather here is pretty gloomy...I'd say it was about 52degrees...okay, I looked on the weather online, but that's exactly what it felt like. There really wasn't any wind, so it was fairly decent... Tomorrow and Monday look sunny, but I guess that could change.