Pictures from Antwerp

From the Antwerp Christmas Market

Elbow Update

I had an appointment today to have my giant pink cast removed and to determine the next step in my treatment. The choices on the table were...

1. Get a fiber glass cast for a few weeks
2. Put a bandage on and let it heal itself

The doctor ended up going with #2 which made me really nervous. As soon as they took the cast off, I felt dizzy and sick to my stomach. I was really afraid to move my arm and it hurt to put the elastic bandage on. Supposedly this type of broken bone is best to treat without a cast so you don't develop stiffness in the joint. However then you read stuff like this. I don't have a follow-up appointment. I am just supposed to stretch it and work on the range of movement. I didn't get a list of exercises or anything like that. She just said to extend it, rotate it, and avoid lifting heavy things. I am allowed to do exercises like walking or the recumbent bike. If it doesn't get better in 4-6 weeks I should call about physical therapy.

I took a nap after getting back and feel better now. At least I can type and wear normal clothes. I cannot straighten or curl my elbow all the way, and it does hurt to rotate my hand. Ironically my European patent law mentor at work had the same injury two years ago. He actually had the same history of injuries because he had broken the wrist of the same arm as a child and the elbow as an adult...just like me. They never gave him a cast at any point in his treatment and it took 6 months to not hurt everyday. He showed me that he still can't extend it all the way.

So I am nervous, but happy to not have a huge cast. I have painkillers and I know the gym at work offers some kind of rehabilitation class so maybe they might know some exercises to do. I just feel kind of weird having a broken bone and nothing to really stabilize it. We fly to the UK on the 23rd to visit Charles' family and I go back to work on January 3rd so I guess I will try to take it easy until then.

Broken Elbow

I am typing this one-handed because Charles and I decided to take a weekend trip to go to the Christmas market in Antwerp and I decided I could ice skate after a glass of champagne and a gluhwein. Charles (who had to wear size 46 skates on his size 49 feet) even managed a lap, but I fell hard after about 3/4 of the way. Truly i am so bad at ice skating I probably would have managed to injure myself without the influence of holiday spirits. I got up and didn't think I was that badly injured. My hand was numb, but I ignored it, took some Advil, took the poodles (who made the trip with us) for a walk and had a fabulous dinner at Rooden Hoed. I thought it was just a sprain and it would feel better in the morning.

We stayed at the Hilton on Groenplaats last night and I slept OK, but when I woke up I could not bend my arm at all. We called the doctor in Rotterdam, but had to take the train all the way back home to see someone. So we took the hour long ride home with the whiny poodles and a really sore arm and made it to the MCRZ in Rotterdam around 14:30. After 2 hours of poking, prodding, and xrays, we were told that the bone in my left elbow which allows my arm to twist is broken. All in all the experience was very much like how it would go in the US...just more people involved who are specialized in certain areas.

So now I have this huge pink cast that almost reaches my shoulder and a sling. I have to go back to the hospitaltomorrow morning to get my circulation checked. In a week or so I go back to get a new cast but the whole thing will probably take a few weeks to heal. Charles is being a good husband and babying me.

I would stay home from work for a while, but the end of the year is busy. The main problem with working is that none of my clothes fit over this huge cast. I will have to post a picture soon along with others from our fun time in Belgium because we did have a great weekend despite this minor mishap. Last day of work before my holiday break is 20 December so there should be time.

First Dutch Movie Experience

Last night Charles and I went to see The Golden Compass (from the His Dark Materials series which we both recently finished) at the Pathe theater in the Rotterdam city center. This was my first time seeing a movie in a theater since moving to the Netherlands so I thought a review would be appropriate.

I have heard from a number of people that Dutch theaters--at least this particular chain--are very nice. I have to agree that the building is very spacious and modern. It is decorated in a somewhat IKEA style, but the seats are comfy and the screen is large. The previews are just as lengthy as American films, but I did notice that the sound system is not as loud. I am used to getting my eardrums blown out at the movies. The popcorn was great too, but no condiment stand allowing you the opportunity to cover your tub with butter...which is probably a good thing. You can also get beer and Ben and Jerry's ice cream! One interesting thing is that this particular theater offers an unlimited pass for 18 Euro per month. Our movie tickets were something like 8 Euro a piece so I suppose if you see more than 2 movies per month this is a good deal.

Also this theater is right next to The American Dream Cafe so Charles and I thought it might be cool to organize a trip for expats where we go see a cheesy movie and then eat greasy American food. ;)

The American Consulate in Amsterdam

This past Friday I went to the American Consulate in Amsterdam to get a new passport. I strongly advice any expats to avoid this place at all costs. Essentially it is a two room house with super strict security. American citizen services are only available from 8:30-11:30 so it is super crowded and you have to wait in line and go through security outside! Of course it was raining and windy on Friday. When I finally made it through the line I had the wrong form and a photograph that did not meet regulations so I had to leave, get a new photo, and go through security again. By noon I was freezing cold and exhausted. Hopefully after all of this I will have a "Rachael Vaughn" passport.

Turkey Day in Holland

We couldn't make it back to the States for Thanksgiving this year, but Charles and I did have a nice little party for expats on Saturday at our apartment. Charles managed to find turkey at a gourmet grocoery store and we all overate like grateful Americans. Here are some pics...


Charles with the turkey


Remus hoping to get a bite


A shot of the party in the living room


A nice shot of the spread featuring our buddy Csaba


For the whole set, see here.

Poodle Passports

Today Remus and Berlin went to their first vet appointment in the Netherlands. They had to get a vaccination for a strange disease dogs get from swimming that affects the kidney. Both of the little guys were brave and took their shots well. The cute thing is that they get these little European Union dog passports signed by teh vet which keep track of their vaccinations and let them travel to other countries in the EU. They look like real passports too. See this one for Germany.

First trip to Copenhagen

More travel pictures! My friend Shannon was in Sweden for a conference this weekend so we decided to meet up in Copenhagen and have a fun little weekend. We stayed at this funky place called The Hotel Fox, made a chilly trip to The Ice Bar, had lunch at this tasty restaurant, and met up with some online friends to celebrate the Danish release of the Harry Potter books. Yes, we know we're geeks. Here's us at the ice bar...



And you can see here for some more.

Poodles and Paris

Last weekend we went to Paris with our friends Nathan and Liz from the States. The poodles also tagged along and enjoyed a visit to their home country.



Nathan and Liz did the whirlwind Paris in 2 days things, but Charles and I took it a bit easy since we have both been there before. We walked around the city adn went to some local art exhibits, did a dinner cruise, and visited The Catacombs which were pretty cool.

For some more pictures see here.

Understanding the Dutch

This week Charles and I took a two day course from the Royal Tropical Institute called Understanding the Dutch. This is something my work sponsors for expats and partners to help them get accustomed to Dutch culture.

All in all, the course reaffirmed a lot of the things I have already observed about Dutch culture: organization, equality, bluntness, and this idea that the service provider (not the customer) is king. We did some role playing (mostly focused on dealing with customer service situations) and had a Dutch lunch at De Lof der ZotHeid in Den Haag which included...

-Tomato soup
-Herring
-Croquettes
-Veal and mashed potatoes

We also looked at some of the main symptoms of culture chock. Apparently it is easier to adapt in a country where the culture is very different from your own as opposed to one which is very similar because your expectations are more realistic. Apparently the whole process takes about a year on average. So you will have to check back with us in a few months to see if we are on schedule.

One thing that were very fascinating to me were the history of the Dutch political system. It seems like this is really a time of change and this country is facing a lot of difficult issues. I am almost motivated to keep taking Dutch just so I can follow local politics.

Whiskey tasting and health care

Last night Charles and I went to a Whiskey Tasting in Leiden at this pub with a coworker and some other random people. It was really a lot of fun. I have done wine tastings before, but never whiskey. It was different, but definitely enjoyable.

In other news, I had my first experience with the Dutch health care. On Friday I went to the doctor because last week Charles had a skin infection and he seemed to have passed on a bit of it to me. Charles had a good experience with this doctor and I figured it would be best to get acquainted so I decided to go in.

In the US, I probably would have made an appointment with my dermatologist straight away, but here you have to see a general practitioner first who will refer you to a specialist. The office about a 5 minute walk from our apartment and it was quite nice although the building and equipment seemed older than my doctor's office in the US. The doctor prescribed me some antibiotics for the skin infection and also filled some prescriptions for daily stuff I took while in the States. Afterwards I walked about 2 minutes to the pharmacy and was pleased to find out how cheap filling all my prescriptions were. Even though this pharmacy did not take my health insurance, everything was much cheaper than in the US. So there might be something to this whole socialized health care thing after all.

We have bicycles

After this weekend Charles and I feel just a tiny bit more "Dutch." Why? We got bikes! I received my bike when we got our sea shipment from the US, but Charles was bikeless until this weekend. When he just couldn't take being left out with respect to the most preferred mode of transportation in the Netherlands, he went to Mega Bike and picked up a basic model for about 250 Euro.

So this weekend we rode around town instead of relying on the Rotterdam Metro. My bike is pretty much a road bike that is capable of being used in the city so it can be pretty brutal on the cobblestones outside our apartment. Charles, on the other hand, got a typical Dutch model with the curved handlebars, comfy seat, and rack on the back for bags. We also purchased a nice thick chain lock so no one can steal our bikes and throw them in the canals. ;)

Today's Art Pictures

We've been super busy this week because we FINALLY received our sea shipment of furniture and other miscellaneous stuff from the US. We've been unpacking almost nonstop but this place is starting to feel like home.

During the last post, I promised pictures from the Today's Art festival in Den Haag. I didn't take many but here we go...


Projections on the buildings = art


A pretty neat installation near the Spui


A crazy gold machine that functioned like a mechanical bull


Charles having a beer on the Spui


For the full set (not too many more) see here.

Portable Beach Volleyball

I can't complain about Dutch weather right now because this weekend was gorgeous. Our neighborhood is holding some kind of festival which involved transporting a small beach's worth of sand to the front of the apartment building and holding a tournament. There is also a mini soccer field, skating arena, and dance party type thing for kids set up around the premises. We've been hearing the latest teen dance tracks piping into the apartment all afternoon.

Speaking of dance, Charles and I attended Today's Art in Den Haag yesterday and we ended out the evening at Paard van Troje (Trojan Horse, I think?) where we saw a punk band perform a strange mix of American pop songs including "Sexyback" and "Billy Jean." Pictures to come.

Papa's brand new bed

So last weekend, Rachael and I went to the Woonwinkels (lit. Living Shops) in Rotterdam. We went there with the sole purpose of securing for ourselves a new means of sleeping.

Our apartment was furnished, which is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, we had a full set of appliances and eating utensils upon moving in (as mentioned in a previous post), yet we have to deal with some very unfortunate curtain and couch upholstery.

Never the less, these minor transgressions I'm capable of living with. I do not ask much out of my color combinations. The biggest problem was the master bed.

You see our bed is perhaps one of the finest on offer from IKEA. Many metaphors leap to attention, so I'll pick one at random. That's like picking out the best smelling turd in the sewer. The mattresses we have (the dutch always use 2 for their larger beds) are here. I can't find the frame we have.

Anyways, after a month, it has slowly worked it's magic and now has me waking up each morning with my upper thigh killing me and my back stiff.

The first place we look at had some interesting models, but we had difficulty figuring out what the prices included. e1500 is a great deal on a full set, a crappy deal if it just includes the frame. When we were finally ready to get some help from a sales person, it was some sleazy guy giving us the hard sell. We got out of there, regrouped, and headed to:

Linker Lisse.




That is not in fact our bed. It was next to the frame we did get though! Picture it without all of the oranments on it. It's actually a really nice stainless steel frame.

Anyways, we'll get it in 5-6 weeks. They're delivering it 2 weeks earlier than usual, out of sympathy for the ikea stuff

The varied impressions of the Dutch work ethic

I am reading a book called Dealing With the Dutch right now and although I am only about 1/3 of the way through it has definitely got me thinking.

The book is directed towards foreign people working in the Netherlands or with a lot of Dutch people. It is written by a Dutch person. So far a large portion has emphasized the egalitarian values of Dutch culture and the work ethic which is described as very focused but also balanced with ample time set aside for personal activities.

One thing I have heard repeatedly from Dutch colleagues--and also from this book--is that Dutch people are motivated to work by a sense of personal satisfaction and achievement and not necessarily by money. I think there is even a Dutch word to describe this, but I don't know it. However a survey on Dutch workers reported on in the book revealed that over 3/4 of them would not go to work if they didn't need the money.

Last night on the train home from a BBQ for my husband's company, I was sitting in a train compartment with my husband, two of his foreign colleagues (one from Afghanistan and the other from Suriname) and a random stranger who is an immigrant but has lived in Holland for 17 years. We started talking about the Dutch work ethic and the random stranger strongly disagreed with the statement about the Dutch not being motivated by money. She seemed very angry and resentful about the topic and stated that she believed that the Dutch pretend to be motivated to work by noble and admirable reasons, but it is really all about the money.

I haven't been here long enough to state an opinion, but I think it's an interesting issue. I plan to keep my eyes, ears, and mind open.

My two favorite (and least favorite) Dutch appliances

Last week we made a trip to Media Markt to pick up some basic appliances we have been missing. We got a microwave which we desperately needed. Our convection oven just wasn't adequately heating up the tasty schwarma sandwiches we pick up at Jumbo. So the microwave is good, but my most favorite appliance is my Senseo machine.

Now most people probably know I am a bit of a coffee snob so they might be surprised that I am singing the praises of a contraption which uses prepackaged coffee pods. However, if you only have one minute in the morning and don't want to make a big mess, this makes a decent cup of Joe...especially if you buy the premium or fair trade blends. Seriously, I don't know why these things aren't more popular in the US.

My least favorite appliance here has to be our washer/dryer. It is one of those energy efficient combination machines and it is very small. It also takes about 3 hours to complete a load.

Gettin' our digits

We've got a SkypeIn account. You can call us at the US# +1 817 945 6615

We're at GMT+1. Texas is (mostly) at GMT-6. If we're not around it'll go to voicemail.

Allergies

With in a week of living in Rotterdam, I developed a nasty allergy attack. Full sinuses, constant drainage, itchy throat, all that jazz. That's not uncommon for me, when staying in a new place. My immune system just needs time to adjust.

The problem here is that the two most common treatments I take for allergies are Benadryl and Sudaphed, both of which are not available here.

Pot is, but allergy meds aren't.

All the lonely poodles

3 weeks in Rotterdam. You've all seen the pics my lovely wife put up. Rotterdam is a great city. We made an excellent choice living here. It's very clean, and very american friendly.

Crazy, keep your eyes out for some posts on the food, and the hell allergy suffers go through.

Residence permit and apartment photos

Today Charles and I went to the IND in Rijswijk to apply for our residence permit. Despite horror stories from coworkers, everything went pretty smoothly. Then we came back to Rotterdam to register at the town hall. Now this took a long time and required a lot of paperwork, but we FINALLY got everything done.

We also got around to uploading some pictures of our apartment. We have not received our sea freigh shipment of furniture yet so the only decorations are the rental furniture which came with the place. Here's a mini virtual tour...


The first thing you see hanging on our door (second floor)


Living Room with a tiny European TV that isn't visible in this picture


Kitchen (I love our Senseo coffee machine)


The stairs to the first floor which show off the old steel beams proving we live in an old factory


Our bedroom with a bed that is too small for Charles


Our guest room (we're taking reservations now)


My office on the first floor


Our bathroom


The view from the third floor looking down to the second showing off the crazy light


Charles on the third floor playing video games


Looking in at Charles from the terrace


Our neighbors from the terrace


If you still want to see more, check out our Flickr Gallery.

First Dutch lesson

Charles and I had our first Dutch lesson yesterday evening. We are taking an 8 week course that involves about 6 students: the two of us, an Australian, a German, a Romanian, and someone from Singapore. So it's an interesting mix.

I feel as if we're beginning to learn something about the language, but we are going to have to do some serious practicing. We can introduce ourselves and conjugate a few verbs, but nothing more than that. Supposedly the big challenge here is that it's difficult to practice Dutch. Because everyone speaks English here, you start speaking to someone in a shop and as soon as they hear your American accent, they decide it's easier to speak English. *sigh* We'll see what happens. For now I definitely am stuck with an American accent. The "ui" sound is particularly difficult.

Posts from both of us

I have now enabled the multiple authors function on the blog so that both Charles and I can make posts. From now on, you can tell who made the post by looking at the bottom of the entry ("posted by") or the tags.

I have also changed the layout a bit and made a links list which includes links to some of our favorite Dutch sites and resources for expats.

Learning Dutch

Charles and I are going to start trying to learn Dutch. We found an 8 week beginner course in Rotterdam offered at this school. It starts Monday. I am pretty excited because I feel incredibly guilty walking around speaking English to everyone and wondering what everything means.

Not knowing the local language can also be hazardous. Yesterday Charles learned the Ducth word for "fish" when he accidentally got fish soup for lunch thinking it would be a tomoato bisque from the appearance. He hates seafood.

I also downloaded an audio program for my iPod called VocabuLearn. It is supposed to teach you basic vocabulary words, but there is no focus on grammar or language structure. I figure listening to something like this will make my morning train commute more productive.

Dutch weather and sauna

This weekend was quite nice. Everyone guaranteed us that the weather would be awful on Saturday and perfect on Sunday. Saturday was in fact a gorgeous day and Sunday, it rained most of the time.

Because the weather was so yucky, I decided to go to the gym we just joined and see what it's like. The place is called Fitness First and there are locations all over the world. The one in Rotterdam which was built in an old disco overlooking the marina. They have cardio machines, weights, and a variety of classes throughout the week (*makes mental note to take spinning again*). They also have a DVD library which allows members to take out DVD's for free. Supposedly having to return them is an incentive to come back to the gym.

Today I just did some quick cardio, a bit of strength training, and then went on to my favorite part of working out: the sauna! The Dutch really know how to do the sauna experience. This place has a Turkish bath, a steam room, a sauna with three levels and a relaxation room. If you don't know what I mean about doing sauna correctly check out this article about the Dutch sauna experience. I can't put my finger on what it is, but the whole thing is very relaxing. I imagine I will be going to the gym much more frequently...and hopefully Charles will come too. :)

The story so far

We arrived in Holland on 2 August 2007 and everything went smoothly. The poodles made it through customs without any problems and we caught a cab to our new apartment in Rotterdam. Because Charles is working in Rijen and I will be working in Den Haag, we chose to live between the two cities in Rotterdam which is supposedly pretty hip. Our apartment is a 3 level loft style design located in a converted factory built in 1879. The area is called Kop van Zuid (meaning head of south) and is a relaxed kind of yuppie area near the city center. Here is a link to some information about the building. There is also a grocery store underneath the apartment which is conventiently open until 8 pm on weekdays and 6 pm on weekends (luxurious by Dutch standards).

Our first week in Holland has been pretty crazy, but a lot of fun. We have spent a long time figuring out the public transport system and optimizing our commute. Additionally we've spoiled the poodles by taking them to a number of restaurants where they are allowed to sit at the tables inside and outside. We can't figure out why they aren't as well behaved as most of the other dogs here. Wednesday we had drinks and dinner with a number of British expats from Den Haag, Rijswijk, and Rotterdam. It also took quite a bit of effort to get working internet in our apartment, but luckily our landlord was a big help. Friday we experienced the craziness that is late night shopping in Amsterdam.

There will be plenty of pictures to come, but to start out, here is a lovely panoramic photo my husband took from our balcony. Beautiful city.

What this blog is about

A new chapter of my life is about to begin. I am a 27 year old patent attorney, recently married, and mommy to two adorable spoiled poodles. One week ago I moved to Rotterdam in The Netherlands (with my husband Charles) to do a 2-4 year expatriate assignment for my company which is based in Den Haag. I plan on keeping this blog to detail the adventures of Team Vaughn, discuss being an expat, post pictures, updates, and generally keep in touch with friends and family back home in the US. Enjoy...

-Rachael