Adjustments to Make

First stop on my journey is a few days in Amsterdam with Caitlin and Peter, baby mama and baby daddy!  I love being in a city where you can walk to most places you need to go. Now if I can just remember to pay attention! The Netherlands is a country that bikes. Everyone rides both in the city and in the countryside.  It is also a country of rather fantastic architecture and engineering. The roads are created with ample sidewalks for pedestrians, bike lanes, tram lanes and car lanes. There are rules. Pedestrians have the right-of-way at certain crossings, but mostly bicycles rule. I mean rule. Do NOT step into the bike lane. This is hard for me because it is second nature for me to cross a street and immediately turn onto a sidewalk.  Urck!!! Head-on with bicycles! Very embarrassing.

Being in a “foreign” country is challenging, like trying to read the food labels to find a seasoning or pick out lunch from a menu entirely in Dutch.  Talk about potluck.  I saw a wine name I didn’t recognize so I thought I would read the helpful description on the label – oops forgot – can’t read Dutch!  Tried it though – Pinot Blanc – and it was good.  It came from Alsace, which is why I bought it, a nod to Archdeacon Russ Oeschel whose family is from Alsace, France. 

The Dutch are tall people and the kid’s modern apartment proves that.  My head just barely reaches to the bottom of the bathroom mirror.  You can see the oven is above my head!  Since the Dutch are tall I would assume they have big feet, but interestingly the stairs are what I call “toe stairs”.  Steps only deep enough for your toes.  Which works fine going up, but going down it is really weird, I place my heel on the stair and hope for the best.

Oh, and they are quiet.  They feel that you keep your conversations to yourself – they don’t really appreciate a loud, boisterous Texas laugh.  I have to try to keep my voice down – everywhere. They don’t yell.  I am such a yeller.  This is a good discipline for me, keep my voice down and no yelling.   There are so many adjustments to make.  And tomorrow I head out on my own without my trusty sidekicks to remind me not to step in the bike lane.  I better reread Rick Steve’s tips on adjusting to the English way.