My bomb-diggity dinner.

Yes, that is the most sophisticated, succinct description I could come up with in my journalism-obsessed mind.

I've been the one making dinners for Bjorn and me lately, since the man can't even make toast. (I'm teaching him.)

I'm no domestic goddess, and I've never been too fantastic with a spatula, but I did feed myself just fine when I lived in the dorms the last two years. Katie is the Culinary Queen, while I can make KILLER chocolate chip cookies. (Humility fully intended.)

But the other night, and I don't hold back here, I made one BOMB-DIGGITY DINNER.

I grilled chicken breasts stove-top with butter, garlic, and a dash of salt and pepper. And they turned out not only FULLY cooked (something I fully expected not to happen, as I never have success with chicken that thick), but TENDER too! Bonus points for moi!!

Then I boiled potatoes with salt, pepper, and melted butter on top of them...the only thing missing was sour cream. :(

And I made a salad that I made a few nights ago that we LOVED - iceberg lettuce with herbs, hard-boiled eggs, and bacon crumbles.



YUM. E.

Go ahead. You have my permission to be impressed.

Belgium and updates

Good morning! And I say that because it literally is morning for everyone reading this...whether in Europe, or east or west coast of the U.S. But most of you aren't up yet. ;)

Anyway, I owe you updates. This is the third day I've been at home alone while Bjorn works, but the first day I've really felt like writing/blogging. I've been SO sluggish lately, and uninspired to write or do anything except sit on the couch and watch movies all day. Yuck. Luckily, I'm feeling much better today (about a lot of things - thanks, Mom!) and will share my latest adventure with you all!

First thing's first: we officially move into our new house this weekend. It currently consists of a sofa on loan from the furniture store until our permanent ones arrive in December, a handheld Philips dust-buster, Ester's old TV, and my suitcases in the attic.

Homey, right? Not exactly.

Luckily, Bjorn's Oma has two fold-out beds we are going to use temporarily until our real bed arrives in October, and we'll use a picnic table and chairs to eat on until December. Ester's old TV will stand in the living room until we get a bigger one (which will be soon, I think). The kitchen and bathrooms are fully functioning, electricity/power works, we have clean running water, and cable and Internet service will be turned on mid-September.

The inspection crew is coming on Thursday to fix a list of things Bjorn filed about - like cracks in the windowsill, a dead outlet, etc. And then we're hoping Bjorn can get the rest of the day and/or Friday off so we can go get a bunch of things like lamps, a coffee maker (very important), pots and pans, etc.

So really, we should be fine. We can survive. But I foresee a lot of knocks on Ester's and his parents' doors as we ask to join them for dinner and/or use their Internet for the next two weeks. :D

Although, perhaps not -- I leave for Vienna on Tuesday! I can't believe it's almost here already. I've been so busy with the whole moving and adjusting to living in Europe thing that I kept forgetting I had a vacation to look forward to. And I'm really getting excited now that it's becoming so real.

Bjorn leaves for Hamburg, Germany on Monday - for a week. He has a work conference to attend, but luckily I won't be left alone in the dust this time. In fact, HE will be alone for a few days between when he gets home and when I return from Prague.

So...we have a lot to do before Sunday.


~

In other news, I spent Sunday in Belgium! Bjorn had a three-day pass to the Spa Francorchamps Formula One races this past weekend, which meant he was up at 5am and gone until 8pm on Friday and Saturday. But he went with his uncle, who was a Ferrari VIP (lucky bastard!) and his uncle wasn't attending Sunday's race. So Bjorn's parents decided we'd go with him - drive him down to Spa, then spend the day sightseeing while he went to the track. The race would be over about 3:30pm, but we had to get down there early because it's an international circuit and a huge deal. Which meant huge crowds and insane traffic - and Martin remembered very UNfond memories of doing that last year, and being stuck in the village for 2 hours trying to get out.

So we were up at 5:30am. And on the road by 7am. All of us, in Bjorn's little Mitsubishi Charisma. Ester and I could barely see straight, and I fell asleep off and on the entire 2-hour drive down to Spa. It was barely 9am, and we were about 3 miles from the freeway off-ramp, when we came to a standstill behind a LONG line of cars waiting to get off. AT NINE A.M.!!!! The race wasn't until 2pm!!! I told you those people are crazy. I just didn't believe it until I saw that.

So after sitting in line forever, Martin finally pulled up along the left shoulder and passed everyone, got up to the intersection, and we booted poor Bjorn out of the car in the middle of the street. LOL. I felt so bad as Martin drove off, leaving my boyfriend to walk the remaining mile to the circuit. But it was kind of funny!

So Martin, Elly, Ester, and I went straight off in search of coffee - which we found in a cute little cafe at the base of green rolling hills and a waterfall. (Belgium is absolutely beautiful.)

We were in a tiny village at the outskirts of a famous children's theme park (Plop-something, I can't remember the exact name), which we walked around after we livened up on java.


RIDE OF DEATH. I did this in Luxembourg. Nee dank u.


Roller coaster with a spinning boat.


Spinning DEATH. Funny how these things work out.


Ester with Plop and Gert.


We strolled around, had an early lunch at 11am (traditional Belgian baguette with ham and Gouda "kaas", washed down by an itty bitty glass of Coca Cola with no refills). Then we piled into the car and Martin drove off through rolling farmland, up and down hills, around tight hairpin turns lined by trees, through villages so quaint and deserted that you blinked and missed them. It wasn't anything particularly eventful, but I really enjoyed the scenery and change of pace.

I filmed some of the drive, and there's some funny commentary from Ester and Elly here and there, but it's mostly a recording of the scenery and tight turns. So watch what you want, but you certainly don't have to sit through all of them in their entireties.





At one point, we came upon a roadblock to reroute traffic away from the circuit (the ENTIRE country stops for Formula One, I swear) and the officers spoke only French...even when Martin tried to tell them in English that we were trying to get to the town of Malmedy. "Malmedy?" the officer asked...and then rattled off rude, condescending instructions in French. We had NO IDEA what he said, but he waved us off to get out of there, so we just turned around and bolted back to a roundabout we had passed through a ways back, and hoped for the best. We eventually did find Malmedy, but I learned that it's not unheard of for people in that part of the country (French-speaking, versus the Dutch-speaking north) to be like that. Rude, unsmiling, and absolutely refusing to communicate in ANYTHING except French.

I found it so ridiculous - these officials are working at an international event filled with people from hundreds of tongues around the world; the least you can do is revert to the universal English (which most of Europe does, if you don't speak the native language). You want us to obey your orders and follow directions, but you refuse to communicate with us. Yeah, that works.

We did make one sightseeing stop at a famous dam called Barrage de la Gileppe - apparently the engineer who spearheaded the construction discovered that he made one tiny miscalculation after it was finished, and promptly threw himself off the dam into the lake. It was finished in 1878 and still works perfectly over 130 years later, so I'm not sure what miscalculation he made...but it clearly didn't make a difference!



The dam is crowned by a massive, beautifully majestic lion...who has one hell of a view.









We initially viewed the whole lake and dam from an observation point above it, but Ester wanted to walk down and see "big Simba," so we trekked down VERY steep walkways to the lake level. Nice way to stretch our legs after hours in the car, but definitely not for the faint-hearted.

From there we drove back to the village of Spa to wait for Bjorn - we parked a mile and a half away so we could walk and then be able to drive off without sitting in massive traffic. And then we drove back into the Netherlands and straight to the Pankoek Huis (pancake house!) for a special Sunday dinner.

Needless to say, we all slept QUITE well that night.

So now I'm enjoying a relaxed first half to this week before we do some major shopping and move in. And on Saturday I have a "date" in a town called Den Bosch (about 45 minutes by train) with someone I met on the travel website, CouchSurfing. She's from Asia, studying abroad in the Netherlands, and then just studied abroad abroad (?) in Prague! So we're going to chat about Dutch life and then I'll get some pointers on Prague. I'm excited. :)

Miss you all! xx

Busses, carpet, furniture, and a volcano?

Hello America! (And any international friends who might be also reading this)

It's been a busy few days. Last time I wrote, it was the first day in Eindhoven, I was jetlagged and exhausted, and the house was an empty shell with cement floors and a REALLY loud echo.

Bjorn had to work on Monday and Tuesday, so I was here at his friends' apartment in Eindhoven alone. I wasn't too bothered though - it was nice to relax and watch movies, chat with people on Facebook, and reply to emails.

Ester kept me entertained too - on Monday, she got off work early (as per arrangement since she broke her wrist) and on her way home invited me over via Twitter. (I love 21st century technology.) She said she'd be on the bus 402 at my nearest stop (Kastanjelaan - try saying that three times fast) at 2:35pm.

Well, I was nervous. It was just a stinkin bus, but it was my first venture out on my own in this city (Bjorn's always with me!) and just having to wave down the bus, step on board, and struggle to say where I wanted to go in Dutch was enough to fray my nerves. Luckily, Ester met me at the front of the bus and helped me pay, but I swear to you, everyone stared at me as I told the driver I wanted to go to Polders and he asked "Engels?" ("English?") It was like I was an alien.

But, I survived. Ester and I had a great afternoon at her place, chatting and drinking coffee like proper Europeans. LOL!

Tuesday started out the same way at the apartment, but by 11:30am there was a HUGE thunderstorm under way. If you're on Facebook, you already know this epicness. If you're not, let me elaborate:

The sky literally went black as night in about 2 minutes. I was sitting in their usually bright, open living room on my laptop, and within seconds noticed I needed extra light because I couldn't see my lap! Then I realized how weird that was...and I looked outside and my jaw literally dropped.

The sky was dark, dark grey - lightning was cutting across the horizon silently...and the STREET LIGHTS were on. Apparently, this is normal. But being a southern California girl, I was petrified.

I barely got the windows closed before the rain started, and the thunder and lightning (which I have always naively thought were cool), were wild. I think I prefer Camp Wolahi summer thunderstorms, thankyouverymuch!




The whole thing ended in 20 minutes, but I sat and watched it from my 4th floor window. And the humidity the rest of the day was absolutely, completely miserable.

Ester took me out that afternoon (when the sun was shining all innocently) to the grocery store, Albert Heijn (always makes me think of Albertson's.) She helped me do my shopping so we finally had proper food in the apartment, and I have to say, I made a freaking AWESOME salad for Bjorn and me that night. (The mashed potatoes the next day...not so much.)

On Wednesday, Bjorn had the day off work because the carpet installers were coming to our house! We were there at 9am, sleepy and cold in the empty house, and the guys arrived around 9:30. It took them until 3pm to finish the carpet and loaner curtains (I still don't get why our real curtains aren't ready yet...), and we were bored stiff while they did so. Afterward, we spent a good hour or so vacuuming up the fuzzies and cleaning up their mess of scrap carpet and giant trash bags. (I thought they were a bit unprofessional.)

The carpet is beautiful. Bjorn did a good job! The house finally looks livable, and doesn't echo as much...and I am SO excited to furnish it now.

So yesterday, we spent the afternoon at a furniture store called Echo - where we planned to put in our orders for the big stuff. (Remember I said it could take 3 months to be delivered?) Ester, Bjorn, and I went first, before lunch. The carpet color is kind of a marble mixture of light and darker browns/tans/beiges, so I thought light furniture would really bring out the light specks. We sat on a million couches, gulped at even more price tags, and finally left to get some lunch at their parents' place.

Elly got off work early and met us at home, then we set back off with "the expert" in tow to return to Echo. LOL. Turns out she thought dark furniture would be better, and as much as I was disappointed at first (I really thought dark furniture would make the house look dark), she turned out to be right. I should have known better than to question her, after all, she's done this several times before!

The sofas we ordered are GORGEOUS. Dark, rich chocolate brown ("donkerbruin") with a light oak coffee table for accent...and then a light oak dining table complemented by donkerbruin chair seats. Turns out the dining chair seats are the EXACT color of the sofas...we didn't even plan it that way; they were in entirely separate rooms!

The saleswoman who helped us was very friendly and honest - she spoke slowly and calmly, so I could actually understand a LOT of what she said. She spoke very little English but always tried to include me in the conversation and the selections, and always asked what I thought. I learned the phrase "heel mooi" ("very beautiful") and used it quite often. LOL.

Another thing I really liked about Echo: they had a little cafe on the top floor (right in the middle of all the furniture for sale) with "appeltaart" (apple tart) and coffee and tea for the customers. That's common here, for those who aren't familiar with Europe - businesses as commonplace as a furniture shop ("winkel") have coffee and snacks available for free ("gratis"). I just love that concept - it says a lot about a culture, to me.

When we finally were ready to put in our orders (5pm!), the saleswoman said "So...koffie met appeltaart?" to me. "Oh, ja!" I said automatically, and everyone laughed. We filled our order (all of us, the saleswoman included) around a cafe table with coffee and apple tarts. Nice, right?

And we had just enough time to drive over to the Echo warehouse to pick out a loaner couch, which we'll get for free until our real ones are delivered (in, yes, 3 months.) We were lucky to find a nice leather couch with coloring that at least won't scream against our carpet, lol.

Bjorn and I were exhausted last night (expectedly), so we spent the evening watching Dante's Peak at the apartment. Have any of you ever seen it (with my boyfriend, Pierce Brosnan?) It's about a perfect little town in Washington settled at the base of a dormant volcano. Pierce Brosnan plays a volcanist (nothing to do with Spock) who is concerned about the mountain's seismic activity, and tries to put the town on alert to evacuate them...but the officials all ignore him. And of course, he turns out to be right.

It was a fantastic movie, but I was still disturbed. My dreams last night were riddled with fire (and Uncle Pete, you were there!), acid lakes, and hot springs that boil people alive. If you like excitement, adventure, and a bit of disturbing fear, I recommend it. It's just something I'd have to watch during the day, lol.

So now I'm sitting alone again, as Bjorn has a three-day pass to Spa Francorchamps in Belgium and is off watching Formula One cars squeal down a race track (surprised?) I'm catching up on emails, FB messages, and the dishes.

I hope you all are doing well - keep me updated! And for my east coast friends - you're all in my prayers and thoughts. Stay safe this weekend!

xx

It's a new world, it's a new start...

It's a bit cheesy, yes. But this song has touched my heart several times in the past...and now it's so relevant. xx

Here I am - this is me
There's nowhere else on earth I'd rather be
Here I am - it's just me and you
And tonight we make our dreams come true

It's a new world - it's a new start
It's alive with the beating of young hearts
It's a new day - it's a new plan
I've been waiting for you
Here I am

Here we are - we've just begun
And after all this time - our time has come
Ya here we are - still goin' strong
Right here in the place where we belong

It's a new world - it's a new start
It's alive with the beating of young hearts
It's a new day - it's a new plan
I've been waiting for you
Here I am

Here I am - this is me
There's no where else on earth I'd rather be
Here I am - it's just me and you
And tonight we make our dreams come true

It's a new world - it's a new start
It's alive with the beating of young hearts
It's a new day - it's a new plan
I've been waiting for you
Here I am

Here I am - next to you
And suddenly the world is all brand new
Here I am - where I'm gonna stay
Now there's nothin' standin' in our way
Here I am - this is me

I'm here!

It's nearly 9am on Saturday morning - August 20, 2011. I woke up at 5:30am here in Bjorn's friends' apartment in downtown Eindhoven - a beautiful, bright, modern place I just love. We're staying here while his friends Rob and Chantal are on vacation, which works out for all of us: they get a house-sitter, and we have a place to stay until our house is ready. The view is of tall buildings and rooftops, and a huge clock tower off in the distance. Not quite Mary Poppins' London scene, but very cool nonetheless.

We landed safely in Amsterdam yesterday before 8am, and I struggled to stay awake all day...but failed miserably by 12:30, when I fell asleep for four hours. Miraculously, I still went to bed at 9:30pm and slept until 5:30. So I feel loads better this morning (plus, a healthy dose of delicious coffee helped!)

There's not much to report just yet - I saw the new house yesterday, and despite the lack of carpet, lights, furniture, or decent wall paint (though Bjorn's dad is working on it), I know I'm going to love it when it's ready. We're going to look around and shop for furniture today, since apparently the orders can take up to THREE MONTHS to complete. I was appalled to hear that, so here's hoping we can get deliveries soon.

I'm feeling pretty good this morning about where I am. I know I will suffer from homesickness eventually, but I'm not as heartsick as I thought I'd be at first. I'm embracing the idea that this is a grand adventure, and I'm lucky to have so much love and support around me. And Christmas will be even more special this year.

I'll check in soon, but everything is really up in the air and hectic right now, so bear with me! You can always email me - or if you're on Facebook, shoot me a message. I'll try to reply as soon as possible.

Yap at you later...

It's happening! Vienna + Prague!

YAYYY!!!

I am jumping up and down with joy right now, having just spent the last few hours solidifying my plans for Vienna and Prague!!

Yes, that's right - I have decided. Prague is cheap, friendly, clean, has good food and great beer...and has a very diverse culture filled with young people from all over the world.

or so I've been told. :)

Anyway, I booked a bus from Vienna to Prague for only $20! It's run by an international student agency - modern motorcoach with drink service, bathroom on board (lmao, big perk!), and movies! Only 4.5 hours to get to Prague, and we arrive 10 minute walk away from my hostel, which is...

Located right in the heart of downtown Prague! Right by Wenceslas Square and the Charles Bridge. I booked 4 nights - departing the afternoon of the 15th to come back to Rotterdam or Eindhoven (not sure which yet.) It's so pretty - it's famous among students, includes a full breakfast in the price, and includes key cards and lockers so I can leave my bag there during the day. :)

I also bought a Hostelling International membership (since that's mandatory for HI-sanctioned hostels).

And I finally bought a travel backpack, day pack, and money belt by Rick Steves that I've been looking at for months. They're strong, durable, light, and universal size to meet airline carry-on restrictions, have tons of pockets, expandable room, and moisture protection. In other words = awesome.

AND, finally, I contacted a few people on CouchSurfing.com who live (or study) in Prague - including a Dutchie and an American! They're available for sightseeing and "coffee" (which means they'll meet up with you, but you can't stay overnight with them.)

I am SO excited! Things are starting to happen!!