maureen + matthew

Pimp my Vespa

2008-05-07T16:28:00.005Z

Please don't drop it mister

2008-04-18T11:44:00.008Z

Happened upon this during the walk back from lunch this afternoon.

Harden My Heart

2008-04-17T13:58:00.007Z

I woke up today with the most random 80's song in my head. I swear I haven't heard or thought of this song in at least 10 + years at least. I soon found myself singing it in the shower and for most of the morning. After watching the video this afternoon, I just cannot resist sharing this gem with you. Make sure you watch it to the end, believe me, you won't be disappointed. Enjoy!!

Bits and pics

2008-04-08T19:06:00.020Z

I'm trying to be more diligent about grabbing the camera before heading out the door and just taking random snapshots. Hopefully in doing so I'll happen upon one of those happy accidents that will live forever as a matted and framed 8x10 on my wall. Until then though, I'll use some as a little update of my week. The pictures above were taken on our walk to the Kalverstraat to run a few Sunday afternoon errands.

The best salad that I've had in Amsterdam.

Definitely not an easy thing to find in this town.

The delicious spareribs that followed.

The dinner was at Moeders (which is Dutch for Mother).

It was Katie's birthday and she chose the lekker venue to celebrate it.

The birthday girl.

They started playing music and the whole restaurant started singing.

In a cool way, not like Chi-Chi's.

Taken from the corner of our street at the Rozengracht and the Prinsengracht.

The sun is shining and the trees are blooming! Yay!

Now if I can just finagle that first boat ride of the season we'll be set!

A different kind of after dinner pick me up

2008-04-02T20:07:00.017Z

Now, before you jump to conclusions, let me explain...

On February 28th, Matthew and I went to Stout for our third anniversary. Dinner was great (we went with the tasting menu which was very impressive) and by the end of the evening we were pretty satisified and opted not to go for dessert. When the waitress came back to the table, she set down not the bill, but a tray with a mirror containing a pile of white powder, two razor blades and two straws. She leaned down rather cheekily and with her chin in her hands said "Now kids, this isn't what you did last night, this is actually a candied sugar dessert. You'll inhale the sugar slowly through your mouth, not your nose. Compliments of the chef." And with that she left the two Americans sitting there in complete and utter amazement to go to town with what turned out to be their very pop rocks like dessert.

Only in Amsterdam.

Knock, knock. Anyone home?

2008-04-02T12:21:00.005Z

Apologies for slipping a bit off the radar recently, but hopefully we can get this blog back in action again. (was it ever?)

I have to say that I find it a bit difficult sometimes to find something Amsterdam related to talk about. You may notice that moving forward my posts might veer into the realm of randomness. We'll see. My new years resolution of blogging more isn't turning out to be as easy as I thought. I'll give props to my good friend and much better blogger than I, the author of Hiccup Medicine for my new found inspiration of trying to keep this crazy past time up.

Anyhooters, here is the link to view some highlights from our trip to Paris back in February. Paris Pics

Paris is an amazing city! Matthew has decided that it's his favorite city in the world. I might have to agree with him there. As you can clearly see from our photos, we pretty much ate our way through Paris. I had to partake in a detox diet upon our return. Steak, frites, mussels, foi gras, baguettes, red wine, duck tagine, nutella crepes, macaroons, chocolate eclairs, mmmmmmm shall I continue? I could barely get my rings on my fingers after this trip.

Spring has finally sprung in Amsterdam! I've busted out the lighter weight coats and have even been able to open our windows for fresh air a few times. It's the best time of year in this city. The trees have started to bud and the magnolia trees, daffodils and tulips are in bloom! Most of all though, it's heaven to leave work at 6:30 or 7pm and to have it be daylight still. It's the little things you know.

Superbowl, KFC, Oui Oui!!

2008-02-06T14:01:00.000Z

So we were able to tune in for the Superbowl this year. We met up with eight other Americans we work with at Coco's, which is an Australian bar in Rembrandtplein. The kick off was at 12:17. Midnight. On a Sunday. I know it's crazy, but it was great!! Everyone piled out of the bar at 4:30 am afterwards and cycled home. While we weren't able to see any of the much anticipated commercials, we saw ads for Tiger Beer and "party lines", (which,in the Netherlands the girls are actually naked in them too). Not quite the same, but it was nice to be out and make an occassion of the game.
Matthew's birthday was on Monday, feeling a bit worse for the wear, he was a trooper and made it thru the day. It's a Dutch tradition for the person whose birthday it is to supply the treats. He brought two chocolate torte's for the Studio. Their actaully called "Thre Real Chocolate Torte". They are so rich and amazingly sinful mmmmmmmmm. I picked up his favorite for dinner, a bucket of KFC and we called it a day. It was lekker.
We leave for Paris next Thursday. It's a birthday / Valentines weekend for us. I'm so excited. I've been there once before when my sister was in town, so it's nice to be able to relax and to take it all in a little slower than last time. (Jen and I walked ten miles our first day and every day after)
That's about it from this side of the pond. Pics of Paris to come later....

New View

2008-01-03T16:13:00.000Z

This picture was taken from the window directly to the right of my new desk. Lovely.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-02T19:06:00.000Z

We've made it back to the Dam! I'm almost feeling back to normal, after 4-5 days of jet lag, an awful cold, an eight hour trip back, more jet lag and a massive New Years party, things are almost back to normal.
Being back home was awesome. Of course I wish that I could have seen more friends and spent more time there, but hey, you're all welcome here anytime!
It was quite the white Christmas. Nine inches fell the first day in Michigan and it snowed almost everyday in Minnesota. It was perfect. 'Cept the cold, you can keep that.
I've attached a video of some fireworks that were let off by our friends, the owners of Zool. Imagine this being one fraction, of one block of the entire city going mad with fireworks. It is truly indescribable.
Happy New Year!

Ouch! New Photos (Click Here)

2007-09-25T22:01:00.000Z

Holy crap its been forever since the last post! We've realized we're terrible bloggers but are really trying to get it back on track.

To try and make up for lost time as soon as possible, I've posted pictures from Gay Pride, a few from the Bjork show and Prague onto my flickr account. Go ahead and view them by clicking the headline.

By this weekend I'll post the Barcelona trip and we'll be back in business!

Other than that, we're doing just fine. The summer came and went without ever having really arrived. Autumn is here and I have to say the city is at it's most beautiful to me. The trees are turning and with the leaves falling into the canals, it's picturesque at every turn. I've taken to riding my fiets alot more and it just puts the entire city into new perspective. Also, the tourist season has slowly died out so the streets are a bit less crowded and more welcoming.

The one year mark is going to be coming up here soon and I can't believe it. It's amazing how fast it goes. I know we all say that so often that the words don't hold much weight anymore. But I can say that while living here, I have felt those moments where I just want time to stand still, so I can look around me and take it all in to hopefully not take one second for granted.

It's late now and I should be calling it a night. More to come later. I promise : )

Boy Meets Grill

2007-07-01T20:34:00.000Z

We finally got a grill this weekend!

You can take the Americans out of America, but not America out of the Americans...

PRAGUE

2007-07-01T20:31:00.000Z

wow, we went to prague last weekend.
it's an amazing place, and we had a great time.

took, over 300 shots, which really need to be edited down for sharing.
i'm doing that now, look for a proper post regarding the trip in a few days.

I'm A Working Man!

2007-07-01T20:20:00.000Z

Ok, this happen actually last week but, I've been working so hard, this is the first opportunity I've had to write.

After 6 months of paperwork, and waiting...

On June 20th, I became an official employe of Wieden + Kennedy.
Let me first say I love it. This is the type of job I've wanted for a long time.
My title is "Studio Artworker", what that means I'm still not really sure, but I did have to sign a contract, so I guess I better figure it out.

Basically, I'm the last person to get files that will eventually be printed, and produced as ads, billboards, etc. In my first week I've all ready adapted English files, into 5 different languages!

Eventually, I'll also, start to clean up the servers, and help with the workflow, and organization of the digital files.

Blah, blah, who really cares about that, it just seems like a really good place for me, and I couldn't be happier.

To celebrate the event, Maureen took pictures of my first day, just like I did of hers.

06/19/07

2007-06-19T11:36:00.000Z

Today is the very last day of Matthew's hiatus from employment (insert evil laugh here). He is now legal to work within the Dutch labour market, and will be starting his permanent employment at W+K tomorrow bright and early!! It has taken six months to get us here, but to say we are both relieved would be an understatement. This is great news!!!! (I cannot wait to go shopping again!! It's been ages!)

We leave for Prague on Friday. I am really looking forward to this trip. The city itself looks absolutely amazing and the fact that they're not yet on the euro is an added bonus. The weather calls for three straight days of rain, but hey, I'm getting pretty used to it now.

What else is new? Hmmmm… finally went to our first show here. With the help of Barrie (colleague of mine) I was able to get our name on the list to see The Editors. It felt so good to be there, in a crowded club style venue, drinking some beers and dancing to good music.

We registered at the doctors. I have been looking forward to my first experience with socialized healthcare. I must say, I was impressed. The first step is you have to call a general number and give them your post code so that you can register with a physician in your neighborhood. I called around to a couple and found a doctor that was accepting new patients. We popped in one afternoon to fill out a few pieces of paperwork and give them our insurance info. The only "dutchy" thing about it was the receptionist would not let me schedule an appointment then, but insisted that I call in order to do so. I was tempted to dial her up on my mobile right then and there, but thought I'd save the hassle.

The next day I called up to schedule one and was told to swing by at 2:30. The SAME day???? Wow. I was in and out in ten minutes. Brilliant! Now I'm just waiting for when I'm really sick and they tell me that I need to exercise more or something, no joke, this has been the diagnosis of several people that I know. They have a very holistic approach to medicine here, which I must say would probably do us all a bit of good. Anyhoo, it was a pleasant experience.

I've started riding my fiets to work. I have yet to time it, but depending on the traffic lights, it can't be more than a two minute ride. I am so spoiled ; )

La Chouffe, Space Cakes, RLD Show's, Oh My!

2007-06-01T16:01:00.000Z

My sister Jennifer has been visiting us here in Amsterdam for almost three weeks now. It has been wonderful to have her here and show her around this beautiful city. Couple of bike rides, loads of La Chouffe, stroopwaffels, and some European travel = Good Times.

The first week we kept it pretty low. Ate at most of our favorite local Restaurants (Koh-I-Noor, Venezia Del Nord, Doner Kabob), toured the RLD, viewed the Rembrandts at the Rijks Museum, ate muffins from Amnesia, it was a good week.

The second week Jennifer and I ventured out to Paris. This was the first time that either one of us has taken the train anywhere in years. All was going swimmingly, the train seriously leaves right at the exact time that it says, which is a rarity when traveling via air. There we were sitting in our seats looking out across the lovely Holland countryside dotted with sheep and some windmills, loving every minute of it when these two women entered our car and sat in the seats adjacent to us. Now we have all had the unpleasant experience of having to sit in close proximity of some pretty ripe people, but I swear that never in my life have I ever smelled anything as offensive as the body odor that these women emitted. Worse than farm animals. Everybody in the car sat with their noses buried deep within their jackets and giving each other sympathetic looks. We sat there laughing for about a half an hour, at the luck of the Doyles.

We arrived in Paris and were instantly in awe at the sheer size and ornateness of everything. It is by far the most stunning and amazing city I have ever seen. On the very first day we walked about nine miles, taking in as much as we possibly could not wanting to take the Metro for fear of missing anything. The Notre Dame, Latin Quarter, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triumph, Champs Elysees, the Tuleries etc. I don’t think either of us have ever been so exhausted at the end of a day on holiday.

The next day we shopped all afternoon in the Marais and stopped for lunch at a café to dine al fresco and share a bottle of vino. After another full day of walking and shopping,and a tour of the Louvre, and not getting back to our neighborhood until about ten p.m., we decided we just wanted a quick dinner and to call it a night. After a short search about, we decided on Chez Madame Wongs. I kid you not, that was the name of the restaurant and it was damn good Chinese food!

Our third day we opted to take the Metro to save our feet the agony. We took it up to the Montemarte area to see the Moulin Rouge and most importantly the Sacre Couer. It's a catholic church that sits at the highest point of the city. As you can imagine the view is unbelievable, you can see just how truly big the city itself is, as well as see the Pompidou in all it's glory pop right out at you in the middle of it all.

We headed out later in the evening to see the Eiffel tower light up and see it's light-show (which btw, I've learned by doing some research for work that you can film the tower during the day, but you cannot film the light show at night because the designer has copyrighted the pattern of the lights, crazy 'eh?). After taking it all in we called it a night and prepared to take off the next day.

I truly indulged myself in everything and anything I could get my hands on. Desert everyday, wine with every lunch, café au lait's with chocolate croissants, lemon tarts, and yes I had to go to McDonalds and order the Royale with Cheese.

We then picked up Matthew and spent one night in Brussels which we were all honestly a bit under whelmed by. The highlight by far though was eating escargot from a street vendor across from Mannekin Pis( a pissing boy fountain) and running into my mother's boyfriends brother who lives in Germany. We just happened into a bar that served some lekker Belgium beers and look over and bam there he was with his family. They were visiting some friends of theirs who live in Brussels. It's those moments that reinforce just truly how small this world is.

After Brussels we were off to Antwerp to spend the day. Gorgeous! I loved it! We sat in the square sipped more lekker Belgium brews, eating our chocolates. After walking just a bit to take in the city we decided to eat late lunch in what appeared to be the favored restaurant by all of the geriatrics of Antwerp. But as Jen was quick to point out, they are a pretty good indication of cheap and delicious food and boy was she right. We all ordered Belgium specialties that came of course with frites, yum! Afterwards we peered into all of the diamond shops and made our way back to central station for the train ride home.

This week we've been laying pretty low. Jennifer has been doing some shopping, and I think she is about to finish her fourth book since she's been here. Tonight however we are heading back to the RLD and taking in a show that can only be seen here. It's bound to be craziness.

Cheers to all!

Maureen (Composed)
Jennifer (Additions)
Matthew (Posted)

PS. Picture's soon...

For the Soccer Moms!

2007-05-08T06:49:00.000Z

From: "USCitizenServices, Amsterdam"
Date: Mon, 7 May 2007 13:58:09 +0200
Conversation: Security Notice: Soccer Celebrations in Amsterdam TODAY, May 7, 2007
Subject: Security Notice: Soccer Celebrations in Amsterdam TODAY, May 7, 2007

This Warden Message is being issued to alert U.S. Citizens traveling to and residing in the Netherlands that the Municipality of Amsterdam has informed the Consulate General in Amsterdam that it will be honoring the Ajax soccer team for winning the Dutch national football association trophy. The celebration is scheduled TODAY, May 7, 2007 from 17:00 to 20:00 hours on the Museumplein in Amsterdam. The team is expecting about 25,000 supporters to participate.

According to press reports of a similar celebration in May 2006, held on the Leidseplein in Amsterdam, the Amsterdam police arrested 44 people after roughly 300 attendees fought with each other, committed acts of vandalism, and threw bricks and beer bottles. The Amsterdam Police have informed the Consulate General that they have made preparations for today’s event and will have additional police available for crowd control.

We advise American citizens to avoid the Museumplein and surrounding areas on the evening of May 7 if possible.

As noted in the Consular Information Sheet for the Netherlands, demonstrations and other public gatherings are commonplace in the Netherlands and may range in number from a few people to several thousand. Prior police approval is required for public demonstrations, and police oversight is routinely provided. Nonetheless, situations may develop which could pose a threat to public safety. U.S. citizens are advised to avoid areas in which public demonstrations are taking place.

April Pictures

2007-05-06T11:33:00.000Z

Sorry, I've been having a few problems getting these up.

Please check them out, by clicking on the title of this blog entry.

Note, they aren't really in order, but you'll get the idea.

Friends, Flowers, Queen's Day, and a Job

2007-05-03T20:14:00.000Z

Wow, a lot has been going on.
I'll let the picture speak mostly for themselves.
Maybe, hopefully, later Maureen will share her 2 Euro cents.
What do you say Maureen, the public wants you.

We've now had two sets of guests, and had a blast with all.
Marci came, and got me to go to the Van Gogh museum and the Kuekenhof (tulip gardens) with her.
It was fun to attempt to be a tour guide, as Maureen was stuck at work during the day.

Brad and Tracy came last weekend, for Tracy's birthday.
We are so happy they spent it with us in Holland.
I say Holland, because we actually got out of the city.
Well sort of, a 15 minute train ride to Haarlem, and yes I spelled that correctly.

To go along with Tracy's birthday, there was another reason to celebrate, Queen's Day.
Words can not describe what that means here, nor can pictures really.
Its not that the Dutch are that into their queen (they love their queens : ),
they really like an excuse for a good party.

One million or so, people flood into the city. no one really knows the exact total, it just gets packed.
The locals are allowed to sell anything and everything in the streets, orange is worn everywhere, and party boats fill the canals. I've never seen anything like it.

The weather has been unreal. It hasn't rained in over five weeks, which is a rarity here.

One more piece of news, I signed an employment agreement today.
There are a few more paperwork hoops to go through, but soon both Maureen and I will be at WK.

Hope all are well!

Matthew

PS
Look for a link to some pictures, in a few minutes.....

PSS
Well, it's late, I'm tired, and my computer is giving me fits. I'll try with the pics tomorrow.

Pics ...

2007-04-18T17:01:00.000Z

New Fiets, New Hair, First Guest

2007-04-18T16:46:00.000Z

Sorry All,

For the past few days blogger has been in dutch.
When iI log in, based on my IP address it defaults to Dutch, and I know little to no Dutch ...

Today, I'm picking up the apartment for our first guest.
Marci, from Chicago, is arriving today, by way of Florida, and London.

Being she is the first, a prize is waiting for her.
However, this is a side trip off a business trip.

The real prize is for the first trip to mainly see us.
Brad and Tracy (Chili's mom and dad), are coming later this month.
It's a trip on frequent flyer miles, so I don't know if that counts.

We last weekend, bought another bike,
meaning we can take rides together, so cute I know.

I've taken the bold step of shaving my head, and let me just say, "I'm Bringing Sexy Back !"

Hope all are well ...

-Matthew

I Miss the USA ...

2007-04-02T13:15:00.000Z

I keep hearing from Maureen that I have to blog,
Heck, not much is going on in my life, what do I have to blog about?

Its been a while, wow, a new blog hasn't gone out since February 21... Sorry.

I take the time to write today, because for the first time I miss the USA.
Sure I've missed friends and family since our move, but today I miss the country.

"Opening Day", has arrived! Yet there is no excitement in Amsterdam.
This will be the first "Opening Day" in a longtime, that I won't be in that joke of a stadium, know as "The Dome".

I'll be sitting up until 2 AM here, with my microwave "American Hot Dogs" from AH,
listening to the game. Yes listening, because MLB.TV will blackout the game, because of how I paid for the service...

Do me a favor and go out to the park, regardless of who your team may be.

Well, unless your team is the White Sox's, Indian's, and especially the Yankee's ... (Jesus Hates The Yankee's)

The Tiger's are bone of contention, at the apartment.
I can't comment on them.

Matthew

PS.
I'll be at the computer nonstop this week, following the start of the season.
So, I'll write about more interesting things, finally going to a museum, Maureen getting a "fiets", etc. (And Pictures)

Hope all are well...

Square pegs

2007-02-21T21:18:00.000Z

Last night we purchased our first ariline tickets for a weekend trip. We'll be going to Prague on June 22 through the 25th. I can't wait! The sale on airfare was too good to pass up, and both of us have been wanting to visit there. I have to admit that I spend a sick amount of time planning holiday itineraries on line and day dreaming about all of the possiblities. How can't you though? I'm still hoping that we'll wake up on a Saturday morning and just decide to go to Brussels for the night. It's about two hours away on the train, totally doable for an overnighter.
The Arcade Fire is playing a show in Utrecht, which just may be the first trip outside of Amsterdam that we've taken. The show is sold out, but through some people I work with I've discovered the joys of what seems to be the Dutch equivalent of Craigslist. We can still buy tix.
The apartment has gone through some massive growing pains in the last two weeks. After seeing the lot of stuff that we brought right there in front of our faces and realizing that there is nowhere to put any of it, we had a big wake up call. Emotions ran from "there's no rush, we've got all the time in the world", to "what the hell are we going to do with all of this shit?". Needless to say we did ALOT of throwing out. I thought I had gotten rid of soooooo much stuff prior to making the move, but compared to what I pitched here, it was nothing. It feels great. The realization of wants and needs and material excess really clicks in moments like these. I have to say that it feels nice to scale back and live with the essentials.
We have (and I say that loosely as Matthew has done 90% of the work) managed to fit the things we chose to bring along with us into this new life. So far all is well!

what the..?

2007-02-21T21:03:00.002Z

The walk from the apartment to work is barely long enough to listen to two song on the ipod. For those of you in Minneapolis, I'd venture so much as to say that it's the equivalent of the walk from Fallon to Peavey Plaza. Yeah, that close.
The other day after going home for lunch I was walking back to work along the canal, bopping along listening to my tunes, when I noticed this old woman with a walker about twenty feet in front of me who looked like she needed some help. I took out my ear phones and asked if she wanted me to help her. She gestured to her walker and to the door that was about five steps up a stoop. I grabbed her walker and carried it up to the door and asked if she needed anything else, she said no and reached into her pocket and handed to me what looked like a brown, withered, wrinkly ball. I took a look and quickly smiled and said no, no that's not necessary, but she insisted. I hesitantly stuck out my hand and asked what it was (slightly cringing I'm sure), to which she smiled and said, it's passion fruit. Ahhhhh, I thanked her, put my ear phones back in and made my way back to work. So sweet.

snow + moving (part ?)

2007-02-09T09:35:00.000Z

I got what I deserved the other day.
For making fun of the midwest weather,
we got snow yesterday.
The total was 5-10 cm, whatever that means.

The city was beautiful for a time,
but then everything became a slushy wet mess.
All of it is melted today.

Today, our belongs will hopefully be arriving!
We have been living out of suitcase's since December 18th.

Pics to follow in the coming days.

Hope all is well with everyone.

-Matthew

some pics ...

2007-02-06T21:32:00.000Z

catching up ...

2007-02-06T17:16:00.000Z

Geeze,
We'd like to say that so much has been going on,
that we can't keep up with the blog.

The truth is just the opposite, not too much of note as been happening.

We are both just getting settled, well settled in Amsterdam!
Is it cold enough for you suckers in the midwest?

Just a quick list of the what what (in no order):

- I had a interview at W+K, went well, they want me to freelance.
One slight (BIG) problem, I'm not legal, and can't...

- Maureen is now legal, to live and work in The Netherlands.

- Celebrated Australia Day, on Friday the 27th, at Coco's Outback.
Not exactly sure what the celebration was all about, its Aussie's "Fourth of July".
Ran into our pal, Douglas, who we met at or favorite pub, Cafe Zool.
Small town...

Check out the place: http://www.cocosoutback.com/

Cafe Zool: http://www.cafezool.nl/

- Every restaurant or bar, has a cat. Guess why?

- Did our first "tourist" activity, went on a canal boat tour.
It was actually really great, well except for the annoying French couple, across from us.
We floated right by our "straat" and Maureen's work. What a feeling, this is where we live!

- We go to the market every Saturday. I hope for rain otherwise its packed.

- Watched the "Super Bowl" on Sunday, yes it is shown here, but on German TV.
Our thoughts go out to all the friends in Chicago. To our friends in Indiana, ah, who
has friends in Indiana?

- Have had some great food, and lousy service. Everything in the travel books is correct.
We've had Italian, Indonesian, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, and yes, Dutch.

- Went to a coworker's birthday party, it was complete with a male stripper.
Stayed out until 5, these people know how to party.

- Today we saw our first snow fall, it melts instantly.

- Stores we've gone to:
Vroom & Dreesman (Called "V&D" by locals), which is like a Target I suppose.
De Bijenkorf (Called "The Beehive" by locals), which is Bloomingdale's,
meets Create+Barrel, meets Room+Board. With plenty of Design Within Reach thrown in.
So, basically it's Awesome!

- We have a washer/dryer, that I can't figure out, we have a Dutch manual, yeah that's helpful.
The operation, of the grill/microwave/oven "combi" unit, has been figured out, by Maureen,
English manuals are a good thing.

- Last Saturday was beautiful, in the 10's, for you back home, that would be the 50s.
Everyone, was out ...

- We've had absinthe, nice stuff, lets chop off an ear.

- There are great design shops everywhere.

- Dutch banking, is an experience.
We have bank cards, that you slide into a little reader.
You log in, online, type your pin in the card reader, then the website gives a code.
This code is then entered into the card reader, which gives you another code.
That code is then used on the website, and finally, the account can be viewed.
What fun!

- I know, I know, but what about all the museums, and culture?
There are too many damn tourists, on the weekends, and I'm afraid to go places alone.
Kidding, well sort of, the next entry should be filled with that culture stuff.

So there you have it, a bit of what's been going on, I guess maybe a lot is going on.

-Matthew, Maureen says hi, she's cooking, I'm lucky.

Twee La Chouffe alstublieft...

2007-01-25T19:32:00.000Z

We've taken two Dutch lessons so far and my god is it one difficult language to learn. It's funny because even Dutch people will roll their eyes and agree with how crazy the language is. There are so many words that don't translate into English and vice versa. I have no hopes of ever becoming fluent or holding conversations in Dutch, it's more just wanting to be able to greet and thank people and read a menu.  I'm holding my own so far, Matthew is another story ; ) Alstublieft! Veel Goed!   Went to the movies last night and saw Casino Royale at the Theater Tuschinski. I've been looking forward to going there for a year, and it did not disappoint. It's a stunning theater that has been recently rehabbed. The architecture inside is very art deco, with extremely modern chairs and tables around the bar. Yes a bar/cafe right in the lobby.  There's an Irish pub called O'Reilly's not far from our apt. that we went to during a football game. It's so gezellig (cozy and warm)! Dark oak walls and floors, candles on every table. We ate fish-n-chips and bangers and mash while watching the game and more importantly, watching the people watching the game. Sipped on a few pints of Heineken and walked home. It was a good day.

Couple Discount?

2007-01-22T20:12:00.000Z

ok, just a quick note...

my first job interview didn't go so well.
tomorrow, i'll try again.

this time at w+k, yes thats right, mo and i working at the same place.
watch out!

-matthew

Rozenstraat 43 -1

2007-01-19T10:59:00.000Z

The move into our new aprtment went well. It basically entailed Matthew and I lugging four overstuffed suitcases down the cobblestone streets of Amsterdam for four blocks. Probably the easiest move I've ever had. Now we are waiting for confirmation on when the rest of our belongings will be delivered. We just need to wait for them to be cleared through customs. I can't wait to put some personal touches on the place. The formalities of all of the paperwork seems to be slowing down. Matthew was sent off to Den Hague (neighboing city) in order to get the non-marriage certificates legalized. I took a ride out to the IND offices in order to register my address with the city. After several roadblocks, our bank account is up and running. Wire transfer info and bill payments all set up with our US bank accounts. Next is processing my CV in order to obtain the 30% tax ruling. We've been busy to say the least.
I've learned a lot in the past couple of weeks at work. Putting together an estimate is not as easy as it once was. We have figures that are submitted in Rands, Euros, USD's, NZD's, etc.. Every week there is a new currency exchange rate that is printed off that we use as our guide. However, some of these estimates are rather large and are done far in advance of the actual production, so when the time comes to reconcile all of the costs, the fluctuation can change dramatically and can sometimes cause problems when trying to recoup the funds form the client.
On a side note, I never realized how often I wear tennis shoes to work until I started working here. As most of you know, one of W+K's main clients is Nike. You cannot wear any other brand of athletic style shoe ever. I had to find this out after wearing a pair of Adidias during my first week, I know I know, bonehead move but it never occurred to me once when putting them on! Needless to say I'll be buying some this weekend (Nike just recently bought Converse too, which I was glad to hear).
We walked down to the organic food market on Saturday which was amazing! It's about six or so blocks from our place. What a treasure.

US Embassy

2007-01-12T13:08:00.000Z

We were told by my HR department that we needed to go to the US Consulate to obtain a Certificate of Non-Marriage in order to process our visas. Apparently we are the first non-married couple that they have moved over from the States. Matthew and I were honestly a little excited to walk over to the Embassy and see what it was like. It's on the other side of town in the Museumplein, a very beautiful part of the city. We woke up early and headed off not really knowing exactly where it was, but found it easily enough by the big American flag. I guess in the recent past there have been some protests around the building so they have constructed these huge iron gates all around it with police presence. Pretty intimidating. We rang an intercom and needed to wait to be escorted in, bags searched and got the metal detector wand. The guard then walked us into the this little tiny vestibule where we had to claim our phones, camera, bags etc... Both of us took a peek inside and saw the crowds of people thinking this was worse than the Secretary of State or the DMV at lunchtime. Thankfully enough we got to go to a different line for our information. It didn't take long, basically paid $60 to fill out a form stating neither of us has ever been married and took an oath saying all of the information was true.
Moving into the apartment on Monday. Can't wait!

I'll just add my 2 or 3 cents, to Maureen's post:
-Approaching the US Consulate, we noticed the flag was at half-mass, is that for James Brown or Gerald Ford?
I'd like to think it was for the "Godfather", but I have my doubts.

-In the waiting area, there were some interesting posters.
One was for "Explore West Virginia".
Not to offend anyone from the great state of West Virginia.
I was just like, is this poster really going to drum up tourism, placed in Amsterdam?

Another poster caught our eye, the text read "Catch The Spirit", and the picture was of an Native American.
You can connect the dots, just seemed strange to me.

-Continuing on the American theme for the day.
I had lunch at McDonald's.
No a "Royale with Cheese" was not on the menu. Regardless of what "Pulp Fiction" has lead us to believe.
It tasted like the same crap as back home, but hey I had to try.

Tonight we are going to our first European art opening!
Its at a place called Foam, and they are showing crime scene photos from the Amsterdam police department.
Damn, I should have done something with the crime photos from my photo lab days.

One other item of note,
I've got a job interview already. Its at another ad agency in town, started by former W+K employees.
If I get it, Maureen and I will be working at rival agencies. Let the fireworks begin!
Kidding, they have a very good relationship with each other.

Random Amsterdam

2007-01-09T21:25:00.000Z

"Our Apartment ?"

2007-01-08T21:36:00.000Z

Today, January 8 2007...

We looked at apartments, with the best agent in town.
Donovan, was the best!

He showed us high end, low end, and all the end's in between...

I took pics of all the apartments.
The apartment we've verbally agreed to is amazing!

I only took a few shots, being I thought it was out of reach...
But here ya go...

"First Day"

2007-01-07T20:46:00.000Z

Monday January 2 was my first day of work. I am so excited to be a part of this agency. There are people from all over the world. In the business affairs departement I am the only American, there are two people from London and my supervisor is from Malaysia. Within the first week of work I made phone calls to Italy, France, Germany, Mexico, Canada, Poland and New Zealand. I love that aspect of this new job. Learning about all of the broadcast rules and regulations of all of the different countries is so interesting. Hell, just watching television here is fun. There is an Actimel milk commercial that shows a naked man running into the ocean. Try clearing that through the networks back home.
My first project is an Old Spice campaign that is only being shown in Eastern Europe. I'm helping out with some Wyborowa vodka (which we bought this weekend to taste test, pretty good!) ads and researching renewal info for some HVB (Hypovereinsbank) spots. I have to practice pronouncing things before getting on the phone with people, it's funny but everybody does it.
There are sixty stairs that I walk up and down everyday in order to get to my desk. Yes there is an elevator, but I will not be the only person using it. My calves were actually sore by the third day.

It's going to be a fun year.

We're Getting There

2007-01-07T18:24:00.000Z

The grocery store we have found ourselves frequenting is the Albert Heijn. It is getting better each time we go, but gone are the days of simply running into a store and quickly grabbing whatever it is you need. It takes time to read through each label hoping desperately to see one familiar word to make sure that I'm not buying decaffeinated coffee. Matthew surprised me with Heinz ketchup and Tobasco sauce. Now if I can find Hidden Valley Ranch and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese somewhere I'm golden!

The options for food here are amazing. Anything you could possibly want is here. We've had great pizza at an Italian restaurant, Indonesian at Bojo which was a great find, Chinese (Chinees here) in Chinatown, even done dinner Anthony Bourdain style with some street food of falafel and shwarma. The only fast food chains that we've seen are McDonalds, Burger King and KFC, of which there's only a handful of. I love it. However I'm pretty sure that they may be the only places to get a fountain soda. Soda is served in teeny tiny glass bottles. I'm a guzzler and this poses a bit of a problem. Febo is a Dutch fast food chain where you stand outside and put your money into a slot and grab whatever processed fried sandwich is inside. People seem to love it, but I'm a little weary.

The night before my first day of work the power in the apartment went out. Now we blew a fuse on the first day here when I plugged in my American blow dryer. (I've since heard this is a common occurrence, so needless to say a new dryer was my first European electronic purchase) So at first I thought we would simply need to flip the switch on the circuit breaker and we'd be back in business, but that was no go. It was nine thirty on New Years Day, nothing is open. Obviously we had to get in touch with the rental company, but had no phone and no idea how to make a phone call from a pay phone. Thinking this was the perfect time to figure it out we headed out to figure it out. The whole time visions of me arriving for my first day of work in wrinkled clothes and frizzy hair is making me crazy mad. I started fumbling around with the phone menu not understanding anything, sticking the credit card in when I thought you were supposed to, finally getting in touch with the operator who told me I was on an international phone and needed to find a local phone. Screw it!
We just went home and sent an email to the company and went to bed. In the morning getting ready try the whole thing over again, Matthew flipped the switch to double check and the power was back on. Thank god!

So far so good. I bought a cell phone this weekend, we're looking at apartments tomorrow, we went out with some new co-workers of mine, things are slowly coming together.

New Years Eve

2007-01-07T18:02:00.000Z

New Years in Amstedam is like nothing that either one of us has ever experienced before. We headed out after dinner to wander Dam Square where they were holding a huge festival with DJ's, lights, dancers etc.. We tooled around and took advantage of the local treats ; )until the crowds became too overwhelming and crazy (crazy Italians kicking cans and screaming, not knowing where we were, Chinese firecrackers being let off for twenty feet). At midnight the entire city for miles and miles lit up with fireworks. This is the only time in NL where fireworks are legal. So every corner of every street in the city is letting them off. For an hour and half, non-stop people walking out to the canals with glasses and bottles of champagne to watch it. I've never seen anything like it, utterly amazing.

It's the truth!

2006-12-28T18:30:00.000Z

We have arrived. Bleary eyed and quite exhausted from the days travels, but we're finally here!
We fully and completely expected to encounter some bad news about the weight and amount of luggage we had (we needed two cars to get dropped off at the airport), but no problems there. We also thought we'd get stopped at customs because we had so much stuff, hard drives etc.., but no problems there either. Our landlord met us on time, and the driver knew exactly where to go. I sat in that car on the ride to our temporary home in utter disbelief that we had made it and that it was all happening. I said out loud "I cannot believe I'm here". The driver looked over at me in a very matter of fact way and simply said "It is true." This has become the phrase of the moment.
The apartment is not the exact same on from the pictures we saw on line, it's a bit smaller but almost the same. There's a phone with no numbers on it and writing in Dutch, an oven the size of a small microwave, views into a dozen different apartments, as well as the neighboring canal. The place was really cold when we arrived so I turned up the thermostat to what I thought would be a comfortable temperature. Shortly after, we hit the road to explore the streets of this fabulous new city.
Both starving we walked into the first restaurant that was advertising a breakfast and was open. A slice of ham, cheese and salami with a hard boiled egg and toast. We walked for about four hours after just checking it all out. Needless to say that afterwards we were totally spent and decided to sleep off some of the jet lag. We found our apartment and it literally felt like we walked into the hubs of hell. It felt like it was a hundred degrees! Well, after looking up the Fahrenheit equivalent of what I jacked the thermostat too, it actually was.
I'll need to work on that.

We'll start adding pics soon. Just trying to settle in a bit first.
This is going to be crazy.

What day is it?

2006-12-21T23:20:00.000Z

Everything is a blur...
I guess we left Minnesota 3 days ago.

Lets see, it was a struggle to get across the state line.
Slow movers, returning the apartment keys to the wrong location, etc.
But hey what the hell, we made it out.

Had an uneventful road trip, weather was fine, and traffic light.
I (Matthew), even drove through Chiacgo! Which I never do.
Was feeling so good, that I drove the whole way unassisted.
Thanks Maureen...

Spent a few days at Maureen's dad.
Got lost.
Ran out of gas driving the rental car to Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Geeze, ...

Now we are at Maureen's Mom's place...
Enjoying doing nothing...

Maureen wants something on the blog, but doesn't want to write anything.
So everyone, is stuck with my blabbing...

Hope all is well, and we miss everyone back in Minnesota.
Next its good bye, to the Michiganders.

Matthew + Maureen