Today I went in to Utrecht with my host mum to get the process for my visa started. It was fairly standard for most dealings with branches of government. Go in, wait, discover that the computer system is down so the agent who's helping you has to keep running off to check something on whatever is still working, find out that due to a recent rule change they need a fingerprint scan (I'm in a system now. Not sure how I'll feel about that in the long run, but right now I find it entertaining) so go do that, get temporary visa, and leave.
After we left, my host mum asked if I wanted to stay in Utrecht or go back with her. I said I'd stay, so she showed me which direction the station and center of the city was in and said "Have fun!"
So I set of on my adventure for the day. I was wandering down the street and ended up in a clothing store about halfway down the block. I thought "Well, I need some more cold weather shirts anyway so what the hell". So I wen shopping. Wandering out of the store later I turned towards the center of Utrecht and came across a street market so (of course) I wandered through. It was fairly standard as near as I could see, but they did have some cool stuff. Right on the other side of the market my attention was nabbed. I'd found a mall! I was surprisingly happy about this fact, which leads me to an aside.
I was having a conversation with a family member earlier this week about getting used to living here and some of the things I'd bumped in to or was having trouble with. After listening for a bit they said "You know, not only are you in a completely new country you're also from a big city and you've just moved to a small town, so you're actually going through two different adjustments at the same time so it's a bit like a double whammy." An I went "Oh my god. You're right. Huh." This was confirmed for me when I went to Utrecht. But more on that later.
Anyway, I headed up in to the mall, mostly just window shopping but I did pick up a few more things I'd been needing (There's an awesome store which has just about all the basic things you might suddenly go "Oh wait, I need that" about) and eventually found my way to a few of the restaurants. It was about 12:30 or thereabouts so I decided lunch might be in order. I had a very North American lunch except for the fact that I had mayo with my fries and the coffee always came with a tiny cookie. I had a short conversation with one of the servers there about learning Dutch, because I'd mentioned I couldn't yet and he asked me if that was why I was in Utrecht. At which point I remembered that Utrecht is a University town. He said he hoped they'd see me again and maybe next time I could try ordering in Dutch. I quite liked him.
After lunch I decided to leave the dark innards of the mall (They are similar no matter where you go. It was quite comforting, really) and headed outside. From the corner I could see the tall spire of the Dom which is one of Utrecht's tourist destinations and a lovely bell tower clock as well, so I headed in it's direction. It's a free standing tower and arch that's right across the street from St. Martin's Cathedral. And I found a bookstore right in front of it so I was happy.
St. Martin's Cathedral is a Protestant church and I think it's the only Gothic style church in the Netherlands. Or one of very few at any rate. It's beautiful. I need to go back just to wander through it again. There are wall murals and statues and gargoyles, and floor plaques that are huge and old. There's a big stone covered in runes and spiral carvings out in front and the doors are bronze with murals on them. Many of the statues and wall pieces have had their faces smashed off. It's all fascinating to me.
After I left St. Martins I headed down the street in the direction of the museum district, but got distracted when I found a comic store. I was so happy. I've decided I may become a regular over this next year, not least because when the staff noticed I was spending a lot of time going over the Asterix they had in stock (in both Dutch and English! Yaaay!) they mentioned that there was a new one coming out in October. Oh, and would I be interested in some Dutch and English Tintin? Or the English comics and manga downstairs? I was in a kind of geeky heaven and thoroughly enjoying myself.
I left with copies of a Tintin in two languages, an Asterix in two languages, and a new English comic one of the guys recommended, and decided now would be a good time to head to the station and go back to Blaricum. So I made my way back to the mall, which has an entrance in the station, and went to get my chipkart loaded up so I could get home. The chipkart is like the oyster card in London and the soon to be introduced compass card in Vancouver. Interesting thing about the chipkart. You can't use it if it has less than 20 euros on it. So there's pretty much always going to be twenty euros on the card that you can't use. Which just seems stupid to me. I got back to Blaricum alright, as it's fairly straight forward, and settled down for the rest of the evening.
So. To sum up. I love Utrecht. When I went to Amsterdam it was nice, but I didn't fall in love with it the same way. I've decided I need to give it a second chance, so I'll say the jury's still out but at the moment Utrecht is my go to city in the nearby area. There's a couple reasons for this. It's smaller than Amsterdam, and that's what I'm more accustomed to. It's a big city which to me is more like home but the general feel seemed slightly more relaxed and easy. I also found a couple of geek havens for myself all on the first visit, and I didn't manage that in Amsterdam. It's also a student city in some ways and I've always had a fondness for those. There's a special feel to them and an energy in the air that I love. The locals in student cities also seem to have large stores of patience for the younger and sillier members of society, (myself included) and can be incredibly helpful.
So I'll let y'all know what I think after I go to Amsterdam again.
Saturday, 21 September 2013
Saturday, 14 September 2013
Random thoughts and observations
Sorry for being silent for a while. I shall try my best to post something at least once a week in future.
I went to Amsterdam last weekend and wandered around a bit with a couple of the other girls. It's a gorgeous city. The buildings are lovely, the canals are fun, the interaction of city with tourists in certain areas is fascinating. We wandered through the red light district, albeit at a quiet time for the area, and it's fascinating to try and notice the differences between what you see here and what you'd be likely to see in a Canadian city. We seem rather prudish when compared to Amsterdam.
I'm getting much more comfortable with my host family. They're a lot of fun. The kids are entertaining and the parents have interesting bits of information.
I think I may come across as an introvert while I'm here and I don't think that's going to bother me much. I quite enjoy the company of several of the other girls in the area but I'm finding when I hit the weekend that I often need quite a bit of space. This is where having a housemate becomes interesting. I've ended up holed up in my room a fair bit because I reeeally don't want to deal with other people at the time. I also seem to be needing to go to bed earlier than I did at home most of the time. I'm getting tired and bitchy much closer to midnight than I used to, and I don't want to inflict that on the kids so I'll just give up and go to bed earlier, so the likelyhood of me staying up late for parties? Fairly low. Oh well.
My sanity savers are an interesting revelation for me. My tv shows and games I was expecting. Playing GW2 with Frost and the guildies also something I was expecting. And they are very, very helpful. Another thing that's been a mainstay is radio. Specifically NPR, oddly enough. (You know your a cross-border girl when...) It's one of the news radio stations I can get at my host family's house and I've been listening to it every morning. The travel channel and Animal Planet channel are a couple more. Funnily enough, one evening when I turned on the tv the show on the Travel channel was called Descending. Two guys going to the great scuba diving locations all over the globe. The episode that night was all about them going to great diving locations of the coast of Vancouver Island. I had not realised how much I missed the landscape and look of home. I'm having fun here and enjoying getting to know the look of Holland, but seeing the mountains and ocean off the BC coast was like a breath of fresh air.
But one of the big things that's keeping me grounded right now is my almost daily conversations with a friend in Japan. Ax got to Japan shortly after I got here and he's staying for three months, and the time difference is much more convenient for chatting with him than chatting with home so we often end up having conversations that'll stop and start on and off as long as both of us are awake at the same time. It's been incredibly helpful for me. On the days when I wake up and I'm feeling particularly homesick but it's too late to try and contact home, a half hours chat with Ax can make a huge difference in how the rest of my day goes. It's a familiar and known voice or way of phrasing things in the midst of unfamiliar or only slightly familiar noises and images.
I'm still homesick, though I don't notice most of the time now. Sometimes I'll hear or see something that reminds me of home or highlights a difference and I'm suddenly feeling homesick. Not usually to badly, but earlier this week on first day off I woke up almost in tears and it got worse from there. I was lucky though, because Frost (being Frost) was still awake. I was able to talk to him and my Mum which helped a hell of a lot, but I spent the first half of that day bursting in to tears every ten minutes or so. So yeah. It's still there and it spikes. Which is why I am extremely grateful to Ax and Frost, because they are the ones who are generally up when I'm feeling this way.
I'll try and post more regularly, and try and think of more interesting things to talk about, though I'll still vent when I need to.
Bye
I went to Amsterdam last weekend and wandered around a bit with a couple of the other girls. It's a gorgeous city. The buildings are lovely, the canals are fun, the interaction of city with tourists in certain areas is fascinating. We wandered through the red light district, albeit at a quiet time for the area, and it's fascinating to try and notice the differences between what you see here and what you'd be likely to see in a Canadian city. We seem rather prudish when compared to Amsterdam.
I'm getting much more comfortable with my host family. They're a lot of fun. The kids are entertaining and the parents have interesting bits of information.
I think I may come across as an introvert while I'm here and I don't think that's going to bother me much. I quite enjoy the company of several of the other girls in the area but I'm finding when I hit the weekend that I often need quite a bit of space. This is where having a housemate becomes interesting. I've ended up holed up in my room a fair bit because I reeeally don't want to deal with other people at the time. I also seem to be needing to go to bed earlier than I did at home most of the time. I'm getting tired and bitchy much closer to midnight than I used to, and I don't want to inflict that on the kids so I'll just give up and go to bed earlier, so the likelyhood of me staying up late for parties? Fairly low. Oh well.
My sanity savers are an interesting revelation for me. My tv shows and games I was expecting. Playing GW2 with Frost and the guildies also something I was expecting. And they are very, very helpful. Another thing that's been a mainstay is radio. Specifically NPR, oddly enough. (You know your a cross-border girl when...) It's one of the news radio stations I can get at my host family's house and I've been listening to it every morning. The travel channel and Animal Planet channel are a couple more. Funnily enough, one evening when I turned on the tv the show on the Travel channel was called Descending. Two guys going to the great scuba diving locations all over the globe. The episode that night was all about them going to great diving locations of the coast of Vancouver Island. I had not realised how much I missed the landscape and look of home. I'm having fun here and enjoying getting to know the look of Holland, but seeing the mountains and ocean off the BC coast was like a breath of fresh air.
But one of the big things that's keeping me grounded right now is my almost daily conversations with a friend in Japan. Ax got to Japan shortly after I got here and he's staying for three months, and the time difference is much more convenient for chatting with him than chatting with home so we often end up having conversations that'll stop and start on and off as long as both of us are awake at the same time. It's been incredibly helpful for me. On the days when I wake up and I'm feeling particularly homesick but it's too late to try and contact home, a half hours chat with Ax can make a huge difference in how the rest of my day goes. It's a familiar and known voice or way of phrasing things in the midst of unfamiliar or only slightly familiar noises and images.
I'm still homesick, though I don't notice most of the time now. Sometimes I'll hear or see something that reminds me of home or highlights a difference and I'm suddenly feeling homesick. Not usually to badly, but earlier this week on first day off I woke up almost in tears and it got worse from there. I was lucky though, because Frost (being Frost) was still awake. I was able to talk to him and my Mum which helped a hell of a lot, but I spent the first half of that day bursting in to tears every ten minutes or so. So yeah. It's still there and it spikes. Which is why I am extremely grateful to Ax and Frost, because they are the ones who are generally up when I'm feeling this way.
I'll try and post more regularly, and try and think of more interesting things to talk about, though I'll still vent when I need to.
Bye
Saturday, 31 August 2013
A few observations.
A few observations after my first week here.
I've discovered there's a fine line between what people seem to call bluntness and being outright rude. I had an experience a few days ago where someone commented on a physical feature of mine and told me I might want to change it while I'm living here. I was hurt. Very hurt. I thought about it for two days, and then I told the person how I was feeling, whereupon they explained why they had said what they did. Suddenly it all made sense. It wasn't such an issue and I was feeling much better about the whole thing. The observation is: There is a point to the conversational preamble. If I had heard the reason for the suggestion it's entirely possible I would have reacted better than I did, but by going straight to the point a few important pieces of information were missed and I had two days of being upset and uncomfortable as I sorted things out in my head.
Another thing that has kept popping up on the fringes of my awareness is the fact that nobody picks up after their dog. It's completely normal here, and I'm pretty much used to it but it's something so opposite to what is normal in Vancouver that I can't help noticing it. Most of the dogs seem to go in long grass or in amongst the trees but every now and again you come across a small pile on the side of the road.
Another thing. I have never, ever, seen so many bikes tootling about before. I'm being cautious about my bike, perhaps more cautious then I should be, but there are a lot of other bikes on the roads and trails to contend with and I'm still finding my way around the town. Plus, cars have always made me nervous if I'm not in one. I have a lot of respect for their size and weight and I'm unaccustomed to sharing road space with them. That said, I'm fairly sure I'll be biking a lot more. Possibly by the end of September and certainly after two months. You just can't do much if you don't bike here. Everyone goes absolutely everywhere on them. Oh, and no helmets. I've seen maybe four people wearing helmets since I got here and all of them were what people in Vancouver tend to think of when you say "cyclist" Fancy bikes, spandex clothes, and of course, helmets. So the only people who wear helmets are those who are out to bike as a sport instead of as a way to get from point A to point B.
And about me.
I'm behaving a bit like a turtle at the moment. Staying close to the places I know, not going out much, etc. Part of me is thinking "Shouldn't you be trying to meet people? Or explore more? Or something?" Another part of me (the louder part at the moment) is thinking "Seriously?! You've only been here a week! You don't even have a sense of 'Normal' yet! It'll happen. Don't rush it." So far I've been paying slightly more attention to the second head voice. And I'm feeling a little guilty which I probably shouldn't be. But everything still seems a little confusing. Which means I should probably keep paying a little more attention to the second voice, right?
That's it for now. See ya.
I've discovered there's a fine line between what people seem to call bluntness and being outright rude. I had an experience a few days ago where someone commented on a physical feature of mine and told me I might want to change it while I'm living here. I was hurt. Very hurt. I thought about it for two days, and then I told the person how I was feeling, whereupon they explained why they had said what they did. Suddenly it all made sense. It wasn't such an issue and I was feeling much better about the whole thing. The observation is: There is a point to the conversational preamble. If I had heard the reason for the suggestion it's entirely possible I would have reacted better than I did, but by going straight to the point a few important pieces of information were missed and I had two days of being upset and uncomfortable as I sorted things out in my head.
Another thing that has kept popping up on the fringes of my awareness is the fact that nobody picks up after their dog. It's completely normal here, and I'm pretty much used to it but it's something so opposite to what is normal in Vancouver that I can't help noticing it. Most of the dogs seem to go in long grass or in amongst the trees but every now and again you come across a small pile on the side of the road.
Another thing. I have never, ever, seen so many bikes tootling about before. I'm being cautious about my bike, perhaps more cautious then I should be, but there are a lot of other bikes on the roads and trails to contend with and I'm still finding my way around the town. Plus, cars have always made me nervous if I'm not in one. I have a lot of respect for their size and weight and I'm unaccustomed to sharing road space with them. That said, I'm fairly sure I'll be biking a lot more. Possibly by the end of September and certainly after two months. You just can't do much if you don't bike here. Everyone goes absolutely everywhere on them. Oh, and no helmets. I've seen maybe four people wearing helmets since I got here and all of them were what people in Vancouver tend to think of when you say "cyclist" Fancy bikes, spandex clothes, and of course, helmets. So the only people who wear helmets are those who are out to bike as a sport instead of as a way to get from point A to point B.
And about me.
I'm behaving a bit like a turtle at the moment. Staying close to the places I know, not going out much, etc. Part of me is thinking "Shouldn't you be trying to meet people? Or explore more? Or something?" Another part of me (the louder part at the moment) is thinking "Seriously?! You've only been here a week! You don't even have a sense of 'Normal' yet! It'll happen. Don't rush it." So far I've been paying slightly more attention to the second head voice. And I'm feeling a little guilty which I probably shouldn't be. But everything still seems a little confusing. Which means I should probably keep paying a little more attention to the second voice, right?
That's it for now. See ya.
Sunday, 25 August 2013
Back in time a bit
Ok, back to England where I left off.
Monday morning D dropped us off at the train station in Dorking around 9 am and we headed in to London. We got off the train at Waterloo and decided to take a walk. The first thing we passed was the London Eye. Pictures were taken and we moved on, Frost noting as we passed the London Dungeon that he'd have to come back without me sometime.
Than we found the aquarium. Frost bounced and jigged and asked if we could go, so we did. It is a good thing he took as many pictures as he did because at that point I'd hit my "feeling reeeeally queasy" part of the day. I did, however, notice the shark tank. You walk over right as you enter the aquarium and can look straight down at all the sharks and fish swimming just beneath your feet. It's quite cool. They also have penguins.
After the aquarium we head over the bridge, past the Houses of Parliament, wandered by Westminster Abbey and marvelled at the absolutely huge queue, and carried on to St. James' Park. Where we saw lots of Canada geese mixed in with what I think of as regular geese, ducks, and other waterfowls.
Than we reached Buckingham Palace. More masses of people. I was strongly reminded of why I generally avoid the tourist season. Anywhere. We took some pictures and headed up the Mall to Trafalgar Square where we stopped to have lunch, and continued on our way. Partway to the British Museum we found what I believe was called the Forbidden Planet cult store or something similar. Basically it was a giant geek merch shop. Awesomeness. Needless to say, we went in. After a brief browse we came out with one thing each and kept going up the street, stopping every now and then to check the helpful street side maps to make sure we were still where we wanted to be.
And then we found the museum. It's huge. I mean massive. And it's completely full of archaeological treasures and curios. If I had been less sore and exhausted when we walked in the doors I probably would have done a little happy dance. Oh, and did I mention that the special exhibit at the moment is artifacts from Pompeii on loan from Italy? So much squeeing here! Sold out, unfortunately. The sad part for me is that I was so tired (and probably dehydrated too) that I couldn't concentrate on what was in front of me long enough to appreciate it. We went through the Egyptian wing and started on Ancient England when all three of us went "That's it. Sitting down now." We managed to find some seats on the main floor and got something to drink, had a brief chat with a local couple and their daughter and decided that as much as we would love to look around some more we were absolutely bushed. So we headed back to Dorking. I think this may have been the evening that Star Wars kinect was first brought up. Either way, it was decided that, as we were staying in on Tuesday we would see about getting the game working so Frost could show Im and Cal the dancing part of the game.
Tuesday morning we slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, and then headed out for a walk. We followed the public footpath up a couple hills and past farmers fields until we reached one of the nearby villages. I can't remember the name at the moment, but they have a very nice pub that we had lunch at and then walked back. After dinner Cal finished getting the kinect set up whereupon the dancing began! An aside; Never leave your travel plans too late in the middle of the Summer. The ferry I wanted to leave on was booked up, so, with help from D, I eventually got a bus ticket booked to Amsterdam for Thursday evening.
Wednesday I stayed in while Frost, Dad, and Im went in to London. I relaxed. When they got back that evening we got regaled with the stories of the day over dinner. They got tickets for the afternoon Wicked show and then went to Covent Garden where Im watched the magic show. They also had pizza and got Cupcakes, chocolate, and I can't remember if ice cream was mentioned or not. After dinner there was more dancing! Im, Frost, and Cal all traded off every dance or so until the bedtime instruction was given, at which point Frost decided to stay up until he'd unlocked the Deathstar dance party. I went upstairs to pack, as I was leaving the next evening for Amsterdam.
Thursday morning we hauled my bags downstairs and left for the Dorking station. The last time for me. We waited an hour before we got the tickets, because they're much cheaper off peak. Then we headed to Victoria station where we stuck my bags in the left luggage office and then went out again. I decided I was to nervous about time to try to squeeze a matinee in before I had to be at the coach station so we headed to the Early Music store and then had lunch. After lunch, we decided to try for the London zoo. So we hopped on the tube again and headed over to Regents Park. It took a bit longer than I'd bargained for, so instead of going to the zoo we meandered our way through the park and then back to the tube station. Back to Victoria and Dad made sure I had some food. We also managed to find an adaptor for my computer so I could use in the rest of Europe. Then we waited.
There are so very many people that go through the stations in London. I've been in crowded cities before but I don't think I've ever noticed the sheer mass as much as I did then. "A sea of people" quite literally. I sat against a wall, feeling exhausted and watching the people stream past me. It actually made me more tired than I already was, watching the bustle. It also made me want to be heading back to D and R's instead of going somewhere completely new and strange. Those last few days I had not been looking forward to this part of my journey, and it was building to a peak now.
We got my bags and headed to the coach station. And it was a mass of hurry up and wait. I had to check in and then find the gate the bus was coming to and wait some more. At this point Frost and Dad had to leave so they could catch their train. Dad cried. I didn't quite but the pressure inside grew.
The bus was late, but we left only about fifteen minutes later than scheduled and began the drive to Dover. There's a point on the highway that you know you're getting close when the dirt goes white. The route the bus took through Dover gave us a great view of Dover Castle all lit up for the night. The first was, of course, the French border where all the passports got stamped. then the wait to board the ferry and then the ferry trip itself. It was jammed with buses full of teenagers, some of whom were clever and found stairwells to try and sleep in. I decided it would be a good idea to copy them. Around one fifteen the ferry arrived in Calais and we started on the looooong drive portion of the trip. Mental note. If going back to England at any point this next year, try and avoid the bus. It's as uncomfortable to sleep on as some aeroplanes. There was a brief stop at a petrol station in Belgium and the journey continued. At about seven in the morning, after three other stops, the bus arrived in Amsterdam. I ended up taking another bus, this one a public transit bus, to the Amsterdam Rai station where F was meeting me. After we lugged the bags in to the car we headed to Blaricum.
We got to the house just as the youngest two were leaving for school. I got to say hi and had a short conversation with R (different R) and F and then I cleaned up and had a nap. When I woke up the oldest, Ti, was also up and it was lunch time. R took me to pick Ma up from his friend's house by bike, but the bike I was using was too big and I fell off twice, at which point we walked home. I had another chat with the parents as to what was going to be happening the next few days, and some of the basic "things you need to know" and then F helped me figure out how to call home. Which I did. And burst in to tears. I think I may have to do a separate post about missing family. After the phone call I went to bed, and slept 'til eleven the next day.
Saturday F got the bike I am going to be using and adjusted it so I could use it and I did a quick bike around the block. R, Ma, and myself went further afield to run the dog, and there were guests for dinner. The family who's au pair had been staying in the cottage, actually, but she left that morning to go home to South Africa. I talked to Mum again, and I think I may try to turn that in to an almost daily thing as it settles me and helps me think. At least until I've settled in here.
Sunday I slept late again, rode the bike down to Laren and back up to Blaricum's main shopping strip, took the dog for a run with F and Na, and typed this up.
I think the next post may well be about messy emotions and/or missing my family. I'm beginning to feel a need to vent.
Night all.
Monday morning D dropped us off at the train station in Dorking around 9 am and we headed in to London. We got off the train at Waterloo and decided to take a walk. The first thing we passed was the London Eye. Pictures were taken and we moved on, Frost noting as we passed the London Dungeon that he'd have to come back without me sometime.
Than we found the aquarium. Frost bounced and jigged and asked if we could go, so we did. It is a good thing he took as many pictures as he did because at that point I'd hit my "feeling reeeeally queasy" part of the day. I did, however, notice the shark tank. You walk over right as you enter the aquarium and can look straight down at all the sharks and fish swimming just beneath your feet. It's quite cool. They also have penguins.
After the aquarium we head over the bridge, past the Houses of Parliament, wandered by Westminster Abbey and marvelled at the absolutely huge queue, and carried on to St. James' Park. Where we saw lots of Canada geese mixed in with what I think of as regular geese, ducks, and other waterfowls.
Than we reached Buckingham Palace. More masses of people. I was strongly reminded of why I generally avoid the tourist season. Anywhere. We took some pictures and headed up the Mall to Trafalgar Square where we stopped to have lunch, and continued on our way. Partway to the British Museum we found what I believe was called the Forbidden Planet cult store or something similar. Basically it was a giant geek merch shop. Awesomeness. Needless to say, we went in. After a brief browse we came out with one thing each and kept going up the street, stopping every now and then to check the helpful street side maps to make sure we were still where we wanted to be.
And then we found the museum. It's huge. I mean massive. And it's completely full of archaeological treasures and curios. If I had been less sore and exhausted when we walked in the doors I probably would have done a little happy dance. Oh, and did I mention that the special exhibit at the moment is artifacts from Pompeii on loan from Italy? So much squeeing here! Sold out, unfortunately. The sad part for me is that I was so tired (and probably dehydrated too) that I couldn't concentrate on what was in front of me long enough to appreciate it. We went through the Egyptian wing and started on Ancient England when all three of us went "That's it. Sitting down now." We managed to find some seats on the main floor and got something to drink, had a brief chat with a local couple and their daughter and decided that as much as we would love to look around some more we were absolutely bushed. So we headed back to Dorking. I think this may have been the evening that Star Wars kinect was first brought up. Either way, it was decided that, as we were staying in on Tuesday we would see about getting the game working so Frost could show Im and Cal the dancing part of the game.
Tuesday morning we slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, and then headed out for a walk. We followed the public footpath up a couple hills and past farmers fields until we reached one of the nearby villages. I can't remember the name at the moment, but they have a very nice pub that we had lunch at and then walked back. After dinner Cal finished getting the kinect set up whereupon the dancing began! An aside; Never leave your travel plans too late in the middle of the Summer. The ferry I wanted to leave on was booked up, so, with help from D, I eventually got a bus ticket booked to Amsterdam for Thursday evening.
Wednesday I stayed in while Frost, Dad, and Im went in to London. I relaxed. When they got back that evening we got regaled with the stories of the day over dinner. They got tickets for the afternoon Wicked show and then went to Covent Garden where Im watched the magic show. They also had pizza and got Cupcakes, chocolate, and I can't remember if ice cream was mentioned or not. After dinner there was more dancing! Im, Frost, and Cal all traded off every dance or so until the bedtime instruction was given, at which point Frost decided to stay up until he'd unlocked the Deathstar dance party. I went upstairs to pack, as I was leaving the next evening for Amsterdam.
Thursday morning we hauled my bags downstairs and left for the Dorking station. The last time for me. We waited an hour before we got the tickets, because they're much cheaper off peak. Then we headed to Victoria station where we stuck my bags in the left luggage office and then went out again. I decided I was to nervous about time to try to squeeze a matinee in before I had to be at the coach station so we headed to the Early Music store and then had lunch. After lunch, we decided to try for the London zoo. So we hopped on the tube again and headed over to Regents Park. It took a bit longer than I'd bargained for, so instead of going to the zoo we meandered our way through the park and then back to the tube station. Back to Victoria and Dad made sure I had some food. We also managed to find an adaptor for my computer so I could use in the rest of Europe. Then we waited.
There are so very many people that go through the stations in London. I've been in crowded cities before but I don't think I've ever noticed the sheer mass as much as I did then. "A sea of people" quite literally. I sat against a wall, feeling exhausted and watching the people stream past me. It actually made me more tired than I already was, watching the bustle. It also made me want to be heading back to D and R's instead of going somewhere completely new and strange. Those last few days I had not been looking forward to this part of my journey, and it was building to a peak now.
We got my bags and headed to the coach station. And it was a mass of hurry up and wait. I had to check in and then find the gate the bus was coming to and wait some more. At this point Frost and Dad had to leave so they could catch their train. Dad cried. I didn't quite but the pressure inside grew.
The bus was late, but we left only about fifteen minutes later than scheduled and began the drive to Dover. There's a point on the highway that you know you're getting close when the dirt goes white. The route the bus took through Dover gave us a great view of Dover Castle all lit up for the night. The first was, of course, the French border where all the passports got stamped. then the wait to board the ferry and then the ferry trip itself. It was jammed with buses full of teenagers, some of whom were clever and found stairwells to try and sleep in. I decided it would be a good idea to copy them. Around one fifteen the ferry arrived in Calais and we started on the looooong drive portion of the trip. Mental note. If going back to England at any point this next year, try and avoid the bus. It's as uncomfortable to sleep on as some aeroplanes. There was a brief stop at a petrol station in Belgium and the journey continued. At about seven in the morning, after three other stops, the bus arrived in Amsterdam. I ended up taking another bus, this one a public transit bus, to the Amsterdam Rai station where F was meeting me. After we lugged the bags in to the car we headed to Blaricum.
We got to the house just as the youngest two were leaving for school. I got to say hi and had a short conversation with R (different R) and F and then I cleaned up and had a nap. When I woke up the oldest, Ti, was also up and it was lunch time. R took me to pick Ma up from his friend's house by bike, but the bike I was using was too big and I fell off twice, at which point we walked home. I had another chat with the parents as to what was going to be happening the next few days, and some of the basic "things you need to know" and then F helped me figure out how to call home. Which I did. And burst in to tears. I think I may have to do a separate post about missing family. After the phone call I went to bed, and slept 'til eleven the next day.
Saturday F got the bike I am going to be using and adjusted it so I could use it and I did a quick bike around the block. R, Ma, and myself went further afield to run the dog, and there were guests for dinner. The family who's au pair had been staying in the cottage, actually, but she left that morning to go home to South Africa. I talked to Mum again, and I think I may try to turn that in to an almost daily thing as it settles me and helps me think. At least until I've settled in here.
Sunday I slept late again, rode the bike down to Laren and back up to Blaricum's main shopping strip, took the dog for a run with F and Na, and typed this up.
I think the next post may well be about messy emotions and/or missing my family. I'm beginning to feel a need to vent.
Night all.
Friday, 23 August 2013
Interlude
It's somewhat amazing how small cultural differences can seem so huge.
I'm not thinking of any one thing in particular at the moment so I suppose that it's many small ones all added up but isn't that how culture shock works? I think I might be hyper-aware of all that right now, being overtired and somewhat homesick but that is generally when I get ambushed by these sorts of things.
Everything that has a negative impact seems worse than it actually is and you worry more than you need to even as you're telling yourself "it's really not that bad". I miss the familiar. The odd familiar. The right trees, the right tones and intonations. Or right for me anyway.
At the same time I can enjoy things. The people I'm meeting, how pretty it is, how old somethings are, the transit system (or what I've seen of it). But I'm still tired and over-experiencing, over-processing, over-feeling, whatever you want to call it. It's not comfortable. And even when you know intellectually that it'll be better with sleep and should mostly go away eventually you still cry and say "It's not better now!"
All I can do is read a book to distract myself and go to sleep. And hope it is better in the morning.
Sometimes a year can seem like an eternity. Especially at the beginning.
I'm not thinking of any one thing in particular at the moment so I suppose that it's many small ones all added up but isn't that how culture shock works? I think I might be hyper-aware of all that right now, being overtired and somewhat homesick but that is generally when I get ambushed by these sorts of things.
Everything that has a negative impact seems worse than it actually is and you worry more than you need to even as you're telling yourself "it's really not that bad". I miss the familiar. The odd familiar. The right trees, the right tones and intonations. Or right for me anyway.
At the same time I can enjoy things. The people I'm meeting, how pretty it is, how old somethings are, the transit system (or what I've seen of it). But I'm still tired and over-experiencing, over-processing, over-feeling, whatever you want to call it. It's not comfortable. And even when you know intellectually that it'll be better with sleep and should mostly go away eventually you still cry and say "It's not better now!"
All I can do is read a book to distract myself and go to sleep. And hope it is better in the morning.
Sometimes a year can seem like an eternity. Especially at the beginning.
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Back from the realm of no internet
Ok, this might be a long one.
So having traversed the customs officials and security of Heathrow, I made my way to Paddington Station where I found Dad falling asleep at a table at the pub I was meeting him at. So I woke him up and we began the process of finding our way to Leatherhead. I can't quite remember how long it took to get there because I spent most of the commute in a jet lagged daze, but we did get there eventually and checked in to the hotel. Beds! Huzzah! But dinner first. Most everything was closed by the time we'd got our room and dropped the bags off so we went to Sainsbury's and found some "just add water" soup and oatcakes and jam. Dad also found some alcoholic ginger beer, so he was happy. Back to the hotel, ingest food, and collapse into bed. Only to wake up at 4 am unable to go back to sleep (not Dad, he was snoring away). So I gave up and read until I noticed the sky was beginning to get lighter, at which point I decided that a small amount of sleep might be a good idea if I didn't want to go all zombie later that day.
I got up properly at a fairly reasonable hour and we went exploring. We found the theatre Frost's show was happening in, went to a local bookshop, found the nearest pub, and the nearest Italian sandwich shop where we had lunch. Then I crashed. Until dinner, which was had at the pub. They show much more interesting sports on the pub/restaurant tvs here than they do in Canada.
Saturday was another mostly crash day for me, except that we were seeing both shows that day. So the matinee was with the understudies playing the leads and the evening show was the main cast. The afternoon show was good enough to make me decide I might not mind West Side story after all, and look forward to the evening show. The brother and two of his friends came out to say hi after it finished. I have not been tackle hugged in a very long time, and Frost is no light weight. Him and his dancer muscles... It was great to see him and Em though. Had a very nice dinner chat with Em's Mum between shows, and headed back for West Side story take two! This was also very good. I liked the fact that there was live music, The audience was very full and certain family members cheered loudly, and I noticed that there was no understudy for the role of Tony. There was an absolute crush of people waiting in the front afterwards and people coming in and out to try and get the parents to grab their child's bag, and then the cast emerged. I don't think I have ever been in the middle of so many crying and post show buzzed people before. It took two hours for everyone to get outside, let alone head off to bed, but it was quite fun to watch. And of course, even after we were back in the hotel room that did not mean we were winding down. Oh, no, we couldn't possibly! Frost chattered for another hour at least, so none of us went to bed until 1:30 or so.
Sunday we slept late. Of course. We still managed to get everything packed up and downstairs in time for checkout, whereupon we headed to the pub for brunch and to wait for our pick up, and talk about Frost's last three weeks some more.
D arrived to pick us up with Cal in tow as they had just arrived from a trip to Canada to see D's Mum. it is rather funny that we arrived in England about the time they left. We got to their place, a lovely house on the North Downs ( I think ) and hauled our bags upstairs and had a cup of tea until R had to go get Im. I then went and got my laptop set up whereupon Frost took it so he could chat with his new friends, after which we had a very, very good dinner of barbecued salmon and vegetables from their garden and a pudding of fruit (from their garden) and yoghurt. And then we went to bed.
On that note I shall leave you. Good night all.
So having traversed the customs officials and security of Heathrow, I made my way to Paddington Station where I found Dad falling asleep at a table at the pub I was meeting him at. So I woke him up and we began the process of finding our way to Leatherhead. I can't quite remember how long it took to get there because I spent most of the commute in a jet lagged daze, but we did get there eventually and checked in to the hotel. Beds! Huzzah! But dinner first. Most everything was closed by the time we'd got our room and dropped the bags off so we went to Sainsbury's and found some "just add water" soup and oatcakes and jam. Dad also found some alcoholic ginger beer, so he was happy. Back to the hotel, ingest food, and collapse into bed. Only to wake up at 4 am unable to go back to sleep (not Dad, he was snoring away). So I gave up and read until I noticed the sky was beginning to get lighter, at which point I decided that a small amount of sleep might be a good idea if I didn't want to go all zombie later that day.
I got up properly at a fairly reasonable hour and we went exploring. We found the theatre Frost's show was happening in, went to a local bookshop, found the nearest pub, and the nearest Italian sandwich shop where we had lunch. Then I crashed. Until dinner, which was had at the pub. They show much more interesting sports on the pub/restaurant tvs here than they do in Canada.
Saturday was another mostly crash day for me, except that we were seeing both shows that day. So the matinee was with the understudies playing the leads and the evening show was the main cast. The afternoon show was good enough to make me decide I might not mind West Side story after all, and look forward to the evening show. The brother and two of his friends came out to say hi after it finished. I have not been tackle hugged in a very long time, and Frost is no light weight. Him and his dancer muscles... It was great to see him and Em though. Had a very nice dinner chat with Em's Mum between shows, and headed back for West Side story take two! This was also very good. I liked the fact that there was live music, The audience was very full and certain family members cheered loudly, and I noticed that there was no understudy for the role of Tony. There was an absolute crush of people waiting in the front afterwards and people coming in and out to try and get the parents to grab their child's bag, and then the cast emerged. I don't think I have ever been in the middle of so many crying and post show buzzed people before. It took two hours for everyone to get outside, let alone head off to bed, but it was quite fun to watch. And of course, even after we were back in the hotel room that did not mean we were winding down. Oh, no, we couldn't possibly! Frost chattered for another hour at least, so none of us went to bed until 1:30 or so.
Sunday we slept late. Of course. We still managed to get everything packed up and downstairs in time for checkout, whereupon we headed to the pub for brunch and to wait for our pick up, and talk about Frost's last three weeks some more.
D arrived to pick us up with Cal in tow as they had just arrived from a trip to Canada to see D's Mum. it is rather funny that we arrived in England about the time they left. We got to their place, a lovely house on the North Downs ( I think ) and hauled our bags upstairs and had a cup of tea until R had to go get Im. I then went and got my laptop set up whereupon Frost took it so he could chat with his new friends, after which we had a very, very good dinner of barbecued salmon and vegetables from their garden and a pudding of fruit (from their garden) and yoghurt. And then we went to bed.
On that note I shall leave you. Good night all.
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
Almost Lift Off
I'm skating perilously close to panic. Well, maybe not full panic, but freaking out for sure. I'm tired. The past couple of days when I hit tired I start thinking "I don't WANT to go!" Or, "I can't do this!" Even if another part of my brain is going "Pshaw! Of course you can! It'll be fun!" and "You're just tired. Deal." The various opinions in my head can be quite unhelpful at times.
The other thing that's happening that is making it harder is saying goodbye to people. A friend helped me out with the money for my new laptop, and unfortunately I saw him about ten minutes after I'd hit the crash point yesterday. I kinda feel like I didn't say goodbye properly which is disappointing for me. And entirely my fault. Lesson learned.
And my cousin. Cousins, actually. Last night I had an awesome visit with two of them and went home thinking "My god. I don't get to do that again for a year. This is gonna be hard." I had a vague sad feeling for the rest of the night.
Now, the other side of all this, of course, is the fact that I won't be completely cut off from them all. The friend who helped with the laptop? I can chat with him using my lovely new machine. Same with my cousins. In fact, one of them was talking about buying herself a webcam so we could actually see each other! Woo! In all seriousness though, just being able to talk to all of them will help. It won't be quite the same as speaking face to face but the anticipation will make coming home that much sweeter.
The other thing that's happening that is making it harder is saying goodbye to people. A friend helped me out with the money for my new laptop, and unfortunately I saw him about ten minutes after I'd hit the crash point yesterday. I kinda feel like I didn't say goodbye properly which is disappointing for me. And entirely my fault. Lesson learned.
And my cousin. Cousins, actually. Last night I had an awesome visit with two of them and went home thinking "My god. I don't get to do that again for a year. This is gonna be hard." I had a vague sad feeling for the rest of the night.
Now, the other side of all this, of course, is the fact that I won't be completely cut off from them all. The friend who helped with the laptop? I can chat with him using my lovely new machine. Same with my cousins. In fact, one of them was talking about buying herself a webcam so we could actually see each other! Woo! In all seriousness though, just being able to talk to all of them will help. It won't be quite the same as speaking face to face but the anticipation will make coming home that much sweeter.
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