After a beautiful morning in Volendam, we got in the car to go to Haarlem. Unfortunately there was construction where three highways converge and we were caught in a massive traffic jam. The trip that should have taken us 30 minutes took us 2 hours!

On our way to Volendam we passed under a few very interesting things. The first being the canal that runs over the highway. I also took pictures from beside the water.


The second being one of many crossings for planes at Schiphol!



Volendam is a small, old fishing town in North Holland. When most people think of Dutch costumes, it's the traditional clothing of Volendam that they're thinking of.

Traditional Volendam Costume source

As in many Dutch towns where tourists tend to go, there were some giant clogs, and we convinced my mom to step into them!

There were some old wooden fishing boats at the pier. 


There was also a collection of streets that R referred to as 'the maze' where we thankfully didn't get lost.


R and I noticed my mom trying to get out of the way of the photo, so we did the same. Though we were clearly not as successful!

I think my mom was the only one who did a good job of hiding!

Next stop, Haarlem!

My mom and dad started their three week vacation with a visit here with R and I!

I thought their flight arrived at 12:50, but when I went to check their itinerary I was surprised to see that it was 12:10. I was glad that it was still 11:50 until we checked the Schiphol arrivals, and found that their plane had already landed! We got right on the road and raced to the airport. Thankfully they were still waiting for their luggage, so they didn't have to wait any longer for us.

We had arranged for them to be a bit early at the bed and breakfast Groen & Blauw in town so they could have a nap and relax for a bit after their flight. Since it wasn't time yet, we came back to R's apartment and hung out for a bit.

We came back to get them for a walk around the area on our way to R's parents' house for dinner.

A personal greenhouse and garden along the marathon route

Dutch house

Wooden Shoes!

R's mom made a delicious meal for us, and all of R's family showed up at some point, so my parents got to meat the whole gang! It was a lovely evening.

Last Sunday was R's family's annual get together. This year it was organized by three of his cousins, who arranged for us to go bowling at De Oude Tol in Sassenheim.

We arrived to find a slew of people on the patio, since it was a gorgeous day. R's mom's family is pretty big, so we took up pretty much the whole patio.

Once the organizers announced that we were bowling (it was supposed to be a surprise) we were told our lanes and sent into the shoe storage room to grab a pair of shoes. Not surprisingly, they're pretty much the same everywhere, though these ones had velcro rather than laces.

Bowling Shoes are the same everywhere!

R and I were in a lane with his sister in law, nice, and his cousin, her husband and their two daughters. The kids seemed to have a wonderful time, and so did I.

I am still trying to track down some of the photos from the weekend, and will update with what I find.

After the bowling was done we waited for our tables to be ready. Once they were, we sat down to some amazing looking meat and a hot stone stove where we could cook it.

Dutch BBQ!

One of R's cousins successfully executed the 'loosen the salt shaker lid' prank. One of R's sisters-in-law was the unfortunate soul who tried to put a dash of salt on the stone only to have the whole contents spilled out instead. It was pretty funny, and she was a pretty good sport about the whole thing - probably better than I would have done.

Raclette

During dinner they announced the winners of the bowling for highest girl, boy, woman and man. Can you believe that I had the highest woman's score? Me neither - technically I wasn't the highest, since two of the organizers had higher scores than I did. But since they decided it would look bad to give themselves the prize, I got it instead!

Winner!

Better still was that I beat R in our sole bowling match-up. He has decided we need a re-match. He has also said we need to go go-karting, because he thinks he can beat me. Silly R...

Last Friday night, R and I went to some of his friends' house's. It was a get together with some of his old friends, and they all had a great time reminiscing about some of the fun they got up to as kids. I was happy because I could follow most of the conversations! I had a bit of trouble after the music got turned up, but I was too busy enjoying myself to worry about it too much.

It turned into one of those evenings where anything goes! At one point, two of us were teaching the group to dance to 'Boot Scootin' Boogie'. Who'd have thought there'd be country music anywhere here!

Line Dancing

There was also plenty of Karaoke! In keeping with the country theme, I sang 'Friends in Low Places.'

"I toasted you, said honey we may be through..."

R and one of his friends sang 'Islands in the Stream', while another played along on the recorder... It was one of those kinds of nights.

Karaoke!

I didn't realize how late it was until I looked at the clock and it was after 4am! Seriously! I don't think I've stayed out that late ever, not even in school!

Friends!

I will apologize upfront for not having photos in this post, but I decided it was more important to be involved in the conversation than contemplating when would be a fun/interesting/appropriate time to take pictures...

Last Saturday R and I went to visit his friends and their brand new baby girl. She is a total sweetheart, but it sounds like she doesn't sleep very much. While we were there she was laying in her pram wide awake and flailing her arms and having an all around wonderful time. Unfortunately her mom just wanted her to sleep, which I totally get! She was born just two days before I arrived.

While we were there a show called "Ik hou van Holland" (I love Holland) came on the television. It struck me as a lot like Cranium for TV! But Dutch, of course. R said he doesn't like it very much, but I think it looked like lots of fun!

We also had some other friends over for dinner on Sunday. I made my very favourite Moroccan quinoa salad and some Greek burgers that I made the previous week and R really liked. I'm always a little nervous about having guests over (at my own place, and here too) but it went really well, and was lots of fun! I might even see if R wants to do it again!

Wednesday night R and I went for dinner with two of his friends to an awesome Teppanyaki Restaurant in Hoofddorp called Senbazuru. Our chef was hilarious and helpful, telling us which sauces we were supposed to use with each dish (if any). I would definitely recommend going, just know that it wasn't cheap like most restaurants here.

During the noodle course, the chef rolled up the fried egg and started shooting it in my direction. He then told me I was going to help him by catching one of the pieces in my mouth! R's friend knew this was coming and was kind enough to film it for me. It took me 3 tries, and unfortunately the successful attempt was not captured on film.

The funny thing about the location of this restaurant is its proximity to the ski hill. Yes, I said ski hill! R was highly embarrased that I wanted to take photos, but I did! It's an artificial surface with a T-bar lift. And the craziest part - it was busy on a Wednesday evening in September! I guess it's all the people getting ready for the ski season.

Add caption

Throughout the week of Kermis, a number of people told me that I couldn't miss the parade on Saturday. One of R's friends even went so far as to make sure I had the time and location that I needed to show up, since R had stayed in bed for 4 of the past 5 years.

And it was not disappointing - I love a good parade. The flowers on the floats were incredible, and it was set up so that individual kids could decorate their bikes or small vehicles as well!

Liefde voor Harmonie, the local marching band, celebrated its 125th year this year. It is apparently custom for all existing members to join the parade every year, so there were 5 conductors! It also made it very difficult to keep time between the front and the back... This was only noticible when they had to stop and we were right in the middle!

The start of the town marching band

After the band came their float. I should have taken a video, since parts of it rotated!

The super cool float

There were plenty of themed floats, including this one from the roaring 20's.

A friend of R is dancing on the left

Roaring Twenties

And this love float. Notice the guy in the crazy heart suit - this is an OppoSuit, a local dutch company that makes amazingly crazy suits!

The love float

I was also amazed to see some spinners on floats. But it let me know that I could find spinning somewhere in town!

When R and I were discussing when I should come for my extended stay, he suggested I should come for Kermis, literally translated as Carnival, the yearly festival that I heard so much about the past two years. He had trouble describing it to me, and after having attended, I now understand why. It's kind of like the Queen's homecoming, in that there are a lot of parties and a lot of people come back here for it, but it also includes a carnival like the CNE on one of the football clubs' fields. And, like most things here, there's a very different vibe to it, which I find very difficult to describe.

The first event was the Lange Galg Oost en Ryck marathon on Saturday.

On Sunday, there was a Rollerblade pub crawl, which we did not participate in. The event struck me as so funny, and it was fun to watch. I figure if I'd participated I would have ended up with no teeth! We went to one of his friends' houses instead, and further onto Cafe Hogenboom, where they had a stage set up outside, and a dj booth inside.

At one point, one of the owners (and R's friend) came around and gave us little white paper hats, and a guy dressed up as a butcher started singing outside. One of R's friends tried to explain the back-story to me, but I've since forgotten the details, which is typical. The hats were fun though...

Sorry about the poor quality

There were events going on all week, but we didn't attend another until Thursday. We went to what was supposed to be a 90's party. I was disappointed that R hadn't told me and I didn't have time to find a costume, but it turned out no-one was in costume and the music was more 70's than 90's, so it was probably a good thing!

On Friday we went first to Cafe Restaurant Heemskerk Jan Punt where we met up with all of R's friends. Apparently this is the place where R often plays Billiards, as there are two tables at this bar. Then we walked over to 't Veen Eten & Drinken, where there was a giant party going on outside, but we went inside where, thankfully, it was much quieter. Later in the evening, a live band (De Tranentrekkers) came on who sang a bunch of Dutch songs, that people loved to sing along to. I, of course, didn't know any of the words, but enjoyed it just the same!



Saturday was the Jeugdbloemencorso, which I will post about later this week blogged about here.

After the Parade, we stayed at R's friend's parents' house for a while drinking, eating and talking. Afterwards, we walked down the main street, and ran into a whole bunch of his family. It was at this point that I decided there was no way I was going to make it through the day without a nap, so R's dad and I walked to their house so he could look after his pigeons and I could have a nap. It was a glorious hour and I felt so energized afterwards.

I met up with R and his friends at a friend's house, where we had a little bite to eat, then walked over to Hoek (the Slush Puppy Edition), a street party run by a number of young people from the town. The decorations were super fun, and the dj's that they brought in were pretty incredible. No surprise I liked the guy who spun the 90's tunes for a large portion of his set!

Giant pineapples at the entrance!

I also had some french fries, dutch style, with peanut sauce and mayonnaise. I hate to admit it, but the mayonnaise on french fries is growing on me...

Yes, that's mayonnaise...

While we were there we ran into R's family. He and his brothers are a little bit crazy, and love watching them interact!

the brothers

After spending some time at Hoek, we walked back along the main street to Cafe de Haven where this amazing cover band, Komen Lopen, were in the middle of their set. I seriously can't even describe how amazing they were - when we walked in they were playing Daft Punk's Get Lucky, and I thought it was an awesome slightly acoustic version that a DJ was playing! Seriously, they're incredible!! De Haven had a floating stage and dance floor set up, since it's a gezellig (i.e. small) bar and the band needed way more room for everyone to enjoy.

Thankfully R got a photo showing just how excited I was!

My mom has worked from home for the past 8 or 9 years, and I don't know how she does it. I've been finding it challenging getting into a work routine when I don't have my daily bike commute and a desk that's surrounded by other people who are also working. Thankfully R has an extra room, and he was able to clear some space for me on the desk, so I have something like an office that's in a slightly different space than our living quarters.

Yesterday I started what I hope will become my new routine. Most days I have a large number of files to upload and/or download from my work server. This morning I had a submission to upload to an FTP site, so I set the upload going, then put on my shoes and went for a walk. I was only gone for about 30 minutes, but it was so nice to be outside, and made getting to work a little easier.

At lunch, rather than making myself a quick sandwich and heading back to my desk, I ate at the kitchen table. I also did the dishes from last night and did some laundry. Again, following a little break, it was easier to get back to work after lunch.

Yesterday marked the kick-off of the local yearly festival, Kermis. Part of the reason I chose to travel when I did was so that I could partake in the festivities, seeing as R could not accurately describe them to me.

My original plan was to watch (and support R and his team) in the marathon, however one of his friends' aunt's team lost their team member and back-up, so they called R and asked if I was interested. I had done a bit of running earlier in the month, so I figured it would be much nicer to participate than to just watch, and boy was I right!

The weather was terrible - windy, raining and 16 degrees C. I seriously debated what to wear, and ended up bringing a few options with me.

We arrived at the designated meeting point, where I met my team, Lady Powe(b)rrr. The theme for this year's race was Après Ski, which to the Dutch means dressing up like Germans or the Swiss. Thankfully my team just had tank tops made. Other teams had whole outfits, including wigs!

After we all got registered, they took each group's picture next to the 'chalet.' They also took pictures of the individuals who ran the marathon as individuals.

Lady Powe(b)rrrr

R's Team, Er lauft ein loel in my way!

I was runner #1 for my team, so I went to the 'start' line, where the proceed to escort us through a crazy narrow set of laneways, and over a bridge (the portion of the race in the water in the below image) to a bigger starting area.

The relay route

At the start, two people spoke for at least 10 minutes. I tuned them out because it was all in Dutch (naturally) but everyone else seemed quite put-off by their lengthy speeches. We were all so cold given the weather conditions and our attire.

The Racers, looking enthralled

The speakers

I know the speakers talked for at least 10 minutes, because I thought the race was supposed to start at noon, and we didn't get going until at least 12:10. That was the last time I looked at my phone before moving to the stopwatch app.

Finally, we were off

I noticed a bunch of cameras and go pros, but only found these two photos below of R and I. As more shop up, I will post them.

R is so fast he's blurry!

Me, realizing I should have started closer to the back

My first round was awful, thank goodness it was shorter than the rest! My official time was 12:17 for about 2.5 km. I had a stitch like nobody's business!  The 2nd round was much better, I ran the full 2.66km in 18:46 and felt good the whole way. In the 3rd round my IT band started acting up, and I knew I was going to have to pull out. It took me 20:37 to get through the route, and I could barely walk afterwards. Thankfully one of my teammates' daughters was on-call, and she was able to run the last 2 rounds for me. My team finished with a total time of 4:19:48.

I think this would have been a super fun race to participate in if the weather hadn't been so bad (rainy and windy). Everyone was so happy to be there, and had so much enthusiasm about the theme. Seriously, you need to check out the event photos! If I'm here at this time of the year again, I will definitely be looking for a team who can handle my slow pace as well as Lady Powe(b)rrrr did!!