Getting Settled in Amsterdam

It's the beginning of March and I've been in Amsterdam for about 3 months now, give or take. It has taken some time to get settled in and adjusted to life in a new place. Believe me it is not like moving to another city or even another state; life in a foreign country is completely different. I never thought I would ever say that I miss Wal-Mart, but I do!! I've come to realize that Americans live a life of pure convenience...you're hungry, you drive to Taco Bell. You need groceries, a TV, a new outfit, and perhaps a new tire, you go to Wal-Mart. Here if you need groceries, you go to your local grocery store, which is Albert Heijn (largest grocery store chain in the city). If you need a TV, you have to go the electronics store that sells them. You want an outfit, well there are several clothing retails shops to choose from. But my point is that there is no one place where you can get everything. Case in point, there is a retail store right around the corner from where I live, called HEMA. They sell a little bit of this and just a little bit of that. I needed toilet paper one day, so I thought since this store sold toothpaste, makeup remover and other toiletry items, surely they would have toilet paper....NOPE. Only two stores with a 10 block radius of me sell toilet paper...go figure. Okay so that was just one random example, but my point is I have had to learn to let go of convenience.
Also I have embraced the Dutch method of transportation and started riding a bike. Yes the Dutch are HUGE cyclists, but not in the Lance Armstrong sort of way you might imagine. The typical bicycle in Amsterdam looks like it was made in the 1950's and comes complete with basket on the front...oh and the generally accepted brake method is the pedal back way. Let's just say my first experience on the "Dutch" bike was quite a sight!!! First of all my bike is the one that came with my apartment, that my landlady used to ride. I'm renting from a typical Dutch woman, and by typical I mean about 5'11". FYI Dutch people are VERY tall. So I get on this bike and pretty much fall right off as the seat is not equipped for someone who is pretty much 7" to 8" shorter than it's previous rider. My first attempt on the bike lasted all of 5 mins, well pretty much ended when I figured I was too short to ride it. My second attempt happened when I finally got the wrench out and lowered the seat to the lowest point it would go down, which by the way is still a bit too tall (insert short joke here). So I decided I would ride my bike around the area where I live, check out what was near me. In case you aren't aware, riding a bike does not come back just like that...it had been over 15 years since I last rode a bike. I felt like I needed training wheels again. Not only was I having to deal with re-learning how to ride a bike, but I was having to deal with other bike riders in my bike lane that wanted to pass me, moving trams, cars and scooters that were all around me. I was honestly scared that I was going to fall off at any point. Well three months later and I'm a fully fledged bike riding resident of Amsterdam. I've managed to install lights on my bike, install a bell to ring when I want to pass the slower riders, and purchase a very heavy duty lock. Bike theft in Amsterdam is very high so you have to lock your bike up at ALL times!!





My apartment in Amsterdam has been a work in progress. The first week I got here, I had appointments set up with apartment locaters. I was able to view about 10 different apartments and ended up choosing one located in an area called Oud West. It's a very cozy apartment, about 650 square feet and one bedroom. Anyone that knows me knows my love of decorating and my O.C.D. to get things done ASAP. Well as I've explained above, there is not just one place to get stuff. So getting my apartment put together the way I want it, has taken some time. I did manage to get new sheets and a duvet the first weekend I moved in, which was definitely priority number 1!!! But let's just saw 3 IKEA trips later, about 5 trips to my local DIY store and 6 cans of white paint gone I'm pretty much finished. When I moved in my landlord had built floor to ceiling bookshelves that framed the entrance into the bedroom, and on the other side had floor to ceiling wardrobes built. These had been built out of MDF and were still that "lovely" MDF color. So I took it upon myself to paint them white. This required the bookshelves and wardrobes to be primed first and then about 2 coats of paint on top. Luckily as this improved the value and condition of the apartment I was able to deduct the cost of the supplies off my rent. I also installed 5 new light fixtures in the apartment. The ones that were there were just not going to do....they were pretty awful. FYI prior to this I had never installed light fixtures before. What a massive pain it was to do, but looks so much better now!! I bought four different new pieces of furniture from IKEA and assembled them all myself...there was just not enough clothing storage so I had to buy a dresser. Getting my apartment "Amy" acceptable was a big project, but I think it has been well worth it.
There have been so many things to get adjusted to, I could probably write a novel on them. But just believe me when I say it has taken a while to get used to them, but I think I've got it down now and am living life in Amsterdam! So I know that was a lot of things in one post, and probably a bit random at times, but hopefully it gave you an insight my adventures here in Amsterdam. I promise to be more up to date on my posts going forward!!