*All cafe's have cats. They are cute and let you pet them. It is quite nice to sit in a cafe, have a coffee (koffie), and play with a cat (kat). And many hairdressers have dogs.
*Speaking of, hairdressers don't just do hair. They also sell purses, sometimes clothes, once in a while they are also tailor shops. Very weird.
*Everyone has a dog, and they are the nicest dogs in the world. And there is no leash law.
*The streets downtown smell like pot. The streets by the canals and by my container smell like wet dead barn animal. I have sense memories of stuffing that turkey at MAIPR Thanksgiving when I get out of the bus in my neighborhood (buurt).
*Tall people do their grocery shopping at night. If you want to be elbowed in the face, try to fit in the isles along side large Dutch people. They don't even see me I'm so little.
*I don't really know Dutch, and I am really unconfident when I speak it, but I find that I can still get along well in stores. People speak to me in Dutch, and I answer in English, and it seems to work out fine. But it strikes me as funny that people hear me talk in English and keep speaking Dutch...
*My electricity goes out all the time. Lame. Stupid wiring in my stupid container.
*Chicken (kip) here is amazing. Aaaaaamazing.
*However, barbecue sauce and tomato sauce are terrible.
*When Jasmine and I walk to school, we play two games. One, we spot giants. If a person is too tall to be a person and falls into the realm of giant person, we point them out. Its like birdwatching. But funnier. Our second game is counting the number of times a day someone hits on us. And speaking of, I have a note to you Dutch men. Nothing can be gained by hollering at a runner. We don't look pretty, we are red and gasping for air and our hair isn't brushed and we're in sweats. And we aren't going to stop. So, unless you are planning to jog along and tell us about your hopes and dreams and prospects for a successful career, just keep it to yourself.
*Juice and coffee are pretty good here. And the diet coke (coke light) isn't all funny tasting like in the UK.
*In Dam Square there is a guy, sometimes two or three, who stands in a black robe wearing a scream mask and holding a knife. They are there from about 1030ish to about 5ish. Like a job. What disappoints me is that they don't come to work dressed, they arrive and get dressed there. I liked the idea of several scream killers taking the tram.
*Here they drive on the proper side of the road!
*Beer. People don't drink here. So if you order a pint, people will give you a weeeeeird look. And when you get a beer (bier) on tap, about 3/4inch on top will be foam. Its like being cheated out of beer. Which is in stark contrast to life in England, where if you order as little as a pint, people will give you a weeeeeird look. And I can't even imagine how the foam would go over over there.
*People are late pretty frequently.
*Theatre is uninspiring. But there are a ton of good concerts.
*There are so many flower shops, do Dutch women get flowers every day? How do they stay in business? And speaking of, how do cheese shops stay in business? There is like, one kind of cheese (kaas) so how can there be entire stores of it?
*Medicine is pretty cheap here. Not as cheap as the UK, but still really good. I appreciate it.
*I know I mentioned the peanut butter. But I wanted to point out that peanut butter is "pindakaas," which is literally "peanut cheese." Gross.
Shout out to spring break. I have just one more week and then I'm free. Two presentations tomorrow, wish me luck!
i don't think i would have a lot of trouble leaving cafes if they had cats in them here
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