Café con Melk

In anticipation of the friends and family coming over for the wedding, I’ve decided to compile some helpful tips and tricks for those visiting the Netherlands. Heed these warnings carefully, otherwise you’re gonna have a bad time.

  1. A coffee shop is NOT the same thing as a café.

If your grandmother wants to stop for a cappuccino, for the love of god, do not go to a coffee shop! If your…

The End of an Era

This week my work was relocated to a new fancy schmancy office. This cut down my commute by 20-30 minutes each way! Plus the office building itself is brand spankin’ new and close to several eating establishments.

And I’m completely fucking devastated.

Because you know what this means?

I must bid adieu to my favorite station buddy, NAY! My favorite human being of all time… Geriatric Emo Dude.

See…

Our Newest Team Member

By now most of you are acquainted with my buddies. My last post was all about them.   I would now like to take this time to introduce you to the newest member of the team. I remember the first time I saw him, and I knew he would fit in perfectly with my collection. But of course, not just anyone can join the team. We have standards you know.   You have to be interesting, weird, or ridiculous.…

I commute to work by train. I start in Utrecht and end in Amsterdam. Overall not a very long nor interesting journey. But I know it’s going to be a good day when I see one or more of my station buddies. Now these dudes don’t know that we’re buddies, but my heart sings when I get the chance to see one of them. If the planets align and I get to see TWO of them in the same day, then I know nothing…

I’d like to round out this year with a little advice for all the friends and family who will be visiting next year. I need to warn you all about something that could mean the difference between a cheap meal, and my mom slapping you upside the head for spending WAY too much money on fake weed: Numbers. The Dutch have a hard time with numbers in English, both cardinal (think one, two, three, etc)…

My darling readers and followers, I would like to formally introduce you to the newest member of our family: Helios.   The Illustrious Helios   He’s old and crappy, makes funny sounds, doesn’t quite listen to where you want him to go, also doesn’t quite listen when you tell him to stop, was given to me for free so I can’t really complain, and even though I kind of hated him at first he’s really…

The Inevitable Has Happened

For the past year I have been tempting fate, cheating destiny, and postponing the inevitable.  This country is riddled with uneven cobblestones, upturned bricks, and countless other hazards for someone such as myself. For those of you who know me well, you know that I’m no stranger to the folks at Urgent Care. I carry bandaids and Neosporin with me at all times. I think it’s safe to say I’m not…

The Moment You Have All Been Waiting For

The moment is here. The answer to life, the universe, and everything. And no, it’s not 42.   For nearly three decades the world at large has been contemplating the same question, a question that has bothered people even if they weren’t aware that that’s what was bothering them. I’m referring, of course, to the age old question of, “How do we get Tatiana to shut up?!” Oh people have tried…

I usually open these things with an apology about how I’m a terrible writer and only post once every hundred years. (That remains, admittedly, very true.) And how I promise to write on a more regular schedule and blah blah. Well. I’m not going to do that this time. Because it’s tiresome, and we all know the next time I post something will be about 5 to 7 months from now. It’s just the reality of…

It’s Finally Cold Again!

So I totally meant to write and post this yesterday, but one thing led to another and half a season of Downton Abbey here we are. Also, is it led? Or lead? English is weird.   Anyway! Yesterday, finally, FINALLY! It was cold. Cold and windy. Cold and windy and rainy. It was absolute heaven. I know all you California folks are rolling your eyes at my 85°F/30°C summer, but the humidity here is no…

No but really. I think I deserve an award. Like a Razzie, but for wannabe bloggers. See, the problem with waiting almost 3 whole months to write a post is that so. much. shit. has happened that I literally don’t even know where to start. Should I attempt to go in chronological order? Or in my typical stream of consciousness chaotic order? Speaking of stream of consciousness, Marcel and I were…

Life So Far in Holland

Ho. Lee. Crap.   I cannot believe it has been over TWO months since I last updated or wrote anything. I can’t even say that it’s because I’ve been so incredibly busy. Those of you that I talk to on a regular basis know that isn’t true. I have quite a bit of free time on my hands, due to the fact that I don’t have a work permit yet. I just kind of forgot about updating the site. Sorry!   I’m…

So I’ve been here in the Netherlands a full week now, and I’m slowly but surely settling in. I got over my jet lag fairly quickly, which is a very good thing. And I’m slowly, slowly, adjusting to Dutch food portions. I’m hungry about 85% of the time, but I’m just suffering through it until my body gets used to eating like a fourth of what I used to eat in the States. Which isn’t a bad thing…

   So in exactly a week I’ll be up in the air somewhere between here and the Netherlands. I could not be more excited! I do have a layover, which is a bit of a bummer, but still, I’ll be almost home. I keep telling Marcel that it doesn’t feel real. And it really doesn’t. It feels completely surreal knowing that in just over a week I will be living in a different country. Not visiting, not passing…