April 13th
Kathryn took our IND letter to IDA for translation; I have indeed been tentatively approved. On to biometrics (tomorrow).
Went grocery shopping at lunch time again. Kids were in our courtyard – why aren’t they in school?
WooHoo! Got my BSN number today. Now I can be added to the bank account and get health insurance.
Dinner at home. More Netflix. And Game of Thrones!
April 14th
Went to IND for my biometrics. Did not have to wait long. Now a two week wait for my actual residency card. Took a tram there but decided to walk back. Would’ve taken the same amount of time to wait for the tram.
Dutch Class began today. Dreamt last night that I was in math class and we were having a test on chapter 7 of our text book, but I didn’t read any of chapter 7. Ugh.
Class is OK. I’m very stressed about my ear and ability to hear the distinct words. And I hate being judged. I kept drawing a blank with words during oral exercises. Meh!
Had to work when I got home…no TV.
April 15th
Was told I now have health insurance. Need the letter to drop BCBS.
Went for a walk around lunchtime. Tried a different route along the canals.
Found an analog flash card in my class materials:
- Hoi, hoe heet jij? (Hi, what’s your name?)
- Ik heet John (My name is John)
- Hoe gaat het? (How are you?/How goes it?)
- Goed, en met je? (Good, and [with] you?)
- Waar werk/woon je? (Where do you work/live?)
- Wat is je lievelings…? (What is your favorite…?)
…more later.
We decided to go out to dinner near the hotel where her friends are staying this weekend. Ended up at Dante Kitchen & Bar…another Italian place. Had my first good pizza.
April 16th
Day 2 of class. More difficulty listening to words.
Nothing else of note.
April 17th
Should have studied more Dutch, but didn’t. Busy at work trying to create an updated project plan.
Cocktails at the Andaz Hotel. Good to see Scott, Michael, Peggy, Martha, and Suzanne. Bitterballen were served…I love them.
Conference call with MCE when I got home. Then some quick 50/50 work.
April 18th
Keukenhof!
Met the Boston crew at the Andaz at 10:15. Took the Ajax team bus on a 45 min ride to Lisse to the Keukenhof garden.
Amazing arrangements of flowers of all types.
Lunch was at a place near Lisse, Restaurant Het Oude Dykhuys. Set menu, but I ended up enjoying it.
Kathryn went to the birthday dinner. I wandered around until I found a Mexican place with a menu item I could eat: Pacifico. Totally a tourist trap, but I’m not completely sorry I ate there (though my wallet is).
On the walk home, decided to visit a local sweet shop that just opened up: Aurora. Got choc chip muffins, one for me and one for her. Ate mine for dessert.
April 19th
Prepared the apt for our first guest, Kathryn’s friend Ian (from Germany).
Met the Boston crew for a canal tour. Just before leaving, I looked for my prescription sunglasses and could not find them. We were really perplexed…we knew we came back from Keukenhof with them, yet we had just cleaned the whole place and did not see them.
The canal tour was OK. Guide was weird. So was the food. Stopped at MP after the tour for a drink – they had Strongbow cider.
On the way back, I stopped at every store and checked to see if anyone turned in my glasses…nope. I went home, emptied the trash…still nothing. They are just gone.
Tried to watch tv before Ian arrived, but the internet was really slow for streaming. Ian arrived around 9 PM and we chatted till about 11.
Restaurants Visited
Dante’s Kitchen & Bar
Andaz Hotel Bar
Restaurant Het Oude Dykhuys (Lisserbroek)
Pacifico Mexican
Aurora
MP (drinks only)