Five month review: Pros and Cons of expat life in Amsterdam (it's mostly pros)

Before I start, let me acknowledge - five months isn't a very long time to live somewhere!

What makes expat life so easy in Amsterdam?

Last night, my friend Brooke and I walked from my place to the Roti Room (Eerste Oosterparkstraat) for dinner. It was perfect - warm, spicy Indian food served by a really friendly staff who insisted we not rush, that we should ask for more if we were hungry, and instructed us about which sauces to use for which dishes. Another friend happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped by to join us while we finished up the meal. Amsterdam is like this for me - people call me when they're around. I pull out my phone when I'm riding past someone's house that I know, or if I'm in a friend's neighborhood. I like that so much, and that kind of simple stopping-by-to-say-hi thing almost never happened in New York or Philadelphia.

When Brooke and I got back to my place, I had a skype video call with Kevin, a very good friend who lives in Tennessee. Skype is an expat's best friend. Not only can I talk to people without spending any money, but we can see each other, and it makes the distance seem not so great. I carried my computer around my apartment and showed Kevin where I live - he could even watch me make a cup of tea while we chatted. Later on, I caught up with my friend/former roommate who has returned to Italy, also over skype. Sometimes I really miss not having her around so that we can share every single detail of our lives with each other (we're girls, it's what we do), but as I put away my laundry last night I got to hear her explaining what she ate for dinner in Rome and what her new bike looks like, and it was almost like having here there with me. Having good friends all over the world doesn't seem that scary anymore - though of course it's always better when they're actually there, in person.

And of course, there's just my daily routine. Standing out on my balcony this morning, drinking coffee, watching the cyclists and trams go by as I listened to a Guardian podcast. I left my house after 10am and started my picture-perfect commute to work, at times noticing that I had the entire street to myself - no cars, no other cyclists. A commute with no traffic, no stress, no running to catch the train - I can't emphasize enough how much I love that. My headphones were on, the sky was blue, the sun was shining, and there's that wonderful distinct feeling of crisp autumn air. The leaves are starting to change colors, and the temperature is just cool enough for a jacket and scarf, but I haven't had to put on gloves yet (I'm sure that's coming soon).

Even though hearing Kevin talk about going climbing on real mountains made me want to be in the US, and picturing Christine eating that amazing ice cream from San Crispino made me want to be in Italy, every day that I wake up in Amsterdam I am reminded that the very simple, natural, obvious things here make the lack of mountains and good ice cream seem like a small price to pay. The one thing I'm trying to convey, and I hope it's working and I'm not being too dramatic, is that there's nothing super-amazing-unbelievable-oh-my-god-perfect about Amsterdam. It's just consistently good. Hanging out with friends, finding affordable Indian food, cycling, staying in touch with friends from home, and not feeling oppressed or stressed out from the people, atmosphere, traffic, or surroundings - this is what I like about my life here, this is why it's easy.

What are the difficulties of being an expat?

I have to attend the wedding of one of my best friends on 2 May in Philadelphia, and three weeks later my brother is getting married on the 23rd of May in California. I can't miss either of these weddings, but how on earth am I going to come up with the money for two trips to the US in May? The Philadelphia wedding was already going to be a bit of a financial squeeze, but flying to California from Amsterdam in late May? That's just going to be insane. I still have to pay off my US student loan and credit card, but all my money is in Euros now (ok, that part is great) which means monthly bank transfers, which means extra charges (only €10, but still). I still haven't quite gotten used to the European standard of getting paid once a month (in the US, every two weeks is normal), so I find that the last 4-5 days of each pay cycle I'm practically wiped out. And of course even though I live in the Netherlands and would quite happily stay indefinitely, I can't vote here, so I still feel more invested in US politics than Dutch politics. I don't like that. On one hand, what happens in the US (politically) does affect the entire world and I think it's important for everyone to pay attention, the same way we should also pay attention to what happens in Russia, Europe, Africa, etc. But my life is here now, and if Dutch laws and policies change, my daily life could be more directly affected than if the US passes a new law. It is unnerving that I have no say in the country where I live. Let's face it, I will always have to keep part of my life in the US (ie: an address, bank account, voter registration, etc) and part of my life here. For the most part that's ok, but it can become annoying at times.

Anyway, the pro/con list is done for now. Another really beautiful weekend has arrived, and I can't wait for it to get started. The first US presidential debate is on tonight, but it will be shown at 2am here, so I'll most likely catch it over the weekend. My plans consist of climbing, helping friends move, doing a bit of shopping, a party on Saturday night, and a dinner on Sunday night. I'm also going to try to get to the beach to watch the sun set on Saturday evening before the party. These sunsets are just incredible, and it's a short train ride to the sea, and come December I'll be wishing I took advantage of the long days while they were still here.

Amsterdam events, American politics, and so on

The best way to do this post is a two-parter.

Part One: A proper summer weekend

This weekend was insanely beautiful in Amsterdam, and everyone rushed out to enjoy. It feels like the city has come back to life, and all the students have returned (which explains why it's now almost impossible to find a good bike parking spot near my apartment, since I live right next to the University of Amsterdam). The Uitmarkt festival, which ran this past weekend, opened up the start of the Dutch cultural season. Cinemanita starts again this Monday at De Nieuwe Anita with a screening of Faust (!! Jan Svankmajer). After a quiet August, I'm really excited to have too much to do again, too many things to choose from, and acknowledge that my biggest problem is figuring out how I can fit all this fun stuff in my schedule.

In my case, the best part of Amsterdam this weekend was hanging out with my good friend C. I fully intended to give her my guest bike while she's in town, but unfortunately, the back tire needs to be completely replaced and the bike is parked somewhere completely far from where I live or work. Luckily, our friend Mark was quick to offer his guest bike, and said it would be fine for C. to go pick it up around midnight on Friday. "I'll give you a ride!" I offered, and as we were getting ready to go I felt obliged to admit to her that I had never actually rode anyone on the back of my bike before. I have been a passenger many times, but never a driver, so to speak. C. allowed me to use her as my guinea pig, and I happily rode her from my place (which is in the Center-East of Amsterdam) to Mark's house in the Oud Zuid - a fairly significant ride! The first few minutes were a little wobbly, but we made it through crowded intersections at Leidseplein and Vondelpark without incident and both of us arrived at Mark's house safe and sound.

It was a good thing we picked up the bike on Friday night, because on Saturday the two of us spent a huge chunk of the day cycling. We used C's very helpful Voordeelurenabonnement to purchase train tickets to Santpoort Zuid at a 40% discount (tip: you can always take your bike on a train in the Netherlands, but you have to pay for a bike ticket at well). From there, we rode a few kilometers to Brederode Castle -originally built in 1282 - and admired the ruins. After a drink in the lovely little terrace, we rode through the woods for a while, going up and down what I would be tempted to call actual hills. Okay, for the Netherlands, they WERE hills. In a flat country, you take what you can get. We ended up at a lovely beach, spread out our towels, and enjoyed the sun. There were tons of dogs running around chasing balls, topless women, little naked kids building sand castles, plenty of folks enjoying a beer or sharing a bottle of wine - and I thought to myself that all these little things belong at a beach. But the beaches that I've been to in Long Island, Los Angeles, or New Jersey don't allow dogs, would charge you to just walk on the sand, many discourage alcohol, forbid dogs, and certainly don't allow topless sunbathing.

I love living in Europe.

Part Two: American issues

I'm mailing out my absentee voter registration tomorrow. It's crazy to think that in 65 days, the US will have a new President, and I have no idea what's going to happen. Everything about American politics is a mystery to me - McCain picking Sarah Palin as his running mate? Where on earth did that come from? I'm trying not to get my hopes up on two fronts. #1, I don't want to assume Obama can win. I mean, we're talking about a country full of people who elected Bush into office in 2004 (the popular vote did NOT give Bush the presidency in 2000, so I try avoid saying that the actual American people voted him into office twice). I also don't want to assume that if Obama wins, everything will magically get better and Americans will suddenly be able to have access to education and health care. So I remind myself of these two things often.

But you know what? When I voted for Kerry in 2004, I was doing it because he wasn't Bush. That was it. When I vote for Obama this November, it's because I actually think there is a possibility he could do a really good job as president. For any Americans living abroad that need to get their absentee ballots, you can go to fvap.gov to figure out what you need to do. Some states let you do everything through email, but annoyingly, California is not one of those states (and even more annoyingly, even though I spent most of my US life in New York and only 10 weeks living in Los Angeles, I'm registered to vote in California).

However, the much more pressing issue right now in the US is Hurricane Gustav. People have already died in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica from this hurricane. The devastation in Cuba has been terrible. Gustav is due to hit New Orleans tomorrow (Monday) morning, and as I watched a clip of Nagin's (Mayor of New Orleans) press conference, all I could think is "this can't possibly happen again." But it can happen again, can't it? The thought is petrifying. I'm following the Gustav Reporter twitter page this evening, and as I combed through different reports in the media, I found an article titled "In New Orleans, Blogs become crucial decision-making tool" from the Chicago Tribune. I trust blogs and twitter feeds for a more real-life account of what is happening right this minute, and it helps me feel more connected to what's going on at home.

Technology has changed the expat experience. Perhaps a topic worth going into more, but this post has gone on long enough as it is. I'm going to try to post a little more frequently this month, maybe three times a week, so I don't have to just unload everything all at once.

Residence permit - done! Next up: rain pants.... almost as important.

I received a letter from the IND Front Office last week, conveniently on a night when I had a few Dutch friends over for dinner. I turned to Micha and asked "hey, would you mind translating this for me... Oh wait, nevermind, they also sent the same letter in English" (can this get any easier?). It had these beautiful words:

Hierbij berichten wij u dat uw verblijfsdocument is binnengekomen.
Your residence permit is ready. We would like you to collect the permit.

I had to pick up my permit in person, so I went to the office today (at Orlyplein 141-147) with my letter and passport. About 90 seconds after I walked in the building, I walked out with my residence card, valid until the 9th of June 2009 (it matches my work contract dates). It's so official! The card is the same size as a US Drivers License and is pretty much the last step I need to take in making my life here "real." Now all I have to do is change my address to my new apartment so my mail will go to the right place. The one other administrative step I might take is obtaining a Dutch drivers license. I would honestly be perfectly happy to never drive a car again, and I have zero plans to ever own a car as long as I'm in Amsterdam. But some American friends told me that if I go within the first 6 months of my residency here, I can simply trade my US license for a Dutch license, without having to take any tests. I suppose it couldn't hurt – if I ever wanted to rent a vehicle for some reason, it would be nice to have that convenience.

Today was incredibly rainy and pretty chilly in Amsterdam, but I've mastered a system for making it through my commute to work. I bring an extra pair of jeans with to work in my (water-resistant messenger style) bag, and I keep an extra pair of shoes at my office. Hair goes back in a ponytail, and my bangs get pinned back. Headphones go on (I wear over-the-head headphones to listen to my ipod in the morning, as earbuds don't really work for me), which also helps hold my bangs back, and the headphones somehow help keep my hood firmly in place. After five minutes of entering my office, I had changed into dry pants and shoes, my hair was brushed and in place, and since my (waterproof) jacket kept the top half of me dry, no one could have guessed that I rode through the pouring rain this morning. I have to admit though, this 2-pairs-of-pants thing is a little annoying, so on my list of things to do is acquire a pair of rain pants.

While I'm on the topic of cycling, let me take the opportunity to recommend a fantastic blog: Amsterdamize, which I believe was inspired by Copenhagenize. If you're a bit obsessed with bicycle culture or have a thing for pictures of bikes, it's quite possible you could spend an entire day (or more) going through those two blogs and following the links to other blogs and watching the videos and so on. I love Amsterdamize because it's published by a native Amsterdammer, and he writes about bike culture here with just as much love as I have for it - but provides the type of insight and background that I wouldn't be able to do (well, not yet, but give me ten years).

I missed my bike while I was visiting friends in Berlin this past weekend. Berlin is really bike-friendly and I would have loved to explore the city on 2 wheels, especially since I was hanging out with a good friend from Amsterdam while I was there. Having 3 people and two bikes never would have stopped us from taking bikes anywhere in Amsterdam (she's ridden me on the back of her bike before a few times), but the Berlin bikes aren't really built to carry extra people. We attempted to ride together anyway, with me on the seat and her standing up on the pedals - it worked for a little while but eventually we gave up. Anyway, despite not having a bike, I had a fantastic time in Berlin. It was my second visit there, so I mostly just hung out with friends and stuck to their neighborhoods. The most notable thing that happened was running into a guy from New Paltz at a friend's house party on Friday night. I grew up in New Paltz, New York, and it is not a big town. And even stranger than running into him at a party (which was being hosted by someone I've known for about a month), I ran into him again (!) the next day at the Berlin wall. Nice guy, and hey - if he happens to read this - sorry I didn't call on Saturday night, my phone ran out of credit.

Which reminds me, on my list of things to do: get a real phone contract.