A lot of luck

A few things were ticked off my list - my address has been changed with all the places it needs to be changed, I've come to terms with the fact that Dutch classes will have to wait until September, I got a new phone, and I bought my tickets to Rome for late August. All that stuff is great, but I've got to say, the best feeling of accomplishment in the past few days was getting some furniture for my apartment. The couch was free (thanks, freecycle!) and the other items were incredibly inexpensive.

I know it doesn't seem that interesting, the story of this furniture, but bear with me. I found an ad on Expatica - a guy was trying to get rid of all his furniture, which was great timing for me. We talked on Thursday afternoon, and after I excitedly selected what I wanted, I realized he didn't live in Amsterdam - he lives in a town about 40 minutes away. I said, you know, forget it. I am already totally over coordinating moves and furniture going up and down narrow staircases and through windows and scheduling time with movers and friends to help out, and the idea of going outside the city limits of Amsterdam made everything seem more complicated. The prices for the furniture I wanted (a big wardrobe and wine rack) were great, but I just figured I would keep looking elsewhere.

But this guy, this really nice American guy (who was raised in upstate New York and is returning to the Philadelphia area!), says "no problem, I have a car, I'll bring the stuff to you." He showed up on Sunday afternoon, carried everything up my stairs (the wardrobe is from Ikea and he had taken it apart to get it down his stairs), put it all together with the tools he bought, wouldn't accept any extra money for gas or time or help, and just insisted that I return the favor to someone, someday. It was such a great feeling to finally hang up my clothes (I also got a free bag of coat hangers courtesy of freecycle!) and get my suitcase off the floor - that guy totally made my entire weekend.


Other highlights of the weekend included a midnight showing of Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Kriterion, dinner at Bolhoed (an organic vegetarian restaurant in the Jordaan), riding my bike through the city during a thunderstorm, hanging out on the terrace of the Soundgarden, and a big picnic on Sunday night in Vondelpark. A proper summer weekend, definitely.