Six to Eight Black Guys.

This story is not intended to be racist or offensive.  This is the story that was told to me and the pictures in this blog were pictures of actual events.  If you are offended easily, you might not want to look/read any further because the pictures could be offensive to some people.



Now that the disclaimer is done, lets get on with this blog.

So after being here for three months, a friend of mind posted something on my Facebook wall about Christmas here.  The story was so crazy, I didn't believe it.  I looked it up online and everything online supported the story I had heard.  Still in disbelief (that is how crazy this story was) I went to work the next day and asked a colleague about the story and she confirmed the story as being true.  Today I got to see first hand, the crazy celebration/story of the arrival of the Sinterklaas.

So in the Netherlands, they have two celebrations for Christmas.  December 5th is St. Nicolas' Day and December 25th is Christmas.  I think everyone knows what Christmas is, so I don't have to explain that.  They have Santa Clause; he flies in a sled with reindeer and delivers gifts to all the good boys and girls.  However; December 5th is another story. December 5th is St. Nicolas' Day.  This is how the story of St. Nicolas goes (hold on, cause this story is crazy).

Sinterklaas arriving in Amsterdam from Madrid, Spain.

St. Nicolas is a retired Bishop from the county Turkey.  He goes by the name Sinterklaas. He looks just like Santa Clause, but wears a hat that looks like a hat the Pope would wear. Sinterklaas lives in Spain and in mid-November he makes his way to the Netherlands via a boat (from Madrid Spain, a land locked city).  Sinterklaas travels with a white horse and about six to eight black guys called Zwarte Piet (translated: Black Pete).  Zwarte Piet is a "slave" that does Sinterklaas' bidding.  They are really black, like Wesley Snipes black. I'm told that the reason they are this black is because first of all, they are black to begin with and they travel down the chimneys and the soot in the chimneys makes them even blacker.

One of several boats with Zwarte Piets on them.

Sinterklaas rides from house to house on a white horse with the Zwarte Piets and gives gifts to all the good little boys and girls just like Santa Clause.  The Zwarte Piets give out a mixture of cookies and candies called "strooigode and Kruidnoten".  After that is done, Sinterklaas then asks the parents which little boys and girls have been bad.  If the parents point to the kids, the Zwarte Piets then kick the kids and whip them with switches.  After the beating is done, the Zwart Piets then put the kids in a sack and they bring the kids back to Spain where they are forced to work.

Now is that a crazy story or what?  If I heard that story as a kid, I would have never acted up.  After all of that takes place, Santa Clause comes on December 25th and delivers more presents to the good children.  So the children in the Netherlands get presents twice in December (if they are good) and if they are not good, they get beaten, kidnapped and taken to Spain (which Spain doesn't really sound like a bad place).  I told you this was a crazy story, so I hope everyone has been good this year so the Zwarte Piets don't come and beat you and take you to Spain.

Hazards of Biking.

I've been riding a bike as a main form of transportation for six months now.  Riding a bike in Amsterdam is not without its hazards.  Traditional hazards include trams, cars and mopeds.  But there are some other hazards that are not traditional.  Here are some non traditional hazards of biking:

1) Bike Tours:  These groups can be very dangerous.  Bike tours?  Yes.  The problem with bike tours are the tourists riding the bikes.  Since they don't want to get left behind, they will do whatever it takes to stay with the group.  This includes running red lights, pulling out in front of you and sometimes just stopping in the middle of the road to look at something.  And when you ring your bell at them, they panic and start to wobble left and right, thus making the possibility of them crashing increase.  For most of them, it is the first time in a 100 years they have rode a bike and the sites of the city is just too overwhelming for them.

They usually have matching bikes.  Beware of the matching bike gang.

2) Tram Tracks: The obvious reason these are dangerous are the trams.  If you don't pay attention, you could get hit by one, but these are also dangerous because they are deep. When crossing these on a bike, you need to make sure you turn your front tire at a sharp angle to cross them.  If you don't, you could end up on the ground and embarrassed.  I once saw a lady try to ease over these things. This was a bad decision.  As she merged over, the front wheel got stuck in the tracks and cause her to fall over and crash in front of everyone.  I will admit, I did laugh a little because I knew the error she made.  If that wasn't bad enough, the car she was in front of started honking and yelling at her.  Use caution when crossing these things.

Beware, these are deeper than they appear.

3) Tourists on Foot: These are the most dangerous "non traditional hazards".  This hazard has no regard for anything.  Like their biking counterparts, they do not pay attention to where they are going.  They will step right off the curb and in front of you without looking.They are constantly looking everywhere, but where they are walking.   They also think the bike lanes are really nice sidewalks and walk in them all the time.  You constantly have to ring your bell at them to get them to move and sometimes you have to buzz them so they will get the point.

Pay attention to where you're going!

4) "The Danger Lane": This is a common way around cars, but is very dangerous.  Once you commit to using this lane, you commit to dangers associated with it.  Car doors opening, cars swerving, hitting a bollard (or the penises as my wife likes to call them) or even hitting a pedestrian.  If something bad is going to happen on a bike, this is where it is most likely to happen.  I heard a story about someone going down this lane, but they went down it real slow.  The end result was falling on a car and not being able to get up.  Enter this lane with caution.  

Hold your breath, we could be in for a bumpy ride.

5) "The Chit-Chatters": My wife just cringed at this.  She hates that word, but that is the best way to describe these people.  These people are clearly not in any hurry to do or go anywhere.  They don't care that they are holding you up, they are not aware of anything but the conversation they are having. Because they are not paying attention to anything but their conversation, they are swerving all over the place making it impossible to pass them.  If you try to pass, you run the risk of hitting a parked car as they swerve into you. On this day, I finally had to ring my bell to get them to move so I could pass them. As I passed, the guy on the left gave me a "What's the rush jerk?" look.  I was tempted to kick him, thus knocking down and pushing him into the guy with a skunk for a hair do.  I would have called him a douche as I passed, but that translates into "shower" here and doesn't have the same insulting affect as it does in the States.

Blah, blah, blah.  We aren't in any rush.  We have all day.  This guy is clearly in a hurry to get home.  Blah, blah, blah.

With all these hazards you would think personal safety is a main focus.  Wearing a helmet is a must right? Wrong!  No one in Amsterdam wears a helmet, because wearing a helmet is for suckers and we aren't suckers.  Plus we don't want to look like tourist.  

Will it Ever Be Normal?

I've been here for four months now, and things are really starting to feel normal.  However, there are some things that still do not feel normal.  Here is something that doesn't feel normal yet:

Riding a bike- Now, this has come easier to some than others.  Some are still learning how to navigate around on their bike and keep it up right.  I have somewhat gotten used to riding my bike to work.  Every morning I ride to work, and I can’t believe that I’m riding my bike to work.  It is such a strange feeling and even more strange to see everyone else doing it.  It’s really weird to see a bunch of adults riding bikes from place to place.  However, riding my bike in all kinds of weather is another story.  Today I had to ride home in the rain, which is normal for Dutch people.  I am convinced that for this very reason, Dutch people are stronger people than Americans. 

"Get out the way, I gots to get to work for real."

You doubt me?  Picture your worst co-worker and imagine them riding a bike in the rain.  “No way!”  That has "call out sick" written all over it.  There is no way you will get a minimum wage employee in America to ride their bike to work in the rain (even if everything is relative in size and distance).  Some people will say “Well, they’re dumb for riding in the rain.  Isn't there public transportation?”  There is, but even with that they just suck it up and deal with it.  They are not consumed with what they look like when they get to work; they just know that they have to get to work no matter what.  I say all this after riding my bike in the rain two days in a row.  And like an American, I have decided today is the last day I will do that.  I will be taking public transportation to work when it rains from now on.  I can act Dutch on non-rainy days.  I'm not that much in a hurry to blend in.  

Because Six is Too Many

The other day I was in the store and saw something that I thought was odd.  I saw packages of beer and soda that had been opened.  I thought "What the hell?  Who is going around here stealing beer and soda?"  Only a few day later, I discovered that you can buy drinks in singles if you want.  I have never been in a store and thought, "I'm in the mood for one beer.  They don't have singles, well I guess I will bust up this six pack and buy one."

Four, yes.  But six, I'm not an alcoholic.

Then I wondered, what if this applied to other things like socks, underwear or other food items like eggs.  Can you imagine only buying two eggs?  What if you didn't want an entire two liter bottle of soda, so you opened it up and poured some into a container to buy.  I just found it odd that you could just open up packing of drinks and take what you want.  I guess this person was short €1,80.

Signs of the Times

This weekend there was a big festival in town.  During this time, someone went around and vandalized several of the "Do Not Enter" signs.  I thought I would share a few of them in my Photoblog this week.

"The Sculptor"

"Ikea Furniture Carrying Zone"

"Secrets in the Drawer"

"Craftsman"

"Packed in Like Sardines"

"Covering it Up"

"The Grip"

"Put a Bird on It"

"The Stockade"

"Love for the Law"

Reflecting on History.

Coming from the U.S. it is easy to forget about history.  Not to say America doesn't have a lot of history, it does.  America has lots of history, it is just most of our history happened along time ago and Americans tend to forget it.  If you live in the north, you are surrounded by the history of the Revolutionary War, in the south it's the Civil War or Civil Rights Movement and the west, filled with the expansion of America and the exploration for gold.  Since moving to Europe, I have discovered that I am constantly reminded by the history that took place here.  As I walk around my neighborhood, it is not uncommon for me to see a house that was built in the 1600's and still occupied by people.  Rembrandt is buried near my home, Van Gogh lived here and the Anne Frank house is just down the street from my house too.  It is the Anne Frank house that makes me think of history the most.  Everyone knows who Anne Frank is, but as a reminder, she is a Jewish girl who's family went into hiding during the Second World War to escape the Nazis.  They were able to hide for a few years before being discovered on August 4th, 1944.  It made me think, "surely Nazis have been in my house looking for Jewish people in hiding right?"

Recently I went to Cologne, Germany.  While I was there, we visited the National Socialism Document Center.  What is that?  A place that kept documents?  No, this was the headquarters of the Cologne Gestapo.  The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe.

Behind these doors people were tortured for information and most people didn't leave here alive.

It is in this prison where 400 people were murdered between 1943-1944.  Now unlike our history which happened along time ago, this history happened just 70 years ago.  Seventy years ago isn't that long.  Some of us have grandparents that fought in this war, my grandfather did.  It is hard to image that someone thought this type of action was acceptable.  It's amazing that all this type of stuff happened just a stones throw from where I live now.  I cannot image what it was like to live during a time of constant fear.  The point is to never forget about history no matter what kind of history it is.  The next time you pass a historic marker on the side of the road or the next time you pass a state/national historic site, take time to stop and reflect on the history that help form your country.

Who Can Afford to Drive?

One of the things I miss since I have moved here is driving.  I know that sounds crazy to most people, but for me I love to drive.  Most people find it stressful or a pain in the ass, but I see it as relaxing and a form of freedom.  Since moving here, I have only driven a hand full of times and in a city like this it can be a little stressful.  You have to watch for cars, bikes coming at you in every direction, people crossing the street at random times and you have to watch for trams that run in the middle of the street, all while driving a manual transmission.  Now luckily when I was growing up, my parents had manual transmission vehicles and I learned to drive on that.  In Tallahassee, that is no easy feat.  Tallahassee is very hilly, so having to stop on a hill and then go in a manual can be very challenging.  None the less, I learned how to drive a manual but only owned automatic cars.  Now in the Netherlands, almost every rental car is a manual transmission which is completely the opposite of that in the states.  Now why is this an issue?  It really isn't an issue for me, but I just thought it would be easier to learn how to drive on an automatic vs. a manual.  So why bother getting a drivers license since I don't own a car?  Well, my U.S. drivers license is only good for six months here.  After that I have to get a European drivers license.  If we rent a car to go somewhere, I will need to have a valid drivers license.  Plus the idea of having a foreign drivers license was really appealing to me.  I went to driving school's website to see if they teach driving classes in an automatic vehicle I found something interesting.

Like most Americans, I either have motor dysfunctions or have developed a fear of driving.

I was surprised to see how European's view driving an automatic.  I have been driving 24 years and never realized that I was either afraid of driving or had a motor dysfunction.  I called to get pricing on driving classes and was a little shocked.
     

                                                     -Driving manual:          € 99,00

                                                     -Theories class:          € 24,50

                                                     -Theories exam:          € 31,00

That isn't too bad, but that is just the start of it.  Now for the real cost.

                                                     -10 hours of  practical driving:   € 459,00

                                                     -Physical (really?):                     €   29,00 

                                                     -Driving exam:                            € 235,00

That is € 877.50 to learn how drive/take test (that is $1,124.87)  Who can afford this?  I wonder if they have a layaway program here?  We'll just have to see if it is worth it or not.  Maybe I ride dirty for a little while and if I get pulled over, play the stupid American card.