To the City!

Good morning, team. I decided you deserved another hit of my wit. Yesterday's attempt was pretty average, though I appreciate your kind comments! Know that I think about you very often, and ponder on how to enthral and amuse you on a daily basis. I write for all of us.

I wanted to inform you that this coming Saturday, I will be moving to Amsterdam for a week. My lovely sister is going snowboarding for a week and has not only offered me her cute flat in central Amsterdam, but also the keys to her bike and even her car (a convertible! It is spring!How lucky am I?). She is awesome! I wish she would be there too, to join in the fun and games I hope to enjoy up there, but I'm sure she'll enjoy carving up the mountains much more.
I am pretty excited, but also a little scared. Amsterdam is like Melbourne's much bigger and tougher brother. I have learnt last year that I ride a bicycle like a granny now. My friend Emily thought it was quite hilarious the way I rode. Not at all Dutch. I do ride a bike in Melbourne (not as often as I should, but the weather's been so damn wet!) but there is NO comparison riding a bike in Melbourne to riding a bike in Amsterdam. Bike paths are shared at all times with either pedestrians or cars, both of which have no regard for cyclists. And can you believe there is NO bike parking anywhere at any of the central stations in Melbourne? None.

I'm a little apprehensive mixing with the Amsterdam traffic, there's trams and cars and lots of scooters and more bikes than one could comprehend. And I am also quite terrified of driving my sister's convertible, as I have a strong suspicion that there is no rear window to speak of, more a strip of plastic that once was see-through, but now just lets in some light. I might just wait until it's warm enough to drive with the roof down for my first drive, so I have plenty of rear vision. That and a quiet time of traffic. In Amsterdam. Yeah, right.

But, as you all know, I am a confident and strong person, who shall jump these hurdles with grace and style. (Or with grazes and flailing.)

Also, I am a little worried about feeling lonely. I have friends to meet with in Amsterdam, but they do work during business hours, so I will have to entertain myself during the day. And thanks to my serious lack of money (I have €12.45 in my bank account) I won't be able to visit lots of cool touristy things. Luckily I should soon have another €80 that my sister borrowed off my credit card and she has put in my Dutch account yesterday. I was under the impression that Ash and I had some money back in Australia, but since I checked yesterday, in actual fact, nope we don't. It might have something to do with living it up off the credit card around Xmas time, flying my Mum in from Holland and taking her and my mother-in-law to some nice restaurants...Also something to do perhaps with our little weekend in the Barossa Valley (wine region in South Australia, we went there for our best man's wedding) where we splashed out a little buying lots of wine and renting a convertible...ah, to be young, with a double income and no children. It. Is. The. Best.

You know, I like having money. My own money. Who doesn't? When you're used to having it, it's pretty damn annoying when suddenly you don't. It was the same when Ash and I were stuck in London for seven weeks, in the middle of the financial crisis, because he had to work there and I had to try and amuse myself during the day with no money to speak of. The Aussie dollar doesn't stretch very far in the UK, and neither does it here. I hate it. I wish I could work here, but I can't, really, since I am here to help my Mum sort out her house and if I had a job, I would spend most of my time doing that and the whole purpose of my coming here would be wasted.

But I like having people I love around me even more than having money. And despite the fact that Mum drives me crazy sometimes, and we disagree sometimes and have to have it out, I love her company. I love having her around, just sitting in her study typing away, while I sit here at the dining room table. Just spending time together, in the same space, it's very pleasant. And Amsterdam being big and scary and me being a little insecure at times, it makes me a little worried being there all by myself. I've contacted a lot of friends, but I haven't heard back from most of them yet...

I'm thinking of looking up lots of Zumba and Body Jam classes in Amsterdam, most gyms have a free 'trial' class, so perhaps I will just go to lots of different gyms and 'try' a class for free, and get lots of exercise while I'm up there.
You know, just between you and me, I think I am losing weight! Normally, when I come, as I have mentioned before, I gain about a kilo per week. But that has a lot to do with the fact that I need to cram all my favourite Dutch foods into the two or three weeks that I am here, plus I spend the other two weeks in France where there are lots and lots of delicious foods that I have to eat. Same deal, two weeks, hundreds of lovely delicacies, so it's food without borders, and I allow myself to eat whatever I want because I'm on holidays and it's all a lot of fun. And then when I get back to Australia it's winter there, I go back to my gym, and work it all off in a month or two. It works.
But now, I don't need to cram all my Dutch delicacies into a few weeks, so I'm pacing myself. I do enjoy bits here and there, you know, rookworst, kroket, duck, chocomel met slagroom, but I know I have months ahead of me, so I don't need to eat it all right now. And I have time to exercise. Boring rural Zumba, wood chopping, moving furniture and boxes. It's good.

I have to go. I'm still in my pj's, robe & fluffy chicken slippers and it's almost coffee o'clock! Better get dressed, get some caffeine in me and get on with the boxes and the furniture. Oh here's a picture:

This picture shows the fluffy chicken slippers, two years ago in beautiful France. I don't wear those pyjama pants anymore, they have a hole in them now. Right on the butt. These are my current pyjama pants:

I love these pyjama bottoms, as they have super cute forest creatures on them. My favourite is a smiling fox. But I also love the two different hedgehogs, since my Mum has two hedgehogs in her garden.