Many people in The Hague (and around The Netherlands) use bicycles as their primary mode of transportation. For Lindsey and I, bikes will be our only mode of transportation. Our bikes are simple, Dutch built bikes. They have pedal brakes, kickstands, and no gear shifting - you don’t need it because it’s so flat! They came with built in conveniences like wheel covers and chain guards to keep your pants safe from the chain and clean while biking.
The bikes come with a simple lock built in to the frame that prevents the back wheel from moving. For added security, we’ve purchased another lock to secure the bike to fixed signposts or parts of buildings. The black bags at the rear of the bike are called saddlebags and are used for transporting anything from grocery bags to gym clothes while biking. Buying anything large and trying to transport on a bike might become a problem, but I plan on mastering this technique.
Den Haag
Some of you find setting up a home network challenging, others may find it relatively easy. Regardless, the task becomes much more challenging when all of the instructions are in Dutch! Fortunately, I had downloaded a Dutch/English translator program for my iPhone, which I’ve found out doesn’t have nearly enough translated words to depend on. Regardless, I’ll now never forget the Dutch word for wireless: Draadloos!
After almost 5 days of struggling to get my Internet setup, I’ve finally gotten the problem resolved and found out it wasn’t my mistake in the first place. As it turns out, the cable line at the street level wasn’t fastened tightly enough to the apartment line…
Den Haag
So made a pretty poor choice & ate raw oysters at this restaurant on Friday. Other than the oysters, the meal was pretty fantastic. In fact, the oysters themselves were also really tasty, but I think that’s what got me sick. At first I had no problems on Saturday night, but that all changed around 4AM when I began throwing up, etc which lasted for about 8 hours. I continued to feel horrible all day on Sunday while the room spun, had a headache all day Monday, and experienced mostly residual effects on Tuesday.
Someone at work made the comment that all the Americans seem to get food poisoning because their bodies aren’t used to the germs over here. I can’t help but to agree with them. Many American colleagues have mentioned that they get food poisoning about 1-2 times per year. Maybe I’m not so much looking forward to dining out over here…
Den Haag, Food
The past few weeks have been very cold for Dutch standards: in the upper 20s. As such, many of their numerous canals and lakes have frozen over. A few Dutch have told me this has been their coldest winter in 13 years. Many are excited about the prospect of the ice speedskating race to be held in the northern part of the country, called Elfstedentocht. This race involves competitors from around Europe (maybe the world?) and is a combination of speed ice skating and running to get between lakes. The competitors are on standby now, as they’re waiting for more cold weather to make the ice safe for skating. The picture below is of Dutch kids skating on the ice in front of the Binnenhof (Dutch parliament building) which is a few blocks from my apartment.
Believe me, although the Dutch are very excited about this cold weather I am not. Biking around in the freezing cold is no fun. I’ve resorted to wearing scarfs…
Den Haag
I’ve created two new pages: “About” and “Letter from Matt”. The About page serves to give the reader a quick introduction to who I am and what I’m doing here. The Letter page serves to establish some goals for maintaining this site, the topics of conversation, and the frequency of posting. Enjoy!
HITH
I arrived safely to my apartment on Denneweg in The Hague on Thursday, January 8th, 2009. It’s cold outside, but really not much worse than when I left Arlington. At least it wasn’t raining when I got here like it was in Virginia…
My apartment in Denneweg - on the third and fourth floors above Dekxel’s restaurant.
Den Haag
