oh my love, what is a stroopwafel?

woo!! den haag is now our base of operation. yesterday, james and lauren and i rented a car and drove from amsterdam to the hague to move us in! can i just say- this is not a stereotype. not only did the radio play almost solely eurotechno, but as i'm writing this there are not one but TWO cars battling it out on my street for loudest techno dance party within a vehicle. oh man, if there was ever to be a soundtrack, it would involve sick beats and twisted techno.

so, i hope my parents are pleased with the fact that their daughter graduated with a degree and promptly used graduation money to rent a room in holland from a guy named taco. but seriously, the room is decently sized, and definitely in our price range. we moved in yesterday, and our neighborhood is just fantastic. on the corner is a convenience store, and next to that is a wine shop, an international art club, a bar, a döner kebab place, and a gallery. amazing, right? there's also a place on the other corner where you can paint ceramics like art and soul (yes kristin. you read that correctly.), and there's a coffeeshop about a 10 minute walk from here, on the way is a grocery store. perfection, really. and there's a park that we can see from our room, and a canal on the other side of the street!

so, yesterday when we moved in we went to the beach and james bought us a beer (as if that man hasn't already done everything amazing for us), so we sat and watched a regata on the water while we reclined on the beach. perfection. also there's a bungee jumping tower on the pier that goes over the ocean- i'm so into that. terrified, but i want to do it!

then we came back, went for a little walk, and settled in. cracked open a bottle of the finest 1e90 bottle of albert heijn store brand, cut some of the gouda, and put it on baguette.

p.s.- we bought a kilo of gouda. yes, you can buy cheese by the kilo here in a regular supermarket. amazing. perhaps the happiest moment of my time here thus far.

and then we watched grey gardens on the interweb and fell asleep. it was so convoluted and psychologically twisted, and in the end just very sad. but it was really well made and drew barrymore is just phenomenal... as usual.

this morning, lauren and i got up for a long walk around the city. hopes of gainful employment dancing in my head, we walked over to the centrum, and the center of town is only about a kilometer away. we stopped in a few places asking if they needed any sort of help, or had any ideas, but most of them were full (although i am waiting for the manager of an irish pub to call me back). everyone said the same thing though: GO TO THE BEACH! apparently it's very easy to get a job on the beach for the summer at least, and it pays well. so, tomorrow that's where we're going! the rest of the walk, we headed over towards the parks, which were huge and full of nature- but no place to sit in the sun! very strange, but we probably just didn't get to the right part- there are three parks that all blend into each other. so we walked home, super exhausted but fulfilled. the hague is the second most important (or some kind of credential) U.N. city after new york, so there are embassies all over the city. we passed a lot of those, and also the M.C. Escher museum, an open market of antiques and of course HERRING, and the peace palace, which i don't know a lot about but it's a pretty important tourist attraction- must research.

we hit an indonesian place for take out on the way home. we were planning on just roughing it with some baguette and wine, but it was 7e50 for a huge thing of rice, four different vegetarian dishes, tempeh, tofu, and a curry egg. OH YES PLEASE. so much food, so cheap. this place is my dream.

so now, it's time for a definite nap (almost four hours of straight walking and absorbing!), and then to nom some of that food. and then there's a free salsa club tonight! so i think we're going to attempt to get out and explore the nightlife of den haag. oh yes.

spreekt u het Engels?

insanity. this place is unreal!!!

lauren and i have been in the netherlands for just over thirty hours, and it's been unreal. once we got past some initial issues (ms. donnelly had a little trouble with the plane food), everything started falling into place.

my friend james, who i met through jacob at the FEU in paris, has been living here for almost two years, and like a gem not only said we could stay in his apartment, but that he would fetch us from the airport! so, that was great. we've only met twice before this but everything fell into place, he's such a fantastic host and easy guy to get along with! so, once we got back to his apartment (which is INCREDIBLE, it's absolutely huge and clean and decorated like a magazine... also has a living room with all windows looking over a canal) and called the parentals to let them know we were a-ok, had an espresso from his darling machine, then we decided to venture out for some food.

we ended up at this little lunch place in the centrum which was VERY cheap (3e25) for a huge, delicious sandwich with young dutch gouda (oh yes. cheese prevails.), chives, tomato, cucumber and lettuce on a panini. oh. man. after a bold move (i may or may not have pooped in the men's bathroom because some broad was probably doing the same thing in the ladies') we moved on to get donnelly a cell phone, which was sold to us by an adorable (-ly hot) dutch man who was also hilarious. excuse me... she lost her phone number. can we have yours? then we walked over to james' favorite coffee shop (which clearly does not sell coffee, but has a great selection of weed and hash), and he knew the people there so it was a totally friendly and enjoyable place. it's a strange thing to know that i've moved to a place where these things are basically legal... and i'm too broke to really partake of it! but in all honesty, i've had my time to chill with the herbal and i can't imagine living here for a shorter time than humanly possible just so i can smoke. this is a growing experience for sure... priorities. and my priority is to stay here as long as i can because i think i may be in heaven.

then we walked to vondel park, which i vaguely remembered from my previous adventures here (although, understandably so, not so well), and it was wonderful. dutch babies are infinitely cuter than american babies, and the park was resplendent in the baby sector. so we hunkered down on a lovely patch of grass in the sunshine and talked about science(!) while we watched a group of people do yoga on TOP of other people. it was amazing! i would love to be able to get to a point where i can do things with my body again that are cooler than just running and exercising.

then we walked back and went to our first dutch grocery store, which was obviously awesome. so many new cheeses! but james is an excellent chef, so we bought food for him to cook for us (which as much as it was a thank-you for him, the food was in turn a better gift for us!), and he made a DELICIOUS cheesecake and some kind of italian pasta with a vegetable-y red sauce. further proving that yes, indeed, i am evolving as a person- red sauce AND cheesecake, two things i don't necessarily love, but i ate them and i did in fact love it. the picky eater of my childhood has evolved for sure!

the strangest thing is how late it stays light out here. i didn't even think about it, but we're so much further north! it was light out until well past 10 pm last night, and apparently by the time june 21 rolls around it'll stay light until past 11:30! what a wonderful treat. sunlight is the best gift in the world.

so after much cooking, chatting, and eating, lauren and i finally succumbed to the jet lag we had been resisting so hard. i slept better last night than i have in a very long time, and it was much needed. we woke up at 9 this morning to take the train to den haag, where we met our landlord- taco. oh yes, that's right- our landlord's name is taco. taco is a great man, young and dutch and hilarious! he met us at den haag centraal and took us to the room we're going to rent for the month of june, which is tight quarters to be sure but for 400e a month, it's in a nice part of town and there's a bathroom, kitchen, and washing machine to share. apparently the other people in the building (i think there are three?) also work in the ICTY or ICC where lauren will be, and one of them is a girl named sarah from chicago! coincidence? if only it was my love. but in any event, it'll be nice to live with people who are already acquainted with the city and maybe know some things that would be helpful to us.

so basically, in thirty hours, we have accomplished everything we need to do. the only thing left is to find me a job! everyone seems very positive about it though- apparently jobs in restaurants and bars are pretty easy to find under the table, if i can't find a nanny position. i'm very, very hopeful about this! i've never wanted so badly to find employment to make this work. it's the first time i've made some kind of crazy move that wasn't as a student, with specific goals and finances and the whole two bits. this is totally up to me to make this work, and i'm going to succeed! it'll happen. it has to happen. this place is just so damn happy.

everyone here is SO nice, in a way that i've never known abroad. paris was fantastic, obviously, but i never felt wholly at home there. the language barrier was too hard, even though i do speak a decent amount of french, and the people were just less-than-friendly about it. however, everyone here is just so helpful, so nice, and so... awesome. everyone rides around on their bikes with their beautiful blonde hair blowing in the wind and flowers in their baskets with big smiles on their faces, and i can clearly understand why. this place just oozes happy.

the most important thing is working on the wee one. KRISTIN ROSSI GET HERE NOW. we did some video chatting last night and i'm pretty sure it was the most convincing argument the don and i have ever made. it's real. kristin, get here! also, the rest of you. everyone. we've hatched a grand plan to create the waffle hague.

so we're now about to take a little nap, and james is making a banana cream pie whilst we sleep and then we're going swimming! then back to finish the pie and make some kind of vegetable risotto. this. is. insane.

on the plane i was doing a lot of thinking, and i'm really very lucky. and i've always known this, but at this point it's starting to blow my mind. i like to think that i've worked for what i've done, but i know a lot of people really made this happen for me. and not only that (which is amazing, p.s., shirley and butch are my heroes and i love you guys, also thank goodness for the generosity of the grandma), but the people who make me miss home. i am so lucky to have not only the best family, but the people in that haus absolutely made this past year the most incredible of my life- the five of us functioning together in our little love nest really gave me some kind of experience that i can't quite put my finger on, but it solidified something in my heart that makes me ache for the haus and those people. caitlin. kaila. kristin. GET HERE. and everyone else fantastic that i'm missing in a big way- you know who you are. thank you for being in my life in such a positive way... and thank you for supporting me in this crazy, insane venture that we're making.

so now, it's time to go make a banana cream pie and go swimming! and then make some dinner, maybe have a little night out on the a'dam-town, and then get ready to move into our first place. i'm rambling, i know, but i've never had so many thoughts going through my brain! so thank you, blog, for providing me with solace from keeping these thoughts only to myself. if they didn't come out, i think i'd explode.



oh and hey, ik houd van u.

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oh man oh man! the last two hours have been the most exhilarating i've had in a long time.

i booked a one-way ticket to the hague! oh man. i'm actually going, with no money and no job, on an insane whim to the netherlands. this is probably, no definitely, the most terrifying thing i've ever done. and oh man. crazy. delicious. DECADENCE.

and with my life partner! lauren and i have begun to rarely speak in anything but "we" terms.

and i bought a ticket to go see my loves in paris! two of the most important things, taken care of. now if only we had somewhere to live... ahaha. oh well. lauren's working for the government, i'm sure they have a nook somewhere in a building we can crash in.

there are so many wonderful things to look forward to! i can finally learn some dutch, and take care of my new year's resolution- albeit a year and a half later. and going back to paris, oh man! let the brie and baguette commence. et du vin, bien sûr.

so for now, with this fantastic adventure waiting for me in 23 days... back to ernst kitzinger's byzantine art in the making. how can a girl be expected to concentrate when it's all happening?