Week One

Nov 24th
10:58am - spilled a cup of tea on my shirt. There was a Smith Tea kiosk at PDX Airport which was a lovely surprise, as I had neither had my requisite morning cup, nor packed any of my favorite tea brand. Previously I would have had to recommend you go into downtown Portland to get a cup of their incredible nitro chai from one of their two tasting room locations, but now you can do it right in the airport! (post TSA, unfortunately). But this particular cup had it out for me it would seem, the lid was not on tight, and I stained my t-shirt. Now it's forever a tea-shirt.

12:20pm - poking around a small gift shop to grab a last piece of home, I found something I'd wanted to get before leaving but hadn't come across - a jar of my favorite jam, Alchemy Raspberry Cardamom Rosehip, out of McMinville, OR. I quickly checked out and rushed back to the gate. Christopher, sitting with our kitty, had texted me that boarding was starting.

12:51pm - our section is called for boarding, and we settle in for the long haul. We note that the information shows our flight time has dropped from nine and a half hours, to eight hours, fifty-eight minutes. I take the window spot and put Liara under the seat in front, Christopher in the middle seat. This plane is huge, three sets of three seats across.

1:27pm - right on time, we roll out onto the runway. The third person in our row, sitting in the aisle seat, is a middle aged Tibetan woman clinging to prayer beads as we take off. Portland shrinks beneath us, and soon we're above the clouds. We spend the first two hours watching Pirates of the Caribbean and eating the in-flight dinner (Christopher had meatballs, I took the vegetarian pasta option, and it was actually pretty good). I tried getting ginger ale, but they were all out. On the first flight I can remember, going to Ohio, Dad ordered us Vernor's Ginger Ale and I've associated it with flying since.

Day turns to dark, we see the Northern Lights, try to nap but fail (yay yelling children on flights), we get served a surprisingly delicious breakfast, and suddenly we're making our descent into Amsterdam at 7:30am local time. It feels like 11pm to our bodies, but to the officers at customs, it was 8am and the day was just starting. We grab our luggage off the conveyor, present it all to declared goods, and show them Liara's paperwork. Her anxiety medication was beginning to wear off, but the worst of it was over for her, and she did very well on the flight.

Nov. 25th

It's 9am on Tuesday, we've just landed in Amsterdam, and are waiting for a shuttle to the Ibis Airport Hotel. The morning weather looks shockingly like Oregon's usual overcast days, but there's plenty of giveaways that we weren't in Portland anymore. Even the birds sound different.
After a mini freakout over an email that said our reservation had been canceled, we called the hotel and got everything sorted. Now all we had to do was haul 3 heavy pieces of luggage, 1 carry-on, and 1 cat up on to the shuttle, and ride it to our room.
The shuttle bus driver drove like a maniac, speeding through close quarters and stopping so suddenly our suitcases lunged off their rack. Part way through the drive, a young Filipino guy in the seat across from us asked if we were also headed to the Ibis hotel, because it seemed to be taking longer than expected, and he was relieved when we said yes.
Finally arriving at the hotel (in one piece, even - had our doubts there for a second!), our new friend checked in first, only to be told he was at the wrong Ibis hotel. We felt bad for him for a second... and then we ourselves joined the pity party when we were told we, too, were at the wrong hotel. Why are there three Ibis hotels within six miles of each other, Amsterdam? Why??
So we settled in for the next 35 minutes to wait for the shuttle to come back and take us to the correct hotel.
Finally arriving at the right hotel, we got checked in, gave Liara some loves and reassurance, and showered. Then the best part - breakfast. The breakfast buffet was still going, and we got to confirm one of the strangest things we'd been told about the Netherlands, that they eat chocolate sprinkles on bread. There were two large containers of sprinkles there at the breakfast buffet.

Nov. 26th

We sleep hard and wake up early, but that's to be expected when changing your schedule by 9 hours. Today we navigate the train system and travel to Delft to get the keys to our apartment.
The hotel shuttle takes us back to the airport, where we're able to go down to the subway-like train station below, and take a zippy 34 minute trip to South Holland. Again, only one minor freakout at thinking we missed the train, no big deal (slightly big deal).
The train, bus, and tram systems all run very smoothly and are decently easy to schedule and navigate through an app. Without the cat and heavy luggage, it seems like this will be a breeze next time.
Arriving 40 minutes early, as the nature of public transit timelines goes, we wait for the makelaar to show up for our appointment. Thankfully it's a beautiful day, not the rainy weather we'd expected.
The apartment is furnished, but poorly cleaned by the last tenants. As soon as we set everything down and get Liara settled in, we head out to walk the city and find some immediate necessities, as well as food, then come back to spend the evening cleaning (and washing the provided bedding that's covered in dog hair).

Nov. 27th

Yesterday's late afternoon jaunt through the city was an absolute joy, and we're excited to spend the day further exploring. One stretch of road has all the necessary shops for us, with the grocer and pet store right next to one another being a huge plus (kind of like the Swedish flag) (....too soon for bad European jokes?) We grab lunch at a cafe called Cozy and meet an orange street cat.

Nov. 28th

"Package delivered" says the UPS tracker, but not to our place it wasn't. This was the smaller of two large packages we had shipped through them, containing our computers and monitors. It was delivered to a UPS location instead of our door, so we hop on a tram and immediately start off going the wrong way. We get off at the first stop and switch back, and three stops later, we arrive at the bus station. A few bus stops later, we arrive outside the Tech University (having recently learned that Delft is a "college town"), and across from that, a row of unremarkable doors on a long building. I spot a woman coming out of one of said doors, holding a Doc Martens package, and we beeline it across the street. A tiny tiny sign notes that this is a UPS drop location. Before even reaching the doorknob, the door swings open, and a woman greets us cheerily in a mixture of Dutch and English, asking if we were here for a package. She then shows us down to the single sketchiest basement I have seen in my life, and asks for a name. "Denny, like the r-" Christopher stopped himself from finishing the word "restaurant." She asks if this is for John? Somehow only Christopher's middle name made it onto the package.

We listened to a playlist called "Dutch Songs Everyone Knows", one earbud each, while waiting for the bus, and learn that the word "leef" means "live".

Hauling a large box on public transit wasn't the worst, but definitely not ideal.

Nov. 29th

Saturday market happens a block over from Nieuwe Kerk, and it's our first time seeing the church steeple, towering above a large open plaza. "New Church", Nieuwe Kerk, is the second tallest building in the country, where all the royals are buried. We people watch and wander the market for the afternoon, and spot a marching band parading with "Sinterklaas", the European Saint Nicholas who hails from Spain.

That evening I realize we'll need a computer desk, so I take to Facebook Marketplace and find one large enough for both our PC setups, as well as within walking distance. I reach out to "Chris", and mention we live nearby and will be carrying the desk, so is it okay if we need to make a few trips? He quickly replies and agrees to a time tomorrow morning. I also noticed he's in the same FB group as us, "Expats in the Netherlands".

Nov. 30th

It's 10:29am (because we're told the rule of Dutch culture is if you're on time, you're already late) and we're standing outside an apartment complex a few blocks away, waiting to be buzzed in to pick up the desk from Marketplace. Chris and his wife are from Texas, and not only allow us to borrow their wagon to haul the desk back to our place, but ask if we need any help or have questions about the visa process, as they're also here on the DAFT visa program. "What are you doing tomorrow morning? Let's get coffee." he says.

That afternoon we walk 2.5km, a mile and a half, one way to an absolutely enormous IKEA (so so much bigger than the Portland location) to eat meatballs and get a few necessities. We consider taking a bus back, but stick it out and walk all the way back.

Dec. 1st

Meeting Chris and his wife for coffee was incredibly helpful, they've been here just shy of a year, and answered questions we had but more importantly, ones we didn't even know to ask. Get an OV chipcard for transit, how to rent a bike, which places a museum card will get you in to, the basics of getting on a healthcare plan, tax information, etc etc. But their first question to us was "How did you end up in Delft, specifically?" (their second question, after we say we're from the Portland area, is "are you one of the frog people??") He says he's always curious of what led fellow Americans to Delft because it is, in his opinion, the best of the best here (the answer for us is it's location between two major cities, and the dumb luck of where we could get housing). They told us we really "won the lottery" on not just The Netherlands, but this town. Chris was born here to an American mother and Dutch father, but grew up in the US. His Dutch citizenship was in a "dormant" state and they now wanted to reactivate it and pass it on to their 5-year-old. The original plan was to only stay for the single year that required, but they've fallen in love with Delft, and have decided to stay for good.
After coffee, they invite us to dinner at their apartment this evening, and we got put on the hook to play Mario games with their son (no complaints from me!). Our job is to bring something to drink (and I pick up some gummy frogs to bring for the gag, as well).

In between coffee and dinner, we try European McDonald's (still very much the same, but the burger was definitely higher quality meat and tasted better for it) and get a Netherlands phone number. Christopher also gets a mobile network router set up, so our internet connection dramatically improves. With those two things sorted, we're now in a great position to begin the real legwork that will require making phone calls, setting appointments, sending job apps, and so on.