Thanksgiving in Rotterdam!

When I asked my American girlfriend here, Rachel, if she would want to do Thanksgiving together--it was a no-brainer, California style "Oh my gosh--YES!" She is the only one in our circle of friends with an actual oven (most folks here have microwave ovens), so having Thanksgiving at her house was also a no-brainer. We invited Anél and Hertzog (South African), Jason (an American guy in Elliot's program), and our wonderful Dutch neighbors, Ilonka and Klaartje. One question though: where do we get turkey? And stuffing? Cranberry sauce? Pumpkin pie? 

Sinter Klaas, a whole new Santa!

Yes, that's right--Santa before Thanksgiving! Well, obviously the Dutch don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but we still are. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Every time Elliot and I have been in Holland, we've just missed the Sinter Klaas season. So this year, we're all over it and I can't wait to tell you about all the fun/wacky/elaborate Dutch traditions I've recently learned about this 'holiday.'

Waiting for Sint's arrival in Rotterdam!

1. Sint is not from the North Pole
Sinter Klaas, or Sint for short, is originally from Turkey, but he's been living in Spain for the past 800 or so years with all his helpers, who are called Zwarte Piets (Black Peets). The Piets help him get down every chimney by cleaning them. Every year he comes to Holland--he only gives presents to Dutch children--and he arrives by train or boat, or sometimes on his white horse (I'm not so clear about that) about two or three weeks before his birthday, December 5.

Good ol' Rotterdam in Movember!

In case you didn't know...it's Movember here, too. Funny how those things travel continents.

Ok, back to Rotterdam... it's always fun to show a good friend around our newfound home here. Martin was on a business trip in Switzerland and was able to take a few days to grace us with his presence in Holland. He got a whirlwind tour of Delft, Den Haag, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam--pretty good for a first time visit in the country! Our tour of Rotterdam started on bikes, of course, and we first visited the must-see "Santa with a butt plug." Yes, that's the real name of the statue. Oh, Rotterdam.

A piece of East London: an urban anthropology trip

I'm not sure how many of you know, but I did finally find a job here in Rottedam (in August). I work at a small urban planning company called Stipo--based in Amsterdam, with an office in Rotterdam as well. Stipo seems to be this hybrid private/non-profit company that's ultimately private but does a lot of work I consider to be in a non-profit portfolio. We work on strategic and community planning with a special emphasis in partnership building. I guess I should do an entry on working for a Dutch company--I'm sure my managers will love that!

Arriving at the incredible St. Pancras Station

One of the projects I have been working on is setting up a 3-day study visit or "exchange" with two partner organizations in London. We got about 32 architects, planners, and urban anthropologists together, mostly from Holland but also a couple folks from London, Spain, and Ireland, and organized a jam-packed 3 days. The theme of the exchange was discovering and learning from the innovators in the 'civic economy' in London. A lot of folks in the planning and community-building world are fed up with Big Government and strongly believe that government (and funds from the government) stifles innovation, limits their creativity, and curbs the extent to which they can reach out to the people.

With our partners we sought out grass-root organizations who are going against the grain. We focused our energy on the very hip and radically changing East London neighborhoods--where immigrants and low-income families and fashionista hipsters live side-by-side, and where in the same block you see up-scale Michelin star restaurants, degenerate factory buildings, and major Olympics-related urban regeneration.

A full dose of fall

I love the fall! All the gorgeous colors, falling leaves, and crisp air. A couple weeks ago, we got our weekly Groupon--we get the Netherlands version every week--this deal popped up, and we snagged it: two nights for two people at a nice hotel in the middle of the Dutch countryside just west of Germany, north of Belgium. Plus, it included breakfast and the full spa access package! Of course, if you tell any Dutch person you're going to Asten for the weekend, they say "Where is that?" When I tell them in the Noord-Brabant province near Eindhoven, they giggle and say "Why do you want to go there?!" My only excuse is that I'm a permanent tourist in this country.  

We didn't get our rental car until around 7pm from Rotterdam airport, but then we hit the road immediately. About halfway to Asten we were starved and decided to stop at a rest-stop--our first international rest-stop experience! It was pretty basic: convenient store, gas station, the usual. None of the fast food looked very appetizing, so instead we searched for some beer to enjoy when we finally arrived at the hotel. Surprisingly, we couldn't find any beer! When I asked the cashier where we could get beer, he said, "in Belgium." Elliot laughed and asked if there was anywhere closer. He said, "Belgium is 1 kilometer south. It's very close." We hadn't realized how close we were! So we drove another 5 minutes south and stopped at the Belgian rest-stop. We got a few beers and ended up sharing a very rare steak and frites. Success!

140 kilometers later...Right when we got to the hotel, around 9:30pm, we headed to the spa straight away. It was so nice to sit in the steam room!