The Thanksgiving Post

As many of you know, last week was Thanksgiving. If you work in the U.S., you would have likely gotten Thursday off, and possibly Friday as well. Even though I work for an American company, we do not get the American holidays off, so, sadly, I spent Thursday at my desk. I do look forward to the Dutch holidays in spring though! Had it not been for David Kennedy, it would have been an average week at the office.

Wednesday, Cari and I were greeted with a giant box from Kennedy via the Portland office. The box was packed with fall leaves and the contents were wrapped in orange paper. There was a giant over-sized turkey card that Kennedy got people to sign in the Portland office for Cari and I. He also sent over a couple hats for us. For the "Homesick Americanos" (of which I've recently learned there are 19 in our office) he sent a big box of candy corn and "Think Turkey" pins. It was awesome! Thank you Kennedy!

Saturday I decided to take a short trip out to the beach. I'm very happy I did. It was stormy and very windy, but not raining. There were a ton of kiteboarders out there tearing it up. In November! I could just hear my dad saying, "those guys are nuts!"

Here's a video of one of the kiteboarders. Getting nice and close to the shore for my shot :)

Inland behind the beach is a beautiful, desolate grassy dune landscape:

Aside from the kiteboarders, my other favorite thing was the foam. Tons of foam. And since it was windy, it would catch the wind and go skidding across the sand until it dissolved into nothingness. Video of some cruising foam:

 Hot chocolate, book, soup, sea view:

And then there was Sunday...and with it came our transplant Thanksgiving. We had a grand feast hosted by Ashly, Josh, Orla, and Chris. It was a good mix of Americans, Europeans, New Zealanders...and probably some others. Just like the Pilgrims!

Prior to heading over, Ashly asked if I could fit my 4 folding chairs on my bike. And for the second time that weekend, I had dad's voice in my head saying, "anything is possible!" Plus, when you've grown up with a father that has strapped multiple pieces of luggage/camping gear/horse saddles/people to the back/front/sides of a motorcycle...you get a sense of imagination for these sorts of things. I'm just happy it wasn't raining.

4 chairs, large glass salad bowl, small glass pyrex with spinach dip, 3 baguettes, 2 bottles of wine, 3 bananas, 4 tupperwares fruit for salad, 2 tupperwares candy corn, green salad mixings for 20, salad dressing, backup rope, sweater, rain jacket, pilgrim hat. 

Dinner was amazing. Of course.

We explained to the Thanksgiving first-timers how we go around the table and everyone says what they're thankful for. We passed around the pilgrim hat while doing this. I think Kennedy will enjoy hearing how many heads that hat made it onto!

Click here for a time lapse video of dinner! Ashly and I make a quick appearance 1 minute in.

Thank you hosts! Chris, pies, Orla, Ashly and Josh. You guys rock!

Fetish, Fog, and the City at Night

Rather than do a couple different posts, I'm just throwing everything into one. First up—lights! Over the past few weeks we have slowly seen holiday lights spring up over many of the popular streets throughout the city. Most streets have their own light styles and design which helps keep it interesting. You never know what you'll see when you around the corner. It's quite beautiful. I tried to take a few shots:

And then, of course, the average boring canal shot. I've have to stare at these lights all year...yawn!

Secondly, this fall we've been victim to many a foggy day. I actually love it. Nothing like being surrounded by 17-19th cen. buildings on a foggy day/night. Here are some shots of that—first two are out my bedroom window:

  

And onto the last bit. Saturday night was a lot of fun. Got dressed up for a fetish-themed birthday party and hit the town! Sans owl...more on the owl later. First stop was Central Station, where there was a movie showing at Grand Café-Restaurant (Platform 2b). Pretty cool set-up. We didn't stay long, but I do want to go back. I think it'd would be the perfect spot to greet/send off guests when they come to town.

After the station, we headed over to a birthday party, hat-themed. I figured my wig would count as a hat. It was a great little party. Some very fun hats. After a drink we were off to our final destination for the evening—the fetish party.

A few days prior, Rachel and I were wandering through Xenos when I came across a strange collection of owls. Strange, because, why on earth would someone buy these? What are they for? Is there some Dutch tradition with owls around Sinterklaas that I don't know about? It remains a mystery. I joked with Rachel about wearing one on my shoulder to the fetish party.

The next day I was at the store again, buying one. We determined that I couldn't possibly go to the party without it!

Luckily he had some wires coming out of his feet (for that reason to be used for that one thing that remains a mystery to me) so I was able to attach him to my suspenders fairly easily. I couldn't ride with a coat and him on, so I packed him around during the night and then put on the suspenders once I got to the party.

Now, you may say, "Malia, you're posting pictures of looking like a prostitute to your blog." And to that, I say...I'm wearing a lot more material than you see at the beach.

 (Photo Credit: Floortje Vriezema)

Ms. Mays, partner in crime, always:

The owl managed to stay on the suspenders all night, most impressively. The last hour or so of the evening I had to retire him though. He first lost his beak, and then one of his legs became detached...but yet he remained on the suspenders. Like a boss:

Sint in Amsterdam

This weekend the Dutch welcomed to town Sinterklaas and his...helpers.

The Christmas tradition in this country is something that both fascinates and baffles me. Not to say that us 'mericans got it "right," or anything like that, I'm sure our traditions would seem equally bizarre to someone hearing of it the first time. And we must remember, that most our traditions have been borrowed/adapted from somewhere...

So, a little on their festivities:

On November 11th the fun began. In the evening children walk along the streets with homemade lanterns singing songs about Sint Maartin. I believe that they also will ring your doorbell, and after singing to you, you give them treats. I completely missed it somehow, but here is a wikipedia link on it.

Shortly after, Sinterklaas begins his journey through the Netherlands going from town to town with his...helpers. We welcomed him to Amsterdam this past Sunday, and he will be here for awhile spreading the holiday cheer with his...helpers. He arrived to Amsterdam via the canals, and then hopped on horseback to parade through the city. The was a big stage with music set up in Dam square, and that is where I went to see him mid-day, but the parade lasted well into the early evening.

On December 5th, Saint Nicholas' eve, is the official day of celebration where there is feasting and presents and such. Click here for a wikipedia write-up on Sinterklaas. It's interesting.

Now, a little something on the helpers. This is where it gets interesting. They're called 'Zwarte Piet' and they're black. OR, more commonly, they're Dutch people that have painted their faces black. Wait...what? That's right. Blackface! Santa with a bunch of blackface helpers! Wow. I had to go see it for myself.

I didn't get a good shot of Sint, but you can see a lovely picture of him with Zwarte Piet here.

You should probably watch this awesome clip of David Sedaris talking about the holiday. It's funny and worth the few minutes.

So, I had to run some errands prior to going to Dam Square and I ran into this at the store. Chocolate letters. A typical Sinterklaas treat.

Also, I failed to mention that the kids also get dressed up for this festive day. Tons of them wear the little puffy hats with a feather in it (like piet wears), some wear the pope-esque cap Sint wears...and quite a few do full-on blackface:

Dam Square. Couple stages, large TV screen.

Zwarte Piet:

My bad shot of Sint:

Most of the Piets are carring large bags full of Kruidnoten (ginger bread-like cookies) and passing/throwing them out to the crowd. I tried to get some, but failed.

The kids get in into it. I think that burlap sack has something to do with being hauled back to Spain if you've been naughty.

So yeeeaaaa.......

On another note—It was a beautiful day in Amsterdam! So, after getting my fill of Piet, I went for a little ride through Vondelpark, and stopped at Museumplien to enjoy some appelbollen in the sun.

And I finally got a food processor! Flagship meal—Butternut squash soup from the Whitewater cookbook. Delicious! I think I need to make a big batch and stock-pile it in the freezer.