I Moved to Amsterdam
CLICKBAIT!!
Ok, not really but kinda. I didn't really move to Amsterdam (shh, don't tell my 4-year-old) but to Amstelland. What is that?
Historic Amstelland
By "Amstelland" we mean today the area south of Amsterdam, with the most important places: Amstelveen, Diemen, Duivendrecht and Ouderkerk, all of which are older than Amsterdam. We no longer count the city as part of the area. The name Amstel comes from the old Dutch name "Ame-stelle", which means "place by the water". That is the original name of Ouderkerk aan de Amstel. The oldest mention of Amestelle is in a deed from 1105, in which Wolfger is mentioned as sheriff of Amestelle. Amstelland was for centuries an uninhabited peat swamp that was brought under cultivation from the 11th century. The Amstel was the mining base.
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| by nl.Wiki |
Around the House
It's going to take some adjusting. For one thing, I'm short. Like, 5'3" (160cm) and the Netherlands boasts the highest average heights in the world. The average 19 year old female is 172cm (the 19 yo male is 183cm). The oven in our flat, for instance, is shoulder high. The oven is in Celsius. It's also a convection oven, so MAN THE SHOPVAC because I'm probably going to start a fire.
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| I'm definitely going to burn myself. |
Oh yea, and then there is the switch from Imperial units to Metric (which I do know but haven't really used on a macro scale). The switch from dollars to Euro (at about 0.8 to 1). Having to learn to ride a bike. OKOKOK, I kinda know how. I've ridden one before. But, not often, and not well. Oh, and I don't speak Dutch.
I'm still trying to figure out the thermostat and the combination washer-dryer which holds only three shirts and two pair of pants (and wrinkles them badly).
Grocery Shopping
Ok, the Dutch have made grocery shopping super efficient: Scan everything in the phone app, organize backpack as you go. Scan app at computer on the way out, flip to bank app and tap that, out you go. Of course, this comes after a month of fumbling around and cursing under my breath as I stand, embarrassed and confused.
Wildlife
The more things change, the more things stay the same... I expected to get to know all new waterfowl in my new canal-rich home, but mostly I've seen Coots, Herons, Mallard ducks, pigeons, and seagulls. Mostly they look exactly the same, but there are some species differences.
- Eurasian Coot vs Florida Coot
- Grey Heron vs Blue Heron
- grey-headed Jackdaw Crow vs larger American Crow
- Indian Rose-ring parakeet vs South American Monk parakeets
- and supposedly Egyptian Geese (but I haven't seen them yet)
The pigeon, mallard, and seagull are the same though.
I have NOT seen Squirrels. Strange, but true.
Coronavirus
We moved here in the second year of the Pandemic. The US was trying to survive the Delta Variant spike. We honestly worried the boys and I might be blocked from entering the country due to an upcoming announcement of "new Quarantine measures for visitors from High Risk countries with poor healthcare". Yes, the US was the first country on that list. In the end, it announced a 10 day self-quarantine, which was lifted a few days later.
Masks are still required on mass transit and in government offices, but are no longer required indoors otherwise. In order to eat indoors, people have to have proof of Vaccination. MY US Covid Card counts, but residents use the CoronaCheck app, which stores their nationally registered QR code. After getting my BSN, I registered my card in their database and can use the QR.
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