I'm starting to think that the best way to update on my life here is by photograph. So, without further ado....

I've been going to Amsterdam (.mp3) at times. Time-wise, it's kind of like going up into Manhattan for lunch, but it costs €10 round trip (with discount card) - about fifteen bucks. It's about 60km away and can take as little as 40 minutes or as long as 1.5 hours, if you get stuck on the train that makes all the stops.



















Here's a shot of the doors to an old telephone exchange office in Amsterdam and an old world cheese shop, as it were:

On Thursday, I saw the Brooklyn band The National play at the Melkweg (milky way) in Amsterdam:

Following up on my post about Sinta Claus, here are some advertisements for Black Peter (his assistants) from an Amsterdam shop window:

Back in The Hague, my neighbor had a fantastic 30th birthday party. The theme was "Roaring Twenties" and people were well dressed up. She had this terrific jazz band play, heaps of amazing Moroccan food, and strange looking but very tasty cakes. Apparently, she told her father that about 40 people would come. When the family showed up with restaurant size pot after dish after pot, she asked, "But papa, I said 40!" to which he replied, "Well, I figured 100 just to be safe!" Sunday afternoon I came over for leftovers; Sunday night I was back again. That evening for dinner, I was the only lawyer-type (rare in this town); there was also an Iranian girl spending a few days here in The Netherlands; two Moroccans; a Senegalese; an Italian; an Israeli; and finally a very tall (naturally) Dutch guy.

On signage: (a) it's very unclear why they must have name streets like this; (b) the second photo was taken in the W.C. at De Paas, which features more than 300 beers. Well, my Dutch is rather limited, but the sign starts Beste heren, (Dear men,) Geen (it is forbidden or do not or something) peuken. I think this may actually mean something else in Dutch, but....