clueless

I made it to the Netherlands successfully! All my flights were on time, I had an empty seat next to me on the plane, and no luggage was lost. I arrived in Amsterdam on Thursday and my coworker, Paul, was there to pick me up to drive me into Hilversum. We swung by the office to meet my boss, Tarek and the other 3 workers. After having some coffee and greeting everyone Paul took me to my apartment where I was introduced to my tiny yellow room, and some of my roommates. I live with Chris and Malenka (sp) who are married, Richard, who is 28, another roommate who I met briefly last night, and three kitties. As I write this, one of the kitties, has fallen asleep on my bed. He keeps sneaking into my room and snooping through all of my stuff. I caught him earlier hanging out on a shelf where I put all my sweaters.

Everyone here has been fantastic. Richard took me outside yesterday to show me the laundromat and bank, after helping me mop and clean my room. I later met, Jamie, one of the interns from Minnesota and she showed me all the shops and restaurants because they stay open late on Thursday nights. This morning, Azza, who I work with, came by so I could walk to work with her.

My first day went fine. Paul and Tarek were out of the office because of a lecture they had to give in Switzerland this weekend. So I worked on designing a business card most the day and just got familiar with how everything works. I learned how to make coffee, since it is different than in America and also how to flush the toilet at work. Hah. Lunch is nice because Tarek provides our meal and we all sit and eat together.

I am slowly understanding how things work here. I am afraid to venture too far out, for fear I won't be able to find my way back home. I still need to find a map of the city so I can get my bearings. So far everyone has gone out of their way to help me; Chris and Malenka fed me spaghetti for dinner and are going to help me get a phone. I have a phone number and sim card but no phone yet.

So far everything that happens sounds very mundane, but it's been a lot for me. I think I'm going to really enjoy this and it will definitely be a learning experience in and outside of design.