Day 1 - Arrival in NL

The Journey: So the shuttle picks me up at 5AM, we get to LAX and the driver drops me off at the international terminal with my two enormous suitcases. Problem - my flight originates as domestic flight, so i was in the wrong terminal. i lug my suitcases over to Terminal 7, sweaty, the clear security and get on the plane. And wait. And wait. watch a whole movie (WALL-E!!) before we even leave the tarmac. Get to Chicago, make my connecting flight by about 30 seconds (oh YOU are Miss Hutchins? We've been paging you!) get on the plane. and wait. and wait. wait on the tarmac again for about 90 minutes. flight to amsterdam was nice, slept mostly. i actually enjoyed the solace and feeling of being incommunicable with the rest of the world and nothing to do but look at the window. a nice change of pace from my life lately.

When i get to AMS, get my 2nd passport stamp, clear customs and get my bags. I'm met by my good friend Shonna from Ventura, who is traveling around Europe for the week. i'm also met by my european counterpart, Elisabet, who has kindly arranged to pick us up the from airport. We hop in the Fugro Peugot and head to the apartment in Delft.

Delft is most known for its ceramics and the main technical university here. Around the apartment is wonderful. people on bikes everywhere all bundled up in scarves. most streets are paved in red brick. the homes and apartments are connected like new york brownstones. mostly 3 stories with big front windows and unique doors. Canals criss-cross the city, similar to San Antonio i suppose but many more canals. Small forgotten about boats line the canals with a crossed by frequent vehicular and pedestrian bridges.

I'm staying in the apartment of a person who works for Fugro but is currently in the Dubai office. she was a student at TU Delft and stayed in the apartment after graduation, but technically it is student housing. so its basically two big bedrooms, a kitchen, a small entry way, a bathroom and a toilet room. But since its just one girl who has been living here (for the past 9 years) the second room is used as a living room. the apartment kind of looks like moroccan grandmother's paradise. lots of table cloths, doilies, tapestry, everything covered in plastic, with trinkets placed delicately on every available surface. clutter clutter clutter.

shonna and i made a few small adjustments to the apartment to make it a bit more livable. :) then we went to get some lunch downtown, which is about a 10 minute walk. the weather was crisp and slightly foggy. we had some soup and sandwiches at a little restaurant. then poked around downtown and bought some sheets to cover the paisly couches. most everyone spoke english, and most everyone was very interested in our choice of US president. shonna gave me an "I voted" sticked which i wore proudly on my jacket.

we headed back to the apartment and met my co-worker danya who is here in holland for a 1-week training course at Fugro. we laughed with dany about the moroccan oasis apartment, then headed out for some dinner. we ended up settling on a mexican restaurant, to assess its authenticity (reason #1) and it was one of the only things open (reason #2). we had some great laughs at dinner and flirted shamelessly with our 19-year-old waiter. walked back singing some british bar songs that shonna had learned in amsterdam the previous night and then its 10PM and time to go to bed.

my first day at the fugro office is tomorrow so wish me luck!!