news from abroad part 2

Dag Alle,
I know that it has been some time since I have blogged here. A number of reasons, among them; inertia, illness, being out most of the time and plain laziness. I have been feeling all these since I got to The Netherlands from the UK. For some of you who have not experienced flying from London to Amsterdam, a tip for you all at the customs is that there is no such thing as freedom of movement between these two countries, so you have to go through the entire rigamarole at customs again, unless of course you have an indefinite entry pass or something equivalent, or have been in and out of the country often enough without incident.

Weather is usually blustery, and temperature can drop low enough to leave frost lying on leaves, grass and rivers the next morning. I saw hail only once in my two weeks here, but it was enough to keep me indoors the entire time. Hence the lack of blog. Not much to write about when you are stuck at indoors sleeping, reading, reading emails. surfing the net and doing all that one does back home (:

However, since I am currently living in a village at the outskirts of Central Utrecht, I managed to pay the town a visit, as well as Amsterdam and Delft. Unfortunately, I have not been able to go around as much as I like, due to bad weather and transportation prob (I live in a village and have no car). Life would have been simpler if I have rented a car, that would put me back by 300 euros per week, and the fact that everyone drives on a different side of the road would have limited my car-induced mobility. So I make do with freezing walks, buses, cabs(highly expensive) and trains. But since I can't go out as much, it isn't too bad.

Amsterdam is a charming city, interspersing old and new, sleaze and calvinism. Streets are much dirtier than other parts of the Netherlands I have visited, but it is a colourful place, and it has a Chinatown located in the red light district (albeit a tiny one). Trust the Chinese to operate from dodgy parts of European towns. It is also in the red-light district (the map will tell you where it is and the Dutch actually name that part of town Red Light District) that you can get really charming and interesting stuff, especially big second hand bookstores (*drool*). Utrecht and Delft on the otherhand are very Dutch, though one see some Indonesian-Chinese and Surinamese restaurants around, the way one would see HK and Indian/Pakistani restaurants in London. If you know a little German and a lot of English, you might be able to understand a few simple words here and there. Learning Dutch isn't too difficult if you are a German or English speaker, though I am told that it is harder to learn to pronounce in Dutch if you are a native German speaker. Oh yeah, did I mention that this is a place where you can buy cannabis biscuits and marijuana sells rather cheaply? If I ever stay here long enough, I'll invest in a bicycle and cycle around, carrying it on the train whenever I have to move between cities. Oh, clock towers are ubiquitous around here. You know you are at the centraal part of town once you see one. And the lovely canals.

I will write more later. Weather has turned for the better, so am planning for another outdoor excursion.

Tot ziens

New from Abroad Part 1

From the first day I arrived, this has been my sixth day in London, with around six more days to go. Most of the time has been spent getting things done (like posting letters, getting a mobile simcard) and orientating myself around (with a number of misses of course). I am beginning to learn more about this city, being forced to go around on my own since most friends are not availble a majority of the time. I discovered some interesting shops, streets and museums. Some quaint and some look like what you would see in big cities in Asia.

I've also managed to get a British Library reader's pass, which is valid for a year, so that means I can go to the Library anytime I want between now and early Dec next year, subject to possible renewal. Despite the fact that it is now housed in a building quite a distance away from British Museum, it has a nice scholarly ambience, even if it lacks somewhat in history.

In between shopping and sighs-seeing, I am please to say that I managed to get some research work done. Well, four days spent on sightseeing and shopping, and all the other days (except this Sunday and the next Mon when I will be flying off to the continent) will be spent in BL (though I can still go shopping after closing time (:, or maybe take in a museum of two, if they aren't close by then. Most public places tend to close, early, with the exception of libraries.

Cheers