Jacquie vs. Dutch Pancakes Part II

So, you know since there was a part one that a part two had to follow.

On the advice of a dutch friend, I decided to be ambitious one morning and attempt to make Dutch pancakes - after all, I had the mix, how hard could it be?

I should stop a moment and remind all of my readers that this semester is the first time I have ever really cooked without a microwave. I regularly have to look up how to do basic things, including but not limited to cooking broccoli, making grilled cheese, and all ways to prepare an egg (I'm still trying to get the burnt-on egg white out of my pan after trying to poach eggs this morning, cause I'm tired of cooking with oil all the time).

Still, I was feeling confident, and figured it couldn't be -all- that hard....

Pancake 1: Far too thick. As I've mentioned in my previous post, Dutch pancakes are supposed to be pretty thin. My first attempt was honestly closer to an American pancake...which was odd considering the mix is pretty different. This one also got a bit broken up from when I flipped it over (using a plate, not actually flipping), and I accidentally let an edge get folded under

Pancake 2: Too oily. I got it to be thinner, but somehow ended up with FAR too much butter, which made me want to pat the pancake down like I would pizza...if only I actually had paper towels.

Pancake 3: I thought this one would be the winner...but nope. It was thin to be sure, and not oily...but I didn't compensate by reducing the time, so it ended up becoming a bit crunch-cracker-like in parts.

Pancake 4: Never happened...I gave up that day, then forgot I had a little mix left until it went rancid. Fail.

Throughout my attempt to make pancakes, I also managed to:

• Drop a pancake on the floor (not telling which one!)
• Burn my hand on the pan
• Get butter in my hair
• Fling a knife with butter on it against my chest because I burned my hand (second time)

All in all...the pancakes won. Again. (If you remember, I could not conquer the pancakes at the pancake bakery, finding myself bursting before finishing their sugary goodness).

Current Score: Jacquie: 0, Dutch Pancakes: 2

Jacquie vs. Dutch Pancakes Part I

For those of you who don't know what dutch pancakes are, you are really missing out. They are actually a lot closer to crepe than what Americans view as pancakes, and in my opinion, are much yummier.

When Andrea was visiting me last week from England (aka, going to watch tennis in Rotterdam), she and I went to the Pancake Bakery. Needless to say, Andrea had picked well. The place was quite small, so when we got there we had to wait outside a few minutes before we could even get a table. (There wasn't really room to wait insides even, just a little foyer where we could pretend not to be cold). Luckily we were seated pretty quickly, but being right next to the door we could see that there were people waiting throughout our entire meal. We didn't even go at a prime food time - maybe 1pm on a Friday? We sat at the table in the bottom right corner.

There were WAY too many pancakes to choose from, both savory and sweet. Andrea and I both ended up getting one with banana, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup, though I do definitetly want to go back and try the savory ones some time. The pancakes were HUGE! I wish I had had my camera with me (sorry Dayna!), because they were definitely picture worthy. (You'll have to settle for the one I stole off the pancake bakery website). Neither of us were even able to finish our pancakes, though I'll brag a little and say that I finished more...though I was in sugar overload the rest of the day...always a good thing for me, but maybe not so much for everyone around me!

How I Fail at Really Simple Tasks: The Dutch Edition

For those of you who know me pretty well, I imagine you have figured out by now that sometimes, really simple tasks completely confound me, strange when I have little problems with complicated tasks. Here in Amsterdam this has largely involved me getting lost, or at least, ending up weird places on public transport. I'll update this list as I come up with more amusing tales.

1) Failing to Open the Laundry Room Door: Yep...its pretty much what it sounds like. We have some sort of weird keypad on the door you have to punch a code into. I have the code, and can turn the knob...but for some reason the lock still doesn't open. Yes this means I have been doing a lot of handwash.

UPDATE: Apparently I had to turn the lock the other direction. Thanks Andrea...

2) Completely Missing my Bus Stop and Riding to the Very End of the Line: Try to go over to Jantien's for dinner on Monday (one of my ISN orientation leaders), I got a little turned around. Which wouldn't really be that sad...except as I was sitting on the bus, I saw another group member walk by and thought "oh look, there's Bence." You would think I would work out that I should have gotten off when the bus went straight, and he walked right. Not entirely sure where I ended up, but I had to get off the bus, wait for the driver to get coffee, and then get back on again. Everyone at dinner got a kick out of this.

3) Washing Dishes in Sinks Meant for Tall People: At the same dinner, I was trying to wash the dishes to help out. I ended up needing to use the little step stool just to stand at the sink, because it was awkwardly too tall.

4) Not Realizing I Have a Breaker Box in My Room: My bathroom light is burned out, it's completely dark... (one week passes)...wait, what is this box on the wall? Hey look, one switch is flipped down...let there be light!

5) Not Knowing How to Cook: This is again, exactly what it sounds like. I managed to make a somewhat real dinner last night though...only 2 weeks since I moved in to my room.

6) Waiting at the Wrong Night Bus Stop for An Hour: Since the night bus comes every half hour,you'd think I would have realized sooner...but no. I ended up waiting for that bus for total of an hour and half in the cold.

7) Walking in A Giant Loop Looking for Ikea: Andrea and I went to Ikea Tuesday night, and when we got off the metro we should have turned right and not left...so we walked a huge loop through a financial district, that didn't have real sidewalks on all the roads. Again, not fun when cold. Probably took us about an hour to find Ikea...sad since if we had turned the right direction, we would have seen it immediately.

8) Grocery Shopping: Since I don't know how to cook, I don't know what to buy when buying food. This is stressful enough when in English. Try doing it when everything is in Dutch.

9) Not Knowing How to Wash/Cut a Head of Lettuce: Again, from helping at Jantien's. We buy all our lettuce at home pre-washed, and in bags. Denice handed me a head of lettuce and said "cut this"....and I had to just give her a blank stare. But I know now! On a similar note, I had to google how to make grilled cheese. Doesn't help when you apparently bought diet cheese (again, grocery shopping is stressful).

To be continued...

10) Getting Lost..Again: Yep, I already have more to add. I got hopelessly lost today, trying to walk from the university doctor to my class. What should have been only a 15min walk ended up being almost an hour. It was cold. It was not fun.

My Return...and a Few Words on Academics

Hello blog readers! If you haven't stopped checking this out of despair that I would update, never fear, I am back! I took a short hiatus due to being busy with getting settled, and then promptly dropped out of the world for about a week as my dog got very ill and had to put down (while I was in class no less). But, I've taken some time to myself to process, and I return to you, if not as good as new, at least as spastic as usual.

I'm abandoning my attempts to chronicle in logical fashion my time here. Beyond the fact that I have just too much to catch you all up on, my brain just doesn't work in that logical, linear fashion. So, you'll be getting random cultural tidbits as they interest me. I have settled into my container, am going to classes, and have not yet frozen to death (though, maybe thats just because I'm being a wimp and taking public transportation everywhere and NOT biking).

Classes so far are going pretty well, though I have a TON of reading. Never thought I'd say that after taking a Boesche class, but jeez. Also, my classes through CIEE are MUCH easier that my University of Amsterdam classes (here on out referred to as UvA).

Beginning Dutch (CIEE): Just like any other basic level language class, where the professor has a sadistic love of randomly calling on you to read even if you don't have any clue how to say the word in front of you. I mean, come on...I'm still learning how to pronounce Stavangerweg (my dorm). Don't even ask me to pronounce my bus stop, Spaarndamanstraat.

Dutch Social Policy (CIEE): Basically what it sounds like, a class on all of the liberal social policies typically associated with the Netherlands. Probably my most laid back class, but still a significant amount of reading/writing. Pretty interesting overall, though I think I need to respect speaking space and talk less.

Sexuality from a Cross-Cultural Perspective (UvA): This looks like it will have significant overlap with my Queer of Color Critique class from this past semester. I'm a bit disappointed that the vast majority of the students are American, but I guess that can't be helped. Still, the discussion is good, but I feel like I am on a different level with the theoretical knowledge. That's not to say that the class is going to be easy mind you, its just odd feeling comfortable after jumping off the deep end last semester.

Regulation Religious and Cultural Diversity in the Netherlands (UvA): So far my favorite class...but also going to be my hardest class for sure. It is a political science class, which maybe means I can count it towards my major, but I have no idea if i'll be able to pull an A. (The conversion of grades may be not super beneficial). The way this professor leads discussion is..different, though I'm not sure how to explain that. I am looking at things from a different angle which is fun. I'm not sure I appreciate him saying "this week's presentation will be hard, you should do that one!" but we will see what happens.

Well, that's all for now. Good night folks!

In My Room At Last

After three very, very, long days, I am finally in my room. I will post later more detail about orientation, but right now I am just so wiped out that I don't have the energy to give a full report.

In the meantime, my room is decent. I have a single with my own bathroom and kitchen (aka, an electric stove, and a non-functional microwave). The interesting part of that, is that I am living in a shipping container. Yep, I said it. A shipping container. My dorm, Stavangerweg (don't ask me to pronounce it, I can't), is made up of shipping containers stacked on top of each other. My "dorm" consists of blocks of these shipping containers, stacked three tall. Luckily I'm on the first floor, so I didn't have to lug my suitcases up stairs. My room is probably three times the size of my single in haines, which is pretty nice, but the downside is that my dorm (so far at least) doesn't appear to be super social, so it feels a bit isolating. Also, most of the Americans on my program are living in other dorms, with only ten of us here...which eventually shouldn't be a huge deal since this international student housing, but right now until I meet other people it feels a bit isolating.

Stavangerweg is also pretty far from the rest of the dorms, though I'll admit far is relative in Amsterdam. Situated to the north-west of Amsterdam, the houthavens dorms are located on the water, of what turns into the North Sea. Supposedly we have our own pub, that has 1 euro beer on Wednesdays, but I can't even think about leaving my room right now. More on orientation, beer, and my first terrifying bike ride next time!

The First Excursion

After finally getting a few hours of sleep last night, my parents and I set off to find a place to eat lunch, and walk around for a while, doing a little bit of shopping.

As such, here are really my first impressions of Amsterdam. We walked from our hotel to Dam Square, which among other things, felt like a macabre version of Covent Garden. The square was much more open than Covent Garden, but there were a bunch of creepy mimes...creepier than usual, because they were all scary looking, holding scythes or wearing scary masks. (Though there was one that looked like a blue Incan warrior). I wish I had gotten better pictures of them, but I am sort of scared of mimes, after one tried to hit my friends and I when I was 10 with one of his props. (Long story). There is clearly some cultural thing I'm missing here.

We spent some time wandering in the de Biienkorf department store, which was rather similar in layout and architecture to John Lewis in London, so that was a little unnerving. I did have my first experience with Dutch coffee, in that it is not as watered down as American coffee. I have to say, I quite enjoyed it. Adding to my list of things to do: drink lots more coffee (knowing me, this really shouldn't be a problem).

I am also quite amazed by the variety of food that I've come across already. Just in our travels today, we walked by Thai, Chinese, Argentinean, American (New York pizza!), Mexican, Italian, Spanish, and of course, Dutch. Since we didn't walk all that far, I was impressed.

My parents and I ended up getting dinner with a friend of mine from high school, who happens to be in Amsterdam for a few days for her study abroad program, along with her roommate. We ate at a dutch restaurant that was very good, but I suspect a tourist trap, as the menus were written in five different languages. Still, trying to eat somewhere where the menus were all in dutch would just stress my mother out, so I suppose it all worked out in the end.

This will most likely be my last post for a few days - orientation starts tomorrow, and I'll be in a hostel for 2 nights until I am allowed in to my dorm. Wish me luck!

What Time Zone Am I in Now?

Well, it is 5:44am in Amsterdam, and I've managed to sleep maybe 3 hours tonight. Of course, this is largely my own fault - upon getting to the hotel this morning around 9am, I promptly crashed and slept until 5:30pm. This is what happens when I don't sleep very much two nights in a row, fly a red eye on which I can't sleep, and spend time in three cities in just as many days. (Los Angeles/Kinnelon/Amsterdam) Still, jet lag is never a fun thing.

But to backtrack: for those of you who don't already know, I am studying abroad in Amsterdam this semester. My orientation starts at noon on Monday, but my parents insisted on flying out with me a few days early to "get me settled." Considering that I don't even get to move into my dorm until Wednesday, I'm not really sure how this works, but I'm not going to question it.

Since I slept pretty much all of yesterday, I don't have many exciting revelations yet...except that apparently taxis here can drive in the tram lane if they have a special license. Consider it a sort of super car pool lane. It was a little unsettling, I have to admit, if only because my Mother was sitting next to me worried that we were going to get run over by a tram.

As I have nothing else fun to impart, here are my (current) goals for my semester;

1) Try to use dutch as much as possible (as I learn it), and don't simply speak English. (Entirely possible since a large portion of the population speaks English). This could be amusing, since I can't even begin to try to pronounce my dorm address.

2) Rent/buy a bike, and actually use it to get around. While I have an aversion to bikes (and am terrified of the idea of biking in traffic), it will save me a lot of money not having to use public transportation. Also, it really is one of the most practical options.

3) Stay dry/warm.