Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Here and there

Ahoyyy! It's been a long time since the last time I posted anything on here and I have so many things to write about that I don't know where to start!

I guess I will start with the fact that my very good friend Fotinh surprised me by coming to Amsterdam to see me with her sister and her friend two weeks ago. A couple days before she came she just messaged me saying "Are you going to be in Amsterdam from Monday to Thursday?" and of course the next thing she told me was that she was booking a ticket to come see me. With Fotinh we have been doing a lot of traveling and every time we see each other it is in a different place. We met a year and a half ago in Florence, then we did a trip to Sevilla, after that we met in Athens and now in Amsterdam! Our next destination hopefully is going to be Morocco or who knows where!
My first and my last time in a coffee shop and I can't say I enjoyed it that much. I don't smoke and in a way I don't understand why people would spend money on things like that, but oh well! I guess it's one thing you "have" to see in Amsterdam.
Going to Utrecht! Once we got there we randomly saw a Spanish guy Elias we had met the previous night in the bar of the picture above. He was there doing some paperwork so we took him with us and we explored Utrecht together :) such a small world!
Elias and the girls
 Walking around beautiful Utrecht! I must say I liked it more than Amsterdam because it wasn't so touristic and it felt more cozy in a way. The weather wasn't the best but still I think I will visit Utrecht again to have a better look of the city.
 Me and Fotinh
 Posing the Asian way
 You can see also a Finnish design shop in the back. Iittala is getting quite famous here!
After hours of walking in the rain it was time to stop for a coffee! The wet look is something that I need to get used to here in Holland. That's why I never really put too much effort on doing my hair because it's going to look like shit once I get out of the house.
Still posing! After a rainy, but wonderful day in Utrecht it was time to say goodbye to my Greek chicas and the Spanish chico.
Before I left though Fotinh and Elias kept making scenes like this in the street of Mexican telenovelas and we had a good laugh! (if you can't see the video please leave a comment...I'm trying to fix it)
Last week I had the week off so I decided to go to Greece to have some rest and see my boyfriend of course ! Unlike Utrecht the weather in Greece was so nice and warm the whole time I was there...I deeply regret that I didn't go swimming. As for the food...I am not even going to mention how much food I ate again.
The happy face of a guy who has to go back to the army after having four days off.

It's always hard leaving home and of course the people you love, but now I am back to my old routine and keeping myself busy helps from not thinking too much of other things.

Now I need to get back to my Dutch homework!

Tot snel

Karoliina

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Waar is de chocolade?

Hello people! I know I am supposed to be writing about my exciting life in Amsterdam but sometimes life is not so exciting and adventurous all the time. I guess I have fallen into a routine and to be honest I kind of like having a routine even if that sounds strange to some of you. Obviously, I don't like waking up early every day and Mondays have become again my least favorite day of the week, but on the other hand that's life. Also my Dutch has been improving in one way or another and I finally can understand a bit what is going on around me...until of course they start talking really fast and then I am lost again.

Gladly I have the six year old at home telling me how to improve my pronunciation in Dutch. He is a pretty good teacher actually. I truly believe that learning a language from children can happen a lot faster than normally. Also the two year old has been saying lately "Ik ben superman" (I am superman) so now I also know how to say "Ik ben niet Karoliina, Ik ben superman!". Useful phrases you need to know in everyday life!

Talking about everyday life, it has become some sort of routine for my hostfather to buy chocolate once the kids are in bed. Then he ends up buying three different kinds and we compare which one is the best. Now he keeps giving me chocolate and I don't know what to do with it! No wonder why my clothes feel tighter lately...damn!

As when it comes to chocolate this weekend we had more than enough! We celebrated Joppe's sixth birthday and of course I made a Donald Duck themed chocolate cake...yes, more chocolate!
All the kids where so hyper after eating all this sweet stuff but we had them under control...or at least we tried. As long as all the kids went back home alive and tired that's a good sign of a good party.

Also I noticed that I haven't taken so many pictures while I have been here, so me and Laura went around Amsterdam to take some pictures of the city, which turned out to be a bit of a disaster since there were people everywhere blocking the view. I kind of hate walking in the city center during the weekend because you can barely walk through the crowd...ugh, what a difficult life I have! :P
 My salsa buddy Laura :)
 
I just can't get enough of the canals!

 I have been trying to take a picture of Iamsterdam without people for a while now but it's pretty hopeless.
 You realize that you have been in a place for a while when you start to see people you know on the street...what a strange feeling! I had that happening a couple of times and I never really thought that would happen in such a big city like Amsterdam.

I have also been starting to feel that autumn is getting closer and closer. To be honest I love autumn, but when I was cycling in the rain yesterday, I realized what I should be expecting for the months to come! Thanks rain for ruining my Saturday night by the way... -_-

Hopefully I will get some sun in Greece next week! Looking forward to go back home and eat some Greek food again :D

Tot snel!

Karoliina