Sinter Klaas en mijn verjaardag!



Hello amigos!

 

In Holland we are in full christmas mood and everybody is just eating pepernoots and chocolate letters! The kids have been really excited about Sintar Klaas and his helpers whom they call here zwarte piets (black pete). Apparently it has been a huge discussion whether zwarte piet should be black or not because it's racist. In my opinion if that's the biggest issue they have here then they are doing pretty well as a country!

 

Also instead of putting the presents under the christmas tree here they put their shoes in front of the fireplace with a carrot in it and they sing christmas songs before children go to bed. I even got to put my shoe in front of the fireplace last time and the next morning I got a chocoladeletter! To be honest I am a bit confused with the whole Christmas rituals here, but I try to keep up! On the fifth of December (as they told me) they have the pakjesavond and that's when Sintar Klaas comes and brings the presents.



My chocolate letter! :)

 

A month ago I remember I had this whole conversation about Sintar Klaas with my hostmom and I just couldn't stop laughing! Our conversation was more or less like this:

 

Me: When does Santa Claus come to Holland?

Hostmom: We call him Sintar Klaas and he comes on the fifth of December from Madrid

Me: So he is Spanish?

Hostmom: No he is Turkish!

Me: What?! Does he come flying from Madrid or with something else?

Hostmom: No, he comes by boat!

Me: But Madrid has no port or water!

Hostmom: Shhh....don't tell the kids!

....

 

Yeah I still don't really get how he comes by boat from Madrid but I guess it's the same with our Santa Claus who comes flying from the north pople...doesn't make much sense now that I think about it!

 

Other than Sintar Klaas, me and Laura went last Sunday on a trip to Utrecht and gladly this time the weather was just perfect! We took many pictures and I ate lots of french fries with mayonese (the Dutch way), yum! :D

Now I know that I should never tell Laura to smile when I take a picture of her because this is more or less the result.

Me and the fat Dutch lady with her chicken

A bike next to a no bike sign, what can I say!



I think after that day I don't feel like eating french fries in a while!

 

Let's not forget though the most important thing of the week which was my birthday of course!! I wasn't really looking forward to it because it was on a Tuesday and I had to stay home all day with the little one who happened to be also sick (yey!). Can't say it was great...also my tiramisu that I made for my birthday looked like more of a tiramisoup. Either way the taste was still good so we ate it! Gladly my two chicas from salsa Nicole and Laura saved my night! We had cocktails and a very relaxing and fun time in a mexican restaurant! I also got a surprise cake and I was extremelly happy :D

Birthday card from Nicole :) 

I had a great time and thank you very very much girls for making it a fun night!! :)

 

That's all for now!

Stay tuned ;)

 

Karoliina

 

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