Friday the 13th is my favorite day and date combo. Jason or Freddy Kruger or whomever may say that today should be filled with fear and superstition, but I say nay! Friday the 13ths are few and far between and I consider them lucky. Now nothing extraordinarily lucky has ever happened on this day/date, but someday it will, maybe. In any case, though I haven’t been in much of a writing mood I decided today deserved a blog. As there is no other particular story or theme to this post I suppose I can recap for you my first week back in Amsterdam.
Saturday was a bit of a loss. I had high hopes of being productive, but after basically losing half a day to the time change, my motivation to do anything just wasn’t there. After breakfast with a friend and unpacking, the remainder of the day was spent in my pj’s playing on the computer and napping. With the help of a Tylenol PM/melatonin cocktail I was asleep by midnight and up at 9:30 Sunday morning.
Rather than continuing the laziness on Sunday, I got up and moving immediately and had quite the productive day running errands and even joining the gym. Yes, I am one of the thousands who started the new year with a gym membership. It’s time to get back into some kind of exercise routine. Getting everything done and running around town came with a great feeling of accomplishment and helped me feel “at home”. It was quite a different experience from the first Sunday I arrived in Amsterdam (Amstelveen actually) and had to find my way to the store, figure out what was what in a foreign language, and sit around with no one to talk to and nothing to do.
Then came the work week. It was a bit of a mental adjustment to wake up to an alarm on Monday morning and head back to the office, but sitting at my desk and seeing my colleagues again was a very settling feeling. It almost felt like I’d never left and was great to be back for another year on this project. Of course what would be a week in my life without some travel? Monday was in the office to catch up, Tuesday was a morning flight to London with an evening return, Wednesday and Thursday were back in the office, and today was spent in Belgium. My schedule is already booked solid through February and I’m sure dates in March will start filling up. Right back into the swing of things.
I’m happy to be back, but it took more adjustment this time than the last. Being in the US I realize what I missed, who I missed, and what I was leaving behind. I felt the miles this time more than before but am settling into my Dutch life. Having a full work and social schedule sure helps. And now starts the weekend which looks to be filled with friend time and hopefully more productivity.
The one thing I don’t miss: driving. I love walking. I love my bike. I love public transportation. Even the mornings I was crammed in with no personal space on the metro to work I was thankful for public transportation. Car free for another year!