Amsterdam Day 3/Europe Day 639

My last full day in Europe was great. Miraculously the sun came out and the day was just beautiful. After a lazy morning we went to my classmate, Joonwon's, birthday party, where we also were able to catch up with another classmate, Ziad. That was great fun and Sujin served up some excellent (and spicy!) Korean food.

This was followed by an IMD alumni event at a local hotel. John Wells, the IMD president, was in town so he hosted a gathering of 30+ alumni in the greater Amsterdam area. Here we all met up with another classmate, Frank, as well as with many older alumni.

I came here with the intention of getting to know Amsterdam but the highlight of this trip by far was catching up with friends/classmates. After a full day of IMD activities, we repaired back to the apartment and had another great meal--fajitas, in celebration of my return to Texas! There were more philosophical discussions--this time regarding blogging and online identity!

Now I am about to board my flight to Houston. This was a great weekend in Amsterdam and the last two years in Europe have been wonderful. A part of me will always reside here and I definitely hope to return often.

Amsterdam Day 2

In an unexpected twist, I woke up this morning feeling really nauseous. I didn't throw up but I was tired and definitely not hungry. Boo, bad start! Tomas, Albert, and I enjoyed some male bonding by walking over to the local farmer's market. This took us past Amsterdam's 1924 Olympic Stadium, which was pretty cool. Oh how far we've come since then!

Despite feeling pretty poor, I bucked up enough to check out the Red Light District. Tomas and I walked around, said hi to the ladies, and even visited the Sex Museum. I may have had more zeal for this tour if I hadn't been so nauseous but I found the whole scene to be pretty underwhelming. Still, I'm glad to have checked it off my list.

On the way back to the apartment I bumped into Joy Roth, a Rice alum and former ARA Board member--again, what a small world! I spent the evening resting up a bit. As I hadn't eaten all day, I was pretty tired. Lucia is such a good mother that she was able to take care of not only one boy, but two. She established that I had a fever and helped me treat the symptoms. The #1 treatment method was shooting Borovička, a Slovak dry gin. Oh yeah, that'll cure what ales you!

Lucia and Tomas are also great cooks. We decided to stay in for the evening so they prepared a wonderful meal of fish, potatoes, and spinach with garlic. Under normal circumstances, I would have shown them how much I appreciated their culinary skills by devouring everything they put in front of me. This night was different, though, and the smell of the garlic almost made me lose my stomach. Yikes, something was clearly wrong!

However, I knew I had to eat, so I joined them for dinner and had some cereal. I managed to eat it all and immediately felt better. My fever was gone by the end of dinner and I was beginning to feel like a new man. We spent the rest of the evening just sitting around chatting and discussing deep philosophical questions.

At one point Lucia brought out some mango and berliners (the doughnuts mentioned in my blog about Berlin) and I ensured that there were none left. Ah yes, there's that appetite I know. I'm back, baby! Still, I'm heading to bed to ensure that I'm rested and ready for my last day here.

Amsterdam Day 1

Today was a lot of fun in a very new environment. Tomas had to work so I amused myself by heading into town and just walking around all day. My first impression of Amsterdam when waking up and looking out the window was: green! Tomas et al live in an apartment overlooking one of the canals in the southwest part of the city. There are vibrant green grass and bushy green trees all along the banks of the canal, which give the canal water itself a green hue. Waking up to the shining sun on such a view was like looking into one of the impressionist paintings I saw last weekend.

I set off along the canal and turned left on Beethovenstraat, where I formed my second impression of Amsterdam: bikes! Everyone travels by bicycle here. There are dedicated bike lanes everywhere and bike racks are full of tens and tens of bikes at each corner. They're pretty simple bikes too, most with only one gear and no hand breaks, but they seem to get people around very well without creating pollution or traffic. Nice! The bicyclists are pretty remorseless with their forward momentum, though, and I've seen more than one dumbstruck tourist walk into a bike lane only to be mowed down by a hurrying Dutchman.

I made my way to the Museumplein, where I grabbed a sandwich and people-watched for a while. Next impression: tall! According to wikipedia, the average male height here is 6' and the average for females is 5'7"--I believe it! They also seem to be pretty sporty, with many people engaged in individual and organized physical activities. This was verified as I then walked around the Vondelpark.

OK, enough "soaking up" the local feel; it was time to do something touristy. So I walked up the Anne Frank House, stood in line for a while, and then walked through the secret rooms where she and her family hid from Nazi persecutors. I haven't read the Diary of Anne Frank since middle school, but I remembered enough of it to be moved by the physical site where such a betrayal took place.

Not wanting to lighten the mood too much, I then went to the Van Gogh Museum. While waiting to purchase my ticket, I bumped into Rice alum, prof, and Lovett College Associate George Hirasaki--what a small world! He happened to be in town for a conference. This once again proves my assertion that the Rice network is small but high-value and very global.

Inside the museum I met Sujin, the partner of another of my IMD classmates, Joonwon. Sujin is a painter herself so she was a great tour guide. After viewing the paintings and writings of Van Gogh, we went downstairs to view an exhibition on Alfred Stevens. I had never heard of Stevens before but I found his works to be quite remarkable. Specifically his ability to capture the texture of fabrics and upholstery was unlike anything I had before seen.

On my way back to the apartment I saw a line of painted elephants, part of a city-wide elephant art show in support of save-the-elephants charities. I stopped to take a picture and was immediately accosted by a man, raving at me in several languages. When he worked out that English was my best language (certainly better than my Dutch!) he informed me that he had been in my picture of the elephants and that he did NOT want to be in any pictures. I assured him that there was no problem and let him watch as I deleted the picture but, now that I reflect on it, I wish I had pressed him more to understand why he didn't want to be in any pictures!

Back at the apartment I relaxed a bit with Tomas, Lucia, and Albert. Albert is very well behaved and has a very pleasant disposition. Tomas and Lucia seem to have taken to parenthood very naturally and it is inspiring to see this young family doing so well.

In the evening I went out for dinner with some other friends from Amsterdam. For the second time in as many weeks I went to a Jamie Oliver restaurant--this one was Fifteen Amsterdam. The food was, once again, delicious. we each ordered the four-course prix fixe menu. I began with the antipasti sampler, after which I was basically full. Next was a sweet gorgonzola risotto--mmmm! The main course was certified sustainably caught salmon--good thing we had plenty of wine to help me make room in my stomach! Finally there was cinnamon panna cotta with a dark chocolate mousse. How indulgent!

After all that I am stuffed and am heading to bed. Who knows what Day 2 will hold, but I bet it will be fun!

Pics are in my facebook album.

The End of an Era

This evening I took a one-way train from Lausanne to Geneve-Aeroport, boarded a plane with two heavy bags, and left Switzerland indefinitely. Last night some of my Poken friends and IMD classmates came out to celebrate my last night on the town. We had cocktails at Kai Zen, followed by La Berlinoise at Bavaria. It was a very fun evening and I was glad to have the chance to say goodbye before I left.

I spent most of today cleaning as the Swiss have very, very strict standards regarding the state of an apartment when it is handed over. Unfortunately I was informed at the handover that I had still missed a few spots in the kitchen but there was nothing catastrophic.

Packing up my stuff required, as it always does, some decisions about what to keep/pack and what to toss. Some casualties of this move include my old, huge laptop (nicknamed "the aircraft carrier" by some clients of my previous company), my favorite shoes (that are large and very worn), and several bottles of wine (but I know they will bring happiness to the Poken staff). Eventually I managed to squeeze everything into my two suitcases and lug them down to the station.

Instead of heading directly to the US, though, I'm taking a detour through Amsterdam, where I have never been before. Here I am staying with my IMD classmate Tomas, his wife, Lucia, and their son, Albert, who was born during our school year. Unfortunately the cost of checking my heavy luggage on EasyJet was three times the cost of the ticket but, oh well, these are the costs of moving.

When I stepped off the plane this evening, the moon was bright and the air was crisp and cool. It felt like the first step toward an uncertain, exciting future. It felt like the right step.