6 Weeks in Amsterdam

I wanted to document how it felt to have been here for 6 weeks. I still laugh when I see the shop called, 'Sissy Boy' and cream called, 'Slag', but I'm not laughing as much. The surprising is becoming normal.

It took me 6 weeks to take out my UK store cards, library cards and memberships for local London shops/softplays. I have Dutchified my purse.

We have our health cards, Museum Card, Albert Heijn (supermarket) bonus card, air mile card and local library cards. It also took me 6 weeks to put my UK mobile away and predominantly only use a Dutch number. Riding a bakfiets is mostly not a problem now, I even let my 7 year old sit on the back of it today. I'm becoming braver about cycling and am traveling further on my bike.

Most days are OK, but occasionally, I have wobbly moments triggered by something which seems too alien, or pushes me a bit too far out of my comfort zone. For example, activities which I didn't have to think too hard about, like a trip to the supermarket, become challenging as I frequently can't find what I'm looking for. The most missed events are genuine conversations with old friends and family. It's very easy to take those for granted when you're used to them. It's now been 6 weeks since I had a good laugh with a close friend. 

My Dutch is embarrassingly poor. I've tried listening to some language discs and clips on Youtube. The children are picking up the odd word here and there, but I realised today that we had been here for 6 weeks and didn't understand when someone asked what their name was in Dutch or how to say basic phrases. I've been told it can take 3 months for the children to pick up Dutch. Our first three weeks here were spent only speaking English to each other, so I must remember to be patient with it all.