A New Season

Not my bike... Decorating with fake flowers is a thing here

Autumn is upon us here in Den Haag! You can feel it in the air, as it's getting crisper, and the leaves on the trees that line the canals are turning. Hooray! Last night we had a pot luck at Nadine and Alex's place with most of Josh's classmates. It was so fun, and the food we ate served as another reminder that autumn is here... Cheese fondue (c/o Nina, who is Swiss and knows the CORRECT way to do it), spicy vegetable stew, pumpkin soup (I'm so glad they have pumpkins here!)... And of course beer. I am feeling it this morning.

Tomorrow is the move day. I feel like a broken record, but let me reiterate how EXCITED I am to move into our new place. Even though we'll only be there for 10 months, I am hell-bent on making it as homey and comfortable as I can. My surprising evolution into becoming a Susie Homemaker type shouldn't be all that surprising, I guess, because my mom is the same way... Adding personal touches to a space to make it feel like your very own. And one of my friends, Bridget, is amazing at this skill as well. Like, woah, amazing. I am itching to create an autumnal mantlepiece display like hers. Although I can't remember if there are any mantles in our new place... "Mantle" is a funny word, isn't it? Sorry, last night's beer talking...

Biking around the city this past week was adventurous, beautiful, and sometimes dangerous. We have had wonderful weather, ideal for bike rides. Nadine and I went to the beach (which is actually on the North Sea, can you believe it?). Then we got baked goods and beer (hey, this is Europe, so I can drink as much beer as I want... Just kidding, I really can't). Her company is so important to me already because it's easy to become lonely and solitary and then turn into a hyper talkative monster when Josh comes home from school. Back to the biking: I have gotten lost on my bike a few times, but learning to embrace it and not get frustrated. What I will not be embracing is getting stuck in the tram tracks in the road and almost dying. Yeah, that wasn't fun. And my bike is a wee bit too tall for me (I make it work) so I might have been stopped at a light and just tipped over onto my ass. Not my finest moment. I'm learning though. Biking is such a way of life here... It's the norm. So I need to learn fast how to be aware of others, what traffic signs mean, etc.

Today will be spent cleaning up the current apartment (good riddance!) and packing. I can't believe we've been here for a month already!