a few quirks of life here

when one lives in a place long enough one forgets the things that are odd about it, so i thought i'd write a few down at the beginning before they become normal (and i forget how much they make me smile). however, life here always seems to be full of surprises (and i have a tendency to have odd things happen to me), so maybe life here will continue to have its odd quirks.

- towels and sheets are provided here. i had assumed that they would just give me some at the beginning of the year - and i'd give them back at the end. actually i get new ones every week and i just return the dirty ones to the laundry room. the current dilemma is whether i keep my duvet cover for an extra week - as it's this lovely green plaid - or whether i use the nice clean flowered ones (i dislike flowered sheets - and i've given back the bedspread). and as the towels are generally little (like really little), i might try to hold onto the slightly larger towel that i just got. of course, if everyone thinks like i do (and is as picky as i am), it causes a bit of a logistical dilemma - so i'll get over it and give back the stuff i like (or else request laundry duty on a more permanent basis - or bribe the laundry person:))

- it's becoming second nature for me to look for how to receive a little number on a paper before i talk to anyone about anything official. maybe there's less people in Canada or we queue differently. but here in the Netherlands, we wait until your number comes up on the board and you get to go to 'ballie' number...

- i live with so many people that i don't know all their names. i know all the names of the people i regularly eat with - but i don't eat with everyone all the time (which is good). but i think there are a number of people connected to the community who i still haven't met after three weeks. there are about 9 buildings in the community, each of which has quite a number of rooms - i'm still trying to figure out where live the people i actually do know.

- somebody told me the other day that he was surprised at how normal people here were. and i had laughed - i guess i feel a bit of the same. it's not exactly what you'd call the most normal of neighbourhoods, after all. but people here are pretty normal. sure, none of us are perfect - and some of us have more quirks than others - and we all come here with a history. but other than some of the odd things (like cooking supper for 30, doing industrialized sized loads of just cleaning cloths, using soda to disinfect pretty much everything - yet still getting sick more often, aving slightly less personal space, and almost always having some kind of noise going on in the background), it's really delightfully low-key. even normal, most of the time.

- i don't know exactly where i am on a fairly regular basis (when i'm not home, that is!). it's gotten to the point that i at least have a vague sense and don't get completely lost anymore, but it's still kind of fuzzy (i've been going for walks in different directions lately just to figure out where i am). the problem is the canals. they're not exactly straight. and the roads follow them - or turn a bit and change names - or stop. i think if i could take a boat through it'd be easier - as the canals seem to stop a lot less than the roads.

- this really is the city of bikes. i can step out in front of a slow moving car (at one of the bridges or between side streets) and expect them to stop. but i have learned - never mess with the bikes. and never expect the bikes to stop. it'll be great to be biking on a regular basis (i now have an 'oma fiets' - a grandma bike - good and solid and old enough that it's not the first choice for stealing).

- my bathroom still makes me laugh. there's just so little non-shower room in it. i can't imagine how anyone significantly bigger than me would feel in it. and contrary to my negative opinions about never choosing to share a bathroom with guys (because they're annoying), i now share it with two guys (we'll see if one or two more people join us in the next while) and I'M the one who is probably the most annoying to share with (my hair gets stuck in the shower drain - and dat is vies)!

- i kill a lot of mosquitoes. much to my disappointment i discovered that the Netherlands has mosquitoes, too - which makes sense since Amsterdam is a former marsh and has a lot of water around (although the farm in Friesland was worse for mosquitoes). and there are no screens on the windows. but it's been such delightful weather all month that it'd be sad not to have my window open. so before i go to sleep, i scan the walls for lazy mosquitoes with the hope that i won't get bitten during the night.

- my tap, for no apparent reason, periodically spits out water when it's off. i imagine it has something to do with a big old house. the fire alarm also goes off randomly because it's a big old house. the drill is to make sure it's not my room going off (there's a signal over my door) and then do nothing. if it goes on again (or stays on for a few minutes), then i need to leave.

- and as i've said before, the sloping rooms and the many different levels of rooms and differing number of stairs for pretty much every set of stairs. and the funny part about the slope is that different levels have different slopes. certain windows and doors follow the shape of the slope - and are definitely not rectangular!

i'm sure there are more quirks but right now that's all i can think of :)