Tour de Den Haag

Well friends, October was a CRAZY month! I think every weekend but one, I visited another country! The Netherlands, England, France, and Norway all in one month! Not too shabby, eh? Well, with all the out and about I had a hard time getting to this blog. But don’t worry! I took some good notes to remind myself of the important details! 

I will start out with that first weekend of October. I will call it: Tour de Den Haag. The tour guide was, of course, the one and only Sameer Ahmad; Cycling extarordinaire and former resident of the Hague for about 4 years. 

So the gist of this weekend it is that I had been planning on going somewhere else on that first Saturday of October but one of the girl’s I was supposed to go with didn’t feel well. So it fell through. Which turned out to be perfect because that was the weekend that Sameer came back to visit from his new job in Vienna! I had lots of fun hanging out with him. With all the new friends and places and people around me it was nice to spend some time with someone who knew me well. 

First, on Friday night there was a birthday party that a lot of the interns went to. Even though I hadn’t been in a good mood earlier in the day and wasn’t sure if I would go, I’m glad that I did! People were really fun and I had a great time. I even tried muscles for the first time! 

Muscles just look like little lungs...

They weren't my favourite.

As the night progressed people got a little rambunctious and started saying ignorant things about my religion (can’t remember how that came up). Anyway, while that was pretty annoying (why do people only want to talk about it when they’re drunk?) I could see the humour. For one thing, one of my fellow interns joined the conversation a little late and was like, “YOU’RE MORMON?!??” looking at me so alarmed as if I had just told her that …. I’m struggling to think of an appropriate comparison. As if I had just told her that I was a polygamist? Maybe that’s really what she thought had just happened. 

this pretty much summarises my reaction to the 'YOU'RE MORMON?!?' comment

Anyway, she regained her composure and said, “you’re my favourite Mormon that I’ve ever met” or something like that. I’m not really sure how much of a compliment that was but I could tell she was trying. Sometimes it’s nice to surprise people by my religion so that they 1.) don’t pre-judge me and 2.) when they find out realise that Mormons are pretty normal. 

So yeah. That was a notable thing about that night. I talked with Jaime and Sameer for the most part and it was great. 

Saturday was great! I slept in and then met up with Sameer for a bike ride. Sameer is the king of cycling in the Netherlands and he has a favourite place in the middle of nowhere along the beach that he calls “Sameer Spot.” He was shocked that he hadn’t taken me there yet so we biked for awhile through a park in the Hague and along the dune area and over to the beach.

It was fantastic and very empowering! When I first got here, I wouldn’t have been able to bike that long. But now I’m a cycling mar-chine ;). Really though, I hardly got tired and the weather was beautiful and the beach was fantastic. Here are some pictures: 

Scheveningen Beach

Typical Travel selfie

Horseback riding on the beach!...one day...

The Famous "Sameer Spot"! 

Oh yeah! I'm a cyclist now!

I did my own thing that afternoon but then that night I met up with Sameer and another friend, Miriam, from OPCW. We went and saw The Intern and then got deserts at a restaurant near Parliament. Overall a great weekend. And a great reminder that the Hague is incredible! 

The Curious Case of the Stolen Bicycle

When I first got to Holland, my friend and all-around-life-support, Sameer borrowed a bike from a friend for me. I used that bike about 3 times because it wasn’t very good and as soon as my roommate left for Spain I started borrowing hers. She was supposed to be back in a couple weeks…but that has turned into a couple months and now and I’m pretty attached to that bike (and I know that she doesn’t mind me using it). 

Well, when my sister came to visit I stored the Sameer-bike at Den Haag Central Station thinking that when I finally met up with the man whose bike it was, it wouldn’t be too difficult to pick it up from there. 

Well, about a week later when I checked on it …. the bike wasn’t there. 

THE BIKE WASN’T THERE!

This is what the bike rack looks like and this is about where I parked my bike
(photo curtesy of google images)

This was, understandably very alarming to Sameer. I went back to look with more time on my hands to prowl up and down the lanes of bikes outside the station. Nothing. Sameer had to tell his friend who was not happy. At all. 

BUT MIRACLES HAPPEN.

I happened to tell one of my intern friends about the incident. I showed him the place where I had parked the bike and he suggested that maybe the authorities had taken it because it sounded like I had parked illegally. He said to just talk to the transit people because they keep bikes that they confiscate and have a whole system. 

This lit a spark of hope inside me.

I looked online and discovered the Bike Depot. It’s incredible. A true public service. They have profile after profile of bikes that the police have picked up with a small description of the bike as well as a picture of it. After some clicking and searching and revising my search terms I found what could only be the bike.

Yes I parked it there like a crazy person. But look at the above picture! I thought it was normal! 

I called and left a message. I think I even emailed. It was too late to go get it on the Saturday when I found it. So I waited for Monday morning and ventured out to the South of the Hague to reclaim my borrowed treasure. I got lost of course. It wasn’t the best part of town and I had never been there before. 

I eventually found the place and discovered that there are adults in Holland who don’t speak English! This made things interesting but it all worked out. Upon leaving I found myself in the outskirts of The Hague with two borrowed bicycles. And I was running late for work. 

I walked the two bikes awkwardly down the road. I’ve seen people ride one bike while guiding the other with their hand. I tried that for approximately .3 seconds and then gave up. I wasn’t about to leave my newly reclaimed bike on the street somewhere in that sketchy neighbourhood—but it was a much less usable bike than my normal one! And I was so late! 

Well, I made my pilgrimage to the nearest McDonald’s and took my chances locking up my nicer bike there. I took a few pictures to remind myself where it was. And then I headed off on the little rescued red bike. It’s short, it doesn’t have breaks, the bell doesn’t work and I basically made myself very sweaty huffing all the way to work. 

Morning commuters at the bike rack

Thank goodness for the landmark of McDonalds!

Luckily, the OPCW has a garage where you can park bikes and no one cares if you leave them there for a little while. I took the tram home that day after work, walked back to McDonalds to pick up the first bike and then rode that home (it was like a logic puzzle getting all the bikes and myself where we needed to be!) 

When Sameer came back in town he asked me to leave the bike at a fitness center. So I rode the bike there last week after work and then jogged/walked back to the OPCW to pick up the other bike. Again, so many logistics involved when you lead a car-less life! 

My victory picture of the bike reclaimed and waiting outside the fitness centre!

I enjoyed my jog (let's be honest largely walk) back to work.

I just love the everyday architecture here.

I bike past this place often. It's on my way from work to the city centre!

Beautiful woods on the way back to work. Autumn is here!

And there is the OPCW. The excuse for all my adventures. 

Anyway, as The Netherlands are a dedicated cycling country and as cycling is probably the biggest cultural experience that I am having here it seemed worth sharing: that one time when I lost someone else’s bike, but then found it again and bailed it out of bike prison. 

The End. 

Adventures in the Low Countries!

Well, just a little update on my travels!

Last Saturday I went to Antwerp, Belgium with some of my fellow interns for the day! I wasn't sure how it would go because I didn't really know the people that I was going with very well, but it ended up being so fun! There is a new intern at OPCW who lives with her boyfriend in Antwerp so they met up with us and gave us a tour which was so kind of them and really added to the experience! But it's crazy that she lives there! She has to commute like 2 hours EACH WAY to get to work every day!

Anyway, Antwerp is a beautiful city with a cool history (which involves a myth of cutting off the hand of a giant which is why they now have chocolate hands for sale there!). The food there was wonderful and the weather was fantastic. We saw great architecture and I ate a chocolate truffle (hello, had to have some Belgian chocolate!) AND I had a belgian waffle with speculoos and chocolate on it. SO. Good.

The famous Antwerp train station. It's beautiful in there.

Because no European city is complete without a horse-drawn carriage
 over cobblestones being tailed by a car. 

I may be a little too excited about this waffle.
It looks like my jaw has come unhinged!

Inside the historic train station. Take a look at the tall figure on the left

It is a stand up of a Scottsman selling gin or something

Isn't the architecture great?

Statue of the giant slayer (the one who cut off the hand)

Bridge!

Castle!

Water! Friends! 

This Friday I went with some interns to a festival in Leiden. It was pretty epic! So apparently its this annual huge party commemorating a long time ago when basically not everyone died in this siege of the city by the Spanish. It lasts two days and they have amusement park rides and games and food trucks and lots of live music! It was so fun! It got a little bit less fun into the evening when some drunk teenagers next to us started hitting on my friend and then started breaking glass bottles and trying to get in a fight with our guy friend. At that point we walked away. And I didn't like the smell of smoke and pot everywhere. But other than that it was fantastic! I went on these two rides with my friend Jaime. They were legit rides, not like, backyard of the school fair rides. One of them was a scary one that spins you around in the air backwards and forwards. Up in the air you could see the whole city laid out with the fair everywhere and then an old windmill in the midst of it all. So beautiful. The other one that I went on was one of those round swing ones that lifts you up in the air. Except that this one went WAY up in the air. Like above all the buildings! It was cold up there at about 12 am but so beautiful! I also got a chocolate waffle and some nice dutch fries :) I found some cool jewellery there as well. Overall, such a fun night! And I love my fellow interns.

me and Nabila. I think she's pretty cool.

They have these cake ball things there! Quite good.

Beautiful canal in the city

look at the ferris wheel! So cute!

Me and Jaime conquered this. 

It was pretty epic.

Food stalls everywhere! Getting fries in a cone like this with
sauce (usually just mayo) dripped on top is so typical. This time I tried a spicy sauce. Was good! 

The swings up in the sky at midnight!

So yeah! That's what's going down lately in Jennyland. P.S. "The low countries" is the term for the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg since they are small enough to be grouped together and geographically have a very low altitude.

Superwoman: Level One

I did it! My first ever running event! It was kind of terrible but also awesome at the same time! I’m really glad that I did it! 

I was so proud of this medal! I wore it all day!
And I even put it back on after my shower just hanging out at home by myself!

See, I’m not a runner or an athletic person at all but I wanted to get in shape when I got home from my mission and running is something that I think is cool even if I never really did it myself. So I took a “jogging” class last semester. Turns out that was one of the hardest classes of the term! But I got way better at running and it feels really good to have more power in your body. 

So as I was contemplating moving to the Netherlands I started looking for things that I could do for fun here (it was my way of dealing with the uncertainty of whether I would have any friends). I discovered the Peace Run and had it on my list of things to do for awhile but wasn’t sure if I would really get around to it. Turns out I did!

I didn't realise that Ashley was there at the beginning snapping these photos!

I have only run the distance of a 5k a few times in my life but as I have a really active lifestyle now that I bike everywhere and since one of those times was in the last couple weeks I honestly didn’t think it would be that bad. 

It was actually SO HARD! Haha, I just kept telling myself, I am not going to walk. I am not going to walk. And somehow, incredibly, my will held out. I stopped for .5 seconds to get water at the halfway mark but besides that I jogged the whole time. I felt terrible as I neared the finish line. But then something really wonky happened which is that as I rounded the corner I got super fast! Like I just started booking it! 

Right before the finish line!

When I had crossed the finish line and gotten to the point that I could stop I pulled over to the side and literally (and very involuntarily) peed myself a little bit! Apparently that’s a thing! 

Luckily, my new friend here in the Netherlands, Ashley came to support me. She even brought me a flower! So that was really nice because she was able to get pictures and congratulate me afterwards. When I first finished I was like NEVER AGAIN but then I started to get that runners high/adrenaline rush that people talk about it and I was like …that was cool.

And then I walked around the Hague for a few hours with Ashley and got very tired! 

Me and Ashley and the flower she bought me!

But yeah, I’m a runner now! I just need to keep at it! But I can do it! I just ran more than 3 miles straight! And I want to keep getting better! Next step: 10K! 

It’s amazing what the human body can do- even mine! 

So proud! 

P.S. This entry wouldn't be complete without saying that I ended my amazing day by finishing my Dr. Who Marathon. I've binged watched all the modern seasons available on Netflix within the last few months. It's a bittersweet relief to be freed from the addiction! Hopefully I can use the time more productively now!

Shipping Off

Shipping off to see the Shipps that is! This weekend I took an overnight bus to and from London so that I could meet up with my sister and her family for the day! 

I wasn’t sure at first whether it would be worth it to drive like 16 hours for about 12 hours actually WITH my family but then I saw pictures of my nieces on facebook and realised that WHAT is the point of both me and my sister being in Europe if I don’t use the opportunity to become BFFs with her darling little girls? I can have a meaningful relationship with Laura over the phone but Ellie and Christine aren’t old enough for that yet and I want to be a presence in their lives. 

Also I really wanted to be with Ellie when she first saw Big Ben.

So after work on Friday I packed up and biked to Den Haag Centraal station. From there I took a train to Amsterdam and then a bus from Amsterdam all the way to London. I made friends with the bus driver who made a point of telling me that he wasn’t married and with the girls sitting behind me. One of them was Scottish and the other Croatian and they were pretty much groupies following the farewell tour of their favorite band. They were really nice and the Scottish one and I talked a lot and the Croatian one and I bonded over the fact that we both love Dr. Who (yep, brought that up). 

How does one drive to the British Isles? One might be wondering. Well, it’s pretty epic. I’ve taken the ferry before but this time when we got to Calais our bus boarded a train and then we went through a tunnel to England.

On a bus on a train in a tunnel!

Yes you read that right. I was on a bus in a train in a tunnel under the ocean IN EUROPE. That happened. 

Well, I got to London way too early for any normal person—like 6 am. It was still dark out! I was going to just hang in the train station but then someone asked me for money and I realised I probably wouldn’t get left alone. So I went to Parliament where I was meant to meet up with my sister a few hours later. I figured maybe I could watch the sunrise over this incredible landmark. But then on London Bridge this drunk guy made a point of talking with me (not a creepy drunk guy-a really dapper one). But once again it made me realise that sitting by the river on my own with my blanket (yes I was carrying a little tv blanket around London) wasn’t a good idea. 

So then I borded a bus and wandered around Camden town and maybe Oxford Street or something. Finally when Starbucks opened I went in, grabbed a drink and watched Dr. Who on the free wifi as I waited for the appointed time to meet the Shipps. 

Getting to see Laura filled a need in me I hadn’t realised had grown so huge! When I saw her I just started talking talking talking because finally I was around someone that I could be totally open and weird with! Someone that I didn’t have to have small talk with! It was great! 

Aren't they cute? They match!

At first Ellie was really shy around me but then she got over it and we had a great time looking at Big Ben, having a picnic in Hyde Park and exploring the Tower of London. After that we went to the Rain Forest Cafe for dinner. I loved being in London but more importantly I loved being with my family and getting to know my nieces (who have always lived far away from me) better. They are so adorable and so funny! 

they were more interested in the pebbles than in the changing of the gaurd

lunchtime snuggles

love her

the Tower of London residences-doesn't this just look so British!?

Saturday night the Shipps set sail and I went and found my hostel on my own. I feel like a real world traveler now that I can just do that without being freaked out of my mind! 

On Sunday my big plan was to attend the singles ward in London but that wasn’t until later in the day and on Saturday I had discovered something too good to pass up- Churchill’s War Cabinet Bunkers in Westminster near Big Ben! It was too expensive and museum-y to take little kids to so I went back on my own. 

And it was SO COOL. I loved it! I got to see where Churchill directed the war and there was even a cool little churchill museum all about his life and his speeches and his quotes and I got to talk with this adorable elderly lady who gave me her WW2 booklist and let me try on a Churchill hat replica! I also may or may not have bought a lot of Churchill/WW2 paraphernalia there….

Getting my Churchill on

After that I went to church determined to meet my husband there. As I walked up the street towards the Hyde Park chapel this incredibly handsome young man with an English accent walked up next to me and said “are you going to church?” I was like “…..yes?” totally in awe. He explained that he recognised my BYU backpack and I was like ‘my name is Jenny’ gearing up to fall in love. He was like ‘I got married a couple months ago.’ 

Uganda be kidding me! I told him congratulations. 

The bus trip back from London was good. I was able to sleep a fair amount of the journey and I even made friends with the cute Dutch girl sitting next to me! Our bus got delayed so we talked a lot and then when we boarded the ferry we found a secluded place to lie down under the stairs to nap! (It was like a refugee camp on that ferry-people were sleeping everywhere!). I’m glad I had her because she woke me up when it was time to go-somehow I was sleeping through all the noise on the boat! 

me and my new friend getting ready to sleep under the stairs

I got back to the Hague with a couple hours before work. I figured if I didn’t have time to nap I would at least have time to shower. So I got into the bathroom and then, lo and behold, the shower didn’t work. 

My kitchen floor is now all torn up and I had to take a shower at work today!

 Every day is an adventure!