Amsterdam (Moving-in version)

On May 6th, 2006, Saturday, I officially moved to Amsterdam from India. My plane landed at six in the morning, and a couple hours later, I got a key to my new apartment. On this day, my new life in the Netherlands has started. The picture is the morning of my new neighborhood.

Yakult is something I used to drink when I was a child in Japan. I thought it was a Japanese product. Now, I am not sure. Anyways, I found Yakult Light, and I had to try it. It is about 1 USD in Japan, but this one was about 3 EUR. Other than that, I got pre-cooked paella. This became my very first meal in Amsterdam. I also bought strawberries, but I had no idea what the price for that was. Just like any super markets, prices are not on products. Plus, in here, everything is in Dutch. (The reason I decided to move to Amsterdam was because someone told me that I could live here with only English. Ok now I know – NOT TRUE.) For something like Yakult or Paella, you know how much that is because it has a product name. But something like strawberries or any vegetables, I had no idea which tag was the price for it. The way to handle this is to look around the prices near you, and if you are fine with the price range, then put it in your basket. Some times, you realize how expensive it really was, but oh well… too late.
It is actually true that you may be able to live here with only English because people speak English. As long as you ask people, you are not in trouble at all. But train ticket vending machines, super market, post office etc, you definitely need Dutch. I am planning to learn Dutch one I settle down. It is necessary I now realize.

When I was looking for dressing, I had no idea which one is what flavor; again, all in Dutch. So, I picked one that had the least inventory on the shelf. Bingo! This is very tasty. It is a very common flavor; vinegar and olive oil. But someone like me who is lazy enough to mix those two ingredients on my own, this is great.

Note: I did not have internet access until yesterday (May 20th), so the blog update has been delayed. Sorry! (Now I have no excuse…)