Tulips

On May 20th, Saturday, I was planning to go visit Van Gogh museum. I bought a ticket online and I was good to go until I realized that I did not have a printer to print out the ticket. I called the museum and asked if I can save the image of the ticket in a memory stick and bring it with me to make sure that I purchased the ticket. Okay, no luck. They told me that it was obvious that I needed a printer to begin with. Stupid of me! (or them, not stating that a printer was one of the requirements in order to purchase a ticket online!!)

Anyways, I decided to take a walk in my neighborhood. After 20minute walk, I realized that I was in front of Amsterdam Central Station. It seems Amsterdam was smaller than what I imagined. Amsterdam CS is two stations away from my place, so I did not think that I could get there by just taking a stroll.
On the way back, I arrived in Nieuwmarkt. There were about 30 - 50 stands selling vegetables, flowers, bread etc. I was so excited to see those beautiful flowers in the market. They all look great, and tulips were the ones that got my attention the most. (Tulips and sun flowers are my favorites!) I could not leave without them in my hand. I got two bunches for 5 euros. 1 bunch was 3 euros, so it was not bad at all. After I came home, I realized that each stem had more than one flowers on it. I think it is the reason why tulips are sold with a good price in Holland. I may be wrong, but I had not seen tulips with a few flowers on a stem. I do not mind an extra flower or two, but I must say those tulips look really busy when they blossom. I don't know how to express this, but they look like shouting out loud "TULIPS"!! From this day, I finally admit that I have allergy from flowers. It had not acted this badly before. Until last year, my eyes were a bit itchy, but that was all. This year, I've been sneezing and having a runny nose. It is too sad, but yes, I am allergic to flowers. And Holland is the worst country to be in for that.

Because I was feeling good after the flower shopping, I started mopping my entire apartment floors. I usually take off my shoes inside an apartment, so I'd wanted to mop the floor since I moved in. Of course, I walk around with shoes before I go out, but most of the time, I relax without them.
After mopping the floors, I started changing the layout of my living room. Because I like coziness (remember. I'm Japanese.) I switched the position of dining table and a couch. Now, I can relax in a cozy living area and fairly spacious dining area. I’d being feeling like I was living in someone’s apartment because this apartment was furnished. But changing the layout made me feel like I actually live here now!

In the built-in shelves, I placed some of my family photos on the day I moved in. These are my treasures. Also, I have "going away" cards from my colleagues from the United States. When living in a country where there is no friend or family, something like this is very precious.

Note: Finally, I have internet access at home! I'd been isolated from the rest of the world, but now, I'm back in business! It was really lonely for two weeks without internet.