Settling In

Upon on return from Belgium we got right to work settling in. We made a late night run to Ikea where the workers were so helpful and friendly (sorry Brooklyn Ikea, you've got a lot to learn!). 

Yeah, Jude finally has a crib!

On Monday, we had two meetings set-up through Pete's school. The first was at the bank to set up an account. It was our first experience with public transit with Jude. In Brooklyn, to get on the bus I had to fold the stroller and carry it on, which was no easy feat and impossible to do on my own (while also carrying Jude on board). The subways were even worse with no elevators to the platforms on any of the trains near our apartment. What a breeze to just push the stroller onto the bus and park it in the designated stroller/wheelchair parking area! 

Even if Jude doesn't like his stroller, it was a great way to carry our home goods home from HEMA (the Target of Holland).

After our bank account was set up and some more goods were purchased for the apartment, we made our way by tram to the World Trade Center area of Amsterdam where we had an appointment at the ExpatCenter to get our Visas. The city has made the transition for expats so simple with the creation of the ExpatCenter. Here, all of the bureaucratic divisions that handle immigrations are in one place. We all had photos taken, the adults were finger printed, we signed a bazillion forms and we were on our way! 

After the ExpatCenter, we made our way back to the shopping center in our neighborhood to sign up for phone plans. We were pleasantly surprised at the plan rates for our Iphones and will sign up as soon as we get our first bank statement. In the meantime, we have SIM cards and are loving WhatsApp for keeping in touch with family and friends. 

The final thing necessary to really settle in the Netherlands was the procurement of bikes (fietsen)! At Kristine's recommendation, we went to Fietspiraat (Bike Pirate) yesterday evening and had a great experience with Marion who was really helpful explaining how to use the locks, how to get insurance (a must I think with the bike theft rate), how to carry Jude on the bike when he is big enough, etc. Not surprisingly, she was a big proponent of Dutch bikes and turned her nose up at the German models, telling us that they would not be suitable for riding with Jude. We both wanted second hand bikes, but none of the women's bikes available had seats that were low enough for me! It is no joke that the Dutch are TALL! So she led me to an affordable new bike that had a low enough seat. It was 6:30pm by the time we finished at the bike shop and it had started to rain. We needed to get the bikes home one way or another and Googlemaps told us it was 1 hour by bus or 45 minutes by bike. Knowing that we'll need to get used to rain here, we decided to take our inaugural bike ride. Pete wore Jude in the Beco and he had on a winter hat covered by a sun hat to try to keep the rain out of his face. He was a real trooper with the long ride home in the, at times, pouring rain. The bike paths were wonderful and other than the poor choice of footwear for me (I wasn't expecting to cycle in the rain!), the ride was really safe and easy. Pete led the way and when I would catch up to him, I could hear him signing Raffi to Jude- so sweet!). Jude's face was all ruddy by the time we got home, but he seemed overall to enjoy the bike ride. We ran him a warm bath and he went down easier for bed than he ever has! I'm thinking nightly bike rides might be a good idea :) 

Here we go!

Post-bike ride!

Bikes getting tuned up!