Amsterdam Update

Our House in the Jordaan


Our lounge and dining room


Toby winning Dirtiest Stroopwafel!

Sonya winning Tastiest Stroopwafel!

Hello Nagels Family!

All is heel goed here in Amsterdam.

I've been pretty busy starting work and teaching and have had lots of guests staying. I have had a fair few random Kiwis far from home needing a place to stay. It's amazing how much we get around.

Some good news is that my job which was only temporary is offering me a permanent contract, which is fantastic. I work for a company called Trompenaars Hampden-Turner, and we research, analyse and consult on Culture in the workplace. I am working in IT, doing all sorts of random things with websites and design.

It's such a nice place to work- lovely international work place. About half of the people are Dutch, the rest as English, Canadian, American, New Zealand.

Toby is very busy at his new job- a few all-nighters so far. He has some nice workmates- who we hang out with a bit- all americans. But he is taking dutch lessons which he is enjoying. He is working on some pretty major projects for some big clients like Coca Cola and Nike. He is really enjoying it.

We are just beginning to really explore the city and take advantage of some of the great museums and bars and resturants. We are both making friends at work and discovering more and more New Zealanders who are based here. We had a great housewarming party a couple of weeks ago. Many stroopwafels were consumed.

Our first impressions of Dutch food were pretty abysmal! But ther are some lekker places to go. We live directly across the road from the best Thai takeaways in the Netherlands! Heel Lekker! Handy but I can see it becoming a routine!

I have truly adopted the Dutch way of life by purchasing a beautiful set of weatherproof trousers and jacket for biking to work in. I look pretty cool in them, but hey, when in Amsterdam...

As for further travel plans, we are going to Brussels in Belgium in November for a weekend for Toby's birthday. We are also hoping to go to Norway for New Years to visit some friends there. We are also really keen to get to Paris for a few days too, but not too sure when. I have just got my first paycheck all year, so I have a little bit of catching up to do! We haven't decided howlong exactly we will stay here but at this stage I imagine we'll be here for at least a year more.

Hope this finds everyone well and happy.

Toto ziens,

Sonya