Day 5-7 Recap

Here's what has happened on Day 5-7:

1.  Went to Amsterdam on Sunday.  It was really fun.  Cousin M came along as he's in town to teach training in Rotterdam - great to have family along for the trip.  The train was a bit tricky as it was diverted and not a direct train to Amsterdam due to construction.  It worked out, we got there in perfect timing.  
2.  We went first to the Anne Frank house/museum.  It was very interesting and well worth the trip.  There was particularly moving part showing Otto Frank, Anne's father, discussing first reading the diary after discovering Anne did not survive the camps.  I believe the quote was "even when you think you know your kids, you most likely really don't".  Amazing to think about given the fact that he lived in such close quarters with both of his children for such a long time.  I think it's applicable to a lot of people - even when you think you know them, there is a good chance you really don't.  The other really interesting part was the statistics on how many people had attempted to leave the German controlled states, both before and during the war; and to that end, how many people the countries that were applied to accepted.  The numbers were astronomically small.  It also emphasized how many people (Jewish and the like) became stateless.  I never thought about how important it is to belong to a country, any country.  You really can't do anything without a citizenship.  I read about a group of people in Sudan who were technically South Sudanese.  The Sudanese government threatened these people with statelessness before they had successfully moved back to S. Sudan.  Crazy to think that the same type of stuff viewed in Anne's museum happens today.  We are defnitely a world that does not learn from the evil of the past - so much more reason why we need a Savior.
3.  We also got museum passes there good for a year to many museums across NL for friends who come over to visit.
4.  We had brunch in the Jordan district.  It was an incredible day.  75 degrees and beautiful sun.  A lot of places are beautiful in that kind of weather, but I believe Amsterdam got an extra level of grace on that weekend.
5.  After lunch, we had some mishaps, mostly caused or related to me.  I own it - I'm not too proud.  First, my GPS gave me strange directions to the tram to catch, which led to the Van Gogh museum.  Those directions turned out to be incredibly wrong and then my phone died.  So we used the old fashioned map and jumped on a tram that went back to the train station.  We then caught the correct tram to VG - which was probably the really long way to get there.  However, we knew it wasn't walkable, so what do you do.  Anyways, the funny part happened next.  At what I thought was the correct station based on my guidebook, I got my family up to get off.  My dad got off just fine, however, I was the one with issues.  My card got stuck in my pocket (or I just got flustered and couldn't get it out).  It took me about 30 seconds to get it to buzz out of the tram and by the time I did, the door shut and I watched it close as my dad stayed at the stop.  The rest of us went on to the next stop.  I'm embarrased - its not like me to not be prepared for a stop, but I so did it.  Anyways, all was not lost as the next stop was not far from the one where we abandoned dad.  I walked back to it and he was still there.  Crisis averted.
6.  After the excitement on the trams, we hit VG museum.  It was amazing.  I loved it - I think Van Gogh might be my favorite (particulary his brighter stuff).  This was also my first opportunity to use the guidebook for a guided tour.  It worked out really well and I learned a lot.  I highly recommend guidebooks with guided walks in them.  Brings together travel and reading - two of my favorite things.
7.  Due to all of the craziness with the trams, we left after that one to make sure M made it back to Rotterdam for his classes and that I made it back to get a full night sleep for work the next day.
8.  Mom and Dad got on a train Monday for Munich.  I believe they are having a good time - something was messed up with the train, but I couldn't understand what they were saying on the phone.  But I know they are there - going on a tour of castles today, Dachau/Munich tomorrow, Nuremberg on Thursday, back here on Friday.  Should be a lot of fun for them.
9.  I made it to the grocery store again last night and made dinner 2 nights in a row!  The packing of foods is much better here for single meals.  I really don't feel like I'll have a lot of wasted food because of the portion sizes.  And there's not a lot of junk opportunities, which is perfect.
10.  I got a social security number today and a bank account too.  Just need to get Euros in it.
11.  Things I wish someone had told me:  Netflix, Pandora, ABC, etc do not work on European IP addresses.  I'm going to be reading a lot more than I thought.  Thankfully most of my CDs are on my iPad, so I have some music.

On tap for tomorrow:   Small group with new church tomorrow night.  Still need to buy a bike.  Also, got a car - it's sitting in the garage at work.  Not going to move it until Friday I think.  A little worried about driving here - but I really just need to get it to the apartment and then from there get it to the new apartment.