First Two Weeks

Not counting my hometown of Rochester Hills, Michigan, I’ve moved to five different places.  Four of them I’ve never even visited before I rolled in with a moving truck (or in the case of Amsterdam, suitcases)!  Sounds crazy to do, right?  I’ve had to leave everything I know and have become comfortable with to put myself in a new place, with new people, culture, lifestyle, weather, food, cost of living, transportation, time zone . . . the list goes on.  And I love it every time. 

I’m here with my brother for work.  We have an apartment, cell phones, go grocery shopping, becoming familiar with our local businesses and in general getting settled in.  If you haven’t been here, it’s hard to picture.  There are canals everywhere. The buildings lean forward.  Everyone is on a bicycle.  The roads are brick or cobblestone.  Every one of your senses get to have new experiences.  What you see is unlike any other city you’ve been to.  The sounds of Amsterdam are also different.  Bike bells, church bells, tram bells, all unique to this place.  Even what you smell is novel.  Bakeries, bars, “coffee shops,” cigarettes and unfortunately dog poop are some of the more common scents. 

View from our apartment.

Nearly everything we see is different than what we’re used to seeing.  With one exception.  Our friend Kevin Graham has been here just a few months longer than us and calls this phenomenon, “Bizarro World.”   He’s experienced the same thing.  On How I Met Your Mother it's called a "doppelganger."  We’ve seen more Dutch clones of people we know in the United States than anywhere else we’ve been!  So similar in fact that I’ve nearly approached them, until I heard Dutch being spoken.  Nearly every day we see someone’s twin.  I bet if/when you come to Amsterdam you’ll see some people you know too!  Some examples that pop up are Josh Bier, Mike Jennings and Shana Jarvis. 

I must be part of a couple people’s Bizarro World as well.  Two locals on separate occasions have come up to me positive that they know me.  It took me a fair amount of persuasion to convince them I’ve never been in Amsterdam before nor likely have no other way of knowing them! 

Off to a local bar, Tabac, on Princengracht.  It’s always slammed on weekends, so Tuesday night seems to be a good day to check out what the commotion is about.  Whose twin will I see tonight ?