Twenty-Six

This week was worthy of pictures - but I kept forgetting my camera. Monday was my birthday. Naomi got me a museum card so that we can go to the many different museums in the area. It is good for a year. My parents got us dinner, so we asked around at school for restaurant suggestions. We ended up going to an African place. It was just perfect. We even sat next to the map of Mali - by accident! Naomi had lamb and I tried ostrich - very tasty. It had the texture of a fine-grained steak with a taste that was slightly different. I would definitely get it again if I could afford it.

School has been hectic this week - but mostly in a good way. The schedule has just changed, so I have all first-years now. It is so much better. I am able to take more ownership, work better with colleagues, and get to know the kids better now. Being stretched between two worlds - the first and second years - was not working very well. I am very happy that the school was able to make this change as it really makes a lot of sense for everyone. Except Naomi. Her schedule got worse. Now she sees students for long blocks of time which does not work well for giving and collecting assignments.

The big administrative task this week was figuring out how to transfer money to the states. There is speculation that the Euro might tank sometime soon, so I want to get as many dollars as I can right now. My loans need to be paid off. So I went to the bank and asked for a money order. Nope, they said, this country no longer uses paper. Great. So the only way is to get it in cash, or pay 35 Euros for a wire transfer. I was not happy. Naomi talked to her bank and it sounds like they could do it cheaper - but they insisted on an identification number that my bank in the states does not have. So I had my mom call around for options, but it turns out that Naomi seems to have been misinformed. Looks like we don't need that number in the first place. Why is everything so much more complicated than it has to be??

Thursday a friend and I went to Amsterdam for a Charles Bradley concert. It was a lot of fun. The venue was quite small and we were up on a balcony just a few feet from the band. They were quite good. My friend made a couple comments that stuck with me about the area. The first was about money. Rotterdam brings it in, The Hague collects it, and Amsterdam spends it. I thought it quite the apt summary. Secondly, he was impressed with the life of Amsterdam on a Thursday night. There were people all over the place - even street musicians. He said that in Rotterdam the only people you would see on the street at this time are junkies. It makes sense because Rotterdam is a working city, and everyone has to get up early.

Last night we had a nice dinner at a different friend's place, and we taught Naomi how to play cribbage. She liked it. She also recently learned Backgammon and Chinese Checkers. She likes those too. Next up will be Chess, but I think that is too much concentration for her. It has been fun to teach her all these games that I grew up with. We are starting to collect them.

Today I will take care of more administrative stuff, work on the pictures (we got a bunch of frames from a second-hand shop and a new photo printer), prepare for school, and get some exercise. There is never enough time.