Community Life

I have finally returned to Florida, the Sunshine State, which is ironically in the middle of one of the wettest summers on record. But I still have a backlog of posts about life in Amsterdam to get up. So for the time being this blog will continue. Thanks so much to everyone who has been reading!

I thought that people might appreciate a pictorial glimpse into the day-to-day life of the OZ 100 Community in Amsterdam, and it's surrounding environs. I can provide that! My last few weeks in the city I made a concerted effort to photograph some of the ordinary, every day bits that you normally take for granted, living there. Now that I have returned home and had a chance to go through my pictures, I realize there are some huge gaps in the pictorial record. But we'll just have to do the best we can with what we have.

(For more, check out this post for pictures of the canals, markets and more street pics, and this post for some shots of our chapel)

The open window was my room. I had a small room which didn't lend itself well to be photographed and was in a state of perpetual chaos, so there are no extant pictures of the inside. Actually, though, it was one of the best rooms in the Father House. It was certainly large enough for my needs, it had its own sink, and most importantly, as you can see here, it faced the inner courtyard and not busy and loud Oudzeijds Achterburgwal, where the drunken football fans never sleep.



We continue our tour down the spiral stair and into the courtyard. These metal steps are a source of fascination for one particular Oudezijds toddler and thus a source of endless terror for his mother. 'Bove' (bohv-uh) is the Dutch word for 'upstairs' and not coincidentally one of the first two syllable words this small explorer mastered.

You can tell it's summer because someone has stashed their canoes in the courtyard. If we could tilt the camera slightly downward we would also see a profusion of tables, chairs and benches, perfect for barbecues on warm summer evenings.

Down a flight of steps from the courtyard lies this long corridor. It serves a number of purposes: wood storage, access to the workshop and bike shop, tool depository, entrance to the KruisPost Medical Clinic, and...

...as the all important fietsenstalling. Basically, a garage for bicycles, which one can roll out the door, up the ramp, and onto Oudezijds Voorbergwal.

Out on Voorburgwal we find the front entrance to the KruisPost.

The KruisPost serves a heady mix of tourists, uninsured immigrants and homeless people. I occasionally worked in reception there and it was always an interesting experience. Our visitor book, which lists nationalities of the patients, reads like a roll call at the United Nations. I actually learned the existence of a couple of nations I had previously had no idea of while working there.

The kauit, or common room, is another room that is difficult to photograph. It has a low roof and quickly becomes crowded when there are people in it, which they usually are. For all that it is the place that visitors first enter, many of them people off the street looking for the coffee and tea we serve mornings and afternoons (and maybe a warm place to sit as well!).

Scott and Katy came to visit me in March. Here I ply Katy with some hot tea.

This is a slightly historic picture. It may be one of the last photographs of the old chairs in the Kayuit! They had a lot of personality, by which I mean they were very uncomfortable. The new orange ones are a great improvement, plus they are from Ikea (naturally!).

Before we head out on the street, I had to share this with you: a rather informal attempt at drying some extra laundry on a sunny day! This was not, I should note, my laundry.

This street runs perpendicular to Oudezijds Achterburgwal and Voorburgwal (literally, 'first wall' and 'second wall', the two main thoroughfares of the Red Light District). It runs straight down to the Dam Square. As you can see here, the Dam is often host to a small fair, complete with rides.

Almost home! This rather seedy looking corner is how I knew where to turn for my house in the middle of the RLD.

It's not just a pretty name: the street does feature plenty of red (and pink) neon. But if you want to see it at its best, you really have to see it at night.

The lights are on, the crowds are noisy and the girls, of course, are in their windows. It's a crazy scene, like something out of a fevered dream.


The storefront with the red awnings is actually a prime window location for several girls. But what do tourists stare at? The swans in the canals, mostly. Maybe they just don't know what else to look at.

And to be fair, the swans are beautiful.

Next post: What's so great about living in a community anyway?

Pasen

Easter weekend - a busy time here in the community. Every other year the community celebrates Easter (Pasen, in Dutch) internally. The off years people do things with their own churches.

Preparations really began way back in late February, at the beginning of Lent. As a community we observed Lent by not eating meat together six days of the week. We also skipped desert and ate in silence (well, at least an Oudezijds Silence, which is like a normal silence but with more crying children), although classical music was played during the meal. On Sundays we had normal, meat-intensive dinners with talking.

Last week, Pasen started in earnest. To the normal morning and evening prayers we added a midday prayer and I guess what you would refer to as vespers compline. There were also other special services.

Thursday was Passover, and that was a big event. The entire community came together for a huge meal/service that included scripture readings and foot washing. The prohibition on meat was lifted for that meal, and I have to say that the food was surprisingly delicious! Even though the meal contained all the traditional passover ingredients, like matza.

Friday was of course Good Friday. Among other events and special prayers, an art teacher visited us and helped people draw the stations of the cross. I didn't participate, but the resulting art (charcoal sketches arranged on the chapel floor) looked cool.

Oh, did I mention that I was on Weekend Team? Usually this duty is a two-and-a-half day affair, but this time it went from Thursday night to Monday night! Fortunately we had six people to cover things, so it wasn't too crazy.

Saturday night something very special began - an all night prayer vigil, "Paaswake". From 8 PM to 8 AM there were hourly readings. The chapel was kept darkened except for a light on the spot that was designated our 'tomb' - a gate against the wall, adorned with flowers. I didn't go for the whole night, since I had duties that required being awake the following day, but I did get up early Sunday morning so I could sit for a couple of hours.

At 8:30 the wake ended and the Easter Service began. The chapel was (quickly) converted from a place of dark solitude to a place of light, filled with candles and draped in white. Once we had stuffed the entire community in there it seemed like a real fire hazard, but fortunately nothing inappropriate caught fire. The service was long and elaborate, but very nice, with a lot of singing and liturgy. I liked the way that it followed on from the wake, with a general theme of light into darkness. At the end, we all trouped out onto the main street of the red light district and sang a hymn. There weren't many souls stirring out there at that hour, but for those that were I bet that that's something they don't hear everyday.

And then, it was time to celebrate. Breakfast was a huge buffet, with enough that everyone could stuff themselves on whatever they wanted. Eggs, pannekoeken, bacon, you name it. There were chocolates and confections and half a dozen children under foot. It was glorious. Brenda commented, "I love Easter!" And I know what she meant. It really felt like we'd done something, that we'd been on a journey and arrived. That's a feeling you don't get if you just celebrate Easter Sunday by dressing up and going to church that morning.

Sunday evening was a very big dinner which was amazing and which I blame for my subsequent convalescence today.

Oh by the way, Monday is a national holiday here. Yep, everyone gets the day after Easter off. It was very nice weather and I'm sure everyone who wasn't feeling bloated to twice their normal size enjoyed it. Ah well!

Anyway, that was Easter in the community. Some semblance of normalcy now returns. It's really truly spring here now, too, so I anticipate that the next few weeks should be pleasant.

Rites of Spring

Today is my birthday.

It started slow, because I slept in. A motion to get up and go down to breakfast did not pass parliament, and it was tabled until after Chapel. Eventually I did escape from under the covers, took a shower, and got dressed.

While I was dressing I heard a great deal of movement in the corridor outside my room. These kinds of noises usually precede chapel or a meal as everyone rushes down at once, but I was baffled because it wasn't chapel and it wasn't mealtime. I opened the door to see what was going on, and found myself being serenaded with "Lang zal hij leven" by about half the community!

If you've never heard the Dutch birthday song, this should give you a pretty good idea of it.

Other fun things: Malte dropped by from The Mission House, bringing me a nice gift signed by everyone there, and a birthday card from my mother arrived - exactly on time!

Meanwhile, spring (or 'lente') has officially come to The Netherlands. It's been deliciously warm, with at least one shirt-sleeved day and many more that require not even a light jacket. Buds appeared on the trees along the canals on Friday and they are well on their way to a leafy canopy by now. Occasionally you even find tulips in unexpected places.

This week is the most important one in spring for the OZ100 Community: Easter Week. Every other year the community celebrates Easter in a big way (the off years people celebrate with their own churches). This week will have multiple chapel services every day, a number of special meals and events and an all night prayer service on Saturday. And I'm on Weekend Team duty for it, so things will be busy for me personally. It should be pretty interesting though!

I have been amazingly busy this past month, which explains the dearth of posting. My intent is to try and make it up to you guys in my spare time this week. I have pictures galore! I just need to get them uploaded.

I hope this post finds you surrounded by caring people of your own!

A Hard Day's Night

A question I often get when I explain that I'm working as a volunteer at Oudezijds 100 is "So what exactly do you DO there?" I can generally tell from their wry expressions that my response - "Everything!" - fails to satisfy.

But it's true! By way of example, here's what I did yesterday:

• Woke up, showered, got dress.


• Went down to breakfast. Helped clean up afterward.


• Studied Dutch in my room.


• Went to chapel.


• Was supposed to work on website, but found that only one person had showed up to clean the kitchen. So instead I scoured the house for additional help, then pitched in myself.


• Finally got a chance to work on website.


• Ate lunch. Helped clean up afterward.


• More website work. Finished early, so...


• Went over to the front office and fixed someone's email as requested.


• Met up with Hans, who needed a hand moving furniture to his new flat.


• Spent an hour and a half hauling furniture across the RLD and up two very narrow flights of stairs.


• Somewhat exhausted, took a brief nap before dinner.


• Ate dinner with the community.


• Left a little early to work in reception at the KruisPost.


• Spent two hours filling out forms, filing things, and trying to communicate with uninsured foreigners in my broken Dutch.


• Finally free at 9:30, I snuck out for a brief snack before calling it a night.

A full day's work! Fortunately, not every day is so busy. But I've singled out this one in particular because I think it gives an idea of the variety of activities I might participate in on any given day.

It seems like a good many of the things I wind up doing aren't on a schedule anywhere. They simply involve helping out where I am needed. For me this is a good thing because that's something I came here hoping to develop in myself: a greater willingness to serve other people. And most of the time I enjoy it!

In 2009 I've definitely feel as though I've started to gain some familiarity with the community, which enables me to be more useful to them. I think that this is part of the reason why I now feel so much more at home in the community as well. Community living depends on the members helping each other out.

When people first come into our community (and this certainly includes me, circa October 2008!) they need a lot of help and guidance. Even when they are doing helpful tasks they must be helped, because they don't know how to do them! It's sort of like childhood.

But hopefully we progress out of childhood and into an 'adulthood' (or at least an 'adolescence'!) where we are able to stand on our own and even give back. For me at least, this is a very satisfying state.

The Return

Apologies for the extended silence around these parts. Catching up to my life and all that. But it's good, I'm here, I'm alive, I'm thriving.

I have to admit, I had some trepidation about spending Christmas in Florida. It would be warm. It would be familiar. What if I didn't want to come back?

Well, it was all those things and it was definitely a blessing to see friends and enjoy twenty degree weather and sunshine, in spite of a bout of intense bronchitis. But as I prepared to board the plane back to Amsterdam on a Friday afternoon, it occurred to me that I was really looking forward to getting back. I missed people.

Two long flights, a short train trip, and then the joy of dragging all my luggage across half a mile of brick pavement. I was exhausted when I put my finger on the bell at Oudezijds Achterburgwal 100. But Margeet opened the door and let me into the kauit (common room) and relief swept over me in a wave.

I really was home.

It's of course the dead of winter here in Amsterdam. The trees are bare, the wind is icy, and some mornings we are greeted by chunks of ice cluttering the canal. But I've been enjoying being back in the community so much. I've really felt it impressed upon me in the last month that this is where I belong right now. I have no idea what the future holds (just one of many things I need to work on in the next five months!) but I'm very certain about the present.

And that's a good thing.

I want to re-extend my invitation to people back in North America to come visit me here. It's a lovely city and you shouldn't miss it. Nor is the experience of eating a meal or two in the community to be missed! All are welcome, so come on out! I'll be here until the end of June.

Expect more posting in the coming week, probably language related. It hasn't been very nice weather for going out and playing in the city lately, so there aren't really any new pictures. Today is nice, though, and we're gonna try and make the Van Gogh museum. Lekker!

Turnover

As the year draws to a close there are a lot of changes happening in the community. Several people in the 'Opstaap' program are moving on. Some are leaving us entirely, for various reasons. Others will still be around, but are moving to more independent housing outside the main house as they continue the process of figuring out their lives. We wish them all the best.

Meanwhile, there are new people coming in. It's funny how people find us. Some of course come in through approved, official channels - they are referred to us by the government or some sort of program or shelter - but it seems that fairly often they just stumble across us. They come in through the window rather than the door, you might say.

A recent example: one night Marco and I were in the kitchen watching a movie on TV when one of the doctors from the Kruispost, the medical clinic in the basement, knocked on the door. She had in tow a patient - a mother with a young boy. While treating the mother for a fever the doctor discovered that the two of them didn't have a place to stay for the night. So she brought them around.

They stayed for a couple of nights while arrangements were made for them and then they left (the mother completely recovered, by the way). And now, a week or two later, they're back to stay for a while! So you can see the way things tend to work around here.

Also in the realm of the unplanned - the sudden turnover around here. There's no rule, as far as I know, that everybody has to be out by the end of the year. That's just the way it has worked out. Hopefully folks are moving on to bigger and better things, getting their lives back together and charting a new course for themselves. And new folks will come in through the doors and windows to replace them.

In the meantime, things are a little bit quieter around here.

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On a purely meditative note: it occurred to me yesterday that living in different countries is a really good way to observe the different forms that grace can take. I've experienced faith related work in China, in Haiti, and now in Amsterdam. And it seems as though in each place they experience grace differently.

In China, the grace they need is freedom. Freedom from political oppression and millennia old traditions that have bound that people in servitude. In Haiti, the grace they need is the day-to-day necessities of survival. And here in the Red Light District, a different kind of grace again. A grace to overcome addictions and troubled pasts and all the baggage that life in the modern world can saddle us with.

In each place I've seen radically different people with radically different needs. In spite of this, I believe that the same grace covers all of them. If it looks different from place to place and person to person, that's just because we in our human limitations can only perceive a small part of it at a time.

What a great motivation to travel, though! If we stay at home in our own comfortable spaces we might never get to see all these many other faces of grace. We might think that God worked the same way, every time, for every person. And that would be a tragedy, because my experience of him is that he is so much bigger than that!

Grace is bigger than we are. It's not defined by our limited perspectives. It's wildly different from person to person and from nation to nation. And you can't truly begin to understand that without experiencing it for yourself.

Fall

Sinterklaas's arrival is nearly upon us, but we've already had a holiday with a distinctly Dutch flavor: St. Martin's Day.

Now from what I understand, St. Martin's Day is not celebrated equally in every part of the country. It's kind of a protestant thing, and so the southern parts of the Netherlands where Catholicism predominates doesn't really get into it. But it cosmopolitan Amsterdam it is definitely celebrated.

The first and most exciting part of the evening (to those of us who aren't kinderen) is pannekoeken. That's Nederlands for 'pancakes', in case you hadn't picked up on that.

Plates heaped with pancakes were brought to the table. The Dutch way to eat pancakes is to cover them in powdered sugar, jelly, or stroop (A sort of thick syrup. It's not exactly maple syrup, and it's not exactly NOT maple syrup. Either way it's yummy.). Then you roll them up and eat them with a fork.

Some pannekoeken may also have cheese or ham baked into them. Both are delicious. The whole affair is basically one big salute to culinary hedonism.

I was somewhat bemused when they served dessert.

I didn't participate in the next part of the festivities, but I did snap some pictures. The kinderen parade through the streets with lanterns and go door to door asking for candy. The kids may also dress up in costume. Yeah, it's kind of like Halloween, but who stole what from who depends on who you ask. I will note that the Wikipedia page says nothing about 'dressing up'.



In this neighborhood the kids don't actually go door to door. But OZ 100 is big enough that they make several stops at the main house alone. The adults escort them to friendly doors in the neighborhood.

The end result is candy. In case someone hadn't had enough sugar that evening!








The lanterns are mostly constructed by the kinderen with a generous portion of help from grown-ups. They buy little lights hanging from sticks that you put inside.

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That was Tuesday. Today is a cold, gray day, but that didn't stop Anne and I from exercising our Museum Cards. Today we went to the Jewish Museum, which we got into for FREE NINETY-NINE. Sweet. But on the way I thought I would snap some shots of the buurt (e.g. the neighborhood).



And this is Oudezijds 100. Well, I've cut off a bit of the building on the right, but you get the idea. The windows at basement level are for the kitchen, and are a convenient way for passing tourists to stare in in surprise around dinner time.



Jorene and Eric kick back and enjoy the warm morning (which lasted, I believe, for about five minutes).




The window girls don't appreciate being photographed, but they aren't out and about until late morning. These ARE actual windows, although Anne is not an actual window girl.



Waterlooplein! Hosts a thriving market where you can get, among other things, clothes. The prices are quite reasonable, and occasionally you can even talk them down. There are also 'snack stands'. I tried yet another burger at one, but once more I get some sort of wurst between two buns. What's up with that? Well, it was better then the one on Damstraat.



And this is New Market. It's only a block over from the District, but it has much nicer cafes. In spite of being called "New Market," it's a fairly small market and sells only only flowers. That big castle thing in the background was once a weighing house for merchant goods.



A gray day in Amsterdam. It's windy. The leaves lie in drifts along the sidewalk and the trees have skeletal reflections in the canal. But it's still a beautiful city. And sometimes? The sun even comes out.

Amsterdam Questions Answered

I thought I'd tackle a couple of questions that some commentors have posed. The answers aren't short, but they do involve pictures, so stick with me!

First of all, my dad asks whether I've felt acceptance as an American living in Europe.

Well, let's just say that so far I haven't felt it necessary to pose as a Canadian. The Dutch at least don't seem to harbor any special antipathy towards Americans. Actually it never ceases to amaze me how curious people are about American political processes, so the revelation of my nationality usually leads to questions about how I voted, who I think is going to win, and differences between forms of governments (the Dutch have adopted the typical European parliamentary model of government and also have a constitutional monarchy).

If the Dutch harbor any nationalistic antipathies, they seem to be reserved for the Germans and the British. It probably goes without saying that their friendly rivalry with the Germans is a result of that little misunderstanding back in 1940. And the British? Well, since their main contribution to Dutch culture is endless waves of drunken tourists, you can see how even unfailingly affable Nederlanders might get a little annoyed.

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Patrick was curious about chapel and I am now in a position to offer up more information on that as well. And I have pictures. So, buckle up!



There is morning and evening chapel every day but Sunday. Attendance is not mandatory, but encouraged. Services are conducted in Dutch unless there are an unusual number of English speakers present. The brothers and sisters and people deeply involved with the community take it in turns to lead the services.

We usually start with a little bit of liturgy, then a hymn is sung. Then there is silent prayer to prepare our hearts for God. After this another song may be sung. There is a reading from a pre-selected passage of the Bible, sometimes prefaced by a short explanation. After this there is usually a moment to meditate on what we have heard. Sometimes the leader will then give a brief message based off the scripture. There is more prayer, and then another, relevant song. Sometimes the prayer may involve more liturgy. At the end we all recite the Lord's Prayer together, a community member blesses us, and then it's time for tea!

OZ 100 is an ecumenical community, which means we don't subscribe particularly to one denomination. Our kapel reflects this. It contains imagery and icons that will be familiar to Catholics, Lutherans, Eastern Orthodox and other sects. And virtually every part of the chapel is mobile, so it can be rearranged to accommodate a number of types of services.

(Incidentally, I apologize in advance for the quality of the pics. I was forced to use the flash to snap shots of the chapel, and it somewhat ruins the quiet, muted atmosphere that it actually has.)



The backdrop you see above is actually movable. The imagery on it will be familiar to Roman Catholics and Orthodox worshipers. In the case of the latter, the frame may be moved in front of our little altar to create a 'holy sanctum'.



Wooden benches line the walls, and there are stools. All are lightweight and can be easily rearranged. For ourselves, we typically sit in a circle around the room and the leader does not occupy a special place unless he or she gets up to read.



Virtually everything in the kapel has some symbolic value. This includes the floor, which spreads outward in concentric rings to include even the outside world. The pink neon lights of Cafe Rosso are right outside the doors, and in the evening service we are vividly reminded of their inclusion by the noise of the people queued up there.



I'm told the item above makes Lutherans feel at home, although it's a bit foreign to me personally.



I was surprised to learn that in addition to providing a lovely ambiance, the little stream and pool at the back of the room can be used as a baptismal. Whether you are into full or partial immersion, there are sections of the "Jordan River" that you can use for your service. The little pool just above the falls is just right for infants, and the large pool is bigger than a bathtub and can comfortably receive adults.



This is a picture of some of our worship materials. "Youth for Christ" is a popular songbook, as is Taizé (not pictured) which contains songs in virtually every language you're likely to encounter in Europe. The folder contains copies of still more songs, as well as liturgy.

Dutch service or not, many of the songs are actually in English, which is nice for me. However, I am seldom familiar with any of them.

The service concluded, we adjourn to the common room for a little gezelligheid. Time for tea coffee!

Like Fries With That?

OZ100 owns and operates a farm in Friesland, in the north of the Netherlands. The founders of the community live there, as do others who for whatever reason seek a more peaceful and isolated setting. Friesland is considered by Nederlanders to be quite different from the rest of the country. As a matter of fact they have their own distinct Germanic language.

Alas, I didn't have much opportunity to interact with native Frisians. This weekend was the annual ceremony where the 'inner circle' renew their lifetime vows. Usually it is held in Amsterdam but the people on the farm had asked that we do it there. So we packed up virtually the entire household, stuffed them into minibuses, and ferried them two hours north to the farm.

Well, the weekend was pleasant enough, but rather than go into great detail, I have pictures. Yes, pictures! Worth a thousand words, or so I hope. Well, this camera is only rated for about 750 words per image, but hopefully you'll get the idea.



Part of one of the farmhouses we were staying in. Surrounded on all sides by grass and muddy ditches.



And cows!


Inside our farmhouse is a huge open room with lofts on both sides and small rooms partitioned off beneath the lofts. The inside ceiling, curiously enough, is thatched.



Looking down on the main room from the loft.



The loft where the boys slept. Note the slanted part of the ceiling.



Two Larissas at breakfast. Big Larissa there on the right is from Russia. Little Larissa is the little black girl seated back right, if you can make her out.



More outside pics. This is a view of the 'driveway' to the farmhouse.



More cows! I believe they outnumbered us humans by a healthy margin, but they seemed non-threatening.



This fellow was a bit more threatening. That's why he's kept on a chain.




There's also the cutest little pony you ever laid eyes on. She wandered right up to me while I was trying to get a picture. I felt really bad because immediately after I snapped this the flash sent her bolting.



Assorted Oudezijds children. Oh sure they look cute...

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In other news, Brenda is another transplanted English speaker living in the house (she's Canadian, but we won't hold that against her). She's a bit further along in her Dutch than I am, but she's documented some common sources of confusion between our two languages on her blog.

Various and Sundry

Is there anything you'd like to hear more about on this blog? If there is let me know. I'm not necessarily sure what kind of things are most interesting to people, so I'm cherry-picking here. If you have a specific topic of interest let me know and I'll try and touch on it a little more. Today's post is just going to cover some odds-and-ends.

There are two English speaking churches nearby. Neither of them is Baptist, alas, but they're both fairly interesting. Christ Church is an Anglican congregation a few blocks east of here. I'm definitely not Anglican, so attending a service that is so heavy on liturgy and where they take the Lord's Supper every Sunday is kind of a different speed for me. It's a young church, though, which is nice. Their building is, what, one hundred, one hundred fifty years old? It's squirreled away amongst the merchant houses, which means it's long, narrow and tall!

Also hidden away is the English Reform Church in the Begijnhof. However you won't have too much trouble finding it, since it's a historic site marked on most maps and the church has its own Wikipedia page. The church building has been there since about the time Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and the Presbyterian congregation that currently occupies it has been around since 1607, when the Protestant Reformation came to the Netherlands.

In modern times, it's quite an international church. I went to lunch with some of the young people who go there. They included people from Indonesia, Singapore, and Poland*. The latter is the student pastor of the church and speaks with a Scottish accent. I love Amsterdam.

* and, I guess, America.

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I had to find the only FedEx in Amsterdam yesterday. It wasn't far, but there were no direct routes. So on a piece of scratch paper I jotted down what Google Maps indicated was the most efficient 'short cut' in terms of back alleys and cross-overs, mounted my bike, and sped off into the wild gray yonder. Score one for Google Maps, as I navigated the route with no trouble at all and swiftly located my quarry. I felt quite proud of myself.

Alas, the warm feelings did not last. This particular FedEx does not ship internationally!(?) They told me to go home and call a phone number. Meanwhile, it had started to rain. It was getting worse as I sped homeward. Then I took a wrong turn. I quickly corrected this, but when I broke out of the cover of the alleys and onto Rokin Street, a major thoroughfare, it got really fierce. Yikes I thought, this rain is cold. My next thought was Ow, it really stings too! At this point I realized that it wasn't rain at all, but hail. Yes, I was riding my bike in a hailstorm. Fortunately it wasn't Florida-style hail, or I'd probably be dead and not writing this entry. Instead I flung my arm up and bolted for the cover of an alley like there was no tomorrow.

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This weekend I got trounced in Risk. The weekend before that was Monopoly. They both proved to be nearly interminable. Actually, I'm proud in retrospect that I did as well as I did in Risk. I remained a threat on the board throughout. This, in spite of a) a really terrible bunch of unconnected starting spots, b) an impossible victory condition of controlling 24 territories and c) the fact that one of the other player's mission was to destroy me.

They know of Settlers of Catan here, so I'm going to see if we can't play it next time. I'd prefer a game that ends in an hour or so.

Oh, one of the people I met at the Begijnhof has designed his own board game. It actually sounds pretty cool. I'm going to have to check it out.

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My sister's birthday was yesterday. By my calculations she should be turning twenty-three, but I know that that's impossible. She's my sister! She can't be more than eight.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Kati! Hugs, kisses, etc.

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I'm compelled to mention that in a previous post I had Sister Annemieke telling me 'no dice' and in fact she said no such thing. Her grasp of colloquial American English is not so impressive as that and there is no equivalent expression in Dutch. As a matter of fact I wrote that somewhat in jest, because it sounded like such an unlikely thing for a Dutch person to say.

The confusion is understandable, though. I've been teaching Anna and Ian over at the Mission House various 'gangsta' phrases, so anything is possible. Until you've heard Ian say "all up in yo grill' in a Scottish accent, you really haven't lived.

Rhythms

They call the house here at Oudezijds 100 "The Community," and that's really the best way to get your head around it. What you shouldn't get the idea of is some sort of weird, spartan compound of True Believers secreting themselves away from the world. But when you need a word that encompasses several large biological families, numerous students, a handful of volunteers and an ever-fluxuating group of dozens of folks who arrive, stay for a few weeks, and move on, all moving in and out of a number of ancient, ramshackle buildings... well, "Community" is probably as close a word as you'll find.

How do you manage such a large group of individuals with such diverse purposes and needs? Surely someone, somewhere, must be thoroughly overwhelmed. And perhaps they are. But mostly the needs of the community are answered by having a basic rhythm to life that is constant. Although I am still getting the hang of this rhythm, I think that giving you some idea of it is probably key to understanding daily life here.

Mornings officially start with breakfast at 7:30, although most people are up well before then (I judge this solely by the rush of footsteps that starts around 6:30 in my building). Those who want breakfast assemble in the kitchen, or koeken. The table is set with bread and cheese, the staples of Dutch life, and a wide assortment of condiments. We all hold hands, one of the brothers or sisters says a brief prayer, and then we get down to business. When everyone has had their fill, a basket of fruit is passed around. After that is finished, we all rise, someone says the doxology, and then there's washing up.

Something you quickly realize about meals for a dozen or more people - there's always plenty of washing up. But usually several volunteers will tackle it, and so it seldom takes more than ten minutes. Nonetheless, it's a key part of every meal!

After breakfast there's a lull of sorts, until 8:45. At this time the bell rings for morning prayers, and those who wish may assemble in the chapel, or kapel. The chapel is really just a room in the basement, however it has been paved with stones and it has a fountain flowing into a basin, and candles are lit. It's actually a very peaceful place, and a great way to start your morning.

Chapel is short, usually lasting about a half hour. There is some liturgy (all in Dutch), some songs are sung (in many languages), and a passage of scripture is read. There is also some time for contemplating and prayer. Although the whole things is usually conducted in Dutch, chapel has a rhythm all its own and so one can usually follow what's going on.

After chapel, we exit through a door onto the street and then reenter the house by the front door. Time for morning tea! From this time until 11:00, anyone who wants is welcome to drop by for tea or coffee. For a few minutes we all gather in the common room and talk and greet early visitors. By nine, though, most people have scattered to their appointed tasks.

Depending on their status, members of the community may have many or few responsibilities during the week, but everyone is expected to contribute somewhat. There is a schedule roster, and you can expect that at some point you will find yourself sweeping, mopping, scrubbing, cooking, washing, or doing any of the other dozens of tasks necessary to keep the house orderly and functioning. As a year-long volunteer, I get to participate in many of these activities. And in fact, I really don't mind. It's not hard work, and it's different every day.

Lunch is at 12:30, but is otherwise quite similar to breakfast. We usually have some leftovers from dinner in addition to fare such as brood and kaas. Also, the meal ends with the reading of the week's scripture verse. Washing up follows. Then, onto afternoon duties.

The day's work typically winds down around four. The next noteworthy event after this is dinner, which starts at six. Dinner is a much grander meal than the previous two. Someone is assigned to cook, and preparation for the meal usually takes about three hours. In a house this large, with representatives from all over the world, you can guarantee that you will usually be having something interesting. Dinner virtually always includes dessert. On most nights, this will simply be fla, or pudding, but there have been known to be other delights on offer.

Washing up after dinner can sometimes be a rather epic affair, but it gets done. 'Many hands', etc. Afterwards the bell is rung for evening prayers at 7:30. Then it's once more time for tea in the common room. This time, though, people who don't have anywhere special to be will stick around and socialize for a while.

Not too long, though. Most people are in bed by 10:30 or so. Because the morning comes early, and then we do it all over again!

Weekends, of course, are a little different.

A Weekend in the City

Finally in possession of a working house key, and the city is as good as mine! Well, a bike would be nice, but for now I'm determined to explore every inch that can be reached on foot. I had a few free hours Saturday morning so I gave myself a mission: find my way to the Clothes Market where it was rumored* that there was a tent selling headphones and audio cable.

My beloved Sennheisers were, alas, a casualty of Lufthansa airlines. Moments after deplaning I realized that I didn't have them, but I wasn't allowed to, uh, re-plane, and the stewardesses couldn't find them. Honestly I was just grateful it wasn't my iPod. But the point was that I needed new headphones.

There's a department store at the Dam Square mall, but department store electronics are guaranteed to be overpriced and mediocre. What I needed was the Nederlander version of Radio Shack. So, to the market.

The house is a haven of quiet in a busy city. Out the front door you immediately find yourself facing the canal that runs down the center Ouderzijds** Achterburgwal, the beating heart of the Red Light District. During the daylight hours, however, the most immediate thing that will grab your attention are the swans. They swim up and down the canal, squawking noisily to let people know exactly who is in charge here. I've got a six foot wing span, people. I could beat your head in with these things like I was using a baseball bat.

I had a better impression of swans before coming here. They are huge, lovely birds. But the ugly truth is that they're the stuck up clique of the bird kingdom.

Anyway, you run down the street past Casa Rosa, a notorious sex theater, and take the first bridge across you come to. This leads to an alley that cuts over to the Nieuwmarkt (New Market), a small collection of cafes and outdoor vendors dominated by an old castle-like structure which is actually an old weighing house. Across the square you find a broad street called Jodenbreestraat which winds through some more modern architecture. It also leads past the Amsterdam Theatre School, where students with dramatic streaks find their outlet. Just a little further on you come to a major intersection over a canal, and if you hang a right you'll find the Clothes Market.

The Clothes Market is mostly clothes, but there are many other goodies to be had there as well. Shoes, jewelry, cameras and yes, even electronics. This shirt, though highly inappropriate, got a chuckle out of me.

My experience of markets is a bit third world. But an Amsterdam market is a more sedate affair. Nobody yells at you as you walk by their tent and there's no haggling, at least that I observed. The clientele, at least on a Saturday morning, were mostly older folks. So, quiet.

A t-shirt vendor had a box of tangled audio cables tucked away. I asked if he had any y-splitters and he said no, and then communicated in broken English that there was a tent that had them further on down. I found it easily enough and yes, they had a wide array of cables, headphones, converters, all kinds of goodies. Inexpensive, too!

I picked up a pair of headphones for six Euro based on the proprietor's recommendations. Three euro more netted me the audio cable, which I hoped to use to hijack the speakers on the stereo in my room.

Actually, the whole affair was disappointingly easy. The headphones even proved to be comfortable and produce high-quality sound (although, alas, the y-splitter won't serve my purpose). I will have to give myself a more challenging assignment next time.

In the meantime, it's in the sixties or seventies, the sun is in her heavens, and I'm learning Dutch in Amsterdam. Life is good!

* Okay, Brenda told me. But it's more fun if we pretend that she's an unreliable source.
** Pronounced very similarly to "outer sides". In fact drop the 'r', and you've got it pretty much exactly. It actually means "Old Side," as opposed to "New Side," which is a couple blocks over.