One down. Five more to go.

Woah it is July 1! On Wednesday we will have been in the Netherlands for a month. One month down. Five more to go. This month was all about settling in. I hope to bring you more riveting adventures in the months to come as we get more confident in our living abroad skills.
  Updates from last week:
   I finally made it to the art supply store. I made the decision to bring only my brushes with me so I have not been able to paint for the last month as I have no paint. I am looking for a new direction in my art. I love landscapes and city scapes but I am aware that they are not the most creative thing that I could be doing. So I am hoping to spark my creativity with some constraints to butt up against.  What better restraint could there be than limited supplies and the need to be able to pack everything up in a suitcase to take home. Ok so where is the nearest arts and crafts store? The Dutch are not big on large scale signage so sometimes it is hard to tell what is a retail store and what is simply a warehouse or office. I have found that the best way to avoid an embarrassing situation is to research any potential places of business on the internet before waltzing through the door. I got the name of this particular craft store from the expat web group that I joined. It was described as the closest thing to a Michaels or AC Moore that Leiden has. With the boys in tow I set off for what looked like a industrial part of the city. I was somewhat worried but confident in my web research. Upon entering the store we were received by a tiny showroom. Nothing like the size of a Michaels. It was more like your typical mom and pop art supply business. But one that was really concerned about theft: One of every item was displayed on a foam core board with an identifying number next to it (like a highly uninformative science fair). Customers walk around with clip boards and write down the numbers of any items that they want. Then they bring it to the counter where an employee goes back into the warehouse the retrieve the items. In this store's case I don't think that the system was really aimed at theft prevention but rather was the product of a lack of presentable retail space. Anywho I purchased some paint (only the primaries plus white and black- oooo constraints!) and enjoyed my unique shopping experience. Today I found a roll of wallpaper at junk store. I think it will be the perfect canvas.  Now what to paint?
   The rest of the week was pretty typical. I've been taking the boys to a bilingual morning playgroup on Wednesdays. We usually go to the library at some point and also the park. Oh and we go the grocery at least 3 times a week. One highlight was the  Leiden University Bio-Physics department barbecue. We enjoyed some great food on the university's dime (Euro dime I guess) and I got to meet some of the people that Kurt is working with. There was even one of those inflatable bouncy castle things for the kids to hop around in. The weather was great by dutch standards- 60s and not raining.
  On Saturday, Jasper (our landlord's brother) was kind enough to guide us around the Leiden Culinair Festival. In this summer tradition, a handful of Leiden restaurants set up booths in a central location and serve up some of their best dishes. We enjoyed some mackerel in a citrusy butter sauce with mashed potatoes, carrots, and green beans made by the local culinary school. And also a buttery noodle stir fry from a place called Woo Ping. Leif, who was a little sad and soggy after a ill-conceived jump in a puddle, enjoyed some ice cream from Maccioto.
 

There seemed to be quite a few other smaller festivals tacked on to the Culinair Festival complete with boat races, music, carnival rides, and Belgian beer. We actually started our tour with some witte beers at an "indoor beach"- a bar near the stadhuis filled it's floors with 6 inches of sand, put out a few buckets, beach chairs and kiddie pools and voila an exciting afternoon adventure for kids with thirsty parents and an ankle twisting excursion for the stilettoed after dark crowd. Klaus loved it. Leif was less impressed. In an attempt to amuse our serious child we headed to the carnival rides next. Leif rode the merry-go-round three times. When asked if he had fun he said yeah but only after a pause in which he really seemed to be weighing the question. This kid is hard to impress. Good luck, Holland.