So here I am, my first week of Amsterdam. It’s been good and weird and hard and exciting, and lonely. Everything an adventure should be.

Work has been strange, as I said before I am not sure about it, although the people are all ingratiating me into their heart – they are all very lovely and have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome and make sure that I have stuff to do and haven’t been as lonely as I could have been. I forgot how strange it can be to leave a place, and all your friends you can just call on to be there when you need them.

I didn’t manage to buy a bike yesterday, basically because I faffed around a bit too much and by the time I got back to the road where they sell them, all the decent old ones had gone, only leaving expensive shabby ones. I was very tempted by a quite fancy purpleish one that had been lovingly restored, but I restrained myself as I don’t want to like it so much that I feel really precious about it, I want to be able to chain it up and leave it and not think that (with my luck) it will get stolen and I will care a great deal about it. It was quite snazzy and striking looking and am sure would’ve made a good target! It was a bummer but I figured that I can get a dutch one without handbrakes, which will save me a bob or two next week, and actually it was nice to walk around today and take photos rather than cycling into town.

I made quite an effort over the weekend and went out with work people Friday after work until a decent hour, and got a lift on the back of quite a few people’s bikes, which was an interesting experience. Saturday I met Christian and his girlfriend (they are friends of Ben Wade who used to work here). They were both quite hungover and so we had a couple of drinks and then tried to go somewhere else, but I think they were secretly pleased that it was closed!! It was good to meet them, anyway, and it seems that Claudia at least is into house-music so she has promised to invite me to the next good knees up.

I then came back here and ate as they went home, texted Mali on the offchance that she might be around, and she was meeting a friend in Struik – the place that I had just left…so I went back and met her, Suri and Mavan (?), we ended up being there until about 3am it turned into one of those random nights in which I got chatted up once by an English designer at the bar (he seemed nice, I gave him my number – why not), and Mal got chatted up by about three guys. She really does attract them, and it’s good as she’s not classically pretty, but she is lively and very attractive in her own way. She certainly attracts the guys.

There was a dutch guy sitting at the end of the bar who was very cute, and I had a bit of a ‘moment’ coming out the loo and bumping into him. He was also obviously in with the owner bar-crowd there and pretty aloof. Mali and Suri said Dutch guys are a bit aloof and boring, although really faithful and good and honest and straightforward, and not an iota romantic…reminds me of a certain someone else.

Another guy called romeo came and chatted to us, the campest straight guy I have ever met (almost) and was telling us about his heart-break of splitting up with his fiancé a few weeks before. He was very wise, even though completely bonkers and had these staring crazy eyes that made me think he was totally on something…he had been talking to the people opposite to us before us and we'd been laughing at him. It turns out he was actually quite a cool bloke - just goes to show.


Anyway, as I’m sat here, the sun is out, I am a bit hungover, people are pootling down the river on their boats, it’s very pleasant. Am looking forward to going back to work to get some company (not particularly for the work). I’m saving up a few things to do with my friends if/when they come to see me, it’s much more fun to be a tourist with someone else, talking of which I have to get online to talk to steve…here I go!

PS I cut my fringe saturday as it was doing my head in. Although the wispy part is still doing my head in, it's not bad (if I do say so myself!!)