Quenepas

Hello everyone, I’m in Holland!

I've been slow to update, I know. Life in Zeist has just been so busy. I’ve been working full time at the Kasteel Kerckebosch. I’m already into week 5 of my co-op! It’s great to be working in a kitchen again, cooking food and learning things.

The Kasteel is a hotel with two dining outlets, a formal and a casual, both French inspired. We also cater quite a few events and weddings so the work is really diverse. The location is intimate and secluded, set back in the forests of Zeist. There are only 30 rooms so the focus is really on the restaurants and event hosting.

When I work at the hotel I stay in the “Koetshuis,” the student and intern housing. I live with six other interns who are all about my age and all Dutch. It’s pretty amazing how fluent the Dutch are in multiple languages including English. I can communicate easily with almost everybody here so the transition to life here has been pretty easy.

On my days off I stay with Mike’s parents, Grace and Ron. They have also eased my transition into life in Holland to say the least. To venture into a foreign country is one thing. It’s quite another to have two incredibly helpful and friendly natives helping you figure things out at every turn. They’ve really welcomed me into their home and their country.

In the short month that I’ve been here I have seen and done so, so much. In Amsterdam I've been to the Vincent van Gogh museum, the Heineken brewery and gone on a boat tour of the city's canals. I’ve eaten mussels in Zandfoort along the North Sea. I’ve seen a good amount of the surrounding areas by bike, been to wine tastings (multiple! A very special life it is over here in Europe…), sampled many new foods, eaten pancakes in multiple forms, and I've bought a big, beautiful bouquet of flowers for just 4 euro. I’ve seen two incredible opera singers perform in a space the size of my living room. I’ve made traditional Dutch apple pie, bought fruit from a local farm, biked to work in the rain(!) and made several trips to Utrecht.

Oh, Utrecht. I must tell you all that I am in love with a city. If I’m lucky I might live there one day.

Mike will be arriving on the 27th of this month. I can’t wait. He has been on a solo road trip from Rhode Island through Virginia and Georgia and is presently en route to Austin. He’s been visiting friends and family and stops in Texas for a good friend’s birthday. If I feel homesick at all, it’s mostly for him.

In short, everything has been amazing so far. Life here is full of good food and wine and new experiences. I’ll try and update a bit more frequently and keep the pictures coming.