Happy times

It’s been a while again, which is mainly to blame to the fact that I still do not have internet up and running in Haarlem. I’ve received a modem which is working, all my computer settings are ok, but the idiots at Telfort do not seem to understand that if there are 5 telephone lines in 1 house, the chance is one in five that they send their signal to the right one. I’ve called (30 cents a minute plus mobile phone charges, which meant 15 euro’s before I spoke to someone and could explain the problem) and emailed (from work, duh) but still nothing fixed. Sigh. I hope in a week or two to finally have managed to get through to them and have the problem fixed. So just a bit of typing at my parents, and then post at work where there is internet!
In the meantime some very nice things happened! First of all: I’ve got offered a permanent contract at the uni and go up 800 euros gross in salary a month. Whoehoe!!! I’m on a one year contract now, but my boss decided I worked very hard and did such a good job that she offered me this contract and raise half a year early. (I complained about the lack of organisation etc at work and that I’m not extremely happy with my job, I think this also speeded up the process haha). Ofcourse I signed instantly and from the first of March onwards I will be a permanent employee instead of a temp! :)
My social life is up and running a bit again as well! Monique has visited me in Haarlem to check out my new place, have a bite to eat and talk talk talk… always fun! After that Gerrit and Susanne visited on a Sunday and we headed into town to discover a bit of the new city I life in. And I have to say: it’s lovely! Loads of great shops, nice old buildings, easy to find your way and a good atmoshpere. It was good to see them again and nice to catch up! The weekend after that
I went to Utrecht to meet up with some old Highschool friends! After a sandwich in King Arthur it was time to see the Canals from a boats perspective, have a hot chocolate at 'De winkel van Sinkel' (Hollands first department store ever, now a restaurant) and have a lovely pancake to finish in a cellar restaurant along the canals. The same weekend Karlijn visited on Sunday afternoon with her very cute little dog Woodan. The weather was stunning, about 14 degrees, sunny, no wind. Time to sit in front of my house and drink rosé all afternoon! Such a lovely day and great company ofcourse.
Since it’s only a bit over a week until we, Antsje and I, head over to Chamonix to go skiing it was time to get some extra time in the snow (besides my weekly lessons, I can parallel ski a little bit now). Last weekend we spent all Saturday afternoon in Snowplanet getting our skills up to date. It was very busy (kidsday….) but we both managed not too fall, not to get hurt and most importantly not to ski over somebody else (not much of a problem for Antsje, but since I’m just a beginner those little kids are a bit scary). This weekend is a quite one at my parents and next weekend I’ll pack and get ready to go skiing! I’m looking forward to it a lot, I’m very curious how it will be and especially if I’ll still be in one piece after a whole week on the slopes haha. Sunday was a lovely day again, bit cold (about 6 degrees or so), but sunny, so I went off on my bike to discover the dunes and beaches around Haarlem. Off to Bloemendaal, past a ruine, through the dunes and finishing at the beach! It will be so great to life there in summer!!!!!! Back again to Haarlem waving at all the people in the traffic jam towards the beach hahahaha.

I almost forgot, but since I still have no internet and tv isn’t that great, I had to look for something else to do… so I’ve started ordering my photo’s online and am making albums of my adventures Down Under! It’ll take a while until they’re finished, but once they’re done everybody is invited for an afternoon of story telling and looking at all the great pictures ; )
Some pictures of Haarlem will follow soon!