Happy Koninginnedag

Posted by Amanda on Apr 30th, 2010 in Featured, Impressions | 0 comments

Happy Birthday to Queen Beatrix.

Dan & I are out today exploring the Vrijmarkt, wearing orange, and drinking beer in celebration. But we’ll be back later to report our experiences. If you’re stuck for things to do, check out my post at Maastricht Region: Preparing for Koninginnedag in Maastricht.

Adventures in Bike DIY Repair

Posted by Amanda on Apr 28th, 2010 in Featured, Impressions | 4 comments

My dad taught me that if you break something you should try and fix it. Even if you don’t really know what you’re doing. Even if it might burst into flame (although he did recommend taking care). While he didn’t end up with a super-DIY daughter (I was a terrible apprentice), I do have the guts to solve problems and fix things with a quick Google and a little trial and error.

Enter the bicycle. I don’t know must about bicycle repair, but Dan managed to blow out his back tire (inner and outer)and the local bike shop is all back up, so I figured, how hard can it be?

Step One: Tools

We have very few specialized bike tools, but Dan & I have picked up a couple of things. Dan’s first bike needed to have the wheel nuts tightened every few km (don’t ask), so we picked up an IceToolz wrench for that a year ago. We also have a patching kit that includes a couple of strangely shaped metal tools intended to help me pull the tire off of its frame. They are actually pretty handy even if I haven’t a clue how they are suppose to work.

In addition to these things, I also hunted down and used a hexwrench, a screwdriver, and pliers.

Step Two: Evaluate? Nah, Just Jump In

Dan’s bike is a lot different from mine but I just jumped in on this project head first anyways. He had ripped a hole in the back tire, requiring the replacement of both the inner tube and the outer wheel. To get to it I disconnected the back disk break, pulled out a pin related to the shifting mechanism (gee, what’s this for…), and half dismantled the chain guard (which judging from the rust I saw isn’t doing much good anyway).

I carefully manhandled the tire most of the way off its frame, but part of the braking system looked too complicated to disconnect completely with the tools on hand, so I left it dangling. Then the easy part: taking off the old tire and putting the new one on. I just tucked the new innertube inside the new tire, aligned the pump spout on the frame and tugged the entire mess back on.I wrapped up by putting the entire sha-bang back together in more or less reverse order. See, that wasn’t so bad.

Step Three: Testing

Of course if you’re going to do things by trial-and-error, its best to do the trial part so you can catch your errors. After we ate dinner (Dan cooked. How’s that for role-reversal.), I pumped the tire up and took the bike out for a spin around the block.

Brakes? Check.

Good Alignment? Check.

Shifting? Oh crap… So that’s what the pin was for. It turns out that I needed to screw it in deep inside the ‘mystery cylinder’ at the middle of the back tire. I had originally thought that was the break, but apparently not.

That done, I tested the bike again and had regained one gear. Unfortunately that’s about the time that the light starting giving out and I had to give up. So Dan has a bike with functioning wheels and brakes, but only 2 of 3 gears. It’ll get him to work for now, but I’ll have to figure out what’s missing to get that last gear back in place.

Lessons?

Bike repair is fun, but I probably should have paid more attention to Dad. Actually I’m not sure Dad ever tried to teach me about bikes specifically; I seem to recall a weed-wacker.

Google better be able to help me finish this fix.

I love getting dirty (but I already knew that).

BoekenFestijn Maastricht: It Must be Love

Posted by Amanda on Apr 27th, 2010 in Featured, Impressions | 1 comment

Last year Dan & I heard about the Book Festival in Maastricht, but didn’t know what or where the MECC was. Instead of taking the query to Google, we just assumed that a small book sale at the Brusselpoorte was the festival. We were terribly disappointed with the size and selection of this used book sale and didn’t really understand why such a small sale had been so widely advertised. Later we discovered that we’d been mistaken. Yesterday we discovered just how wrong we were.

The BoekenFestijn is a huge, traveling book sale with a monster selection of fiction and nonfiction titles available for up to 90% off. The deals on softcover books were not always phenomenal, but the savings on hard covers were pretty impressive. Science students can even use the event to stock up on some textbooks. We promised ourselves that we’d only buy as many books as we could carry, but we saw people wheeling out piles.

For us expats, the BoekenFestijn represents a great opportunity to pick up lots of English-language books at a low price. While most of the books are in Dutch, the English availability is impressive. Even if you don’t want Dutch language books you’ll still be able to spend several hours browsing the floor. We picked up a nice mix of fiction, nonfiction, and a couple of Dutch/English dictionaries. Since there are no good bookstores in Maastricht for English material, the festival was a nice change.

We also picked up a few Dutch language comic books. Dan says they are for practicing his Dutch skills. I think he picked them because they are pretty, but they should come in handy. And the price (approx 4 euros for a hardcover album) was definately right.

If you missed the Maastricht BoekenFestijn, you need not worry. They company that puts in on holds one a month all over the Netherlands. The next one is in Antwerp at the end of May. Check out their website for more details.

And now, a picture of all the books we got. Maybe I’ll save my pennies for next year so we can buy more:

PinkPop 2010: Wanna Join Us?

Posted by Amanda on Apr 21st, 2010 in Events, Featured | 2 comments

We purchased our weekend passes, so I can safely talk about this without you all snapping up my spot. PinkPop, one of the largest rock/alternative concerts in the Netherlands takes place practically on my doorstep; and we’re attending again this year!

About PinkPop

This year PinkPop celebrates its 41st year as the largest and longest running open-air pop music concert in the Netherlands. Started in 1970 (by the same gentleman who runs it today I might add), PinkPop quickly grew from a one day concert to a three-day musical extravaganza. The concerts take place in Landgraaf and feature 3 stages of music starting around 12 or 1 pm and running until 11 pm at night each night. Both international and national musicians are solicited to play, resulting in an impressive collection of musicians every year. The concert is sponsored by a large number of big name corporations and charities. Most prominent are Amnesty International and Oxfam, who sell merch at the show to raise money for their respective programs. Watch for the pink hats!

Wild Times in 2009

PinkPop was my first music festival last year and I absolutely loved it. The large space in Landgraaf was set up with three separate stages fall enough apart not to interfere with each other, but still highly accessible. Several water (and beer & food stations) were available to keep people full and hydrated, and people were just chilling out everyone enjoying the music. The space directly in front of the stage might look like a mosh-pit, but as you moved back the crowds thinned and the experience became much more casual. Lots of different fashions were on display, but there was no pressure to have dressed one way or another like a more focused concert might.

Last year has beautiful weather as well (I got a nasty sunburn). This was apparently a huge abnormality, so I’ll be bringing my raincoat again this year just in case. And probably something to sit on as well.

Who’s Playing?

I’m a little more in touch with music this year, so I actually recognize several of the artists performing at PinkPop this year. We’re extremely excited about Green Day playing, but I’m also looking forward to seeing Mika, Rammstein, and Pink along with lots of other bands I probably just know by their music. Fans of the classic superstars will be interested to hear that Slash of Guns-n-Roses fame will also be playing (Sunday). Get the full list on their program page.

Pinkpop is very accessible for expats, music is universal and most of the musicians typically sing in English, but I think anyone who is into this sort of music would find it a great deal. A full 3-day weekend pass is available for only 140 EUR per person (and includes camping space, although we live close enough not to need it) and if you only want to attend for one day the tickets are 75 EUR. Considering the cost of seeing one person in concert these days; that’s not too shabby.

I would love to meet up with some folks on one or all three of the days; or even just for drinks at some point. Please drop me a line through the contact form if you’re interested.

My IAmExpat Article is Live

Posted by Amanda on Apr 19th, 2010 in Paperwork & Red Tape | 0 comments

I’m pleased to announce that my article entitled “Starting a Business in the Netherlands” is now live at I Am Expat, an excellent expat resource for people who have moved or plan to move to the Netherlands. Built on my experience setting up an Eenmanzaak, the article breaks down the registration process and what you can expect into several, easy to understand, steps.