I've returned to the Netherlands countless times, but almost always by plane or by train. For the first time I've realized that the insulated life perpetuated by car travel in the U.S. - well, it holds for this side of the world, too.

I saw the "Nederland" sign zip by on the dark highway, and that was my only indication that a border had been crossed. No unsmiling passport control officers greeted me; no hoards of Dutch tourists fought with me during luggage retrieval. In fact, I didn't even hear Dutch spoken until somewhere in the next few days.

When the sun rose again, and I found myself on the street, I was caught off guard by the red, sloppy remnants of firework celebrations. I blinked in surprise and realized that I had completely forgotten about what time of the year it is. This never would have happened if I had struggled with my luggage through the Central Station and into the heart of Amsterdam.

Car travel has its luxuries, but it certainly doesn't help with re-acclimation. It even took me some time before I was able to gaze at the beauty of the canals, spectacular even in the dead of winter. If you're new to the Dutch way of life, I'd heartily recommend mixing up your travel options, in order to compare.

Just came back from a two week family visit in Holland. A home visit for me always includes a trip to the local supermarket Albert Heijn as I try to eat things I haven't tasted in a while; which brings me to the following: what have I missed most? Well, my top 3 is pretty steady:
1) cheese (any kind)
2) fries with dutch mayonaisse accompanied by a kroket or frikandel
3) dairy products (especially vla)

But as I visited during the holidays season I enjoyed another Dutch "snack" I hadn't eaten in a long time: the oliebol. Around the holidays oliebollen can be found in pretty much every Dutch home and can be bought at specially "decorated" stalls on markets and in city centers.

Ah well, it's probably better for my diet that my home visit has come to an end..never been good at restrictions..but for all of you out there: enjoy while you can!

Attention, returning students! This year, as possibly every year, the NS has raised train prices. Again. Possibly to justify this increase, they have also changed all the train times, so whatever sense you had made of train travel in the Netherlands will now have been thrown into oblivion.

OK, it's not that bad, but don't be surprised at all the changes that will present themselves when you head into the Centraal Station.

One thing remains constant, however: The gobs of construction. Happy travels!

Well it's finally here... 2007. Is it everything you expected it to be?

I managed to run off to Berlin for new years.. which is in fact from where I type this. (my favorite cheap flights are with Transavia, by the way. 55 euros round trip, pretty good!)

But tomorrow morning I return to Amsterdam, to face all the wonders and challenges of my favorite city in a new year.

Here on the blog I shall write about these experiences, along with some wonderful other trippists.. like Janelle, and Michael.. whenever he's done recovering from final papers and new years celebrations. There will also be new trippists of course, new American arrives in Amsterdam ready for a new semester, a semester abroad.

So stay tuned. It often takes students at least a week to recover from new years. Thats a mighty powerful hang over.. but this is no ordinary town. Happy New Year trippest readers... now begins the new adventure.

New Year’s Resolutions for life in Ámsterdam:

1) I resolve to visit at least one new winkeljte at least every month. Amsterdam is full of hundreds of fascinating specialty shops, most of which I have only wandered by, but have never entered to seriously browse.

2) I resolve to be kinder to pigeons, but only if they promise not to be so annoying.

3) I resolve to take more pictures of swans, especially those in all their elegance that dare to pass in canals dangerously close to drunken tourists.

4) I resolve to occasionally stop and provide directions to tourists who appear hopelessly lost, their maps spread out before them. That is, voluntarily point them in the right direction, without request.

5) I resolve to continue to enjoy the beauty of this city, even when its bad points leave me contemplating a flight to warmer destinations.

I've been out of The Netherlands for a while, and although I love exploring other places, the country of my residence for the past 5 1/2 years does remind me of some fantastic pastimes. What do I miss?

Well, for one, the broodjes. The Dutch really know how to make sandwiches. I discovered my love of Caprese not long after I made the move to Amsterdam, and it's still a regular request when I'm out for lunch. There's nothing like that scrumptious combination of mozzarella, tomato and basil. Yum.

What else? My bike, definitely. Unless I was really an addict, biking would be difficult to do on a regular basis while on holiday. Even if I worked it out, it wouldn't be as much fun as it is in Amsterdam, where all those challenging, cobbled streets filled with tourists, trams and pedestrians are just waiting for a challenging peddle.

It will be back to routine soon, with a new year of Dutch exploration to follow.

The in-between christmas and new years time is always an extra quiet one in Amsterdam. Be they families or just exchange students, everyone finds there way out of town somehow, seeking the usual relaxation, family, sun... possibly all three at the same time.

During this year's "in-between" I won't be travelling back to the ol'USA. Decided to save the old money for other purposes (like new years in Berlin, for example!). But what I was thinking of, in light of all the quietness and the absence of the huge student population, are the timespans people choose.

I have zero statistics in front of me, but Ive studied abroad in three different countries, and I've spent an insane amount of time with different types of students from all corners of the world and all levels of education. And what I notice most is the difference between one semester and two semester students.

The majority do the one semester. It is probably the most practical; least amount of time lost from regular university career, more affordable, and a decent amount of time to experience and travel. And obviously this works out well for many, and has for generations.

However my informal research indicates something else. One semester just isn't enough. The students that come for the entire year have an experience that I have seen provides a more in-depth, fullfilling, and yes... FUN study abroad. You not only have plenty of time to really get under the surface of things, you become comfortable and familiar to a point that, althought it can't be as familiar as for a native, but still - one can feel right at home and gain something extra special from the day-to-day over the course of a whole school year.

Clearly for many people with specific goals and life demands, this is not a matter of choice. But if i had my way, and since I do here on trippist, I vote anyone who's not sure about semester versus one-year.... CHOOSE FOR A YEAR. You won't regret it. Or you will, and then you can send me hate comments.

Whooosh.. just like that I was back in Amsterdam on Christmas Day. Actually the night of christmas day... which when I phrase it that way.. just sounds confusing.

I took some time, while en route to meet a lovely Dutch woman, to ride around and observe things around town. I rode through the quiet Oud West, past the still lively Leidseplein, down past the Heineken Brewery and into the Pijp.. which was also strangely deserted.

Thats how it goes the night after Christmas. With the whole country having the next day off for "2nd Christmas Day" it seems everyone either hides indoors, or leaves Amsterdam altogether. As a result you can ride the streets almost alone in the evening. You don't hear as many cars.. or anything.. except maybe the tree's and the wind... it is, I would suggest, a wonderful way to close the door on Christmas 06.

In case you have nothing better to do during winter break, have a look at Expatica's feature "The Dutch News in 2006." Lots of highlights are available by month. After an hour or so of browsing you'll be ready to ring in the New Year fully informed about Dutch politics, culture, and everything in between.

I'm spending my winter holiday somewhere south of the Netherlands, where it's colder but sunnier and more picturesque - that is, if you're into mountains and that sort of thing.

But let's not talk about scenery. I want to share my amazement at the sheer number of people that live in Northern Europe compared to my homeland in the Midwest, and their cumulative effect on what constitutes a "traffic jam." Yesterday, I spent six hours trying to get out of Paris - that's six hours to travel 150 kilometers. There's about 61 million people in France, and I think all of them were on the same road as I was. And I'm sure a few Dutch, Germans, etc. were taking up some of that space, too. I've never seen anything like it, unless you count a few stop-and-go blizzards I ran into with my family on the way to Kansas as a child.

In comparison, there's only a little over 5 million residents in Minnesota. Or look at it this way: The entire population of the Midwest is about 66 million and occupies a much larger area than France. You do the math. I guess it makes sense that traffic jams are much worse in Europe. Maybe next time I'll take the train.