I have been here a month and the time has gone by rather quickly. I finally have my banking sorted out and am still trying to get all the utilities in my name. The person who lived here before me had his utilities paid by the landlord. However I was able to get a break on the rent if I took care of the utilities, which means I have to take everything out of the landlords name and put it in mine (my landlord now lives in New York). This however is not as easy to accomplish here as it is in the states. Then again I know how the system work there, not here. To switch the electricity and gas, ENECO the company that is responsible for providing these services, sent me a contract to fill out. This also requires me to read the meters and send the meter readings back to them. Mind you all the paper work is in Dutch. Thank goodness for apples dashboard translator application, I have used it more then I thought possible. I found the electric meter, but I have no clue where the gas meter is. My co-workers said it should be right by the other meters though I can’t seem to find it. I will have to email my landlord for this one.

Next the water company; now they required me to fill out an application on line, again in Dutch, though most of it was fairly easy to figure out what they were asking. I did need one of my Dutch co-workers to get me to the right page on the water company’s web site though. Other wise I never would have found it. The meter I found out is under the carpet in the entryway. After getting the carpet up I had to pry open the wooden covering and was just hoping I would only find the water meter and nothing else. After taking the reading I sent off the application and will see if I filled it out right. The cable is the last thing I need to put in my name and this is proving to be a bit more challenging. I called the cable company up and was told that I need to write a letter indicating the change and both my landlord and I have to sign it. Well with him in New York, this is another challenge.

Other then all of this admin stuff, life has been pretty good. Work is going really well. One of my Dutch co-workers calls me “the American dream” because I have caught on quickly and everyone is happy with my work. I get to go solo next Thursday. I have to tell everyone how nice it is to be working for a non-profit organization. The UN is just as corporate as any other large company; the difference is they really do care about the work force. I sat in on an ITSS unit meeting the second week I was here. I’m in the AV department and we are part of a bigger unit called ITSS. The unit boss laid out what was ahead for the departments over the next few months (like any other department meeting). The big difference is he wanted to make sure that no one was feeling over worked because he wanted to make sure that all of us felt like we were able to give the best costumer service with out feeling stressed about it. And he really meant it. I’m not use to this.

This past Friday I had a rather interesting day at work. I watched how serious everyone took their job. During the breaks in between the court sessions I was watching the security guards looking after the courtroom. Whenever anyone walked in the guards were watching them to make sure everything was OK and no one was looking at papers they should not be looking at. Then before the accused was brought back into the courtroom, one of the guards would check around where the accused sets to make sure everything was safe and in order. I know this is serious business; it was in lighting to really observe the process.

This past week I also got to see the defense witnesses being torn to shreds by the prosecution. And then watch the judge’s pond on them when they try to dance around questions. I also saw some really disturbing photos that were admitted into evidence, basically bodies of people who had been drug out of houses and shot. And if that was not enough, also run over by a tank.

OK enough of that and on to some fun stuff. Now like any other place, when the cat is away the mice will play. Of course this involves drinking. On Thursday there was a birthday celebration for Richard, one of the techs. Now this included cake and beer, at noon. I had court, so I had cake and passed on the beer. On Friday our supervisor was gone. This meant that after morning court was done, everyone available between the tech core and the directors started a LAN game (one of their favorite fighting games). After each round everyone went into the tech core for a shot of whisky. Again I passed because Richard was having a birthday Halloween/disco party at his house that night, and there would be opportunity for more drinking and I did not want to start at 4 in the afternoon. I don’t want to make this sound like all these people do is drink and party. Everyone is very dedicated and hard working, this is the way everyone releases the stress of the job. After having a rough day in court, this is a good way to put it all behind. And because it is done after the work is done, the bosses don’t care.

Later that night Frank, Kristina and I prepared ourselves for Richard’s party. I brought three pairs of devil horns that I collected from the country fair, so each of us had a set to wear. Frank and I each carved a pumpkin to bring because no one out side of the USA has a clue how to carve a pumpkin. After donning our horns, we lit our pumpkins, strapped them onto the back of our bikes and took off for Richard’s. It was fun riding through the streets of The Hague wearing horns with Jack-o-lanterns flying behind us. We looked a little like “the headless bike men”. And yes it was a late night.

On a personal note, Kristina and I have started doing Bikram yoga, the type of yoga that is done in a 105-degree room. We call it torture, though have decided it is worth going. Our goal is to make three times a week. Wish us luck!

Cheers and wishing everyone well

Kim

I'm now in my third week of work and I'm starting to settle in a bit. My training has been going well and after next week I will most likely be on my own. Yesterday my supervisor gave me a little light reading, the indictments for Milutinovic, Martic, Prlic and his gang. Each is a book of about 80 pages. It lays out what they are being charged with, in detail. The Mrksic case, the one I have been recording court for, has three defendants (their indictments were out and I'm waiting for more copies). They are being charged with implementing the execution of 150 soldiers that were taken out of a hospital, taken to a warehouse, shot and buried in a mass grave. One of the defendants, Radic, I heard that some people think he should not be tried. We will see. It has been interesting to see a prosecuting attorney question a defense witness and trap him into telling lies and then calling him a liar for court record.

OK, now on to fun stuff. This past Sunday I went to Amsterdam with Kristina and her sister Ramona. Kristina’s sister has been living in Berlin for the past four month doing a work-study program. She is going back to the states next week. In her spare time, Ramona runs marathons and this past Sunday was the Amsterdam 40K marathon run. There were about 20,000 participants. Part of the fun for people who have friends and family running, they are able to follow the course on bike and that is what Kristina and I did. Because the race is through the streets of Amsterdam and out into the countryside, the course can easily be followed by bike because the bike paths in Holland run along the streets (much like Portland). Kristina and I brought our bikes on the train from The Hague. We got Ramona registered and then saw her off at Olympic stadium where the race started. We then headed to the 5K-point to see the front-runners, who we would never see again. They run the course in about 2 hours or less (Ramona said she was expecting to take five hours). Kristina and I would not even be able to keep up with them on our bikes. After that we knew the next time we would see Ramon would be at the 25K point, at lest 3 hours away. We rode to the Centrum and did a little shopping. After killing some time we went to the 25K point and did a good job at estimating the time she would pass. We only waited about 10 minutes then we saw Ramona and there were waves and cheers. The Kristina and I were off to the next point another 5k down the road. We did this until the end. It was a blast. I had never done anything like this before and we all had a great time. By the end of the Day, Ramona ran 40K in four hours twenty eight minutes while me and Kristina road about 30K.

The photos posted out of order. However the first is the end of the race Kristina and Ramona. We are heading back to The Hague. Next my bike on the train, then Ramona getting ready to enter Olympic stadium. Then a crowd shot with Ramona somewhere in the pack, and my bike at the run in Vendaal park. Finally Ramona giving us a wave with 10K left.

I have officially past my first week mark. Everything is going fine thou the banking remains a sore subject. I received my bankcard on Friday afternoon and could not activate it until I went into the bank to get my passport barcode swiped. Monday morning came and I headed into the bank to get this done and then asked for the "edentifier" device that is needed to interface with my computer to do secure internet banking (the type of account I have). The lady at the information counter cheerfully helped me and also gave me the edentifier. I headed off to work thinking I was finally all set. Once at my computer and on line to start banking, I soon found out that this couldn’t be done until my card is activated and I can't do this until I receive the PIN code in the mail. It will have to wait for another day. I have learned that there is no use getting angry or frustrated because it won't do any good. Thank goodness I still can get money out of my USA account with my trusty debit card!

Friday night was a huge ICTY UN staff party put on by the staff union, my first official party. I don’t know how many people ended up attending though I heard the number of tickets handed out hit 1,200. The party was a theme party called “casino royal” after the James Bond film and there was bond films being projected on a big screen along with fake gambling. A little like one of the KGW Christmas parties.

I went with one of my new co-workers, Marta. She is the only other woman director in the department. We meet up and road the tram together to the event hall in a small suburb south east of The Hague. Once there we meet up with other co-workers and occupied a table next to the dance floor close to the stage, easy access for dancing. There were four bands scheduled to play with a disco at the end and the party was to go until 2 am, the UN is full of party animals. Of course there was Bosnian food and rakija (plum brandy), which can be dangerous in large (or even small) quantities. Oh, and of course a regular full bar.

The first band played mostly American top alternative rock. The second band was made up of ICTY members who formed the band to play at the party. Two of the band members were from the AV unit where I work. They played mostly American rock and were really good. The third band was a samba band and played for two hours. Then there were some samba drummers and dancers that performed, then the disco. We made it until close to two, then Frank and Kristina were kind enough to give me Marta and I a ride home.

The next morning I was a little slow in getting my day going. No more rakija…..

I have officially past my first week mark. Everything is going fine thou the banking remains a sore subject. I received my bankcard on Friday afternoon and could not activate it until I went into the bank to get my passport barcode swiped. Monday morning came and I headed into the bank to get this done and then asked for the "edentifier" device that is needed to interface with my computer to do secure internet banking (the type of account I have). The lady at the information counter cheerfully helped me and also gave me the edentifier. I headed off to work thinking I was finally all set. Once at my computer and on line to start banking, I soon found out that this couldn’t be done until my card is activated and I can't do this until I receive the PIN code in the mail. It will have to wait for another day. I have learned that there is no use getting angry or frustrated because it won't do any good. Thank goodness I still can get money out of my USA account with my trusty debit card!

Friday night was a huge ICTY UN staff party put on by the staff union, my first official party. I don’t know how many people ended up attending though I heard the number of tickets handed out hit 1,200. The party was a theme party called “casino royal” after the James Bond film and there was bond films being projected on a big screen along with fake gambling. A little like one of the KGW Christmas parties.

I went with one of my new co-workers, Marta. She is the only other woman director in the department. We meet up and road the tram together to the event hall in a small suburb south east of The Hague. Once there we meet up with other co-workers and occupied a table next to the dance floor close to the stage, easy access for dancing. There were four bands scheduled to play with a disco at the end and the party was to go until 2 am, the UN is full of party animals. Of course there was Bosnian food and rakija (plum brandy), which can be dangerous in large (or even small) quantities. Oh, and of course a regular full bar.

The first band played mostly American top alternative rock. The second band was made up of ICTY members who formed the band to play at the party. Two of the band members were from the AV unit where I work. They played mostly American rock and were really good. The third band was a samba band and played for two hours. Then there were some samba drummers and dancers that performed, then the disco. We made it until close to two, then Frank and Kristina were kind enough to give me Marta and I a ride home.

The next morning I was a little slow in getting my day going. No more rakija…..

This update is going to be a little longer, mostly because I have time right now. I have to say, I got very lucky on my apartment. It is in a nice area with a good shopping street that is between my apartment and work. I pass through it every day and can shop easily on my way home. I’m also very close to the beach. A few minute bike ride or a 15 min walk. The apartment its self has three floors. The bottom floor is a full floor and floor two and three are half floors with the apartment next door occupying the other half of the space. The apartment has been fully renovated. The kitchen is very modern with green slate floor and black marble counter tops. The cook top is ceramic. All the floors are wood except for the stairs which is carpeted. The windows are a great feature; because the ceilings are so high the windows are large and can be opened two ways. Ether swinging out wards with side hinges or can be tilted open from the top to just to let in a little fresh air. As you walk in there is a long hall. By going straight back you will walk into the kitchen and the back of the house. By the kitchen is the stair case. Also down this hall, the bathroom laundry room and storage closet are all on the right side, just a series of doors. Buy the kitchen to the left is the door to the living/dinning room. It is a very large room. Off of the dinning area are the doors to the walled in garden area. I have access to it off the kitchen as well. I already hung up my prayer flags. Now onto the upper floors; the stairs are very steep, typical Dutch grade and are a half moon shape as you ascend. The second floor has a very short hall way that leads to the main bedroom. The bed room is a good size with a nice closet. There is also a sink and vanity mirror in the room (Steve smith eat your heart out). The house came furnished and this room has a nice black iron bed. The third floor room is a bit smaller and only has a dresser in it. The room also has a little balcony off of it. I plan on making this my guest room and office area. It will be a great place to hang out in the spring and summer. I’m very lucky that I have the back half of the upper floors because it is quieter and the balcony over looking the gardens is a plus. I will try and post some pictures of my street soon.

Next my first day at work: After filling out paper work I sat in on the Prlic case, there are six defendants with Prlic as the main one. This is one of the mega trials. He is responsible for setting up the first concentration camps since WWII and every thing that goes along with these camps he and his men are being tried for. My first time in court was very telling. The witness was a colonel from Canada who was with a peace keeping force and had to testify on some of the atrocities he witnessed. These things happened to him thirteen years ago and you could see on his face that what he saw was burned into his brain.

Day two was a day I got to experience the Dutch system first hand. I got to ride into work as the sky decided to open up and drop a deluge of rain. I was wet for three hours. I came into work (wet) and continued my training in court room one with the Prlic case. There were two protected witnesses which meant the trail was in close session. It is still recorded thou the public will not see it. The witnesses were two women and I will leave it up to you what kind of victims they were. About five minutes after the trial started my trainer Vincent had me take over. He sat next to me for about five minutes then got up and left. He let me alone for a while then a woman for victims and witnesses came in and sat with me. She is in charge of watching the witness to make sure they are not too stressed while testifying. Then the court register called me on the phone and said they where smelling smoke in the court room. We all have two-way radios to communicate with the technicians so I gave them a call. With in two minutes about four of them came running into the room and one of them was carrying a fire extinguisher, and they were all laughing. The first joke of many I’m sure (thou they were really smelling smoke in the court room). I then needed to leave the tribunal at 12:30 to head down to the Fred to try and open up a bank account. I had an appointment at 1:00 pm with ING bank. I hopped on my bike and away I went. Once at the bank I realized it was a total waste of time because they need a sofy number which is a Dutch social security number that I don’t have. Then I headed down the street to the next bank, Abm-Amro. I walked in and took a number. Once I was called up to the teller I explained that I needed to open up an account. She said that they could not help me today so I proceeded to ask if I could make an appointment and what documents I was going to need. She asked me where I worked. After I told her that I worked at the tribunal she said I would need a copy of my contract and my passport, and then they would help me right away. Again off on my bike back to the tribunal to HR for a copy of my contract. Once I got that, then back to the bank. At the bank they were getting my account all set up and then the computer system went down. The lady helping me said she would call me when the system was back up and I would have to come back and sign the paper work after I was in the computer system, so back on my bike and back to work. At work I had one of my Dutch co-workers help me with my phone because all the setting are in Dutch. My phone is a pre-pay and I was also running out of minutes. Geato was also helping me set a pin for my voice mail all the while my minutes are clicking away. I was worried about the bank not getting a hold of me, so back on my bike and down to the Fred to buy more minutes for my phone. At the Albert Hine (the local grocer) I bought my pre-paid card and a sandwich because by this time I was starving. Back on my bike to the tribunal and as soon as I locked up my bike my phone rang and it was the bank, I needed to come in and sign the paper work. I unlocked my bike and back to the Fred I went (get the picture?). After everything was done I road back to work and by this time it was around 3:30 pm. At work I was telling my fellow American co-workers about my bank experience and Gene, also from Oregon asked if they gave me the little device I was going to need to do my internet banking. I looked at him blankly and said “no”. He then explained to me that it was a security feature and you place your bank card in it and then you send a code to do your banking. It began to become clear to me that I would not be able to start my banking until I get my bank card in the mail and I would also have to go back to the bank and get this little device. I wanted to bang my head on my desk. By this time I was exhausted from all the bike riding and dealing with a system that you really need to know the questions to ask. Now Well no need to stress about it because I can’t do anything about it. I needed to go back to HR and give them my banking info and then it was off to home. But instead of going home I biked by the store, bought a bottle of wine and some desert and headed off to Frank and Kristina’s house for dinner. What a second day at work!

Today was my first day at my new job. Everything went well, lots of paperwork. In the evening I decided to bike to the beach. It was close to sunset and I was hoping to catch it, but to many clouds. This is for Chris...Kim's bike first trip to the beach. The other photo is of the wind mill behind where I was standing facing the North sea, you can see an example of the sky that inspired the Dutch masters.

My last days in Portland were like running a marathon. Between packing up my apartment and putting everything into storage to see friends, I was constantly moving. I owe so much to all of my family and friends for all of there help. On top of everything I had to make a trip to Salem and visit the USDA to get the last of Mojo’s paper work done Tuesday. Then I packed my suitcases. I was allowed two carry on’s and I was not going to waste a single square meter of space (have to think in European terms now). I have to very large bags and they were bulging. I learned a trick from a friend where you put your clothes into garbage bags, then us a vacuum cleaner to suck out the air. It really shrinks everything down making little bricks of cloths. You cannot believe all the stuff I was able to get into two suitcases. If security opens my bags….they will never get them closed again! I also had special help packing up my bike, there again no wasted space. Then one carry on bag that had all my shoes and DVD’s, plus any other none jellified item.

Wednesday I spent the late morning/early afternoon with my son’s. Michael helped me set up video chatting for my Mac using Skype and AIM. My Skype screen name is Mojokimchee for those of you who have the ability to video chat. Of course the lucky ones with Mac’s can use IChat.

After saying good-by to my Portland family I headed up to Puyallup where most of my family lives. The evening was spent getting in the last of my daughter, grandson, brother. …you get the idea, and the last minute stuffing of bags. I was also dealing with a cat that had her comfy life ripped out from under her three days earlier. She was not a happy cat.

Thursday Morning my family took me up the Seattle airport for my 12:45 pm flight. We unloading my luggage and headed for the ticket counter. Now you have to know that for the last few hours I had been sweating over the size of my bags. I was very worried that they were going to be way over weight, they can’t weigh over 100 or the airline will not check them in. My mom was carrying an extra duffle bag in case I had to off load. When I got up to the counter I started the process, then it came to weighing the bags. The first one came in at 93 pounds; score! The second was 103 and the clothes shuffle began from one bag to the other. I made it and only had to pay $100 in over weight fees (I was afraid it would be more).

Next security with the cat and I had to take her out of her bag and carry her with me through the security arch. She was freaking out and I was wearing a black comber bun with her head bared under my arm. Thank goodness there were people standing around me who were ready to help if the black ball of fur attached to my midriff decided to bolt. Finally her carrier came out from under X-ray and I was able to get her back into the bag.

Once on the plane everything was fine. NW airline has individual screens in the back of every set with video on demand. Each seat has its own handset and you can select any move you want from the system. Now this is great except mine was not working. Oh well, that is why I pod’s and lap tops were invented. Though I did get to watch something better, the northern lights.

I kept checking on Mojo because for a while she was dead still and I thought that I might have killed my cat. Once the drugs started to wear off she became more active. And a little claw did appear out of the side of the carrier, her protest that she what not having fun and I’m sure she thought she was in hell.

Once the plane landed it was fast going through passport control and by the time I got down to the luggage belt stuff was already going around. I grabbed to carts and soon my two bags and bike box came around the belt. I was close to customs and three young men watch me struggle with my bags. Once everything was on board the two carts I started toward customs pushing one care while in the middle and pulling the other. As I approached them one of the young men asked me how long I was going to be in the country and I said for a year then he waved me through. I told him I have a cat and he said “that’s ok”. I then told him that I have papers and he did not want to see them and still waved me threw. I thought “but I have papers! Do you know what I went through to get these papers?” I did not say any of this and went on my way dumbfounded. Once in the airport my friends found me and we were on our way.

Once in The Hague, I was set up in my friend’s spare room where I was to stay for a few days until my new apartment was ready to go. Mojo was greeted by they’re to yellow labs and she knew she was truly in hell because there were now wolfs. She soon became the head of the house and pranced around like she owned the place.

My first two days were spent putting to geather my bike, shopping at the big Saturday open air market, trying to get a mobile phone and general grocery shopping buying some of the things I was going to need. I did get to see my new apartment today and was really happy at how luck I got. It has two bedroom, I thought it only had one. The bedrooms occupy the second and third floors of the apartment with the main bedroom as the only room on the second floor and a smaller bedroom with a balcony as the only room on the third floor.

Tomorrow I will be in my new place and try to get settle because my first day at work is Tuesday.

More soon

Kim