I AMsterdam

I've arrived.

Had done all what I have to do at the expat center and viewed appartments (all in 1st day). Decided on the apartment I wanted and in process of signing contract etc.

Have gone to 2 museums so far- probably have to go back- Van Gogh museum and Amsterdam Historical museum. Museum card sells for EUR45, for a year I can visit any museum in Amsterdam for free, which is a very good deal.

Started taking tram and subway. System is a bit different but manageable. Talking about this I found people are being very nice to me. One lady showed me how to read the public transportation map (too lazy to figure out all of it myself...). But there were at least 5 people asked me about directions to places...maybe I didn't look lost enough for them. Never used a map for the first couple of days and managed to find ways to places wanted to go, as well as home- I think I'm pretty amazing ...

Still haven't found chinatown and redlight district yet, still don't have a bike- these are goals for tomorrow. Also wanted to visit royal palace tomorrow. Was there today, but palace was closed.

Nothing exciting about food here- just like new york- you can find any cuisine you like here in amsterdam

Funny thing is 40% of amsterdam is like New York  and another 30% is like China (especially stores like G star, vero moda, jack jones) - so Amsterdam looks/feels familiar to me either from the New York side or China side.

Overall- Like Amsterdam, it just rains too much (and another funny thing, locals here don't use umbrella unless it gets really really bad- only found that I was the only one using umbrella on the street....)