an update

It's been a while since I've written but I was waiting until I had something worth reading to write about (like winning the world cup or something :(...)well I still don't really have much to tell but I'll up-date you anyways haha.

I have been riding the bus to and from work all this week which hasn't been too bad. It takes about 40 minutes for me to get to work that way vs. in a car which takes about 30 (It goes the "scenic" route.) And the bus station is about a 10 minute walk from my apartment.
I was walking to the bus stop outside the office today and someone I work with that also lives in Eindhoven was leaving work and gave me a ride. And it was a good thing because a big storm was coming.
He had to stop at the grocery store on the way home, which ended up being helpful to me too because I needed to go and this way I didn't have to carry my groceries home from the store. We stopped at a different grocery store than the one by my house and this one was much more like the kind we have at home, they call them hypermarkets here.

When we left the store it was storming really badly! The rain was coming down sideways and we had to run to the car. When we got further into town all these trees had fallen into the roads. It was crazy but I was so glad that I got a ride home and didn't have to walk in that.

On another note: I'm getting a bike on Friday from a friend of my boss who has an extra one. I can't wait because then it will be so much easier for me to really see the whole town and I will be able to get around easier.

Work has been going well, I have been working on planning some out of the office research to get a better idea of the market and what types of things Europeans buy. I am planning to go to brussels with my boss and some peoeple in the office soon as well as amsterdam. The amsterdam trip is to check out some of the specialty chocolate stores they have there, so no one else in the office needs to go. I have made a big list of places I want to visit there and I might go this weekend for the day. I am looking forward to a "business" trip to buy chocolate that they will cover :)

Differences I have learned so far:
-Everything here is closed on sundays, and shops close at 5 or 6 everyday
-they are really really tall here and really friendly
-their national color is orange because the word "oranje" is in their queens name
-their coffee is MUCH stronger and they drink it in small cups and all day long (or tea)
-they put mayo on everything (not sure if its the same kind as us, I haven't tried it)
-they have egg rolls here that are the size of subs (huge)
-new york was settled by the dutch (then they lost it in a war with england)
-the sun comes up around 5 am and sets around 11 pm