Today I'm moving out of the apartment.

In the morning I brought old the things that are for throwing downstairs. A fair share of our furniture was second-hand, and is not worth storing.

Jaap will be here in a while with the car to help me out (thanks!). Daniël stayed here tonight for the last time and helped me taking down some of the larger items.

I went for dinner in McDonald's tonight: I've packed all my kitchen stuff so eating at home isn't possible anymore. It's a strange idea that this is the last night in this house, but it's fun to prepare for my journey to the States. I'm really looking forward to it!

Today I got an acknowledgement of my insurance company that my insurance coverage will start on Sunday. This means that I'm all set: I have a passport with a visa, a ticket and healthcare and liability insurance. I agreed with my landlord that we can leave our fridge, washing machine and dryer in the house tomorrow. The people that helped us moving in January 2002 will agree that it's a great relieve that these "monsters" don't have to be dragged down the stairways.

Before I went to McDonald's I took some copies of my ticket and other important documents. Tonight I'll continue packing and do some laundry.

I went to pick up my passport with the new visa from the postoffice. I didn't hear the mail coming yesterday morning, otherwise I could have even got it yesterday: the consulate was really quick. There was a note saying it would be available for pickup today.

Interestingly, on the note it said that I would have to bring a form of I.D. with me. My only formal I.D. is well, my passport, so that caused a nice chicken-and-egg situation. The guy at the post office said it was no problem; we opened the mail together at the counter and he gave me my passport. So I've got it, my passport with a nice, big visa-sticker in it!

After this I went to Amsterdam, to Killroy, a travel agency where I paid my ticket. I'm flying Monday morning, at 11:00 o'clock with Delta Airlines.

Yesterday I spent sorting papers, writing letters to the phone company, DSL company etc. In the evening I had a nice dinner with Jelly and she came and picked up a plant (thank you!). Most of the paperwork is done now, which is a nice feeling. Today I'll spent the day packing the last bits of the house, mainly the kitchen tools. The computer, of course, will be the last thing to pack.

Yesterday evening we watched the U.S. elections.

The evening was over-shadowed for Dutch viewers by yesterday's murder. Jelly came later because she attended the protest meeting in Amsterdam on Damsquare.

Still, we had a great night together. It was really fun to be with my friends. Daniel, Jelly, Jerry, Marjolein and Rob were there, and we cleared up some of my stock of food and drinks; it was a really cozy night.

We went to bed after the update of 2:00 o'clock; there was not enough information then to say anything about the possible winner. It was exciting to get up at 8:00 o'clock and switch on the TV to see if there was a result already.

It looks like it's going to be a landslide victory for Mr. Bush and the Republican Party. Not only winning the presidency, but also by doing that with a very large margin in the popular vote and with picking up more seats in the Senate than expected.

Now I'm watching CNN; they're waiting to see if Mr. Bush will declare victory already.

Yesterday I went to the American consulate to apply for my visa that will allow me to work with my new employer in the U.S.

I've been to the consulate, which is at the Museumplein in Amsterdam, a few times before. Twice with Sasha, and before that in 1998 and 1999 for my two summer jobs, so I kind of knew what to expect. I had an appointment at 11:00 o'clock but I arrived around 10:30 o'clock. That was a good move, because they let me in anyway. It took the guard a little while to find me on the list with appointments which was a bit scary but everything was fine. Nowadays they have a pretty flexible call-center in place for appointments that's much better than the computerized system they used to have.

Security was tighter than when I went there in 1999, which is sad. In the consulate the TV had a special broadcast on the murder of Theo van Gogh.

Inside things went pretty smoothly. They took my finger prints using a neat electronic machine. The lady who helped me was very friendly and told me the visa should be back in my possession in about three days. She said she'd try to mail it this afternoon.

This morning I was in the tram to the U.S. consulate when I heard somebody saying on his cellphone that Theo van Gogh was shot.

I have always been so proud of the Netherlands. Tolerance, freedom of speech and an atmosphere of open discussion are things I greatly value in my country. This horrible murder indicates, I fear, a definitive change in the Dutch climate. I feel terribly sorry for Van Gogh and his family.

Theo van Gogh was a Dutch filmmaker and critic. He was always trying to shock people with his columns, movies and remarks. I often strongly disagreed with him, but he was very involved and his viewpoints came from a good heart. It's outrageous that he's dead.

This morning I have an appointment with the U.S. consulate in Amsterdam. I'm applying for a working permit that will allow me to start work with my new employer in the U.S.

My appointment is at 11:00 o'clock and even though there is not much that can go wrong, I'm a little bit nervous and I woke up early. I'll drop by at Chess in the morning to fill in an electronic form (our printer is out of black ink); yesterday I did the other preparations.

Mieke is now at the Spellenspektakel, an annual board game event.

She's participating in a tournament for Kolonisten, and Daniël just told me on the phone she's doing quite well: twice a second and once a first place! Due to a technical problem with the train she was almost late this morning, but she arrived right on time for the start of the tournament.

Jaap and I had an easy morning; we talked, had coffee and went for a walk. I talked to Sasha in the morning, and in the U.S. the wintertime has started as well. This is convenient because the time difference will remain exactly six hours. In the afternoon we went to Velsen-Noord, to drop something at my uncle's place, and then we visited my grandmother for five minutes to say hi. My father dropped me in Haarlem, and after his appointment in Amsterdam we'll have dinner together.

Friday was quite a busy day. I arranged some final matters at Chess, organized a lot of things and made an appointment with the embassy for next week.

In the evening I went to Middenmeer, where things were peaceful and relaxed, which is always a pleasant experience. We played a lot of games yesterday and today.

Mieke is going to the Spellenspektakel tomorrow, and with winning three out of today's four games she is well prepared. Let's hope she'll have a good result tomorrow! Daniel and Jerry are at the Spektakel as well.

Tonight I went to the library and I got a nice book: "American English", written by a British woman who's married to an American. The author, Gunnel Tottie, is a professor of English linguistics and the book looks very interesting.

I also went to a tobacco shop in the Kruisstraat, where I saw a sign the other day that they were looking for coins. Sasha and I had collected almost two cups full with euro coins, and tonight I changed them: a total of 40 euro in 10, 20 and 50 cent coins.

The papers I need are on their way.