My passport is about to expire and I went to the Dutch Consulate to renew it. There is a honorary consul for the Netherlands in Raleigh, a friendly Dutch business man who provides consular services. I'm glad he's here, otherwise I'd have had to go to Washington D.C., a 5 hour drive from here.
The Dutch, American and North Carolinian flag stood next to each other in the hallway, and the office had pictures of Dutch landscapes and of Queen Beatrix.
This year's bureaucratic experiences have made me cautious but it looks like this passport renewal will be fairly quick and efficient; it should be about 3 weeks.
"Don't make holes in the dikes. Such behaviour is commonly disapproved and in extreme cases it can get you stoned by wooden shoes. But feel free to put your finger in the dike if you feel the urge."
On my way home from Washington I saw an intriguing sign next to the highway: "Dutch Gap Conservation".
I took the exit and followed the signs. It turns out the Dutch Gap is a short cut in the James river that was created in the Civil War by General Dale.
He had been to the Netherlands and had a number of Dutch engineers in his army, which explains the name.
The Dutch Gap canal. The bridge is I-95, the highway I took from Washington D.C. to Richmond Virginia. The highway starts in Canada and goes all the way to Florida.
It remembers the day that John Adams, the second president of the United States, was received by the States General in The Hague and recognized as Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America.
It is also the day that the house John Adams purchased at Fluwelen Burgwal 18 in The Hague became the first American Embassy in the world.
Dutch cuisine is strongly influenced by the Indonesian kitchen and around here it's hard to find some of the ingredients that I used on a daily basis in Holland.
I didn't quite realize it in the beginning, but condiments like sambal manis or ketjap manis, or things like nasi aren't for sale in regular supermarkets. Thai cuisine is more popular here, so there are similar curry pastes to sambal available but there is much less variety. I really like sambal manis, a sweet mild sambal.
A couple of months ago I ordered some Dutch ingredients by mail order, including mixes for babi pangang and foo yong hai and seroendeng, roasted coconut with spices. I almost finished the sambals so I was very happy when Petra told me about a store in Chapel Hill where they carry Indonesian condiments: A Southern Season. A wonderful store!
When I walked through the isles my eyes fell on this bottle with Dutch curry. It's a ketchup with spices that is often used with fried snacks. I'm not particularly fond of it, but this is the first time that I see this sauce outside the Netherlands. It gives an indication of the rich selection A Southern Season has to offer.
Ketjap manis, sambal trassi, sambal manis, mixes for sambal stir fry and Indonesian satay, sambal oelek, sambal badjak, and in the right bottem corner mixes for various Indonesian sauces. When we lived in Amsterdam Bijlmer I get these same brands from local shops.
Mie are Chinese wheat noodles that are popular in the Dutch kitchen. Bami goreng is an Indonesian dish based on fried noodles.
After seeing this rich choice I wasn't really surprised to find hagelslag...
...and that the "wall of chocolate" included Dutch Droste wasn't all that surprising either...
...but they even have Friese Keukenstroop! I can't remember ever seeing that in the US before.
I bought a couple of things. Sambal manis of course, and a package for Indonesian peanut sauce (which is different than the Thai peanut sauce that is popular here). I also bought some other Asian condiments like rice vinegar and sesame oil.
Tonight I had dinner with Klaas, Petra and Ron. I met them online through AllesAmerika.com and it was great to finally meet them in real life.
Klaas, "Blips" on this website, lives in Minnesota but was in Durham for business so the four of us decided to meet up and we had a very nice evening. Ron and Petra moved from the Netherlands to North Carolina about two years ago.
When I arrived in the restaurant the waiter came and asked me if I'm "with a party of 3". I said yes and he said he had recognized my accent so he brought me to the right table.
It's been a while since I had spoken with Dutch people face-to-face and we had a lot of experiences and stories to share.
Yesterday's New York Times had 
My passport is about to expire and I went to the Dutch Consulate to renew it. There is a honorary consul for the Netherlands in Raleigh, a friendly Dutch business man who provides consular services. I'm glad he's here, otherwise I'd have had to go to Washington D.C., a 5 hour drive from here.
Sunday afternoon we spent some time in Barnes & Noble. I was looking for a copy of a French cookbook that I borrowed from the library a while back. 
I saw a funny commercial the other day from E*Trade: "All you can do with 1 finger".
On my way home from Washington I saw an intriguing sign next to the highway: "Dutch Gap Conservation". 
Today is the 
Dutch cuisine is strongly influenced by the Indonesian kitchen and around here it's hard to find some of the ingredients that I used on a daily basis in Holland. 
Tonight I had dinner with Klaas, Petra and Ron. I met them online through AllesAmerika.com and it was great to finally meet them in real life.
Today is the meetup in the Netherlands of 