Off to Maastricht

We haven't done a lot of traveling within the Netherlands since we moved here, so Brian and I decided to take a day trip to Maastricht on Saturday. Maastricht is a cute little town at the very south point of the Netherlands (you might recognize the name of the city from the 1992 Maastricht Treaty).

The town advertises that it is "located within walking distance of Belgium, and biking distance of Germany." Although we just stayed on the Dutch of the border, we could definitely see the influence of the surrounding countries on the little town. Maastricht felt pretty different than Amsterdam - still on the water of course, but it reminded us more of Brugges than the city we live in, probably because of the architecture and the smalltown feel. But it was really nice to get to see another Dutch city.

We didn't really do anything touristy there - we mainly just walked around, took in the city and had some good Belgian beer and Italian food. But it was a beautiful day - sunny and cold, and there was some great people watching!

It was a fun Valentine's Day! Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Brian walking around the town

Me sitting by the water

Us in the town square

- Krista

Can you believe this economy?

Both Brian and I agree - we've never seen anything like this in our lifetimes.

The news has been filled with dismal facts about the economy, and our latest Newsweek International focuses just about 95% of the entire magazine on the current state of the economy. Many economists don't think the U.S. will recover for years, and some are predicting that a recovery will look much more like the L-shaped recovery that Japan experienced in the 1990's instead of the quick V-shaped recovery that we impatient Americans are accustomed to.

Unemployment is higher than ever (and is severely underestimated according to an article in Newsweek), and every day we hear of new job cuts from traditionally successful companies around the world. The latest: Nike is set to cut up for 4% of its workforce before the end of the fiscal year (See this Oregonian article for more information). We don't think it will affect us here in Amsterdam, but it's bound to hit some people we know back home.

With all this less-than-uplifting news lately, we're starting to feel pretty lucky that at least one of us has a steady job. Although it still surprises me that a year after graduating I have yet to have a "real" job, I'm starting to feel a little less bad about it. I'm trying to keep myself occupied in various ways - I'm still pursuing personal training on the side, and have just started volunteering with Friends of the Earth International, a fantastic NGO that focuses on both environmental and social issues throughout the world. So far, it's great - I get to write, do some interviews, and work with their website. Plus, it gets me out of the house and using my brain again, which is really the best part about it.

And despite being homesick, we're both pretty happy to be here right now. The job market in Portland is pretty bleak, and we both know that if we had tried to come over here this time this year instead of last year there wouldn't be any chance. We do miss everyone though, and hope that when we try to come back things start looking more positive!

Here are a couple of pictures so this blog isn't overly text-heavy:

Me braving the cold Amsterdam weather

A very smiley Brian

Tot ziens!

- Krista

Brian's birthday weekend

Yesterday was Brian's 27th birthday!

Since his actual birthday was on a Monday and he unfortunately had to work that day, we decided to make it a birthday 3-day weekend out of it.

And the weekend was a success! We had a lot of fun - we went on a birthday shopping spree (I can't pick out clothes for him, so he had to pick out his own!), had homemade Italian dinner with friends, visited a few of Amsterdam's cozy pubs, and enjoyed the sunny (but freezing) weather with a few bike rides and long walks.

Presents were fun too - I got him his very own iPhone since he has been so jealous of mine over the past few months, an authentic Asian wok and a trip to Chamonix, France to go skiing in the Alps (we go in early March).

I think that he also enjoyed having more than one day to call his own... I have a feeling the birthday weekend or even entire birthday week is going to become a tradition in future years.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Brian and co-worker Gary at a boat party on Friday night

Brian with his birthday dessert (I only put 4 candles on, 27 seemed like too many)

- Krista