Christmas in Amsterdam

In case you haven't noticed... it's officially the holidays. Yes, it's that time of year - the time of weird looking Santa Clauses everywhere, manic-crazed crowds in department stores, and terrible Portland traffic... oh and of course there's all the good stuff too, like family, the look on little kids' faces when they open their presents, and lots and lots of good food...

Well here in Holland, we seem to be missing out on all that good traditional Christmas stuff. In fact, if I didn't know what time of year it was, I would have no idea that Christmas is just less than two weeks away. Sure, there are some nice wintry scenes like this one around town:


How can you go wrong with a fake outdoor ice skating rink?

But the Dutch just don't seem to care much about Christmas. Maybe it's the whole Sinterklaas thing, but they put up a pretty sad looking Christmas tree:

Where's the decorations? The lights? And yes, that is Darth Vader standing by the tree. He could have at least put on a Santa hat!

And take a look at these trees that just appeared near our house:


Yes, that first tree is decorated with... clothes. Where are the Rudolfs and angels and Christmas ornaments decorated by first graders? Is this some sort of joke?

Fortunately, we did find a few "normal" looking decorations at our favorite library. Here's me getting giddy about Christmas below:


Basically... we are really excited to be coming home for the holidays, because as much as we like it here, it just doesn't feel like Christmas without friends and family (and sugar cookies, and Christmas lights, and stockings, and the Macy's Day parade downtown Portland, and apple cider, and...)

We can't wait to see (some of) you in the next few weeks!

Happy Holidays!

- Krista