My Brush with Dutchness

Since we've arrived in the Netherlands, I've been amazed at the things that people will carry around with them on their bikes.  (If you didn't know, the Dutch are known for their cycling culture.  They bike everywhere and in ANYTHING!)  Here are some of my favorites:

• Suit & tie
• Stilettos and a mini skirt
• Umbrella (it rains alot here, so this wasn't surprising, but I'm amazed that their ability to ride with one hand, hold an open umbrella in the other, and not crash!)
• A bass (you know, the big stringed instrument that looks like a giant cello)
• An exercise ball (yes, the big yoga/birthing ball.  the lady was holding it under one arm while steering with the other)
• A box bike with 5 kids (they have these bikes with big boxes on the front to carry cargo, but most folks have bench seats in them for kiddos, some of them are retrofitted with car seats)
• The scariest one was the lady with a kid on the front and one on the back in bike seats, plus she was carrying a baby in a Baby Bjorn.  No Joke!!

So, to the point of this post...  I have been making fun of these people for 4 1/2 months now and wondered if I would ever fully understand "why".  Well, today I was one of them!  We have our van here, but most of the useful places to go shopping are in downtown where the parking is in parking garages under ground with very small parking places and low clearances.  Needless to say, I'm not about to take my Odyssey into one of those unless I really have to.  

BUT, I needed a new vacuum cleaner.  We had bought one for 10 euro from a buy/sell Yahoo group for expats, but it didn't work very well.  When the cleaning lady complained this week, I finally gave in and went to get a new one.  Luckily, I went while the girls (and Bryan) were asleep, so I hopped on my bike (with the two seats and saddle bags of course) and rode downtown to a place called MediaMarkt.  It's like a BestBuy on crack.  Anything and everything you could ever need that plugs into a wall can be found here.  In addition to the vacuum, I needed to get a toaster, and a hair dryer and straightener for when my mom visits in a month.  (I didn't want her to fry hers or her hair!)  Long story short, I found everything I needed except the toaster (they had plenty, but I wanted a cheap one), checked out, then carried my loot to my bike.  For some reason, it wasn't until then that I thought, how in the world am I going to get this stuff home?!  I tried a few different configurations, but none seemed to work that well.  Finally, I put the hair dryer in one of my saddle bags, the straightener in the other then plopped the vacuum cleaner box onto Kaeli's seat on the back of the bike.  It was too big to fit IN the seat, so I layed it on TOP of the arms of the seat.  It was so wide that it also covered about half of my bike seat.  Oh, and did I mention that I didn't have any straps to hold it on?  There was just enough room left on my seat for me to sit (rather uncomfortably), and I strategically leaned back against the box to hold it in place between me and the back of Kaeli's seat.  I'm sure I looked hilarious.  Probably should have gotten a picture, but when I got home, B and the girls were still asleep and I really had to go potty!  Will have to save that extra laugh for another time!!  Here's to fitting in!  :-)