Christmas 2018

My first Christmas in Amsterdam started with work. That is the reason I'm here and that is what I have mostly been doing for the last two weeks. I'm staying in a wonderful house, but I really have not had much time to get to know it very well. I wake up, go to work, come home and go to sleep. I could easily go back to the house during meal breaks, but I spend most of that time with everyone else. I don't think any of them live a few blocks away, so we usually go to a food court right around the corner. It is indoors, as clean as can be, and best of all, away from any tourist attractions. If you are wandering around Dam Square, you will never accidentally walk into this place. As an international food court, the choices are pretty limited, but Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Mexico, China, Japan, Vietnam, India and Holland are well represented.

My time here might be all work and little play, but Christmas is Christmas. Amsterdammers celebrate it like there is no tomorrow. Museumplein is now Christmas Village, with a long, thin ice skating rink right in the middle. It is also a 15 minute walk from my house. Ice skating might not be the national sport of the Netherlands, but every single person in Amsterdam seems to know how to gracefully glide across the ice. I'm from Minnesota, so no slouch either, but it has been a while. We don't skate all that much in Hong Kong.

There are Christmas markets all over the place and the city is adorned from head to toe with festive lights and decorations. This is a beautiful city at any time of year, but the tasteful Christmas lights really add a special touch. They could have easily gotten carried away and put up everything but the kitchen sink. Someone in charge clearly understands that less is more. The lights are there to enhance the natural beauty of the city rather than drown it out. Amsterdam is nothing like Hong Kong.

Dam Square has a giant Christmas tree, similar to Rockefeller Center, but far less crowded and, in my opinion, more beautiful. Again, it is a case of understated elegance instead of garish excess. The RAI convention center is now Winter Paradise, with a large ice skating rink, Ferris wheel, toboggan slide, and cross country skiing. The Bloemenmarkt, which is one of the best places to buy flowers on this planet, now sells Christmas trees. Or at least it did at the beginning of the week. I found that interesting because I never saw any Christmas trees on previous trips to Amsterdam, so I don't associate the two, and we do not have Christmas tree lots in Hong Kong. It is like growing up with an animal that went extinct, but then you see a few again.

From what I can tell, Christmas in Amsterdam is not about buying cheap crap made in China. That is one thing the United States and Hong Kong have in common. For the people of Amsterdam, Christmas seems to be about spending time with family, eating festive food and enjoying a special time of the year. The Christmas markets sell small items you can buy as gifts, but they are unequivocally nothing like Walmart. Most people opt for the food and endless gallons of alcohol. One thing I noticed at every Christmas market I went to was oliebollen, a deep fried dough dessert, similar to a jelly donut without any filling. It looked like every stall had their own recipe and they all looked pretty good.

The absolute best thing about Christmas this year was not food or winter weather or tasteful holiday lighting. It was my present from Lily, my best friend, roommate (in Hong Kong) and sister from up north. When I moved in to the Amsterdam house, there were a few issues that needed to be addressed, but most of them were taken care of while I was away. One of the bathroom doors did not close properly. I came home from work one day and it was magically fixed. I don't really like the idea of people coming into the house while no one is home, but that is the only way anything is ever going to get done.

The very first time I heard the doorbell ring, I assumed it was someone coming to fix something. Instead, I opened the door to see Lily, in Amsterdam, standing on my stoep. It was the greatest present I could ever ask for. I love a good surprise, and this one was unbeatable. She managed to find out where I would be and when, and fly across the world without me suspecting a thing. In hindsight, I should have wondered why she wanted such detailed information about my schedule that week, but we always know each other's schedules in Hong Kong.

I might have mentioned this once or twice before, but I was in a bit of a car accident last year. Lily was my home nurse throughout a long and grueling recovery, and she never complained once. She probably complained every step of the way, but I chose not to hear it. The important thing is that she was there every day. I don't need her to keep an eye on me anymore physically, but she did not want me to spend Christmas alone. Kevin, my other best friend, roommate and brother from up north, could not come. He has a real job in a country that does not celebrate Christmas. He usually works during our most important holidays, but he gets plenty of Chinese days off.

The Amsterdam house has more than enough room for three people. I currently only have one roommate, and she is out of town. Lily staying at a hotel was never a consideration. It was a little sad that her boyfriend was alone at Christmas, but he was busy enough not to notice, and it was nice to have the house all to ourselves. And since I had to work, Lily had it all to herself much of the time. I only hope she closed the curtains. Amsterdam houses are nice, but the neighbors are entirely too close.

When I had some free time, we hit the town. As a Canadian, Lily felt right at home on ice skates. She spent more time at the Christmas markets than I did, and bought entirely too many unnecessary trinkets. There was no snow this Christmas. It never dipped below 5 degrees. It was overcast pretty much the entire time and there was a little rain here and there, but it was a very mild winter as far as we were concerned.

Lily loved the mulled wine, which was available practically everywhere. She thought the oliebollen were ok, but preferred the banketstaaf, a flaky pastry filled with almond paste, and appelflappen. When it comes to donuts, she thinks nothing in the world can compare with Tim Hortons. That sounds strange, but I generally feel the same way about Krispy Kreme. I went to Tim Hortons a few times when I was in Barcelona, which made Lily proud, but I always got the timbits, which she found sacrilegious.

I had to work during the two days of Christmas, so there was no official Christmas dinner, but we had a full kitchen and I made sure to do plenty of grocery shopping before everything closed. Few restaurants are open on the 25th and 26th, but home cooked meals are always better on holidays anyway. And, for some bizarre reason, there is no Krispy Kreme or Tim Hortons in Amsterdam. It's a great city otherwise.

One basic staple I never bothered to get was flour. I don't live here full time and I mostly use flour for breads and desserts. Amsterdam has some of the best bakeries in the world and, with all the Christmas markets, finding cookies and muffins was not difficult. Of course, without flour, I could not make pasta, pizza or pancakes, but we managed to survive. Lily especially missed my brownies, but she was more than satisfied when I told her that I could make peanut butter cookies. We only had peanut butter because I found an interesting looking bottle at Albert Heijn.

She said they were the best peanut butter cookies I have ever made, so we had to get a few more bottles to bring home. But for all we know, it could be the eggs. In Amsterdam, we got free range, organic, environmentally-approved eggs. In Hong Kong, packaging is not always trustworthy. In fact, earlier this year, millions of eggs imported from the United States were recalled because of a salmonella contamination. Last year, European eggs were recalled after they were tested for pesticides. Ironically, most of those eggs came from the Netherlands. Even more ironically, Hong Kong imports eggs from Europe and the United States out of fear that eggs from Mainland China are less clean.

Regardless of whatever made them the best ever, Lily said the entire house smelled like peanut butter cookies. I have no problem with that.

For me, this was the best Christmas in a long time. Christmas in Hong Kong is mostly about shopping and over the top decorations. The Chinese are never subtle when it comes to lights and colored paper. Christmas in Amsterdam reminded me more of my childhood, when spending time with family and friends was more important than going to the mall. There is never anything magical in the air in Hong Kong. Christmas is just another day, albeit with more Christmas music than usual. Amsterdam felt like Christmas. Best of all, I got to spend it with my sister.

Vrolijk Kerstfeest.