Playing Frogger

On my way to work the other morning I realized that crossing the main roads here is kinda like the game Frogger.  You are trying to cross multiple lanes (there are car lanes and bike lanes) and in between these lanes are these little islands for you to stand on.   On each island is its own crossing signal, so if you look across the street, the farthest signal might be a green person (which means that you can walk) and the nearest might be red so you wait. Then when it turns green, you have to dodge the bikes (see previous post about Dutch pecking order) and move from island to island without getting hit – just like Frogger.At times the little green person starts to blink, so you know that you need to move across faster. I have also learned the hard way that when you get to the islands, you need to push the walk button or you could be standing there for some time :-)  

I also had a query the other day about some shopping and whether or not you could get Cheez Whiz or Kraft Dinner here and the answer is no.  A few brands that are the same as back home include Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Boursin Cheese (A LOT cheaper here), Pringles, Coke, Lays, Doritos. . .are you seeing a trend here - junk food!  A co-worker of mine also told me that if I go over to Calais, France, they have some larger grocery stores there like Sainsbury (UK chain), with much more selection. She also mentioned that you cannot buy chocolate chips here. . .hmm. . . not sure what I think about that!  I have a feeling that I may be doing quarterly trips to Calais to load up on all of those things that I can't buy here but also to feel as though I have some choice.

Tonight I decided to venture out to the movies, as a little Googling showed that there was a movie theatre about 10 minutes away and that they played movies in English.  I went to see the movie "The Impossible" which was about 1 families story about the tsunami in Thailand in December 2004.  Wow!  What a horrific experience to go through, I can't even imagine.  So going to the movies is a little different than back home.  One thing that is similar is the cost - you pretty much have to mortgage your house to go to the movie here as well.  A single adult is 9,50 Euros.  What is cheaper is their "buffet" as they call it - the concession.  I got a medium popcorn and bottle of pop for 6,90 Euro.  For popcorn you have a choice of salted or sweet however me being the Canadian rebel that I am (yah right!) I asked for mixed which he was more than happy to do.  You can also buy a 4 pack of bottled beer and outside of the theatre door, they have a nice little stand to put in your empty bottles.  When you buy your ticket for your movie, you pick your row and your seat - none of this searching in the dark for an empty seat or asking people to move over so 2 people can sit together.  In addition, the seats have way more space between them, so you really don't have to get up to let someone past.  And they are clean.  You can put your purse on the floor without worrying that it is going to stick.  For a Friday night, the movie theatre here does not have the frenetic feel that it does in Calgary.

Another experience conquered on my list :-)