In Amsterdam these days it's, as they say in the Netherlands, echt koud.  I could pretend like there's a really profound cultural insight in the translation of that phrase, but there's not.  What I mean (and what those Dutch words mean) is simply that it's real cold.  And I mean that as literally as possible.

The snowpack over the city of Amsterdam remains intact, two full weeks into the New Year.  People are saying it's been over 20 years since their last memory of such cold and snow.  This morning, there was a solid layer of (not very thick) ice all the way across the Amstel River -- which I have never seen.  They've shut off the water flow to the canals in the Jordaan (one of the oldest, most scenic and sentimentally-valued areas in Amsterdam) -- in order to let the water stagnate and allow a crust of ice to begin to form on top of these canals in the innermost section of the city.  There have been scattered reports of people venturing out on the ice, and every report is widely and wildly circulated in this country where ice-skating is an integral part of the seasonal culture -- even though it rarely gets cold enough, anymore, for "natural skating" (as opposed to "artifical skating" on man-made rinks, which is something very different in Dutch culture and language).  However, the officials continue to strongly advise against skating on the canals of Amsterdam's city center (though there are plenty of opportunities for skating on the ponds and more outlying waterways -- like we had last year).  For now, everyone is kind of watching and waiting.  We're all holding our breath in anticipation.

It gives us something to do while we shiver to death in the absurdly cold temperatures. :-)

Seriously, though, I much prefer the true winter experience in Amsterdam -- as opposed to the cool, dark, gray, rainy seasons that I've experienced in previous Januaries.  It is beautiful and exciting.  I especially hope that I might get to witness the legendary elfstedentocht (eleven cities tour) -- which is absolutely legendary in Dutch culture.  From everything that I've heard, it's bigger than the Olympics -- like, Dutch ice skaters might have a very difficult time deciding between Vancouver or Friesland, if the elfstedentocht were to happen in the second half of February.  And yet, while they've been holding them for the last 100 years or so, the conditions have only allowed it to occur 15 times.  Ever.  The last one was in 1997.  So it would be a pretty big deal if we could get to see one of those this year...

On certain levels, I'm already wishing for spring -- especially when it comes to bicycling.  The country has literally run out of road salt -- and so some of the side streets are perhaps 4 or 5 centimeters of firmly packed snow-ice.  And it's so cold getting from place to place; even with excellent gloves my fingers are tingling by the end of a 15 minute bike ride.  But when I think about skating on the Keizersgracht and watching an elfstedentocht for once -- well, I'm quite content to wait for spring.

There's been a continuous snow cover over Amsterdam ever since we got back from Ohio on New Year's Day.  I've never seen such snow in all my seven years here.  Last January we had one week of hard freeze, but there was no snow.  And while we have had snow before, the accumulation has previously lasted for 48 hours or less before getting swallowed up by the rains.  This snow cover, however, is for real.  Yesterday evening, we got another 3 or 4 inches on top of what was already there.

The snow makes the city so beautiful and so silent.  I love it.

The snow does come with its hassles, however.  Bicycling through slush is no fun -- though I can't figure out which is worse:  the soft squishy stuff and its messiness, or the rock hard frozen stuff and its slipperyness.  Of course, it's really cold outside -- and we feel the cold more in Amsterdam than in Ohio, simply because we're out in it more, not having a car.  A lot of people use public transportation during these times, naturally -- but that doesn't seem to be the best scenario either, because of cold waits at the tram stops and bus stops while you're waiting to get on and suffocating overcrowded warmth once you're on.

Marci and I also discovered, yesterday evening, that the city's transportation grid isn't able to handle the large amounts of snow very well.  We were trying to make it to dinner at the home of some friends' up in the northernmost section of the city (far enough away that we wouldn't even tend to do bikes in nice weather), and as our appointment happened to fall right during the heaviest part of the snow-storm, we had quite the adventure in trying to get up there.  First we waited for the bus.  It's usually supposed to come every 10 minutes, but we were there for maybe 20 or 25 minutes with no sign of any buses running.  Another girl waiting at the stop said she had been standing there for about an hour.  So a few of us decided to split a cab together.

The cab seemed to be working out all right; however, shortly after dropping off the first passenger at her desired location, the taxi driver threw up his hands and said that he couldn't go further -- evidently frustrated by the heavy traffic and extremely slow conditions (seeing how he gets paid by the kilometer, not by the hour).  After some arguing, we got put out on the curb next to a large shopping center -- approximately half-way between our point of origin and our destination.  We waited around for a bus, but after a little while we decided that it was pointless.  We had already been in transit for about two hours -- and we were set to relieve our babysitter in another two hours.  After some brief deliberation, Marci and I decided to surrender to the weather and its inevitabilities.

So we called our friends to cancel, grabbed some fast food for dinner, and then tried to catch a bus back to our neighborhood.  But once again, after a half-hour of shivering in the cold, our bus never came.

We ended up catching a different bus to Centraal Station and then taking a tram the rest of the way to our house.  But it was quite the adventure:  three-and-a-half hours and about 40 euros worth of going nowhere.

It was a little bit frustrating...

But hey -- at least we get a pretty city out of the deal. :-)

And in case you're interested, there are more pictures of snowy Amsterdam available in the Amsterdam Pictures section of the website.

It's been one of the best Novembers that I can remember in a long time.  Though it's typically one of the hardest months of the year for me in Amsterdam, this year I was really able to enjoy it in all its glory:  warm drinks in brown cafes, oliebollen from the streetside vendors, holiday celebrations with friends (see above photo), putting on my warm winter coat to protect myself against the cold winds... I know it's just little stuff.  But it all came together to make a great month.

I will confess that the last week of the month has been the most difficult:  some inevitable pangs of homesickness on Thanksgiving Day when observing the Facebook statuses of friends and family back in the United States,  the hassles and costs of a stolen bakfiets, and three children now suffering from persistent fever, coughing, and congestion (which I've been told are some of the hallmarks of H1N1)... But even in the midst of these trials, I've been able to find joy.

Thanks to any of you who might have been praying for me throughout the month.  It's meant a lot.

I always used to hate Novembers in Amsterdam.  The month seemed to automatically equate another annual bout with depression.  But last year, my experience with November was different.  Though I regularly had to work at it, I actually discovered that there can be a lot of joy in the month of November.  And while I was glad that it worked out so well for me last year, I have to admit that I was still curious to see how my emotions would be affected this time around.

I'm happy to say that I am currently and enjoying and looking forward to the rest of the month of November more than I have in a very long time.

I dug out my beloved Carhartt jacket again on Sunday and found great joy in putting it on again.   I'm looking forward to Dutch holidays like Sint Maartensdag and the arrival of Sinterklaas to the Netherlands like I never have before.  And at the same time, I'm really excited about celebrating American Thanksgiving with friends here in Amsterdam (whereas previously, it's always been a bit of a bummer that I haven't been able to be with my family on that uniquely American holiday).  My kids have been begging me to take them out for oliebollen again (which I've been deliberately holding off, until the calendar turned over to November)... And all in all, I'm just savoring some of the joys of this season of the year.

It's a really refreshing change.  I realize, of course, that times of difficulty may still come in the month to come.  But I'll take those as they come and in the meantime make the most of this unique time of year...