Even without the hangover, I would not have been able to get my chili dog today. Stores are not open on Delft on Sunday. Instead I am left to ruminate on thoughts rather than chili topped wieners.

What I have concluded is that there are some things I miss from the states. People ask me, and I usually say, "very little." Which is true.

I miss clothes dryers. In a country where apartments are small, and the sun does not exactly shine long and bright, it doesn't make sense to be hanging up clothes. But I could buy one, so that really is not a problem.

I have missed the NFL. Sure, I keep up via the Internet, only missed about half the season, and managed to have a good season of Monday Night Football, anyway. Yet I missed watching the games. The Superbowl is in one week, and I plan to travel to The Hague or Amsterdam to see the spectacle.

Aside from that, what I really miss about the States is friends and family.

We have made friends here, and the ties will grow strong. But for now I'm still just a bit cautious, just not quite completely at ease. It is the same way with Ultimate, and, now that I have a job, with work as well. The people are friendly, outgoing, and I've worked well with them so far. So far so good, and it looks to get even better.

Time and familiarity will help me to relax and be myself, just as it has altered some of my tastes in junk food. After all, last night on the way home, I had a desire for French fries, but the word that popped in my head was patat. And, yes, I had them with mayonnaise, and it was good.

I don't think I'll stop missing my family and friends, though. And I still want that chili dog, too.

Update

It took another week to get those chili dogs, but I did achieve gastronomical nirvana.

I traveled to Amsterdam to watch the first half of the Superbowl, and slept peacefully on the train home as my stomach worked on the Burger King food I inhaled while waiting on the platform.

Monday found me exhausted, and so I postponed the chili dogs one more day.

At the supermarket, I found the hot dogs, although packaged differently than one might expect: canned. They were also avaliable in glass jars, but the can had a picture of the Statue of Liberty on it, and that reassured me that I had found the genuine article.

I made a simple chili of ground meat browned with onions, salt and pepper, then simmered with kidney beans, tomato sauce, and chili powder. After an hour, I grilled the dogs, smothered them in chili and sprinkled them with fresh chopped onions.

Delicious.

Having seen the Superbowl, and made my dogs, I thought my American week was over, but Delft held a surprise for me.

On Thursday, what did I see outside that same supermarket but the unmistakable silhoutte of a Chevy El Camino!. What that car was doing in Holland I may never know, but I laughed and walked around it in admiration for a good minute or two before waving goodbye, and pedalling home.

- 7 March 1999

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