Why Busy in Amsterdam?

I am excited and anxious to start this blog about Amsterdam. I am motivated to make this blog for two reasons: one is that Amsterdam lost its once fabulous weekly English newspaper- the Amsterdam Weekly, this year, which so many Amsterdammers, expats, tourists and the like depended on for making weekly "uit gaan" (going out) plans; secondly as an active resident of the City I am always so happily surprised to land upon the many lovely festivals, neighbourhood parties, art openings, and other activities but at the same time astonished that an on-line platform has yet to arise to announce these events. It is from these two motivations that I aim to compile an exhaustive list of events, happenings, parties, etc... Although I do not aim to list museum exhibitions, as they are fairly accessible online; nor will I include disco's or where you can find a nice cold drink- as I assume that you can take care of that yourself! But of course if something special somes across my radar it will be here even if its in on a well-traversed path.

I perhaps should say a few things about myself. I am a "buitenlander" (foreigner) and have lived in the Netherlands for almost three years. I came here for love- which proved worthy, and heck I am still here!:) In fact, this is home! And although I am not a real "Amsterdammer" (someone who grew up here), I am most certainly extremely proud to be part of what Amsterdam is and its many adaptations. And it is this that I hope others can experience here, whether you are just stopping by, here on an Erasmus exchange, an expat, or even een echt Amsterdammer!

I would very much appreciate your help as I embark on this task, as this list can only expand with good, up-to-date information. So if you know of an event (perhaps you are on a list-serv and they sent out an announcement about a discussion, or a neighbourhood market) please forward it to me, at busyinamsterdam @ gmail . com. Furthermore you can follow me on twitter where I will post quick tweets about events and weekend affairs as I make my own journey through the City.