Arriving at the hotel was a first US hotel visit. Sleeping there was a first, waking up there on your first real day there is another unique experience. Over the hours I've built up many more firsts.
On August 28, we were picked up in the lobby around 7:45 to have breakfast in the Ilios restaurant, where breakfast, lunch and dinner is served. Ilios is the Greek word for sun. The sun is a huge influence in Florida itself (being the Sunshine State), but also in the hotel (though you won't notice that with all the airconditioning blasting around) as all the meeting rooms carry names which are translations from the word sun in some language. Sonne, Soleil and Jua are some of the names I've come across during a tour I got on my orientation day.
That orientation day started after we had breakfast with John Saglam, the man who also picked us up from the airport. Just like the night before, I treated myself on some fresh bread with creamcheese and red onions, finishing it all with a bowl of fresh fruit. The lovely waitress was keen on keeping our glasses with orange juice filled at all times, so in total I had 3 glasses of that to flush all the food with. After that we were escorted to the third floor, where we were seated in the newly opened training room (before that, trainings were done in meeting rooms, which, honestly, would look better than this room, but anyway). In here we got to watch quite a few videos, fill in a lot of forms, and listen to almost all department directors around. People from security, Food & Beverage, Front Office and Human Resources were all around to tell us something. With two small breaks (a lunch in Ilios included) in between we ended our day at 3PM. At least, the day in the meeting room for our training. After that we were taken to Paris (and yes, I made the same link, with her working in the Hilton) to fit suits to see what sizes we'd need for our working attire. As we (Bart and I) had rather unusual sizes (for the department we'll be working in at least, as there are mostly women MIT -manager in training- around) we were scheduled to start working on the computer systems instead, and not go to Housekeeping as those suits needed to be ordered for us.
With that done, we went over to Joseph again, who has been helping us with a lot of things ever since we got accepted into this hotel. He helped us filling in the last forms, gave us some more information on bank accounts, social security numbers etc., and made the deal for us to be able to have breakfast in the Ilios for the next few days as we have rooms without fridges so we'll have to get fresh food instead of food being brought to us, to have it stored in the fridge. Not at all bad, having to enjoy your breakfast in the restaurant. Not at all.
After that Bart, Yatha and myself went for a little walk. Over the Beach Blvd to Sunrise Blvd, heading to the Galleria shopping mall (where they have gone off to now as I'm writing this. Bart is going to purchase a laptop, and Yatha needs some tidy shoes). In this shopping mall we browsed around, I got myself some information about the iPhone which I'm thinking to buy this month, and we went for dinner in the food court there. A large space with lots of booths next to eachother, all with different types of food. Pizza, thai, sushi, chicken/turkey and more. Got ourselves a good meal there, stayed around for a little longer and then went past the hotel again, to walk over Las Olas Blvd, one of the more vibrant streets in Fort Lauderdale. The eastern part of the boulevard is all residential, with (private) streets to the left and right everywhere. Houses with yachts docked, Mercedeses on the driveway and pretty girls jogging with their dog. Rich neighborhoods closeby. Walking on, we passed the first restaurants, some fashion stores (which were mostly closed as it was past 9 already). Walked past Johnny V, a restaurant I remembered reading about in one of my travel guides, and took a look at the menu card. Not at all as expensive as I figured it would be, despite the fact that they parked an Aston Martin straight in front of it. The appearance seems pretty alright over there. Might want to take my placement mentor there as he is supposed to pay for dinner when he comes to visit. Wouldn't mind that.
Anyway, walked on, past more lovely sights, and came to the Riverfront. A little place at a river, yes, really. With a lot of nice bars there, including and Irish Pub that we might visit soon. Need to start at 9AM tomorrow, so might not be tonight, but we'll see about that.
Was a pretty long walk to get there in the first place (4,5 km) so we took a cab back. Paid 10 bucks for this little peace of convenience and said goodnight to eachother, each heading back to his own room. That's when I wrote my blog. It seemed like living two days in one. First the training, and then the spare time, all within 17 hours or so.
Decided to not put any alarms for the second day, and woke up around 9. After heading to bed at 0:30 I think I can say I'm pretty done with the jetlag already. It's 20:08 now and I feel like it's that time as well. All set.
Had breakfast around 10:15 until 11 or so, outside on the terrace, in the shades though. Ultimate vacation feeling, but having your work in the back of your mind kind of makes that less interesting (need to start tomorrow at 9:00). After that Bart and I watched a little episode of Wipeout on my laptop and had a few good laughs about it. We've got all the great TV channels on here anyway, so we need to get on schedule with a few things. Currently got CSI Miami running on the side here. Fitting.
After that we went to the drug test, and were brought by the Director of Guest Service, a great guy named Christian. He took us to Quest something, who took urine samples from us new people (Bart, Yatha, a German Front Office MIT named Sabrina and myself) and after that we went off again. Went with Christian to a store he needed to visit, after which he took us to Best Buy, a large electronic store, to see if we needed anything. I tried looking for a proper convertor plug as the one I brought wont work for my laptop, as I can't get the screw out (it's a 3-point screw. Most screwdrivers I've seen. Correction, all I've seen either have 2 or 4 points -line or cross). Didn't find one. Then went to Verizon where Yatha bought himself a phone he could use.
I'll look for the iPhone later this week when I've got a bank account worked out too.
Then went back to the hotel as Christian needed to work again. I asked where the closest supermarket was and then Sabrina offered to take us by car. Went to the valet to get her car and we drove off. Got something to eat and drink, but as we have no fridge yet, didn't take too much. Then went to get something to eat at the Subway and Sabrina dropped us off at the hotel again.
She's got an appartment already as she moved in with a German friend of her who has been living here with her boyfriend for a while already. She's got a pool at her house! Anyway.
We went to the beach then, had a bit of fun wrestling with the waves at sea and went back in to the hotel again.
Took a shower with some great shampoo, I didn't even need the conditioner. It's called Crabtree and Evelyn - La Source. If you can ever get your hands on that, do so, as it's magic. Then got a phonecall from Bart who was in a room with Bulgarian new worker Georgi, who studied hotel management in Switzerland and who has been here for two weeks. He was looking in to apartments and such for a while already and was wondering what we thought about 4-bedroom houses that he found in the neighborhood (one of them on one of the private streets left of Las Olas as I said, for 1750 a month. That would really be nice with the four of us, and he'll get to know more about that tomorrow, hope that works). It looks like we'll be living with the 4 of us somewhere. Georgi has got 19 more days in the hotel at best, so in two weeks we might be out of here too. He's been in the area before, has got himself a car (and an American license for 20 bucks, which is easy to get here apparently) so it might be a great thing living with him in general. He's a good guy too.
After the meeting with Georgi the guys went to Galleria again to shop and eat a little bit, and I went back to my room, working on photos, which, in the future, can be found at THIS little online photo gallery for you all to see. Keep it bookmarked somewhere, and I'll let you know when I've uploaded a great new batch of photos.
Now almost done writing the blog, and I found a song with it in the meantime.
Here's Loser's "The First Time"
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Flights
I'm writing this around 23:30 local time. Seems like I'm already over my jetlag, after just one night of sleep and one day of action. Today actually seemed like two days, really.
But more about that later. The flight, yesterday, is worth mentioning too, and I've got some photos to go with that (you'll all love me for sharing those!) as well. It's going to take me a lot of time to write that already, so you'll hear more about the the day in Fort Lauderdale later (tomorrow is my last day off, so I figure I'll use that to comment on things).
Bart, his brother (who drove) and his mum picked us (that is me and my mum) up at around 7:40 or so. Had a quick greeting session and put all my stuff in the trunk of their large-enough-car. Did I say all my stuff? After 2 minutes or so, I came to the conclusion that I left my jacket on the couch. In my jacket was my passport with my visa, so I had Thomas (Bart's brother) turn at the next roundabout and stop at the front door again.
My jacket was literally the only non-furniture item still in the living room! I took it with me and sat down on the backseat again. After a reasonably easy drive of around 3 hours, we arrived at Dusseldorf International Airport. Waited around for the car to be parked, meeting up with everyone again, to take some action.
I got instructions to head down to terminal C, walk all the way through and check in. After another confirmation of having the proper course, somewhere along the way, Bart and I were ready to check in after he filled in one last piece of paper (for the time being). Bart, being as easy going as he is, only needed a small suitcase and a backpack to take everything he wanted/needed. Me, on the other hand, packed a little more than allowed, but the total weight of all our suitcases was still acceptable for two people, so no actions had to be taken.
Went on to eat something at Leonardo's (Ninja Turtles, anyone?) with all 5 of us, and just had an easy time there for a while. Called to see where Yatha was, to find out he was still on his way to the airport.
Went to go through the customs officers and everything, after saying goodbye to the relatives we left behind. It seemed like a really hard time for my mum, so I hope she managed to get through the day and everything, as she wasn't really looking forward to anything of this at all, the closer it got.
Sat down at gate C46 and after a while heard a familiar voice. Yatha also made it! Had to verify something, and found out that Bart was the odd one out, in terms of luggage, and that my suitcases weren't all thát bad.
Boarded the plane 30 minutes later than the expected time, but it all seemed fair enough anyway. We weren't due to take off for another 30 regardless. Then, the fun kicked in. We waited, and waited. And stared out of the window. And waited some more. And then got word from the captain (first in German, later in English) that there was an unidentified piece of luggage around that made it necessary for all of us to personally identify our suitcases so we could figure out what didn't belong in there.
Waited for a longer time to see what we needed to do exactly, but apparently they went on to scan all the labels again and connect those to the passengers that had borded to then see what they had, or didn't have.
About two and half hours later than planned. We took off! (see left side for a photo that was taken when we just got in the air, it's on of the airport's landing strips we flew over).
Had a lovely time flying, and it took a while. In between I saw a load of lovely air sights. A lot of clouds, in all shapes, forms and with lighting backgrounds. I'll share my favorites here too. Should be quite a few! Nothing else to see than clouds and water. Endless water. Really, whenever water becomes a problem for whoever, all they need to do is move to the grounds where the Atlantic hits land, and drink, use and save however much they can, there's plenty, I tell you (and please, don't go all serious on me for this).
Anyway, photos!
There, a bunch of aerial photos I loved taking (at least, I love the result of me hitting some settings and pushing the shutter button).
After a long, but not boring while (watched the movie "What Happens In Vegas and made puzzles with Bart) we finally got around to hitting land. We were approaching Florida itself after we had flown along the coastline (be it quite a few miles out, I never got to see anything but water, after all). We flew over Fort Lauderdale on the way, and I managed to get a little photo of that too, but just missed the hotel on there, by the looks of it.
Went through the customs at this airport too, had fingerprints scanned again, and a photo taken, and went on to pick up the luggage, which was nicely there when we arrived. Put it on carts and walked towards the exit, where I passed a girl with a Dutch looking name on her badge, with a Hilton logo on it, to later realise that might have been there for us, despite the fact that we were told we'd get a male "collector" there. Addressed her and had my ideas confirmed. She then took us to mister John Saglam, the man with whom I'll be working a lot the coming year. As expected, we were picked up by a huge car. A nice Cadillac Escalade. Honestly, there are no small cars in this country! Up to now I've seen a few VW Golfs driving around, but other than that they don't get any smaller than your average family car. Lots of SUVs around and such.
After a nightly drive, taking around 30 minutes, we arrived at the hotel. I was sore, as I had to sit in between two seats in the back. The damn thing only had 4 seats, and we were with the 5 of us. I volunteered, and never gave in! Might not have been a bad idea to accept Yatha's offer to switch for a bit when my legs went numb, but still.
When we arrived we were greeted by a number of people. Got a very small tour to start with, and had something to eat in a newly opened restaurant/food market concept, which had only been in opration since monday. Had some really nice food there (baguette with cream cheese and red onions - I can recommend that to everyone, so simple but so good! - and later a Cuban Panini with all kinds of lovely ingredients on it as well).
Went to bed in my 2-person bedroom with five!! pillows on the bed, after I did everything I think I had to do. Will post some pictures of the room in my next entry. It's 0:15 now and I'm glad I don't need to write about today already, as that's also going to take ages for me to do, luckily I resized all the pictures already, so that helps.
Anyway, time for me to head to bed while most of you are about to get up, or have been awake for a bit already. Damn timezones at times.
I wanted to find you a song with a video, like everytime, but unfortunately, the band I picked (Falling Up) has never released this song in any way, and the live footage was in crap audio quality, so here's a still of the song "Flights".
But more about that later. The flight, yesterday, is worth mentioning too, and I've got some photos to go with that (you'll all love me for sharing those!) as well. It's going to take me a lot of time to write that already, so you'll hear more about the the day in Fort Lauderdale later (tomorrow is my last day off, so I figure I'll use that to comment on things).
Bart, his brother (who drove) and his mum picked us (that is me and my mum) up at around 7:40 or so. Had a quick greeting session and put all my stuff in the trunk of their large-enough-car. Did I say all my stuff? After 2 minutes or so, I came to the conclusion that I left my jacket on the couch. In my jacket was my passport with my visa, so I had Thomas (Bart's brother) turn at the next roundabout and stop at the front door again.
My jacket was literally the only non-furniture item still in the living room! I took it with me and sat down on the backseat again. After a reasonably easy drive of around 3 hours, we arrived at Dusseldorf International Airport. Waited around for the car to be parked, meeting up with everyone again, to take some action.
I got instructions to head down to terminal C, walk all the way through and check in. After another confirmation of having the proper course, somewhere along the way, Bart and I were ready to check in after he filled in one last piece of paper (for the time being). Bart, being as easy going as he is, only needed a small suitcase and a backpack to take everything he wanted/needed. Me, on the other hand, packed a little more than allowed, but the total weight of all our suitcases was still acceptable for two people, so no actions had to be taken.
Went on to eat something at Leonardo's (Ninja Turtles, anyone?) with all 5 of us, and just had an easy time there for a while. Called to see where Yatha was, to find out he was still on his way to the airport.
Went to go through the customs officers and everything, after saying goodbye to the relatives we left behind. It seemed like a really hard time for my mum, so I hope she managed to get through the day and everything, as she wasn't really looking forward to anything of this at all, the closer it got.
Sat down at gate C46 and after a while heard a familiar voice. Yatha also made it! Had to verify something, and found out that Bart was the odd one out, in terms of luggage, and that my suitcases weren't all thát bad.
Boarded the plane 30 minutes later than the expected time, but it all seemed fair enough anyway. We weren't due to take off for another 30 regardless. Then, the fun kicked in. We waited, and waited. And stared out of the window. And waited some more. And then got word from the captain (first in German, later in English) that there was an unidentified piece of luggage around that made it necessary for all of us to personally identify our suitcases so we could figure out what didn't belong in there.
Waited for a longer time to see what we needed to do exactly, but apparently they went on to scan all the labels again and connect those to the passengers that had borded to then see what they had, or didn't have.
About two and half hours later than planned. We took off! (see left side for a photo that was taken when we just got in the air, it's on of the airport's landing strips we flew over).
Had a lovely time flying, and it took a while. In between I saw a load of lovely air sights. A lot of clouds, in all shapes, forms and with lighting backgrounds. I'll share my favorites here too. Should be quite a few! Nothing else to see than clouds and water. Endless water. Really, whenever water becomes a problem for whoever, all they need to do is move to the grounds where the Atlantic hits land, and drink, use and save however much they can, there's plenty, I tell you (and please, don't go all serious on me for this).
Anyway, photos!
There, a bunch of aerial photos I loved taking (at least, I love the result of me hitting some settings and pushing the shutter button).After a long, but not boring while (watched the movie "What Happens In Vegas and made puzzles with Bart) we finally got around to hitting land. We were approaching Florida itself after we had flown along the coastline (be it quite a few miles out, I never got to see anything but water, after all). We flew over Fort Lauderdale on the way, and I managed to get a little photo of that too, but just missed the hotel on there, by the looks of it.
Went through the customs at this airport too, had fingerprints scanned again, and a photo taken, and went on to pick up the luggage, which was nicely there when we arrived. Put it on carts and walked towards the exit, where I passed a girl with a Dutch looking name on her badge, with a Hilton logo on it, to later realise that might have been there for us, despite the fact that we were told we'd get a male "collector" there. Addressed her and had my ideas confirmed. She then took us to mister John Saglam, the man with whom I'll be working a lot the coming year. As expected, we were picked up by a huge car. A nice Cadillac Escalade. Honestly, there are no small cars in this country! Up to now I've seen a few VW Golfs driving around, but other than that they don't get any smaller than your average family car. Lots of SUVs around and such.
After a nightly drive, taking around 30 minutes, we arrived at the hotel. I was sore, as I had to sit in between two seats in the back. The damn thing only had 4 seats, and we were with the 5 of us. I volunteered, and never gave in! Might not have been a bad idea to accept Yatha's offer to switch for a bit when my legs went numb, but still.
When we arrived we were greeted by a number of people. Got a very small tour to start with, and had something to eat in a newly opened restaurant/food market concept, which had only been in opration since monday. Had some really nice food there (baguette with cream cheese and red onions - I can recommend that to everyone, so simple but so good! - and later a Cuban Panini with all kinds of lovely ingredients on it as well).
Went to bed in my 2-person bedroom with five!! pillows on the bed, after I did everything I think I had to do. Will post some pictures of the room in my next entry. It's 0:15 now and I'm glad I don't need to write about today already, as that's also going to take ages for me to do, luckily I resized all the pictures already, so that helps.
Anyway, time for me to head to bed while most of you are about to get up, or have been awake for a bit already. Damn timezones at times.
I wanted to find you a song with a video, like everytime, but unfortunately, the band I picked (Falling Up) has never released this song in any way, and the live footage was in crap audio quality, so here's a still of the song "Flights".
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
I Got To Leave
Suitcases packed! Two filled with mainly clothing and some other useful and necessary items. Both are slightly over the max weight, but we'll get that done at the airport if needed. Won't be too much trouble. Also got everything set on the laptop now, including some last minute changes made to the system, as I wanted to install my dear music making program Fruity Loops Studio as well!
Tomorrow around 7:30 or something, I'll be picked up and drag my mum along with me to Dusseldorf as well. Flight LT1900, on wednesday 27-08-08 is scheduled to leave at 13:40, as mentioned before.
Currently, things are overcast and 20 degrees over here, while tomorrow's destination is looking at 28, also with a nicely cloud-covered sky, but still.
As soon as I get there and got things worked out, I'll post a little something, mentioning my safe flight, fine welcoming committee and lovely hotel room. Last minute calls, for those who read this, can be put through to 0618521728, but remember I'll be in Germany for most of the day tomorrow, and I'll have it switched off during the entire flight.
One of the priorities for me there, is to get a new phone with local number and I'll have that shared with most as well.
I'm thinking about writing a song about what it's like to leave like this, as I had troubles finding a song that really matched my ideas at present. It's not perfect, but it definately works.
"We Got To Leave" by Swedish party musicians Caesars.
Tomorrow around 7:30 or something, I'll be picked up and drag my mum along with me to Dusseldorf as well. Flight LT1900, on wednesday 27-08-08 is scheduled to leave at 13:40, as mentioned before.
Currently, things are overcast and 20 degrees over here, while tomorrow's destination is looking at 28, also with a nicely cloud-covered sky, but still.
As soon as I get there and got things worked out, I'll post a little something, mentioning my safe flight, fine welcoming committee and lovely hotel room. Last minute calls, for those who read this, can be put through to 0618521728, but remember I'll be in Germany for most of the day tomorrow, and I'll have it switched off during the entire flight.
One of the priorities for me there, is to get a new phone with local number and I'll have that shared with most as well.
I'm thinking about writing a song about what it's like to leave like this, as I had troubles finding a song that really matched my ideas at present. It's not perfect, but it definately works.
"We Got To Leave" by Swedish party musicians Caesars.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Work
Dinner with the family. The restaurant I know so well. The menu card I can still dream, and the familiar faces of the people I've worked with over the last months.
Today it was time for a goodbye dinner in the city, and I chose to have that celebrated in Rhodos, the Greek restaurant that employed me as their waiter for a while. After walking in yesterday, writing my name down in the agenda, getting myself and my mum a little drink while talking to the men who work in the kitchen (and own the place), it was now time to show up at the proper time.
At 18:00, the time I jotted down, no other guests were in the restaurant yet, and I got to wake up (figuratively speaking!) everyone in the building.
As none of us really drinks any alcohol, we decided to skip the appertizer, the traditional aniseed-flavoured spirit drink from Greece called Ouzo and other drinks were brought instead. Got some baguette with home made herb butter from the house, and we ordered our starters and main course.
Mum had a little mix up with the numbers and got salmon instead of melon, which I only remembered after the dish was brought up, and I started to think about items 4 (melon) and 5 (salmon) on the menu card, clearly recalling she ordered number 5, so it was her own fault.
Some filo with spinach and feta cheese was on the table for Hans, and both my sister and I had meatballs with tomato sauce for warm starters.
To not bother everyone with more technicalities, we had a great main course, which was, frankly, a little much for me to bear, as I shared the two person main dish with Hans and we had some slight leftovers. I could finally relate to the people who sometimes mentioned the portion size of their meals while I was still serving.
Helped with taking out all plates and dishes to the kitchen, had a little chat with the guys again and brought the dessert menu cards to the table to let everyone pick. Just like before, my sister had a hard time picking out anything at all, but everyone managed to make a decision.
Enjoyed my own little mix-up of desserts, the special plate with fresh fruit, vanilla ice cream, baklava, greek yoghurt and truffle ice cream. Said my goodbyes to everyone in the kitchen and restaurant currently present, as I brought everything to the kitchen myself, pulled out the bill and showed the kitchen to my sister.
Just like on the way to the restaurant, I drove the car back, and can now wait for some reactions from my former colleagues as I left them this blog address to keep track of what I'll do next.
Frankly, I'm a lot more calm than I was earlier today. I keep telling myself I'm not bothered by the move and the changes and all that, but my body is tense as can be. Transpiration all over the place, an upset stomach, fatigue in general.
Really hope that's all gone after I've also managed to shake off the jetlag this wednesday.
For some music, I managed to find something that combined both eating and working, and also belonging to one of my favorite bands, instead of other songs that just fitted for whatever reason.
Here's Jimmy Eat World - Work.
Today it was time for a goodbye dinner in the city, and I chose to have that celebrated in Rhodos, the Greek restaurant that employed me as their waiter for a while. After walking in yesterday, writing my name down in the agenda, getting myself and my mum a little drink while talking to the men who work in the kitchen (and own the place), it was now time to show up at the proper time.
At 18:00, the time I jotted down, no other guests were in the restaurant yet, and I got to wake up (figuratively speaking!) everyone in the building.
As none of us really drinks any alcohol, we decided to skip the appertizer, the traditional aniseed-flavoured spirit drink from Greece called Ouzo and other drinks were brought instead. Got some baguette with home made herb butter from the house, and we ordered our starters and main course.
Mum had a little mix up with the numbers and got salmon instead of melon, which I only remembered after the dish was brought up, and I started to think about items 4 (melon) and 5 (salmon) on the menu card, clearly recalling she ordered number 5, so it was her own fault.
Some filo with spinach and feta cheese was on the table for Hans, and both my sister and I had meatballs with tomato sauce for warm starters.
To not bother everyone with more technicalities, we had a great main course, which was, frankly, a little much for me to bear, as I shared the two person main dish with Hans and we had some slight leftovers. I could finally relate to the people who sometimes mentioned the portion size of their meals while I was still serving.
Helped with taking out all plates and dishes to the kitchen, had a little chat with the guys again and brought the dessert menu cards to the table to let everyone pick. Just like before, my sister had a hard time picking out anything at all, but everyone managed to make a decision.
Enjoyed my own little mix-up of desserts, the special plate with fresh fruit, vanilla ice cream, baklava, greek yoghurt and truffle ice cream. Said my goodbyes to everyone in the kitchen and restaurant currently present, as I brought everything to the kitchen myself, pulled out the bill and showed the kitchen to my sister.
Just like on the way to the restaurant, I drove the car back, and can now wait for some reactions from my former colleagues as I left them this blog address to keep track of what I'll do next.
Frankly, I'm a lot more calm than I was earlier today. I keep telling myself I'm not bothered by the move and the changes and all that, but my body is tense as can be. Transpiration all over the place, an upset stomach, fatigue in general.
Really hope that's all gone after I've also managed to shake off the jetlag this wednesday.
For some music, I managed to find something that combined both eating and working, and also belonging to one of my favorite bands, instead of other songs that just fitted for whatever reason.
Here's Jimmy Eat World - Work.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Not A Soul
Thursday and Friday were my last days in Alphen aan den Rijn, the city I was born (well, technically not) and raised in, and spent every single day of my life up until I was 12. For years after I left, I used to be there every two weeks, being driven there by my mum, and my dad taking me back to Steenwijk by train mostly. It started to wear down at times, due to sports or such, and later due to work from either me or my sister.
The Public Transportation Card you receive when being a student made it a lot easier for me to head there on a friday and get back on a monday, straight to uni for example. Used to meet up with friends all the time, going out every single weekend I was there, to Querelle, 99% of the time.
The good old days in which they still had their Photoplay machine over there. Doing quizzes and memory games with the bunch of us. Never taking the blame yourself when it was Game Over.
These two days I spent meeting up with people with whom I've also been at Lowlands, so that was a bit odd, but fun nonetheless. Others had obligations that made it impossible to have a proper goodbye, but it's fine as it is. Can't go around announcing I'll still be there, the day before I arrive, and expect everyone to show.
After we went to get some fresh vegetables from this farmland just outside of town, I spent the afternoon at home, doing Wii Fit games in the living room, breaking records, learning new things, and just have a good time with my stepbrother. That evening my favorite dish there, was being made. Greek food from Jeannette. You'd think I'd get bored of the food in general, after eating it weekly at work, but that's far from true. Besides, this still tastes slightly different (and oh so good as well). Not that we used to eat that all the time, but I'll miss the chance to eat it if I would request it sometime.
Then went to visit the grandparents, and I drove. Got some new driving lessons from my dad on top of it, since I just couldn't get things straight! Hope it's solved a few future issues now then. Had some great photos taken this day overall, at the farm, at home, and at the grandparents' house. If I get those by mail, I'll share!
That night I went to the cinema to watch Get Smart. I enjoyed the movie, I must say. Jokes might not always have been the best to be found, and it also was far from a serious attempt at anything, but it kept me amused throughout.
On Friday I headed into town with my stepbrother, Tom, to try and find him a birthday present. After some complaining and begging decided to go for GTA IV after all, but once I held it in my arms he backed down saying it might be a waste since he's on the Wii way more than his Xbox 360. Ah well! Didn't manage to find something else in the meantime, so went for some food and drinks and headed back home for some more Wii entertainment. Found him a present after all, in the form of Wii points (after I somewhat made him purchase Mario Kart 64, woooh!). That night we ate pancakes as I wanted those. For some reason I always love them there, and never eat them here in Steenwijk. Don't ask.
That night I met up with another Lowlands friend who was, unlike (I think literally all) other moments, wearing high heels! Self-proclaimed hooker at the time, just kidding there of course, dragged me along to find some travel tags to attach to her suitcases for later, and after some more walking, we went for ice cream!
Parted ways at the train station, from where I walked back home (a minute away) to get my last goodbyes at home and take my dad to the train station for the last hug in a long time.
Was, apparently, on the last train that day in general, and from Amersfoort onwards, I had my very own private cabin, as, from the 34 seats there, none were taken except for my own. Reminded me of the last trains home I took from Leeuwarden when I'd meet up with someone there without staying over.
Had to change trains in Zwolle as they were cutting down on equipment (smaller trains are easier still) and got at the station at 23:45, after being called if I made everything and didn't get stuck somewhere along the road, with that last train thing.
Had already decided to walk home when I took a late train, as I didn't want people up and running and picking me up from the station. First minutes weren't much, but then I started thinking a lot, as I walked on. At 23:59, there was this streetlight flickering, going off for a few seconds, to then resume duty. I walked past the local cemetery at that same time, waiting for my watch to hit midnight. Ironically, the song on my mp3 player was The Appearance - Not A Soul. Quite fitting, realising that the only thing to be found on a cemetery like that, are bodies. Not a single soul is left there. I've wanted to sleep at a graveyard around midnight some time, but I figured I'd save that for another time. There's still a certain fascination in that for a reason.
Hit a roundabout and walked past a garden party. Lots of party tents gathered, people in suits, champagne glasses and the like. It seemed rather posh to me. About 30 meters from there, four young people are smoking, judging the orange dots lighting up every now and then. As I walk past the pond they're hanging around, I look up at a clouded moon, and a lot of bright stars and think of lines in a song I wrote a very long time ago. One of the first songs I've ever written with a melody attached to it instantly. It was so cheesy and such, but I kept singing it to myself.
Every night I'll write your name in the stars,
for at least a thousand times.
And as that's running through my head I see the first letter of your name up there. As I notice a few snails along the road, I keep thinking about what all happened. The photos I took today, and how much better I'd look with you around me. As I walk on, I keep looking into the few houses that still have lights on. One of them has a puppet in the middle of the room. One of these that you put in your front yard when you turn 50 (or turn Abraham, as we call it here, not sure if that's an international something). There's an old man sitting close to the window, and he sure looks old enough for that.
The house next to that, has a kung fu movie running. Another old, bald man is watching here.
As I skip a song on my mp3 player I feel my left foot going a little off, and I realise that I just stepped on a snail. There seriously are a lot of them out there tonight. A car comes my way and passes slowly. I walk by the house of a girl I used to adore to pieces, but haven't talked to in ages. I changed songs on my mp3 player once again, and get myself to Taking Back Sunday - What It Feels Like To Be A Ghost and instantly have to think about sleeping on a graveyard again.
As I turn right to enter my own little neighborhood, I hear the intro to The Classic Crime - Abracadavers. The song I've listened to most the last few days. The only song I've been playing with my phone, actually. Except for my self-made ringtone.
I get closer to the place I've first really called you, and I look up to see your initials written in the pitch black sky again. The Classic Crime is almost done playing, and after a 32 minute walk, I put my keys in the front door, twist, and open the door. As I walk upstairs I'm being welcomed by my mum. I try to get my computer connected to the internet, but it just won't work. Cables and such are checked and nothing seems out of place.
I quickly write down some keywords of this walk home, but as I am done writing this blog now, there's nothing I can't remember from last night.
I'm listening to Abracadavers yet again, here at home, and I have now decided to share two youtube videos with you.
The Appearance - Not A Soul
The Classic Crime - Abracadavers
The Public Transportation Card you receive when being a student made it a lot easier for me to head there on a friday and get back on a monday, straight to uni for example. Used to meet up with friends all the time, going out every single weekend I was there, to Querelle, 99% of the time.
The good old days in which they still had their Photoplay machine over there. Doing quizzes and memory games with the bunch of us. Never taking the blame yourself when it was Game Over.
These two days I spent meeting up with people with whom I've also been at Lowlands, so that was a bit odd, but fun nonetheless. Others had obligations that made it impossible to have a proper goodbye, but it's fine as it is. Can't go around announcing I'll still be there, the day before I arrive, and expect everyone to show.
After we went to get some fresh vegetables from this farmland just outside of town, I spent the afternoon at home, doing Wii Fit games in the living room, breaking records, learning new things, and just have a good time with my stepbrother. That evening my favorite dish there, was being made. Greek food from Jeannette. You'd think I'd get bored of the food in general, after eating it weekly at work, but that's far from true. Besides, this still tastes slightly different (and oh so good as well). Not that we used to eat that all the time, but I'll miss the chance to eat it if I would request it sometime.
Then went to visit the grandparents, and I drove. Got some new driving lessons from my dad on top of it, since I just couldn't get things straight! Hope it's solved a few future issues now then. Had some great photos taken this day overall, at the farm, at home, and at the grandparents' house. If I get those by mail, I'll share!
That night I went to the cinema to watch Get Smart. I enjoyed the movie, I must say. Jokes might not always have been the best to be found, and it also was far from a serious attempt at anything, but it kept me amused throughout.
On Friday I headed into town with my stepbrother, Tom, to try and find him a birthday present. After some complaining and begging decided to go for GTA IV after all, but once I held it in my arms he backed down saying it might be a waste since he's on the Wii way more than his Xbox 360. Ah well! Didn't manage to find something else in the meantime, so went for some food and drinks and headed back home for some more Wii entertainment. Found him a present after all, in the form of Wii points (after I somewhat made him purchase Mario Kart 64, woooh!). That night we ate pancakes as I wanted those. For some reason I always love them there, and never eat them here in Steenwijk. Don't ask.
That night I met up with another Lowlands friend who was, unlike (I think literally all) other moments, wearing high heels! Self-proclaimed hooker at the time, just kidding there of course, dragged me along to find some travel tags to attach to her suitcases for later, and after some more walking, we went for ice cream!
Parted ways at the train station, from where I walked back home (a minute away) to get my last goodbyes at home and take my dad to the train station for the last hug in a long time.
Was, apparently, on the last train that day in general, and from Amersfoort onwards, I had my very own private cabin, as, from the 34 seats there, none were taken except for my own. Reminded me of the last trains home I took from Leeuwarden when I'd meet up with someone there without staying over.
Had to change trains in Zwolle as they were cutting down on equipment (smaller trains are easier still) and got at the station at 23:45, after being called if I made everything and didn't get stuck somewhere along the road, with that last train thing.
Had already decided to walk home when I took a late train, as I didn't want people up and running and picking me up from the station. First minutes weren't much, but then I started thinking a lot, as I walked on. At 23:59, there was this streetlight flickering, going off for a few seconds, to then resume duty. I walked past the local cemetery at that same time, waiting for my watch to hit midnight. Ironically, the song on my mp3 player was The Appearance - Not A Soul. Quite fitting, realising that the only thing to be found on a cemetery like that, are bodies. Not a single soul is left there. I've wanted to sleep at a graveyard around midnight some time, but I figured I'd save that for another time. There's still a certain fascination in that for a reason.
Hit a roundabout and walked past a garden party. Lots of party tents gathered, people in suits, champagne glasses and the like. It seemed rather posh to me. About 30 meters from there, four young people are smoking, judging the orange dots lighting up every now and then. As I walk past the pond they're hanging around, I look up at a clouded moon, and a lot of bright stars and think of lines in a song I wrote a very long time ago. One of the first songs I've ever written with a melody attached to it instantly. It was so cheesy and such, but I kept singing it to myself.
Every night I'll write your name in the stars,
for at least a thousand times.
And as that's running through my head I see the first letter of your name up there. As I notice a few snails along the road, I keep thinking about what all happened. The photos I took today, and how much better I'd look with you around me. As I walk on, I keep looking into the few houses that still have lights on. One of them has a puppet in the middle of the room. One of these that you put in your front yard when you turn 50 (or turn Abraham, as we call it here, not sure if that's an international something). There's an old man sitting close to the window, and he sure looks old enough for that.
The house next to that, has a kung fu movie running. Another old, bald man is watching here.
As I skip a song on my mp3 player I feel my left foot going a little off, and I realise that I just stepped on a snail. There seriously are a lot of them out there tonight. A car comes my way and passes slowly. I walk by the house of a girl I used to adore to pieces, but haven't talked to in ages. I changed songs on my mp3 player once again, and get myself to Taking Back Sunday - What It Feels Like To Be A Ghost and instantly have to think about sleeping on a graveyard again.
As I turn right to enter my own little neighborhood, I hear the intro to The Classic Crime - Abracadavers. The song I've listened to most the last few days. The only song I've been playing with my phone, actually. Except for my self-made ringtone.
I get closer to the place I've first really called you, and I look up to see your initials written in the pitch black sky again. The Classic Crime is almost done playing, and after a 32 minute walk, I put my keys in the front door, twist, and open the door. As I walk upstairs I'm being welcomed by my mum. I try to get my computer connected to the internet, but it just won't work. Cables and such are checked and nothing seems out of place.
I quickly write down some keywords of this walk home, but as I am done writing this blog now, there's nothing I can't remember from last night.
I'm listening to Abracadavers yet again, here at home, and I have now decided to share two youtube videos with you.
The Appearance - Not A Soul
The Classic Crime - Abracadavers
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Shoppinglists
Yesterday, I went to Arnhem to pick up my sister by car, as she'd been staying over with family there for a few days (she left somewhere during my stay at Lowlands). Drove me and my mum over there (another route in the country I hadn't taken before) to pick her up and spend some time in the city centre over there.
Parked the car over at the Gelredome Stadium (used for soccer matches from Vitesse, and a load of concerts that do not fit regular venues) and then took the bus to the centre, just one stop away.
As some people know, my general idea concerning the people in Arnhem, is that they belong to the prettiest of the country. Something went wrong during the distribution of those lovely faces, but you won't hear people in Arnhem complain, I bet. Always great to see and be seen over there, walking from shop to shop and street to street.
Walking from shop to shop, and street to street, I found myself gaining more and more items in the bag (and later two bags) I was carrying.
Managed to go easy on the spending, yet still get a pretty nice collection.
Here's my shoppinglist, followed by a song from a Belgian band called Mint, "Your Shopping Lists Are Poetry".
- Two books from David Baldacci I haven't read yet
- Season Two DVD Box from Futurama
- New high-top shoes
- A black pullover
- Beige shirt with dark red print
- Orange/Dark Grey striped shirt
- Orange scarf
- Black and white leather wristbands
- Sunglasses
aaaaand... Chocolates
Parked the car over at the Gelredome Stadium (used for soccer matches from Vitesse, and a load of concerts that do not fit regular venues) and then took the bus to the centre, just one stop away.
As some people know, my general idea concerning the people in Arnhem, is that they belong to the prettiest of the country. Something went wrong during the distribution of those lovely faces, but you won't hear people in Arnhem complain, I bet. Always great to see and be seen over there, walking from shop to shop and street to street.
Walking from shop to shop, and street to street, I found myself gaining more and more items in the bag (and later two bags) I was carrying.
Managed to go easy on the spending, yet still get a pretty nice collection.
Here's my shoppinglist, followed by a song from a Belgian band called Mint, "Your Shopping Lists Are Poetry".
- Two books from David Baldacci I haven't read yet
- Season Two DVD Box from Futurama
- New high-top shoes
- A black pullover
- Beige shirt with dark red print
- Orange/Dark Grey striped shirt
- Orange scarf
- Black and white leather wristbands
- Sunglasses
aaaaand... Chocolates
Monday, August 18, 2008
Tell Me Why I Don't Like Mondays
Song from way before I was born, but thanks to parental influence, still managed to get to know this song pretty well. The issue seems to be around for quite a while already then, and today is no different. Monday is the end of the weekend. Or the start of a new week. Or however you want to read your weekly calender exactly. Anyway, today it marked the end of the Lowlands festival.
It started out in a rather traditional fashion. Before I get to enter the festival grounds, things go terribly wrong and delay my presence on Camping 1. Last year it was a group of people being way late thanks to public transportation from their side of the country (damn you!). This year, it was a group of people late thanks to a more private form of transportation. Using your own car. My ticket was in one of the designated cars. The only car, out of 3 or 4, that got involved in a little accident, disabling the car to get any further than its current stance. Which was not at all at the edge of the parking grounds I can tell.
As they waited for professional help and a replacement vehicle (I think they got a taxi) to get to the entrance, I waited at the entrance. With my bag, mattress and sleeping bag, as I gave my tent to friends wíth a ticket instead, so they could set it up for me, claim a little spot for it to spend the days and nights. Last year it might as well have been a few hours, and this year. Again!
Arrived at 12:30 or so, was reasonably proper timing. They, the accidental main roles, came around four hours later. At which we finally started to get in line.
The waiting line kept us outside of the grounds for another 45 minutes or so. We went through faster than most, with proper routing tactics. Headed over to Camping 1, which is furthest from the entrance, but it's the place we've been at for the last 3 years now.
On thursday itself, it's just a matter of socialising, eating, drinking, getting your gear ready, make joint schedules to decide who you'll want around you on which particular date and time, and more of that. Went to meet up with some people and went to bed around 2:30, I think.
Friday started off with a very, very proper imitation of a freaking rooster! Now I love the wake-up sound itself, for it's cliché background, but seriously, it's not funny when it goes off at 8:15, when the owner of that imitation is pretty awake as he went to bed earlier. Easy morning, with some dairy to start the day with, a bit of relaxation in our yard (I think there were around 8 or 9 tents, having their entrances all pointing towards our central yard, imagine) and some newspaper reading and some more last minute planning.
Doors to the festival area opened at 12:00 and we went in around that time, waiting for Henry Rollins to give a spoken word performance. Nice bit of warming up, decent jokes and stories and just nice to have on my last. Next up is Killswitch Engage. Talking about waking up. Metal all the way, starting at 14:15 already. Best thing about their stage presence must be Adam D. The lead guitarist, providing screams along the way, is dressed in shorts, wears a simple shirt and a headband, and keeps walking across the stage from left to right in the weirdest marching movements I've witnessed up until now. Loved their performance. After KsE, it was time for The National to get on that same stage in the Grolsch tent (to all foreign people reading this, try pronouncing it a few times, no hints from my side). Really impressed by their performance, and has definately got me interested in their music again. Decided to put up a video from them at the end of the story.
After The National I went to the India to go and see Thrice. Alone. With at least 7 stages it's not all that weird that people have other ideas too. Last time I saw Thrice, they had a pretty bad way of doing their soundcheck, cutting their airtime back from over an hour to just 30 minutes. What I heard then, struck me as being much more raw than their album tracks, but I loved every bit of that. I guess they just picked the best songs to be play in that remaining half hour.
This time, everything sounded raw and hard again, even the new songs from The Alchemy Index concept album which, in essence, should be way more accessible in a way. Also heard The Artist In The Ambulance and some work from their previous album Vheissu, so I was content after all, but there's no need for me to see them yet another time, really.
Took some time off to later join in on the fun at Bravo, where Pendulum was playing their first Dutch live show, instead of the DJ sets they normally have. A lot of energy despite the last album being rather poppy instead of the energetic drum'n'bass they used to make. Still came out rather soaked from the heat and action in the tent, and I loved that. Really great performance to me, though some journalist wasn't quite impressed. Then again, if thousands go crazy over the tunes, who is he to grade their performance as insufficient?
Next up, in the Charlie tent, Late Of The Pier. I hadn't heard about them yet, but trusting the judgment of others, I went to see them. Honestly, this band was awesome. Got soaked beyond Pendulum-levels and got myself a cut in the arm that I didn't even notice until the show was over. That intense, fun, busy and interesting that I was really into it.
Went to see DJ Scotch Egg for a bit. A tiny bit. This man makes breakcore, or so it's called, and that basically comes down to no fixed rhythm longer than 5 seconds, and a speed that's too fast for dancing to start with. Didn't last that long and went back to the camping to change clothes. Get something a little warmer to get through the night, as temperatures dropped quite a bit later those days. Went through some places with resident DJs and walked, talked and danced until it was time to go to the camping and get some rest.
I knew Saturday would be a day with little organised entertainment for me. Not much I really wanted to see, so I've been all over the place that day. Saw and heard things I never noticed before, and that won't stick with me for very long after the weekend either. Then, later that day went to the mainstage, the Alpha, for some N*E*R*D, and I can't help but to agree with all the journalists. This show was on a whole different level from the rest. Was out in the grass on the side of the tent, watching the screens instead. At times, looking into the tent itself, I noticed how huge these guys were. Moments in which the entire tent, from front to back, and from left to right, would jump up and down at the same time, sing along to lines they knew, or do whatever they were asked to do. Must have been amazing to see that from the stage itself, as an artist.
Furthermore, saw some comedy that night, Raoul Heertje had a rather serious but interesting performance. It resulted in someone complaining about the tone of the show, and the lack of positive news. I could have personally bashed the person for having such a mindset, but Raoul knows how to take care of the smart people too.
Did some more walking, talking and dancing through the day, and that was it. Missed Night Of Comedy as people were heading back to the tent to change into warm clothes and get something to eat or drink. Should've been in line alone after all, to at least see it, but well.
Oh, earlier that day, at 11:00, I also did Tai Chi in the Lima to wake up and get ready for a day of festival survival, but really, after 10 minutes that was enough for me and the people I went with. Too intensive if you've underslept.
Sundaaaaaay! Went to the festival area pretty early to hit the toilets there (as the ones on the camping are filled with lazy people who don't want to walk that far yet), dropped off my phone at the docking station and went to the internet cafe for a bit. They have these bit beanbags there to lay yourself to rest and watch some TV as well.
After a small while, they were starting to organise a backstage tour. Most people had signed up, but as there was still some room, we were asked to join in too, and we accepted.
Got ourselves a nice little Nederland 3 (tv station) shirt. Black with lime text and logo. Oh, also played Rock Band on stage there before and a shirt from that too! Anyway, backstage tour. First went to the Beugelbar, a small comedy place with limited access. Went through the back door and looked at things from the stage instead. Saw more behind the screen material. The artist cafe, where all performers could eat, drink and relax, the 3FM studio on site, a small peak backstage in the India when Lucky Fonz III was playing (didn't like that at all, but was fun to see the tent from the side of the stage instead). After that we headed back to the tent to drop the shirts and pick up some people to go to We Are Scientists with us. Took us two songs to jump all the way from the side to the middle of the tent, at the second row. Managed to stay there the entire show and loved everything about it. Couldn't sing along to that much, but did raise my voice with their Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt and Chick Lit.
After that I went for a festival run, seeing some Plain White T's, Textures and Danko Jones, all within an hour and a half. Went back to the camping for something to drink and just take some time off. Then went to MGMT because others recommended that to me, but I seriously didn't last longer than 3 songs. First a bad soundcheck, delaying the start, and then music I really didn't like. A drummer that annoyed me with his simplistic playing and weird movement while being at that. Went to Grolsch instead to see Elbow. Such a huge sound, really beautifully arranged songs that kept my attention from the downpour nicely. As it was rather wet outside, I manage to stick around the Grolsch to see Sigur Rós. Anyone who has never heard about them should look up anything on youtube or anywhere else. Just maybe, someone knows this song? I didn't manage to stay until the end, as I really, really wanted to see Stephen Lynch. Managed to drag someone along and found a place in the waiting line. Had so much fun messing around with other waiting people, also playing a game with a beach volley ball with the entire mass. The show itself, what can I say? Great songs, great sense of humor, a little harsh at times, but nothing I mind hearing, and some great new material from his side. If you ever get the chance to catch this man live, go do so. Especially if you can't sing along to his songs yet. Guaranteed laugh!
After that show went straight back in line for Comedytrain, and had some more stand-up comedy that night. Went back to the tent, enjoyed the time there, despite the appearance of a bunch of people, in our little yard, being really out of place.
Went to bed at 4, ultimately, to wake up at 8 to start packing. All the equipment was wet as can be, and it was still softly raining, but noone had any problems packing and moving out.
Managed to get on a bus pretty easily, and then took a train home.
A bit of resting and catching up with mails, messages and TV series today, and now done with the report of last weekend.
As promised, here's some The National for you.
It started out in a rather traditional fashion. Before I get to enter the festival grounds, things go terribly wrong and delay my presence on Camping 1. Last year it was a group of people being way late thanks to public transportation from their side of the country (damn you!). This year, it was a group of people late thanks to a more private form of transportation. Using your own car. My ticket was in one of the designated cars. The only car, out of 3 or 4, that got involved in a little accident, disabling the car to get any further than its current stance. Which was not at all at the edge of the parking grounds I can tell.
As they waited for professional help and a replacement vehicle (I think they got a taxi) to get to the entrance, I waited at the entrance. With my bag, mattress and sleeping bag, as I gave my tent to friends wíth a ticket instead, so they could set it up for me, claim a little spot for it to spend the days and nights. Last year it might as well have been a few hours, and this year. Again!
Arrived at 12:30 or so, was reasonably proper timing. They, the accidental main roles, came around four hours later. At which we finally started to get in line.
The waiting line kept us outside of the grounds for another 45 minutes or so. We went through faster than most, with proper routing tactics. Headed over to Camping 1, which is furthest from the entrance, but it's the place we've been at for the last 3 years now.
On thursday itself, it's just a matter of socialising, eating, drinking, getting your gear ready, make joint schedules to decide who you'll want around you on which particular date and time, and more of that. Went to meet up with some people and went to bed around 2:30, I think.
Friday started off with a very, very proper imitation of a freaking rooster! Now I love the wake-up sound itself, for it's cliché background, but seriously, it's not funny when it goes off at 8:15, when the owner of that imitation is pretty awake as he went to bed earlier. Easy morning, with some dairy to start the day with, a bit of relaxation in our yard (I think there were around 8 or 9 tents, having their entrances all pointing towards our central yard, imagine) and some newspaper reading and some more last minute planning.
Doors to the festival area opened at 12:00 and we went in around that time, waiting for Henry Rollins to give a spoken word performance. Nice bit of warming up, decent jokes and stories and just nice to have on my last. Next up is Killswitch Engage. Talking about waking up. Metal all the way, starting at 14:15 already. Best thing about their stage presence must be Adam D. The lead guitarist, providing screams along the way, is dressed in shorts, wears a simple shirt and a headband, and keeps walking across the stage from left to right in the weirdest marching movements I've witnessed up until now. Loved their performance. After KsE, it was time for The National to get on that same stage in the Grolsch tent (to all foreign people reading this, try pronouncing it a few times, no hints from my side). Really impressed by their performance, and has definately got me interested in their music again. Decided to put up a video from them at the end of the story.
After The National I went to the India to go and see Thrice. Alone. With at least 7 stages it's not all that weird that people have other ideas too. Last time I saw Thrice, they had a pretty bad way of doing their soundcheck, cutting their airtime back from over an hour to just 30 minutes. What I heard then, struck me as being much more raw than their album tracks, but I loved every bit of that. I guess they just picked the best songs to be play in that remaining half hour.
This time, everything sounded raw and hard again, even the new songs from The Alchemy Index concept album which, in essence, should be way more accessible in a way. Also heard The Artist In The Ambulance and some work from their previous album Vheissu, so I was content after all, but there's no need for me to see them yet another time, really.
Took some time off to later join in on the fun at Bravo, where Pendulum was playing their first Dutch live show, instead of the DJ sets they normally have. A lot of energy despite the last album being rather poppy instead of the energetic drum'n'bass they used to make. Still came out rather soaked from the heat and action in the tent, and I loved that. Really great performance to me, though some journalist wasn't quite impressed. Then again, if thousands go crazy over the tunes, who is he to grade their performance as insufficient?
Next up, in the Charlie tent, Late Of The Pier. I hadn't heard about them yet, but trusting the judgment of others, I went to see them. Honestly, this band was awesome. Got soaked beyond Pendulum-levels and got myself a cut in the arm that I didn't even notice until the show was over. That intense, fun, busy and interesting that I was really into it.
Went to see DJ Scotch Egg for a bit. A tiny bit. This man makes breakcore, or so it's called, and that basically comes down to no fixed rhythm longer than 5 seconds, and a speed that's too fast for dancing to start with. Didn't last that long and went back to the camping to change clothes. Get something a little warmer to get through the night, as temperatures dropped quite a bit later those days. Went through some places with resident DJs and walked, talked and danced until it was time to go to the camping and get some rest.
I knew Saturday would be a day with little organised entertainment for me. Not much I really wanted to see, so I've been all over the place that day. Saw and heard things I never noticed before, and that won't stick with me for very long after the weekend either. Then, later that day went to the mainstage, the Alpha, for some N*E*R*D, and I can't help but to agree with all the journalists. This show was on a whole different level from the rest. Was out in the grass on the side of the tent, watching the screens instead. At times, looking into the tent itself, I noticed how huge these guys were. Moments in which the entire tent, from front to back, and from left to right, would jump up and down at the same time, sing along to lines they knew, or do whatever they were asked to do. Must have been amazing to see that from the stage itself, as an artist.
Furthermore, saw some comedy that night, Raoul Heertje had a rather serious but interesting performance. It resulted in someone complaining about the tone of the show, and the lack of positive news. I could have personally bashed the person for having such a mindset, but Raoul knows how to take care of the smart people too.
Did some more walking, talking and dancing through the day, and that was it. Missed Night Of Comedy as people were heading back to the tent to change into warm clothes and get something to eat or drink. Should've been in line alone after all, to at least see it, but well.
Oh, earlier that day, at 11:00, I also did Tai Chi in the Lima to wake up and get ready for a day of festival survival, but really, after 10 minutes that was enough for me and the people I went with. Too intensive if you've underslept.
Sundaaaaaay! Went to the festival area pretty early to hit the toilets there (as the ones on the camping are filled with lazy people who don't want to walk that far yet), dropped off my phone at the docking station and went to the internet cafe for a bit. They have these bit beanbags there to lay yourself to rest and watch some TV as well.
After a small while, they were starting to organise a backstage tour. Most people had signed up, but as there was still some room, we were asked to join in too, and we accepted.
Got ourselves a nice little Nederland 3 (tv station) shirt. Black with lime text and logo. Oh, also played Rock Band on stage there before and a shirt from that too! Anyway, backstage tour. First went to the Beugelbar, a small comedy place with limited access. Went through the back door and looked at things from the stage instead. Saw more behind the screen material. The artist cafe, where all performers could eat, drink and relax, the 3FM studio on site, a small peak backstage in the India when Lucky Fonz III was playing (didn't like that at all, but was fun to see the tent from the side of the stage instead). After that we headed back to the tent to drop the shirts and pick up some people to go to We Are Scientists with us. Took us two songs to jump all the way from the side to the middle of the tent, at the second row. Managed to stay there the entire show and loved everything about it. Couldn't sing along to that much, but did raise my voice with their Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt and Chick Lit.
After that I went for a festival run, seeing some Plain White T's, Textures and Danko Jones, all within an hour and a half. Went back to the camping for something to drink and just take some time off. Then went to MGMT because others recommended that to me, but I seriously didn't last longer than 3 songs. First a bad soundcheck, delaying the start, and then music I really didn't like. A drummer that annoyed me with his simplistic playing and weird movement while being at that. Went to Grolsch instead to see Elbow. Such a huge sound, really beautifully arranged songs that kept my attention from the downpour nicely. As it was rather wet outside, I manage to stick around the Grolsch to see Sigur Rós. Anyone who has never heard about them should look up anything on youtube or anywhere else. Just maybe, someone knows this song? I didn't manage to stay until the end, as I really, really wanted to see Stephen Lynch. Managed to drag someone along and found a place in the waiting line. Had so much fun messing around with other waiting people, also playing a game with a beach volley ball with the entire mass. The show itself, what can I say? Great songs, great sense of humor, a little harsh at times, but nothing I mind hearing, and some great new material from his side. If you ever get the chance to catch this man live, go do so. Especially if you can't sing along to his songs yet. Guaranteed laugh!
After that show went straight back in line for Comedytrain, and had some more stand-up comedy that night. Went back to the tent, enjoyed the time there, despite the appearance of a bunch of people, in our little yard, being really out of place.
Went to bed at 4, ultimately, to wake up at 8 to start packing. All the equipment was wet as can be, and it was still softly raining, but noone had any problems packing and moving out.
Managed to get on a bus pretty easily, and then took a train home.
A bit of resting and catching up with mails, messages and TV series today, and now done with the report of last weekend.
As promised, here's some The National for you.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Tickets booked!
Tickets to Miami are booked! On Wednesday, August 27, Bart and I will depart from Düsseldorf take a non-stop flight to Miami, leaving at 13:40. We'll arrive in Miami at midnight, or what's actually 18:00 there. Might be a slight jetlag, but nothing we can't handle.
Booked ourselves a trip with airberlin.com, and everything is set and confirmed as it is!
It's getting closer and closer now, and I'm excited as can be. Not before I've spent my time at Lowlands this weekend.
As there is flying and music involved in this post, here's "Airway - Get On The Dancefloor". And yes, there are screams in this one again as well.
Booked ourselves a trip with airberlin.com, and everything is set and confirmed as it is!
It's getting closer and closer now, and I'm excited as can be. Not before I've spent my time at Lowlands this weekend.
As there is flying and music involved in this post, here's "Airway - Get On The Dancefloor". And yes, there are screams in this one again as well.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Nothing Good Has Happened Yet
Alright, I'm lying! Good things have happened over the last week, and I'm not complaining. It's just that I could link this to a single from a new band I found the other day, UK rockers We Are The Ocean (video below).
Good things started last tuesday with the passing of my drivers exam, thursday it continued, as my visa was granted. Saturday it continued with our street BBQ, people from my street all gathering in front of my house, at the little roundabout that marks the dead end of our dead end street, all talking, drinking, eating and having some social time, whereas I only really see the people a few times a month, while going to university/work or whatever, and I never really get beyond "hello!" or anything similar. Then, also, I got word of the possible transfer of a Lowlands ticket, and I was ready to head to Belgium for a stay in a luxury hotel.
That stay started off with the little story described below. What I haven't mentioned yet, is that I managed to say the sentence "Damn, what a hotel!" for about 5+ times within the first two hours of my stay there. Later, when I'm on my laptop, sorting all the photos, I'll give a slight impression.
The breakfast (as I remember ending there last time) was really nice. Everything was fresh and aplenty, with croissants, pain du chocolat, bacon and eggs, all kinds of spreads and a proper selection of fruits and yoghurts. Usually I'm a fan of melon, but this one could've been better. Needless to say, it was still welcome! The pineapple and oranges really stood out as an early morning dessert, and the view from the breakfast room wasn't that bad either (no pictures of that, unfortunately, as I haven't been rude enough to take my camera in there).
On monday we went to the city of Brussels. Visited the Atomium (feel free to Google Image for those, it will probably look the same as my not-yet-stored-and-uploaded-pictures) but didn't go inside. We went to see the Chinese Pavilion and Japanese Tower, but to our surprise, those attractions were closed. As far as I can tell, August is still tourist season in Europe, but that wasn't the worst about this just yet. A small open chapel was being closed down with some easy wires as apparently, the doors weren't holding that well!
Then went to see Manneken Pis in the city centre. Might be hilarious if the mindset is still close to someone who has just hit puberty, but it really is nothing much to me anymore. There's quite a bit of crowd to be found around the tiny (in more ways than one) statue over there, and that showed me that, as expected, it indeed is tourist season. Made a photo of the statue with its crowd too, as well as one with just the statue for those who never saw it before (then again, I advise you to do some online searching).
Walked around the city for a bit longer, saw nothing interesting there, and bought close to nothing. Got myself "A rough guide to Miami and South Florida" for a few Euros to browse and occasionally study information about my future environment.
Tuesday got home after a long drive, which I didn't do as I was quite tired. Managed to complete David Baldacci's "Last Man Standing", listened to some music on the way back, and then we stopped in Breda for some shopping and some lunch. Didn't buy anything there again, but had a better feeling walking there than in Brussels. No offense.
Got home around 3 or something. Went to pick up my passport at the postal office since they came to deliver it when we weren't here, and I needed to identify myself and sign for it. So I did, and I became the proud owner of a passport with a great J-1 Visa Sticker in it.
Around 4, a sweater arrived, which I ordered online. Suits me well, and looks good, and it will be used later during the day (or night) at Lowlands and might be useful for the relatively colder nights in "winter" Florida later.
Went to watch the season finale of I Survived A Japanese Gameshow and got reminded to really sign up for any active gameshow at some point (as I've already been on a lingual gameshow called Lingo, with my mum, last summer).
Now, after some more internet related waste of time, I'm writing this, and am going to share yet another youtube video with you. Don't turn it off when the screaming starts. Or, do it if you please. The song is nothing special in terms of lyrics either, but I still love listening to their demos.
Good things started last tuesday with the passing of my drivers exam, thursday it continued, as my visa was granted. Saturday it continued with our street BBQ, people from my street all gathering in front of my house, at the little roundabout that marks the dead end of our dead end street, all talking, drinking, eating and having some social time, whereas I only really see the people a few times a month, while going to university/work or whatever, and I never really get beyond "hello!" or anything similar. Then, also, I got word of the possible transfer of a Lowlands ticket, and I was ready to head to Belgium for a stay in a luxury hotel.
That stay started off with the little story described below. What I haven't mentioned yet, is that I managed to say the sentence "Damn, what a hotel!" for about 5+ times within the first two hours of my stay there. Later, when I'm on my laptop, sorting all the photos, I'll give a slight impression.
The breakfast (as I remember ending there last time) was really nice. Everything was fresh and aplenty, with croissants, pain du chocolat, bacon and eggs, all kinds of spreads and a proper selection of fruits and yoghurts. Usually I'm a fan of melon, but this one could've been better. Needless to say, it was still welcome! The pineapple and oranges really stood out as an early morning dessert, and the view from the breakfast room wasn't that bad either (no pictures of that, unfortunately, as I haven't been rude enough to take my camera in there).
On monday we went to the city of Brussels. Visited the Atomium (feel free to Google Image for those, it will probably look the same as my not-yet-stored-and-uploaded-pictures) but didn't go inside. We went to see the Chinese Pavilion and Japanese Tower, but to our surprise, those attractions were closed. As far as I can tell, August is still tourist season in Europe, but that wasn't the worst about this just yet. A small open chapel was being closed down with some easy wires as apparently, the doors weren't holding that well!
Then went to see Manneken Pis in the city centre. Might be hilarious if the mindset is still close to someone who has just hit puberty, but it really is nothing much to me anymore. There's quite a bit of crowd to be found around the tiny (in more ways than one) statue over there, and that showed me that, as expected, it indeed is tourist season. Made a photo of the statue with its crowd too, as well as one with just the statue for those who never saw it before (then again, I advise you to do some online searching).
Walked around the city for a bit longer, saw nothing interesting there, and bought close to nothing. Got myself "A rough guide to Miami and South Florida" for a few Euros to browse and occasionally study information about my future environment.
Tuesday got home after a long drive, which I didn't do as I was quite tired. Managed to complete David Baldacci's "Last Man Standing", listened to some music on the way back, and then we stopped in Breda for some shopping and some lunch. Didn't buy anything there again, but had a better feeling walking there than in Brussels. No offense.
Got home around 3 or something. Went to pick up my passport at the postal office since they came to deliver it when we weren't here, and I needed to identify myself and sign for it. So I did, and I became the proud owner of a passport with a great J-1 Visa Sticker in it.
Around 4, a sweater arrived, which I ordered online. Suits me well, and looks good, and it will be used later during the day (or night) at Lowlands and might be useful for the relatively colder nights in "winter" Florida later.
Went to watch the season finale of I Survived A Japanese Gameshow and got reminded to really sign up for any active gameshow at some point (as I've already been on a lingual gameshow called Lingo, with my mum, last summer).
Now, after some more internet related waste of time, I'm writing this, and am going to share yet another youtube video with you. Don't turn it off when the screaming starts. Or, do it if you please. The song is nothing special in terms of lyrics either, but I still love listening to their demos.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Lifestyles
So, I'm in Brussels right now, in my hotelroom with pretty decent wireless internet! We found ourselves a hotel through internet promotions from hotelspecials.nl.
It stated being the only 5* property in the French-speaking part of Belgium, but I never imagined much until I came driving down the other side of the lake, looking at the hotel (pictures will be taken today I suppose).
After a 3,5 hour drive -which I did completely, yay for more practice- I got to park the car at the hotel. Our Fiat was a bit out of touch, looking at the Hummer I parked it next to on the first try. Not to mention the Audi TT Abt on the other side. Oh, and did I mention the Bentley next to the entrance already? Right, that kind.
Soon off for breakfast and I'm a bit scared, almost. This is so not me, though I hope I'll get used to it someday. Wouldn't be a bad thing to have bedrooms this size, standard, with all the hotel's amenities available like that.
Will head into Brussels' city centre later today, after visiting some sights we'll probably head out for dinner again.
Yesterday we went to eat at Coyote's, a pizzeria/grill/winery idea. Three over-the-top guy gays being waiters (according to my mum, she had never seen a guy wobble his ass that bad) who weren't always as attentive and sharp as one could expect, but the food was very nice, and plenty, and the desserts. Oh my. We're seriously thinking about just going back there for ice cream alone, to finish the day.
It stated being the only 5* property in the French-speaking part of Belgium, but I never imagined much until I came driving down the other side of the lake, looking at the hotel (pictures will be taken today I suppose).
After a 3,5 hour drive -which I did completely, yay for more practice- I got to park the car at the hotel. Our Fiat was a bit out of touch, looking at the Hummer I parked it next to on the first try. Not to mention the Audi TT Abt on the other side. Oh, and did I mention the Bentley next to the entrance already? Right, that kind.
Soon off for breakfast and I'm a bit scared, almost. This is so not me, though I hope I'll get used to it someday. Wouldn't be a bad thing to have bedrooms this size, standard, with all the hotel's amenities available like that.
Will head into Brussels' city centre later today, after visiting some sights we'll probably head out for dinner again.
Yesterday we went to eat at Coyote's, a pizzeria/grill/winery idea. Three over-the-top guy gays being waiters (according to my mum, she had never seen a guy wobble his ass that bad) who weren't always as attentive and sharp as one could expect, but the food was very nice, and plenty, and the desserts. Oh my. We're seriously thinking about just going back there for ice cream alone, to finish the day.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Low Level Flight
So it seems I'll be going to the Lowlands festival after all! It's been a pretty uncertain event ever since I went last year and plans were made to give it yet another shot. Last minute miracles of people in your extended network, not being able to go, led to the opportunity for me to get my hands on a ticket still.
Now, all preparations need to be made, schedules checked, things packed and myself in a festival state, to have a great weekend over there.
The weekend will include a lot of social activity (not just the people from last year, but some new people to be met as well), all the wrong breakfast, lunch and dinner items, as it's going to be fastfood and ice cream all over the place, and a lot of entertainment. Mostly musical entertainment, but I'll try to squeeze in some comedy too.
What's it going to be like for me? A friday with;
Killswitch Engage
Thrice
Pendulum
Infadels
Sven Väth
Saturday at least;
Korpiklaani
Nightwish
And a lot of comedy
Which, in terms, all leave me with a lot of social interaction time, yay.
Sunday I need to see;
We Are Scientists
Editors
and, thanks to that last band, just a little of Sigur Ros and Stephen Lynch.
Should be plenty of fun over there!
As I was going to link the titles to songs and such, I've decided to go for a song by Low Level Flight, as the Lowlands slogan has been "A Campingflight To Lowlands Festival" for quite a long while.
Here's "Say".
Now, all preparations need to be made, schedules checked, things packed and myself in a festival state, to have a great weekend over there.
The weekend will include a lot of social activity (not just the people from last year, but some new people to be met as well), all the wrong breakfast, lunch and dinner items, as it's going to be fastfood and ice cream all over the place, and a lot of entertainment. Mostly musical entertainment, but I'll try to squeeze in some comedy too.
What's it going to be like for me? A friday with;
Killswitch Engage
Thrice
Pendulum
Infadels
Sven Väth
Saturday at least;
Korpiklaani
Nightwish
And a lot of comedy
Which, in terms, all leave me with a lot of social interaction time, yay.
Sunday I need to see;
We Are Scientists
Editors
and, thanks to that last band, just a little of Sigur Ros and Stephen Lynch.
Should be plenty of fun over there!
As I was going to link the titles to songs and such, I've decided to go for a song by Low Level Flight, as the Lowlands slogan has been "A Campingflight To Lowlands Festival" for quite a long while.
Here's "Say".
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Time to Start
So, it's Thursday, August 7, and I've just gotten home from my trip to the US Consulate in Amsterdam. After getting my driver's license last Tuesday (and picking it up on Wednesday after requesting the quick -though costly- one-day service) I drove the entire family from home to the parking garage at Museumplein in our capital city. Guess that's some pretty decent practice to start with.
Had my appointment at 14:15, and arrived at their doorstep around 14:05 (yes, I'd like to think I'm punctual most of the time). After being searched for dangerous items, of which none were found as I was only carrying paper, and my wallet full of more paper, and plastic, I had to wait in a small line outside. Luckily, they put a neat little plastic roof over the courtyard there so that I was safe from the currently falling rain. Got in to the building, went through a metal detector and said to the guy that it didn't went off for me. Funny as he was, he told me it went off for sure, just not with an audio signal for me to notice, smiling with every word. Got my waiting line number and went into this small room.
It has CNN on a TV in the corner, about 24 seats in there (26 if you count the places in what used to be the fireplace, I think) and four booths that could be used to draw people to, and help them out there. The current waiting line number as I walk in, is 11, as I remember getting number 30 myself. Not bad. And I know bureaucracy, it might take a while.
The audio signal man has walked into the room with a stapler and asks if anyone needs their special size passphoto (5x5 cm) stapled to their paper. It's obligatory to have it attached either by his method, or by glue, so I accepted the offer and brought him the needed documents. He asks if I'm the only one, as he simply can't imagine, and two others follow. He helps me out with sorting all my documents that they'll need at the booth later and I take my seat again.
Not that much longer, after the TV channel has been changed to Nederland 1, hosting the Olympic football match Nigeria - Netherlands, it's my turn to walk over and do my thing.
The sorted papers are being transferred through a little ditch below the window, to the other side, and after filling in one more forgotten signature, and paying yet another fee, it's time for me to have all my fingerprints scanned. I don't think I've ever done that before, but now they're officially on the record with my name attached to them. So far, my plans of committing a perfect crime someday. I get directed back to a seat, and have to wait.
They are processing my forms as it is, checking for irregularities or alarming information or something, and about 10 minutes later I get to go to booth 3 (where 1 and 2 were for handing over your papers, and 4 was not in use) to talk with an officer who asks me how my day was. I replied that it's been good so far, and it's his job to make it an even better one. I think I got some charm points right there. Have a little chat about what I'm supposed to do there, hand over my training plan for him to study, and then he asks me if I know this Chinese exchange student who's also going to the same hotel. Told him I knew there are more people apart me from Bart, Yatha and myself, but never bothered to go much into detail about them to start with.
The officer does his work as expected, and my visa is granted. They stapled some stuff into my passport (e.g. they ruined it!) and told me I should get it back by mail within 3-4 working days (after I provided the envelope with stamps myself).
I head outside, feeling accomplished, say goodbye to the security people outside, who, in the meantime, have helped my family to get some shelter from the rain too, and we walk outside again.
I had to pee before I even entered the consulate, and after the additional hour it hasn't quite become any easier, so I rush over to the public toilets. Through the rain, with a nice pace. I reach the building and as I head down the stairs, I notice the 50 cent fee. I left my wallet with my mum to place it in the car already, so, no relief for me just yet. Another sprint back to the garage entrance and I find a normal toilet there, free of charge, for me to use.
Next stop, Alphen aan den Rijn, my dad's city (or my birth town, but I never really refer to it that way). We're off to see my uncle (mom's little brother) who recently became a dad for the second time, and his wife (who, consequently, become a mom for the second time!). I hadn't seen the little Mara yet, unlike the rest of the people in the car. Speaking of which, I'm not driving this time, and maybe that's a good thing. I think they cracked open the skies for us to watch a pretty heavy downpour and sight on the highway is pretty much limited to pretty much nothing. And yes, I'm aware of typing "pretty" in that last sentence, three times.
Once we get there, streets partially flooded on some parts, I get to see the little hump and her brother, who can walk and say a few words, before asking my uncle for the keys to his car to go for a little drive in that.
Car number four in the two days that I've had my license, not a bad average, but I don't think I can keep that up.
As my dad is on a campsite somewhere else, we go back home, me driving all the way from there to here, stopping at a McDonald's halfway through to get something to eat and drink.
It's been a pretty useful day, and I'm nowhere near tired, despite the slight stress (what if the application got rejected for whatever reason) and the driving (I think I did close to 200 miles today).
As I want to use titles of blogs to match song titles, and then find a way to share that song with you, I've got a nice little link to a Youtube video from Blue Man Group - Time To Start.
Enjoy!
And oh, as I do expect this blog to be mainly about Florida related issues, I have a feeling I might use this as an outlet to share some frustrations too, at times.
Had my appointment at 14:15, and arrived at their doorstep around 14:05 (yes, I'd like to think I'm punctual most of the time). After being searched for dangerous items, of which none were found as I was only carrying paper, and my wallet full of more paper, and plastic, I had to wait in a small line outside. Luckily, they put a neat little plastic roof over the courtyard there so that I was safe from the currently falling rain. Got in to the building, went through a metal detector and said to the guy that it didn't went off for me. Funny as he was, he told me it went off for sure, just not with an audio signal for me to notice, smiling with every word. Got my waiting line number and went into this small room.
It has CNN on a TV in the corner, about 24 seats in there (26 if you count the places in what used to be the fireplace, I think) and four booths that could be used to draw people to, and help them out there. The current waiting line number as I walk in, is 11, as I remember getting number 30 myself. Not bad. And I know bureaucracy, it might take a while.
The audio signal man has walked into the room with a stapler and asks if anyone needs their special size passphoto (5x5 cm) stapled to their paper. It's obligatory to have it attached either by his method, or by glue, so I accepted the offer and brought him the needed documents. He asks if I'm the only one, as he simply can't imagine, and two others follow. He helps me out with sorting all my documents that they'll need at the booth later and I take my seat again.
Not that much longer, after the TV channel has been changed to Nederland 1, hosting the Olympic football match Nigeria - Netherlands, it's my turn to walk over and do my thing.
The sorted papers are being transferred through a little ditch below the window, to the other side, and after filling in one more forgotten signature, and paying yet another fee, it's time for me to have all my fingerprints scanned. I don't think I've ever done that before, but now they're officially on the record with my name attached to them. So far, my plans of committing a perfect crime someday. I get directed back to a seat, and have to wait.
They are processing my forms as it is, checking for irregularities or alarming information or something, and about 10 minutes later I get to go to booth 3 (where 1 and 2 were for handing over your papers, and 4 was not in use) to talk with an officer who asks me how my day was. I replied that it's been good so far, and it's his job to make it an even better one. I think I got some charm points right there. Have a little chat about what I'm supposed to do there, hand over my training plan for him to study, and then he asks me if I know this Chinese exchange student who's also going to the same hotel. Told him I knew there are more people apart me from Bart, Yatha and myself, but never bothered to go much into detail about them to start with.
The officer does his work as expected, and my visa is granted. They stapled some stuff into my passport (e.g. they ruined it!) and told me I should get it back by mail within 3-4 working days (after I provided the envelope with stamps myself).
I head outside, feeling accomplished, say goodbye to the security people outside, who, in the meantime, have helped my family to get some shelter from the rain too, and we walk outside again.
I had to pee before I even entered the consulate, and after the additional hour it hasn't quite become any easier, so I rush over to the public toilets. Through the rain, with a nice pace. I reach the building and as I head down the stairs, I notice the 50 cent fee. I left my wallet with my mum to place it in the car already, so, no relief for me just yet. Another sprint back to the garage entrance and I find a normal toilet there, free of charge, for me to use.
Next stop, Alphen aan den Rijn, my dad's city (or my birth town, but I never really refer to it that way). We're off to see my uncle (mom's little brother) who recently became a dad for the second time, and his wife (who, consequently, become a mom for the second time!). I hadn't seen the little Mara yet, unlike the rest of the people in the car. Speaking of which, I'm not driving this time, and maybe that's a good thing. I think they cracked open the skies for us to watch a pretty heavy downpour and sight on the highway is pretty much limited to pretty much nothing. And yes, I'm aware of typing "pretty" in that last sentence, three times.
Once we get there, streets partially flooded on some parts, I get to see the little hump and her brother, who can walk and say a few words, before asking my uncle for the keys to his car to go for a little drive in that.
Car number four in the two days that I've had my license, not a bad average, but I don't think I can keep that up.
As my dad is on a campsite somewhere else, we go back home, me driving all the way from there to here, stopping at a McDonald's halfway through to get something to eat and drink.
It's been a pretty useful day, and I'm nowhere near tired, despite the slight stress (what if the application got rejected for whatever reason) and the driving (I think I did close to 200 miles today).
As I want to use titles of blogs to match song titles, and then find a way to share that song with you, I've got a nice little link to a Youtube video from Blue Man Group - Time To Start.
Enjoy!
And oh, as I do expect this blog to be mainly about Florida related issues, I have a feeling I might use this as an outlet to share some frustrations too, at times.
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