Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Entangled In Holland
Today, I saw where I will be living and working in Rotterdam. I did not see my room but I was able to see the building. It is very near to the Euromast and about a ten minute bike ride from work. I was able to meet everyone at work as well but don’t ask me to remember anyone’s name yet. I will begin to work on that on Monday. Bloomerce is located in a building across the street from a vast outdoor shopping center.
This morning, I awoke at 7:00 am and hopped into the shower before eating breakfast. (I request that no comments be made about my hopping into the shower; the joke is dead Dad. It has been dead for a number of years.) I had the usual, brood and kass (bread and cheese) with a slice of suiker brood (sugar bread). I don’t expect myself to ever sicken of bread and cheese while I am here. Stick some American bread and cheese in my face and that is another story…
I have fallen down the bottom three stairs at Caroline’s house a good four or five times now. (I did it again this morning.) I suspect it may occur again before I leave. I just haven’t figured out this whole coordination thing yet. Each time, someone can hear the tempo of my feet coming down the stairs followed by a thunderous thud as I grasp the railing and land on the ground. I come into the main room laughing and brush it off as if nothing has happened. Yes, I am fine; my coordination is still under development.
Caroline took me to the train station at Almere Centrum near her work. I believe I am acquainted enough with the trains now to determine how to get from location A to location B. It’s quite nifty. I took the sneiltrain to Amsterdam. The sneiltrain is the fast train…the one without stops. When I arrived, I met Richard at his car. He drove us to Rotterdam and I got to see his cool GPS system called a Tom Tom. It spoke to him in Dutch, as it should, so I did not understand everything it told him. I told him about floating down the river with a GPS gadget. It was really nice of him to drive me to Rotterdam and show me where I will be living and working. I quite enjoyed the drive and gazed out the window most of the ride at the sheep, cows, and windmills.
Yesterday evening Caroline, Rose, and I biked to the Spider Web. I have passed a small one numerous times on my journey to and from Almere Centrum. I told Caroline how I secretly wanted to stop and climb it. I guess it really wasn’t a very good secret. In response, she took me to a much bigger and better one. As you know, us dar Americans like everything bigger…food, cars, and yes play areas. In seriousness, it was quite a fun web. I could never imagine one lasting very long in the states because some kid or grown adult would fall and sue the manufacturer, city, and sand it was built upon.
Had I had one of these to play with during my youthful years of now and before now, it would definitely suffice as a spaceship. Instead of the lava monster, I would try to escape from the aliens. There are even areas for a pilot to sit and maneuver the web and areas to have a jail. Anyone want fly on over here and have a game of Battleship Araneida? We can also play a game of spider catch and eat the fly. Other variations of spider catch and eat the fly will include but are not limited to spider catch and eat the fly tag, spider catch and eat the fly freeze tag, spider catch the fly and climb to the top of the web the fastest, and spider catch and capture the fly. (I was able to see another web on the way home that is more properly suited for spider catch and capture the fly fore there are two peaks to place two flies upon for each opposing teams. I will stop and take a picture next time I pass it.) Needless to say, I enjoyed my spin from the out to the in and to the top and back again.
Tonight is Rose’s end show. She will be presenting. It should be very interesting to watch the equivalent of an American middle school play/show/musical in Dutch. I will report upon it later. I am quite enjoying the weather today. For all of you stuck in hot and yucky Arizona, I am wearing a sweatshirt and jeans at the moment and am still quite pleasant.
This morning, I awoke at 7:00 am and hopped into the shower before eating breakfast. (I request that no comments be made about my hopping into the shower; the joke is dead Dad. It has been dead for a number of years.) I had the usual, brood and kass (bread and cheese) with a slice of suiker brood (sugar bread). I don’t expect myself to ever sicken of bread and cheese while I am here. Stick some American bread and cheese in my face and that is another story…
I have fallen down the bottom three stairs at Caroline’s house a good four or five times now. (I did it again this morning.) I suspect it may occur again before I leave. I just haven’t figured out this whole coordination thing yet. Each time, someone can hear the tempo of my feet coming down the stairs followed by a thunderous thud as I grasp the railing and land on the ground. I come into the main room laughing and brush it off as if nothing has happened. Yes, I am fine; my coordination is still under development.
Caroline took me to the train station at Almere Centrum near her work. I believe I am acquainted enough with the trains now to determine how to get from location A to location B. It’s quite nifty. I took the sneiltrain to Amsterdam. The sneiltrain is the fast train…the one without stops. When I arrived, I met Richard at his car. He drove us to Rotterdam and I got to see his cool GPS system called a Tom Tom. It spoke to him in Dutch, as it should, so I did not understand everything it told him. I told him about floating down the river with a GPS gadget. It was really nice of him to drive me to Rotterdam and show me where I will be living and working. I quite enjoyed the drive and gazed out the window most of the ride at the sheep, cows, and windmills.
Yesterday evening Caroline, Rose, and I biked to the Spider Web. I have passed a small one numerous times on my journey to and from Almere Centrum. I told Caroline how I secretly wanted to stop and climb it. I guess it really wasn’t a very good secret. In response, she took me to a much bigger and better one. As you know, us dar Americans like everything bigger…food, cars, and yes play areas. In seriousness, it was quite a fun web. I could never imagine one lasting very long in the states because some kid or grown adult would fall and sue the manufacturer, city, and sand it was built upon.
Had I had one of these to play with during my youthful years of now and before now, it would definitely suffice as a spaceship. Instead of the lava monster, I would try to escape from the aliens. There are even areas for a pilot to sit and maneuver the web and areas to have a jail. Anyone want fly on over here and have a game of Battleship Araneida? We can also play a game of spider catch and eat the fly. Other variations of spider catch and eat the fly will include but are not limited to spider catch and eat the fly tag, spider catch and eat the fly freeze tag, spider catch the fly and climb to the top of the web the fastest, and spider catch and capture the fly. (I was able to see another web on the way home that is more properly suited for spider catch and capture the fly fore there are two peaks to place two flies upon for each opposing teams. I will stop and take a picture next time I pass it.) Needless to say, I enjoyed my spin from the out to the in and to the top and back again.
Tonight is Rose’s end show. She will be presenting. It should be very interesting to watch the equivalent of an American middle school play/show/musical in Dutch. I will report upon it later. I am quite enjoying the weather today. For all of you stuck in hot and yucky Arizona, I am wearing a sweatshirt and jeans at the moment and am still quite pleasant.
