Blogs from North Brabant, Netherlands, Europe - page 10

Saturday & Sunday (26-27/03/2011) Oh. My. Word. Working 8pm to 7am is definitely something new for me; which is exactly what happened Saturday through to Sunday. I arrived at De-V in the evening and took over duties of serving the guests inside. It was a very relaxed section, but with three very annoying and interesting obstacles. Two poles supporting the floor above and half of the section raised. I was looping around poles with the tray swinging above customer’s heads and my feet dangling over the edge of the precipice for half the evening. Thanks goodness for my now-enlarged pinky and thick-thumb. No mess and after cashing all bills, the tables were cleared for the evening dance-floor. Much to my dismay, I saw none of the dance-floor and Disco Stu was sent to do the outside ... read more

So my minor in Scenography is over... Thursday the event took place at AKV St Joost and I walked round the school with another pupil inviting individuals at specific times to our attraction. I dared myself to approach a real Dutch guy who I had seen everyday walk past our studio, even though he was busy talking to a girl outside in the sun and everyone stopped to stare! The visitors would arrive at thier given time walking on the red carpet into our Baroque installation where they were seated in an old Grandpa chair and given a heart on their plate to eat! At first piano music is playing in the room which changes to a heart beat speeding up to the heart projection on the wall and ending with a flatline. Men in real ... read more

I have finally managed to find the time to once again get the fingernails trimmed through the battering of the keyboard. It wasn’t easy finding the time with Opa trying to finish off the documentation of another one of his flowers, accompanied by O&O asking to see exactly every single photo I’ve taken in the past few weeks. Each photo required an explanation and I felt my photographic prowess was definitely questioned. So, sorry to those of you who also have no clue as to what some of the photos are of: just ask. This is all perfectly understandable when you’re not living in your own space, and this fact is felt harder sometimes than others. With patience, determination and a bit of sneakiness I get by. You have to find your own comfort zone within ... read more

Saturday midday I helped my American friend fix a toga costume for carnaval and then collected my fellow NUCA student, Matt from the station to go to the international carnaval house party! Matt still had no costume but brought several yellow plastic shopping bags with him which we cut up in 5 minutes to make the best costume there, or at least according to me anyway. It was so hilarious I hadn't laughed so hard and long in a while, but it was probably also due to the fact that Matt was so reluctant in wearing it. The international students were all playing beer pong since 5pm till midnight when we decided to go dancing in the centrum. We were such a large group that it was impossible to all stick together. We lost everyone within ... read more

Friday (25/02/2011) An uneventful day as I was told that the party that evening for which I was supposed to work was cancelled by the Municipality. Opa says it happens often (and more so now in the ‘recession’) as they re-evaluate the costs of a party and then at the last minute make it B.Y.O.B rather than hiring a service. So I took the morning to cycle into Valkenswaard to check for another pair of smart pants and a shirt, but everything was too expensive. I decided to trek that afternoon into Eindhoven to ask if what I had was good enough. I pedaled into Eindhoven to ask what was happening with the rest of the weekend’s work and to check if my attire was better than my general primary appearance. It turned out that the ... read more