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Ok, as I'm having a really hard time getting caught up with these journals, I'm just gonna start with now and work my way backwards, so that way you can at least get some up to date information and I can feel like I'm not so far behind. Be forewarned that the quality of my entries may suffer; I may resort to Laffy Taffy level humor.
So, for a quick recap of this past week:
Thursday June 2nd:
I've started a European branch of the 'Thursday Poker Night's at Brian's Place' franchise which turned out to be a mixed bag of successes and utter failure. On the bright side, we had great turnout of 7 players and I've managed to turn a group of poker newbies into Texas Hold'em sharks who are even starting to speak the lingo, make sidepots, the works. On the down side, my well stocked fridge is dry, Eugene and Rupert ate all the junk food in sight, and somehow the 2 of us who actually knew how to play Hold'em were the first ones out: beaten by newbies. Oh the shame. Thank god we were just playing for Euros--that crazy funny money stuff--and not
Snooker
I swear I made this Masse shot, honest. REAL, GREEN money. WHEW!
Wednesday June 1st:
Snooker night in Delft. Again, shame and failure. I pride myself on being a fairly intermediate pool player; at least good enough to take my friends' money (Vince, this means you) and amaze and amuse on occasion with a Masse shot down at Baker Street Pub. However, on a snooker table, which is 3 times the square footage of a bar table (6'x12') with smaller balls and pockets, I flat out sucked. It was 2 Americans vs. a Dutch guy and an English guy and we lost 5-0. I'm feeling depressed again just thinking about it....how about a joke? Hey, what's brown and sticky?
A stick. Gotta love that one.
Monday May 30:
Another quiz night in Delft that was a raging success for team ESSP (Engish, Scottish Speaking Proles...hey, they came up with the name long before I arrived). We swept up with 59 points, beating the nearest team by a margin of 9. Among my proudest contributions: knowing the artist with an album called Up! and that Shannon Hoon was the lead singer of Blind Melon. It's at this point that my main contributions to this team
Brian's New Car
What? No radio and no A/C? What a rip. are not in actual substantial facts and knowledge, but in music and American pop culture. I blame it on Katherine's choice of primetime television. Also a bonus, my obligatory Quiz Night shoarma pizza from Pizza Dennis. Sweet. I'm feeling better about the whole snooker story already.
Sunday May 29: I went to the Clingandael area of the Hague, which is essentially a huge estate with several houses (including of course the Clingandael Huis) and lots of lush gardens and parks. I specifically went to check out the Japanese garden there, which is only open from May until mid-June. There's really no point in me trying to describe it, I'll just let the pictures do the talking.
Saturday May 28: I did it, I cracked. I'm now one of 'those' people. I bought a funky Dutch bicycle.
When I first got here, I was amused to the point of laughter at all these Dutch people riding around on their funny upright position bikes, with the huge wheels, big-ass touring seat, and girly-style curved handlebars. Keep in mind that I still haven't grown out of the middle school mindset that GT's are the best brand ever and that a GT has remained my bike of choice all through college. Well, it turns out that in my quest for efficient local transportation, I had a choice between one of 2 second hand options within my price range: a cool by American standards mountain bike or a decked out Dutch bike for 10 Euros less. On the basis of comfort and reliability, I had no choice but to abandon all coolness and get the big brown Dutch bike. It's a great feeling though, being mobile again; bikes get the right of way and are actually much faster in getting around town than driving, I think. However, I'm still a little iffy on the bike traffic laws, so if you don't see a blog for a while, you might want to start calling hospitals around the Hague to see if I'm OK.
As far as bikes go, I've got all the options I need, front and rear lights, 3 gears, a luggage rack and quick rear wheel lock, even a little bell to ding when pedestrians get in my way. There's just one thing this bike doesn't provide: self dignity.
Alright, well BAM! there's a week in review. Pictures to arrive shortly. Oh what, are you dissapointed it wasn't more interesting? Fine..here's a quick tidbit complements of Rupert: Did you hear about the French sandal designer, Felipe Flop?
HA! Laffy Taffy humor strikes again.
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