Day 93 - ?
I'm not sure last Tuesday happened, because I don't remember anything worth mentioning happening. I checked Facebook to see if I posted anything interesting, and I didn't. Welp. I might have gone into town to catch up with James over some Eazie with Steve and Adam tagging along. That was nice.
Day 94 - Market and The Market
When I look back on this experience, I'm sure one of the things I'll miss most are the twice-weekly markets in Leiden centrum. The town is alive, thriving, and vibrant. I got kibbeling as usual, and ran into a bunch of people I knew, including James, and then got some kiwis. Fruits and veggies are so cheap at the market, it's quite nice. I wish Ann Arbor's farmer's market was more in the center of town.
I spent the rest of the day typing up an assignment for Globalisation and the Market, where we had to interview Dutch people who received government money to purchase healthcare for their disabled family members. I was blown away by the level of support the government provided my interviewee, who had two autistic and mentally retarded sons, and the wide range treatment options they could explore was revelatory. Of course, Americans would never go for paying higher taxes so that the parents of autistic children could try to find the best treatment option for their kids. America, the greatest country on earth, right?
Day 95 - KOHWI
I started the process of booking the June trip with Adrian, and then rushed off to the train station to retrieve Cory, the first Gumby House member I've seen in three months! He's in the midst of a European tour under his sleepcore electronic music moniker Kohwi, which is just the coolest thing ever. We made the long walk back to the Swamp, and after successfully moving the apartment's couch into my room for maximum chill, we headed back into town to see Leiden a bit and eat. I showed Cory a couple of coffeeshops, which even if you don't partake are worth checking out just to see them. Even now, it's still a little bit goofy and exciting to walk into one. Later we got pancakes, which I've come around on. I thought they were overrated, but they just aren't. Spek & kaas all day.
Afterwards we headed back to the Swamp and chilled out. It was awesome having a Gumby around to talk with, and I had a ton of fun just reminiscing. Cory's in Berlin for the summer (after he finishes up the semester in Ireland) and I'm super jealous of how cool he is. Duh. It was raining, so we decided to stay in, and we watched Skins, which Cory is still behind on.
Day 96 - Royal Wedding and Queen's Night
After class, James and I met up with Cory and headed over to Freddie's to watch the Royal Wedding. I guess we missed the actual wedding part, not that I cared anyway. I'm firmly against any monarchy, and can't understand the massive support the British royal family receives. I still further can't understand the American fascination with the royal wedding, but maybe that's a "Haha we won THAT war..." attitude. In any event, I was there because I wanted to have some fun, and we sipped G&Ts and made fun of the collection of kids from the Commonwealth there celebrating the wedding.
Afterwards we headed to the park and set up shop along a canal on the grass. The three of us had a majestic couple hours in the wonderful weather, just snacking and telling Gumby stories I bet James LOVED. We fed the birds, and they terrified me with how close they'd come for our popcorn. It was a great day.
We met up again in a bit to head to Den Haag for Queen's Night. We didn't really know what to expect, and were met with a big music festival and carnival in the streets. We saw one band, the Handsome Poets, who were a hilariously mainstream Dutch rock-pop band, but they were fun enough. We wandered some more and bumped into the Freddie-Baran-Australia crew, and wandered around with them for a while, eventually finding a rather bad 60s soul stage to dance at. Ardrik took a headbutt to the dome and started bleeding, and that kind of killed the vibe and the group split up not shortly afterward. We wandered back towards the train station, and eventually back to Leiden. Queen's Night was a fun enough time, but it felt a bit like Comerica CityFest or whatever it was called.
Day 97 - Koninginnedag 2011
For Queen's Day, we decided to brave the masses and head to Amsterdam. Cory had to catch a flight to the UK for his tour, so we bid farewell on the train, and James and I headed to Amsterdam with a couple of his friends from his dorm. The train situation wasn't nearly as bad as we expected, and we were some of the early risers who got to Amsterdam well ahead of the crowds. We went to the apartment of a friend of James', and after that headed out to explore. Each Queen's Day about a million people invade Amsterdam, all decked out in Orange (for the House of Orange) to celebrate the Queen's birthday. Seeing the throngs of people in orange reminded me a bit of Michigan football Saturdays, only maybe replace Michigan with Clemson. We walked around, saw all the people selling stuff on the streets (street commerce laws are suspended and people sell their junk), and listened to music at outdoor stages and got food. The best part of Queen's Day is that the canals are jammed with boats carrying revelers, and it was great to just sit alongside the canal and people-watch.
James and I were really excited because Odd Future, the shock-rap, alt-hop, swagcore group from L.A. that is being hyped into the stratosphere was doing a free show at the Paradiso. There was a huge crowd, and I spotted about 30 different U.S. sports teams unwittingly being supported by Dutch kids trying to look their coolest. It was one of the most insane shows I've ever been to, and certainly the most violent. That said, though the moshing was constant, the crowd was pretty respectful of things like not punching people in the face, which was nice. For the last song Tyler, the leader (and Creator) of the group, exhorted everyone to rush the stage, and it was awesome climbing up there and being a part of something pretty epic. I'm still unsure how I feel about the group's disgusting lyrics and immature attitudes, but I can't deny that that was just about the most fun I've ever had at a concert.
Afterwards we were exhausted and James and I made our way through the streets of Amsterdam and onto a train (full of drunken Dutchmen) and back to Leiden. I fell asleep almost immediately. So exhausted.
Day 98 - Catching Up
Today is a low-key one. I've written some postcards for family, done some more trip-planning for June, and hammered out this blog, which keeps on chugging away. I'm excited to start my paper for Urban Inequalities, and Jordan is coming on Tuesday, which should be great. Watching Arsenal-ManU now, and the Wings are on at 9 this evening, so hopefully they level the series with the Sharks. Weather is awesome today, which is a nice bonus.
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