WTF Friday 5/14

I know I could probably name all of you who checked and missed me this week on one hand. To you lovely folks, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened to this week, or where it went, or what I did instead of writing a post. All of a sudden it was Thursday yesterday, and I was like, whoops, it’s almost Friday.

So I hear it was bike-to-work day this week, hmmh? Or at least it appears to have been in some places. Not to keep harping on a stereotype you all already know, guys, but I’m seriously: here, every day is bike to work day.

Keukenhof’d

Yesterday, Nathan and I took our first day trip out of Groningen and went ALL THE WAY down South to Lisse to visit the Keukenhof.

De textielzakken (or, The Textile Sacks; or, Do They Really Want My Holey Socks?)

We’ve been here a solid six weeks now, long enough for me to feel pretty much like I’ve got it all figured out here.

WTF Koninginnedag: Underwhelmed

A grey day, a crowd, 2% alcohol event beer, lots of cigarette smoke, a bad Irish band, orange port-o-lets: pretty much all there was to see.

It’s probable that Koninginnedag isn’t quite as huge an event in Groningen as in Amsterdam. After all, if you’re a tourist, chances are you’re not going to head 2.5 hours north on a train to the “largest city in Northern Holland!” to celebrate your day of debauchery.

Een toets

The main RUG building, downtown. We take Dutch classes not here (sadly) but in the grubby humanities building across the street.

A Dutch trivia mini-test: true or false?

1) The Dutch are the tallest people on Earth

2) The Dutch word for “tomcat” can also be used to mean “hangover”

3) There is no Dutch word for “please”

4) Goofy Dutch names like “Jan de Groot” (“Jan the large”) are Napoleon’s fault