Saturday, September 15, 2007
¡No puedo mas!
Home, relax, unpack... yes? No... How mistaken I was! Instead of waking up refreshed and ready for a new day, I feel like a raccoon (re: smudged eye make-up) with a decidedly strong craving for tortilla chips. And it was none other than the post-lady ringing my doorbell - "I have a delivery for 101!" Despite my insistence that I'm not 101, I'm 102, she adamantly insisted that I come down immediately and pick up the parcel, because she didn't care what room I am from and that she wants to go home. Is this normal for the Netherlands?
So I live in an international student house for postgraduates. You know, us quiet masters, doctors, research fellows, etc. I mean, how much more dull can you get?
Well, apparently not so when a bunch of Latinos are around and the student manager is an undergrad who doesn't impose rules! Yesterday, I met Carlos and Carlos (how convenient that they both have the same name), this German guy called Dirk ('Dee-eck'), Shaun ("Soy Americano, yo hablou espanyoul"). Well, the good thing is that I got to practice my Spanish. The bad thing is that I probably came across as rather strange when I was begging people to go home at 2 a.m. after having been out for about an hour and a half. All after they had to wait half an hour for me to get ready"Es que ya he salido por la noche 12 dias conseguidos…. ¡Por favor! En serio, ¡hombre! no puedo mas. ¡Ya tengo muchas ganas de dormir!" And despite my insisting that really, I can take a cab home, no... the whole group had to bike home together. What a party pooper I am.
This bike thing in Groningen is quite worrying, though... I had the first ride of my life on the back of a bicycle, veering through Dutch canal roads with a somewhat intoxicated Carlos as the driver on the way out. On the way back, I opted for German safety and went with the somewhat more responsible Dirk. Good thing for that, as I kept hearing the sounds of man falling off bike and "¡JODER!" from increasingly mystifying directions as I was struggling to stay on the bike.
Sido - our student manager - must be having a blast watching us internationals navigating our way through Dutch nightlife.
But on another note... IP Bochum is over. Now I'm worlds away and glad to have had a few confronting experiences - both in terms of learning, and personally. I've perhaps gained the base to consider my motivations for doing the work I plan to do, but also, have *winks* gotten to know some people very intimately without ever having a real conversation with them, as well as developed a certain fondness for gibberish.
IP Bochum photos:
http://monashedu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22825&l=bc168&id=533997463
fon @ 4:39 PM link to post * *