The thoughts we have, the emotions we feel, the persons that we are can be so abitrary. Over the past two weeks, I've had some of the worst moments that I've experienced in a long long time. And yet now that I've been back in Amsterdam, I can barely relate to how down I had been feeling. I'm seeing everyone again in Amsterdam, and just the joy of seeing familiar faces makes me forget what has happened. The last two weeks has been pretty terrible, at the same time its been a time that God was in control and using to refine me. What worries me, is that as I forget the ordeals that I've been through that I'd also forget the lessons I've been learning. Hence, my desire to sit down, reflect and write it all down. Both, so that you(the faithful few... :p) may know whats been happening, and so that I may know what has happened.
I had arrived at Luton Airport at 10am even though the flight was scheduled to depart at 1.20pm. You might wonder why I didn't catch a bus to arrive at the airport at a better time. Well, it was basically because the earlier bus were cheaper than the later buses: £2 cheaper (and people think the Dutch are cheap...). I figured that I could get there early and do some reading, while saving (some...) money. When it got closer to the departure time, I went to check in. The lady gave me an invoice and told me to go to another counter. It turns out that I was supposed to have checked in online the night before, evidently I hadn't done that. The invoice was to charge me for the service of having to use their check in services. How much was it? £40! You can imagine that if I'd endeavoured to save £2, having to cough up £40 was quite a shock to me. For a few moments, I considered not getting on the plane. The only reason why I was going to Barcelona was because peope had returned and were raving about it. I wanted to check it out for myself, and yet I wasn't that eager. Anyways, I ended up paying the £40 and getting on the flight.
I started to get really homesick in the first few days that I was in Barcelona. Only on my second day in, I was walking around and had already started to feel down. I kept thinking about what in the world was I doing in Barcelona? What was the point of travelling? Frankly speaking, I couldn't come up with any good answers. I'd been to Venice, Verona, Antwerp, Bruges, London and what had it all meant? Nothing. I'm not any wiser or any different having gone to these places. It seems like being a tourist amounts to ticking things of a list so that you can say/boast: "I've been there. I've done that." How pathetic. Coupled with the fact that I found Barcelona quite underwhelming made it all seem very pointless indeed.
I was sightseeing on my own, and that made me feel quite isolated and lonely. And being away from Amsterdam for a month was making me want to be back in familiar places and with familiar people. I was starting to feel quite depressed. After a while, I sat myself down on a bench and came to God with my despair. It was then that I realised that all my travelling was simply living for myself. In fact, the only reason why I was feeling down was because I wasn't having a great time in Barcelona. As I came to God, I realised that I needed to get my priorities right. I needed to make God's priorities my priorities.
So...while I had originally planned on travelling down to visit a friend in Granada (southern Spain), I decided to cut short my travels and fly back to Amsterdam where I did have a church and Christian fellowship. I was still a bit unsure about my decision. Once again, my desire to travel and see the world was telling me that I could go to Granada and then fly back to Amsterdam. However, in the end I decided to just stay in Barcelona and then fly out from there. On skyscanner.com the cheapest way to get back to Amsterdam would be to fly from Barcelona to Manchester and then from Manchester to Amsterdam, about £50 each way. Expensive yes, but at least I'd be back in Amsterdam. The flights were on the 14th of August, which gave me, 10 days, a decent amount of time to stay in Barcelona and experience the city.
I still had about 8 days left in Barcelona. The first few days were still pretty bad. I had met some people while out at night, but during the day I was just doing sightseeing on my own. I actually enjoyed myself quite a bit in my last few days in Barcelona. Well actually, it was while I was outside of Barcelona that I enjoyed myself. I went with some guys on a day trip to visit Cadaques, a nice beach town 2.5 hours from Barcelona and also went hiking in Montserrat. I had a great time at both of them. I was still excited to be getting back to Amsterdam. On the 13th, I started to get paranoid. I'd already paid £60 + 40 to get there and now I was paying another £100 pounds to get out. I was worried that something would go wrong and so I tripled checked my flights to make sure that I had done everything for the day after.
I got to the airport 2 hours early. This time it was because I didn't have much choice for which bus I could take there. I had a really nice flight to Manchester. The guy next to me offered me his meal as he'd ate a big breakfast. I had a nice time talking to him about Spain and a bit about football. I thanked God that things were looking pretty good. We arrived in Manchester, I picked up my backpack and had another 3 hours to spare before the flight to Amsterdam.
When the time came, I went to enter the departure hall. The lady took my ticket and scanned it over the gate. The gates wouldn't open. She scanned it again. The gates wouldn't open. She then looked at my ticket and pointed out that the date on my ticket was wrong. The ticket was dated for the 13th of August, not the 14th... It sounds like a pretty funny joke now. But at the time, my heart just sank. I was hoping that because I had checked in online early, that the date might have been mixed up. I went to the ticketing counting and asked the girl to check it out. It turns out that I was really that incredibly stupid and had booked it on the wrong date. At that point of time, I just wanted to cry. There was another £50 gone. How much would it cost me to buy a ticket on the flight I had intended on catching? £140. I almost had a heart attack. I wished I had a heart attack and just died right there. I'd noticed a prayer room in the airport before and decided to go there to come before God. I was at a complete loss of what to do. All I knew was that I didn't want to spend another £140 to get back to Amsterdam. I considered going back to London and then taking the coach back to Amsterdam from there. It would have been more affordable. But getting to London would have been expensive. Maybe I could just get to Manchester stay over night and re-think everything. What would you have done in my shoes?
I ended up procrastinating to the point where I missed the opportunity to get on my intended flight. I pretty much just didn't want to pay get on that flight. Having missed the flight, I still didn't know what to do. If I stayed overnight anywhere, it would have cost me around £20 for one night. It seemed like maybe I should have just bit the bullet and took that £140 flight. I seriously just wanted to crawl into some hole and die.
I ended up asking the ticketing counter again and they mentioned that there was a KLM flight leaving for Amsterdam. They were kind and generous enough to let me use their computer and even checked up the cost of flights for me. Turns out that a two way flight from Manchester to Amsterdam and back would cost me £160. I'd take it! I was already considering flying to Manchester to visit Abby and Jess. I booked the tickets online, bought the ticketing girls coffee and then hurried over to Terminal 2 to catch my flight.
If I had caught the first flight, I was scheduled to arrive in Amsterdam at 7pm and was planning on surprising my bible study group. I arrived at 9.40pm and was trying to catch them just as they were wrapping up. However, when I arrived they had already gone. I went to Suresh and Babu's and surprised them by showing up at their door right after the study. It was great to see them again. I shared about how things had been going for me and we prayed together before heading off to sleep.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Ben's wedding
Last weekend, one of my good friends from Singapore got married and I had the honour of being his best man. I always thought that all the best man did was to stand next to the groom, pass him the rings and make an embarrassing speech about the groom. As it turns out, best man's have a lot more responsibility in Welsh weddings.
I only found out while looking through the itinery that Hannah had given me. I noticed that my name featured quite a few times throughout the wedding day: making announcements, organising photos, ushering people, keeping to the time. Junyi was surprised to find out that he was scheduled to dance during the ceilidh. During the day itself, I was quite stressed with having so many responsibilities. it wasn't exactly the things I was responsible for that made me nervous. It was probably more the fact that I was so unfamiliar with pretty much everything. I had never been Best man before, neither had I been so deeply involved in the running of a wedding, and finally, I had never been to a wedding in Wales. Lastly, I had the best Man speech to give later that night. While I had spent a lot of time thinking about it, I had never written it down word for word. By the afternoon, I had still yet to figure out the last parts of what I wanted to say.
Thankfully, everything went quite well. We managed to keep well to the time and get photos done alright. And my speech went quite well. I didn't think I would be that nervous. But I was incredibly calm while giving my speech. And after the speech was done, I was finally free to have fun. There was a Ceilidh band that started playing afterwards, and they got some sort of line dancing thing going. it was heaps fun for everyone. At the end of the day, I was glad to see that Ben and Hannah had had both an enjoyable and memorable day.
My time in Wales was really enjoyable. It was great to spend the week hanging out with Ben and to help out with the wedding preparation. It gave me a really nice break from having to plan what the heck I'm going to do for the immediate future and later future; something that I've started to get pretty tired off actually. Although in the very immediate future(tomorrow), I'll be watching Les Miserable at West End and this Friday I'll be helping out at the Soul Survivor Youth Conference for 4 days. I'm looking to both things quite a lot.
I only found out while looking through the itinery that Hannah had given me. I noticed that my name featured quite a few times throughout the wedding day: making announcements, organising photos, ushering people, keeping to the time. Junyi was surprised to find out that he was scheduled to dance during the ceilidh. During the day itself, I was quite stressed with having so many responsibilities. it wasn't exactly the things I was responsible for that made me nervous. It was probably more the fact that I was so unfamiliar with pretty much everything. I had never been Best man before, neither had I been so deeply involved in the running of a wedding, and finally, I had never been to a wedding in Wales. Lastly, I had the best Man speech to give later that night. While I had spent a lot of time thinking about it, I had never written it down word for word. By the afternoon, I had still yet to figure out the last parts of what I wanted to say.
Thankfully, everything went quite well. We managed to keep well to the time and get photos done alright. And my speech went quite well. I didn't think I would be that nervous. But I was incredibly calm while giving my speech. And after the speech was done, I was finally free to have fun. There was a Ceilidh band that started playing afterwards, and they got some sort of line dancing thing going. it was heaps fun for everyone. At the end of the day, I was glad to see that Ben and Hannah had had both an enjoyable and memorable day.
My time in Wales was really enjoyable. It was great to spend the week hanging out with Ben and to help out with the wedding preparation. It gave me a really nice break from having to plan what the heck I'm going to do for the immediate future and later future; something that I've started to get pretty tired off actually. Although in the very immediate future(tomorrow), I'll be watching Les Miserable at West End and this Friday I'll be helping out at the Soul Survivor Youth Conference for 4 days. I'm looking to both things quite a lot.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
5 days left in Amsterdam
I've got a nice relaxing Sunday morning, just waiting for church music practice at 2 later. I haven't been knowing what I should really be feeling because I'm in such a wierd situation. The fnuny thing is that even though I have to say goodbye to my friends who are exchange students, at least in the past weeks I've been getting to know and hanging out with ultimate frisbee people more. And since most of these are Dutch, I won't really be saying a full goodbye since I'm coming in August and September.
My lease ends on Friday 26th of June. And right after that, I'll be playing in another frisbee tournament on the 27-28th of June at Delft. Delft is where Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer was born. Doesn't ring a bell? The movie Girl with the Pearl Earring was based on him.* After that, I'm going to slowly make my way to London through Rotterdam, Antwerp, Bruges and then to England. I've got people to stay with along the way. But haven't really figured out what happens when I cross the channel to England. I'm hoping to get to London around Monday 6th of July and spend a week there before going to Swansea, Wales, for my friends wedding. I'll be best man at Ben's wedding.
And after the wedding on the 18th, I haven't really figured out what I'm going to do. I'll stick around in the UK for a little longer but I'm also pretty set on visiting a friend in Granada, Spain. I hope to get back to Amsterdam in August and work.
I've decided to take the rest of the year off to travel. BDO Kendal said that I could start working with them next year in march or April so I'm just going to take the time to travel and see the world while I can. Truth be told, I am missing a bit of stability and familiarity. Its going to be good hanging out with old friends in London and Swansea. However, I'm sure when I start working in Sydney I'll be getting all the "stability" I need from my 9-5 job.
So after I get back to Amsterdam, I'm just going to work, do church stuff, and play frisbee while waiting for my friend to get back from the US. Hilco's a Dutch guy that was playing on the same frisbee team and he's keen on going to Iran and Nepal. And so in October we're going to head out for that trip. It should be some really amazing experiences.
I guess its going to be sometime again before I see some of you. These 1 year travel things are really quite a wierd thing. I wonder how other travellers feel about being away from familiar people for so long. And going back to "normal" life must be the worst thing. I can't imagine how its going to be next year when I get back to Sydney and start working. Think I'll ask Arienne from church about it later.
*Its actually pretty pathetic but half of what i know about Europe comes from popular culture. The only European towns and cities I know are the major football clubs: Eindhoven, Stuttgart, Munich, Valencia. The only reason I had heard of Bruges in Belgium was because of the movie "In Bruges", which I did not find that great. And I had only heard of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris because of Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame. Talk about immersing myself in history and culture...
My lease ends on Friday 26th of June. And right after that, I'll be playing in another frisbee tournament on the 27-28th of June at Delft. Delft is where Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer was born. Doesn't ring a bell? The movie Girl with the Pearl Earring was based on him.* After that, I'm going to slowly make my way to London through Rotterdam, Antwerp, Bruges and then to England. I've got people to stay with along the way. But haven't really figured out what happens when I cross the channel to England. I'm hoping to get to London around Monday 6th of July and spend a week there before going to Swansea, Wales, for my friends wedding. I'll be best man at Ben's wedding.
And after the wedding on the 18th, I haven't really figured out what I'm going to do. I'll stick around in the UK for a little longer but I'm also pretty set on visiting a friend in Granada, Spain. I hope to get back to Amsterdam in August and work.
I've decided to take the rest of the year off to travel. BDO Kendal said that I could start working with them next year in march or April so I'm just going to take the time to travel and see the world while I can. Truth be told, I am missing a bit of stability and familiarity. Its going to be good hanging out with old friends in London and Swansea. However, I'm sure when I start working in Sydney I'll be getting all the "stability" I need from my 9-5 job.
So after I get back to Amsterdam, I'm just going to work, do church stuff, and play frisbee while waiting for my friend to get back from the US. Hilco's a Dutch guy that was playing on the same frisbee team and he's keen on going to Iran and Nepal. And so in October we're going to head out for that trip. It should be some really amazing experiences.
I guess its going to be sometime again before I see some of you. These 1 year travel things are really quite a wierd thing. I wonder how other travellers feel about being away from familiar people for so long. And going back to "normal" life must be the worst thing. I can't imagine how its going to be next year when I get back to Sydney and start working. Think I'll ask Arienne from church about it later.
*Its actually pretty pathetic but half of what i know about Europe comes from popular culture. The only European towns and cities I know are the major football clubs: Eindhoven, Stuttgart, Munich, Valencia. The only reason I had heard of Bruges in Belgium was because of the movie "In Bruges", which I did not find that great. And I had only heard of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris because of Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame. Talk about immersing myself in history and culture...
Friday, May 29, 2009
Updates
Gosh its been too long since I last wrote anything here. Story of my life.
I've got about half an hour before I have to head out and catch a train to Berlin so I thought that I'd quickly update the blog with whats been going on. I've been telling myself to do it for ages. But i'm sure you guys know how things go......
So this is what has happened since I last blogged.
Weekend of April 17th-19th: Hitch-hiking competition to Southern Belgium
April 20th-28th: Went to Venice, Verona and Como in Italy
Thursday April 30th: QUEENS DAY!! Massive Party and Flea market all over Amsterdam
Weekend of May1st-3rd: Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Brugges (yes Colin Farrel was in a movie about it)
Tuesday May 5th: Liberation Day. Massive Party again in Wageningen.
I didn't do any work whatsover in those two weeks. And furthermore, I had two essays due around this time. So i've been working on getting those done for the past few weeks. I've realised that I really don't handle working on essays very well. I keep thinking that I need to get it done as soon as I can, and then enjoy myself afterwards. I tell myself not to answer emails, organise any fun stuff, or just relax. And try and use all the time to read and write the essays. In just doesn't work. I've got one last essay left. But I've got to learn to take it easy while I'm writing the essay instead of just telling myself to try and get it done ASAP. Because that just doesn't end up happening.
In any case, I might not have the luxury of doing that. I come back from Berlin on Wednesday night. I will have a presentation to give on Thursday morning and then in a bit over a weeks time, I will have to hand in my last paper. Haven't done anything for that yet. Although this paper could/should be quite interesting. I want to compare the way that Chinese Dutch people have integrated into Dutch society, with the way that Chinese-Australian people have integrated into Australian society (or not...:). I haven't met any Chinese Dutch yet so it should be interesting to interview them and see how things are different.
Looking forward to going to Berlin today. I've heard some good things about it. Unfortunately, I'll only have two free days to see Berlin. We''ll be playing in a Beach Frisbee Tournament from Saturday to Monday. Yeap, Beach Frisbee in Berlin, makes perfect sense. The team name is Santa's Reindeers. Why not? Beach Frisbee in Berlin barely makes any sense. Why not make it a Christmas team in summer?
Our colours are red and green. We've got santa hats and I'm bringing my Santa sack (i knew it would be of use someday). Alex asked me to get him a green shirt. I said I'd get him something "nice and tight". And he said "yea surprise me, you can buy a dress even." He's definitely going to be surprised.....
I've got about half an hour before I have to head out and catch a train to Berlin so I thought that I'd quickly update the blog with whats been going on. I've been telling myself to do it for ages. But i'm sure you guys know how things go......
So this is what has happened since I last blogged.
Weekend of April 17th-19th: Hitch-hiking competition to Southern Belgium
April 20th-28th: Went to Venice, Verona and Como in Italy
Thursday April 30th: QUEENS DAY!! Massive Party and Flea market all over Amsterdam
Weekend of May1st-3rd: Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Brugges (yes Colin Farrel was in a movie about it)
Tuesday May 5th: Liberation Day. Massive Party again in Wageningen.
I didn't do any work whatsover in those two weeks. And furthermore, I had two essays due around this time. So i've been working on getting those done for the past few weeks. I've realised that I really don't handle working on essays very well. I keep thinking that I need to get it done as soon as I can, and then enjoy myself afterwards. I tell myself not to answer emails, organise any fun stuff, or just relax. And try and use all the time to read and write the essays. In just doesn't work. I've got one last essay left. But I've got to learn to take it easy while I'm writing the essay instead of just telling myself to try and get it done ASAP. Because that just doesn't end up happening.
In any case, I might not have the luxury of doing that. I come back from Berlin on Wednesday night. I will have a presentation to give on Thursday morning and then in a bit over a weeks time, I will have to hand in my last paper. Haven't done anything for that yet. Although this paper could/should be quite interesting. I want to compare the way that Chinese Dutch people have integrated into Dutch society, with the way that Chinese-Australian people have integrated into Australian society (or not...:). I haven't met any Chinese Dutch yet so it should be interesting to interview them and see how things are different.
Looking forward to going to Berlin today. I've heard some good things about it. Unfortunately, I'll only have two free days to see Berlin. We''ll be playing in a Beach Frisbee Tournament from Saturday to Monday. Yeap, Beach Frisbee in Berlin, makes perfect sense. The team name is Santa's Reindeers. Why not? Beach Frisbee in Berlin barely makes any sense. Why not make it a Christmas team in summer?
Our colours are red and green. We've got santa hats and I'm bringing my Santa sack (i knew it would be of use someday). Alex asked me to get him a green shirt. I said I'd get him something "nice and tight". And he said "yea surprise me, you can buy a dress even." He's definitely going to be surprised.....
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Hitch-hiking tomorrow
Wow, believe it or not this blogpost is going to be in advance rather than weeks and weeks delayed. Tomorrow morning ,Friday 17th, I'll be having to wake up early to take part in a hitch hiking contest. Where are we going? I don't know yet! We're going to find out tomorrow morning at 8am tomorrow when all of us gather together. I'm pretty excited cos I've never gone hitch hiking. It should be a good experience and who knows, if it goes well I might consider hitch hiking back to Singapore and Sydney? I've been spending a little bit of time to research the best ways to hitchhike and apparently two students from the UK completed the London to Singapore by only hitch hiking! How made is that! It took them 7 weeks to do it! Which really isin't that long if you think about it.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Persevering Against all Odds
So I bought this cheap PC a few weeks ago so that I would be able to get on to the Internet while I'm at home. Believe it or not, for the last 2 and a bit months, I've not had my own Internet connection. I've either been going to university or public libraries or every now and then when my housemate isin't at home (like now...:). I've gone through like this incredible amount of trouble so that I can save money and get myself a computer and connected to the Internet cheaply. The story so far has been incredibly stupid but I will persevere. After all, perseverence gives hope and hope doesn't dissapoint*...
First of all, I bought this PC second hand for about €25. When I called the guy, he said he could give me a monitor with it too. However, he said that I might not want it because it was pretty heavy. I thought to myself, yea sure monitors are heavy but they can't be that heavy. Turns out that the monitor he was offering was massive. And it was not massive because it was like 45 inches. Instead, it was because it was a monitor along with the PC casing all in one. I haven't got to weight it. But I would estimate that it was at least 30 kgs. Anyways, it was free so I took it. And this is what I mean when I say "took": what I really meant is that I had to haul it to the nearest bus-stop and wait for two buses to come cos the first bus driver didn't even stop to pick me up. Thankfully, I didn't have to change a bus. I left the monitor at the bus stop and walked back quickly to fetch my bike. And then placed the monitor on my bike and wheeled it home.
I got the computer set up and tried to connect it to the modem in my apartment. But because the PC has Windows 98 installed, it doesn't connect automatically. Now I would ordinarily be able to work this problem out, but the bloody windows 98 was installed in Dutch! Well I guess, even if i wasn't able to conect to the Internet, I'd be able to do some of my readings and assignments on it right? WRONG!! Remember how its Windows 98? Windows 98 doesn't automatically detect USB memory sticks either! And even if I could, the PC didn't have MS Office installed...
So I've got two problems: its not connected to the Internet, and it doesn't detect my USB drive. I got some Dutch friends to help me get it connected to the modem. And the reason why it doesn't automatically connect to the Internet is because you need the drivers for the modem. Guess where you can get the drivers from? The Internet...of course. Well, maybe I can download the drivers from some other computer and then transfer it to the PC using a ...USB...stick...right.
The only option I had now was to transfer the drivers through a 3.5 inch floopy disc. Yeap a floppy disc, 1.44 mb capacity yeah. I managed to get the drivers downloaded while I was at a friend house. Finally, I was going to be able to get connected! I transferred the drivers to the hard-drive and then went to the modem set-up to install the drivers. But lo and behold, the set-up didn't recognise the drivers. Why not? Because they were in a zip-format. Of course. Except, this computer didn't have winzip installed...
And so...I thought "no problems I can just go to the unversity library and download winzip there". I went to the university library and found a computer. And then I found out that they didn't have 3.5 floppy drives on them.
Yeap and so as it stands, I've had this bloody useless PC and this monster-sized monitor sitting on my desk for the past few weeks thats done jack all for me so far. However, I will persevere and I will get it connected!...one day...
*However, my spelling might definitely dissappoint. Is it two s'es and two p's? I really don't know.
First of all, I bought this PC second hand for about €25. When I called the guy, he said he could give me a monitor with it too. However, he said that I might not want it because it was pretty heavy. I thought to myself, yea sure monitors are heavy but they can't be that heavy. Turns out that the monitor he was offering was massive. And it was not massive because it was like 45 inches. Instead, it was because it was a monitor along with the PC casing all in one. I haven't got to weight it. But I would estimate that it was at least 30 kgs. Anyways, it was free so I took it. And this is what I mean when I say "took": what I really meant is that I had to haul it to the nearest bus-stop and wait for two buses to come cos the first bus driver didn't even stop to pick me up. Thankfully, I didn't have to change a bus. I left the monitor at the bus stop and walked back quickly to fetch my bike. And then placed the monitor on my bike and wheeled it home.
I got the computer set up and tried to connect it to the modem in my apartment. But because the PC has Windows 98 installed, it doesn't connect automatically. Now I would ordinarily be able to work this problem out, but the bloody windows 98 was installed in Dutch! Well I guess, even if i wasn't able to conect to the Internet, I'd be able to do some of my readings and assignments on it right? WRONG!! Remember how its Windows 98? Windows 98 doesn't automatically detect USB memory sticks either! And even if I could, the PC didn't have MS Office installed...
So I've got two problems: its not connected to the Internet, and it doesn't detect my USB drive. I got some Dutch friends to help me get it connected to the modem. And the reason why it doesn't automatically connect to the Internet is because you need the drivers for the modem. Guess where you can get the drivers from? The Internet...of course. Well, maybe I can download the drivers from some other computer and then transfer it to the PC using a ...USB...stick...right.
The only option I had now was to transfer the drivers through a 3.5 inch floopy disc. Yeap a floppy disc, 1.44 mb capacity yeah. I managed to get the drivers downloaded while I was at a friend house. Finally, I was going to be able to get connected! I transferred the drivers to the hard-drive and then went to the modem set-up to install the drivers. But lo and behold, the set-up didn't recognise the drivers. Why not? Because they were in a zip-format. Of course. Except, this computer didn't have winzip installed...
And so...I thought "no problems I can just go to the unversity library and download winzip there". I went to the university library and found a computer. And then I found out that they didn't have 3.5 floppy drives on them.
Yeap and so as it stands, I've had this bloody useless PC and this monster-sized monitor sitting on my desk for the past few weeks thats done jack all for me so far. However, I will persevere and I will get it connected!...one day...
*However, my spelling might definitely dissappoint. Is it two s'es and two p's? I really don't know.
A Day to end all days: INTERNATIONAL PILLOW FIGHT DAY
Last week I had a high school friend from Singapore over. It so happened that he was coming at a really good time because lots of good stuff was happening in Amsterdam. We watched the Netherlands play Macedonia at the Arena stadium. It was pretty awesome when we entered the stadium area from the stairs. It was amazing to see the whole stadium dressed in orange! The crowd was ecstatic, especially when Holland scored its first goal. By the first half it was 3-0. The second half was pretty boring, nothing much really happened. Macedonia isin't really known to be a soccer powerhouse and they really couldn't muster much against Holland. Final score: 4-0. And my wallet €18 lighter but nonetheless a worthwhile experience.
More importantly, Saturday, April 4 2009, was International Pillow Fight Day. The name pretty much tells you what its all about. On Saturday, hundreds of people gathered at Dam Square (the place to visit if your a tourist) to participate in a massive pillow fight! I seriously had no idea who organised this and why they were doing so. I didn't really care. There was no way that I was going to miss out on it. When I read the invite on Facebook, I knew that this was something I wasn't going to miss. The Pillow Fight was set to start at 5pm that day.
On the day itself, as I was making my way to Dam Square I begun to get a bit apprehensive. There really is such a fine line between what is incredibly fun and that which is just plain stupid. I got to the square about 20 minutes early and actually, there wasn't that many people there. I begun to get even more apprehensive about it. At most, people were going to hit each other for about 10 or 20 minutes. And then they'd get tired and stop and go "now what?" Anyways, by the time it got to 5.55pm, there were heaps of people gathered around the war monument. It was beginning to look up.
At 5.00pm, the organisers rang a buzzer and the pillow fight started. Chaotic is an understatement. You couldn't even run around flailing your pillow because there was just a throng of people gathered together. I managed to spot a few friends in the crowd and when they weren't looking, I made sure that I hit them well (which really isin't that bad cos its a pillow). The pillow fight didn't last 10 minutes. Instead, it went on for about FIF-TY minutes (not just fifty, FIF-TY). By the end of the battle, many pillows had indeed been sacrificed. It was clearly evident by the fact that the ground was covered in pillow feathers. Some people would chuck handfuls of the feathers into the air and it would look like it was snowing.
One incident while during the madness of the pillow fight was when this guy hit me pretty well with his pillow. This guy was huge, easily over 2 metres tall and he was also dressed in these white overalls that made him look like a chemical inspector. There really should have been a height restriction for people like this. He clearly had an advantage over me and so I shouted "Attack the tall guy!" Haha, everyone surrounding turns around to hit him with the pillow. In the midst of the chaos, the incident made me realise how maleable people are. All of us are sheep following something or someone in one way or another. I contemplated shouting out some politically-incorrect war crys but thankfully, my better judgement prevailed.
I just went to the website to find out more about it. Check it out if you want: http://www.pillowfightday.com/
It basically says something like public event blah blah blah non-commercial blah blah blah more public and social cities blah blah...no one needs a reason to hold a massive pillow fight. I can't help but imagine how this world would be different if International Pillow Fight Day was invented before the 20th Century. How many wars would have prevented by such an ingenious idea? Hitler, Stalin, Churchhill and Musolinni should have just gathered a hundred of their best men and had a massive pillow fight to the death (of their pillows).
More importantly, Saturday, April 4 2009, was International Pillow Fight Day. The name pretty much tells you what its all about. On Saturday, hundreds of people gathered at Dam Square (the place to visit if your a tourist) to participate in a massive pillow fight! I seriously had no idea who organised this and why they were doing so. I didn't really care. There was no way that I was going to miss out on it. When I read the invite on Facebook, I knew that this was something I wasn't going to miss. The Pillow Fight was set to start at 5pm that day.
On the day itself, as I was making my way to Dam Square I begun to get a bit apprehensive. There really is such a fine line between what is incredibly fun and that which is just plain stupid. I got to the square about 20 minutes early and actually, there wasn't that many people there. I begun to get even more apprehensive about it. At most, people were going to hit each other for about 10 or 20 minutes. And then they'd get tired and stop and go "now what?" Anyways, by the time it got to 5.55pm, there were heaps of people gathered around the war monument. It was beginning to look up.
At 5.00pm, the organisers rang a buzzer and the pillow fight started. Chaotic is an understatement. You couldn't even run around flailing your pillow because there was just a throng of people gathered together. I managed to spot a few friends in the crowd and when they weren't looking, I made sure that I hit them well (which really isin't that bad cos its a pillow). The pillow fight didn't last 10 minutes. Instead, it went on for about FIF-TY minutes (not just fifty, FIF-TY). By the end of the battle, many pillows had indeed been sacrificed. It was clearly evident by the fact that the ground was covered in pillow feathers. Some people would chuck handfuls of the feathers into the air and it would look like it was snowing.
One incident while during the madness of the pillow fight was when this guy hit me pretty well with his pillow. This guy was huge, easily over 2 metres tall and he was also dressed in these white overalls that made him look like a chemical inspector. There really should have been a height restriction for people like this. He clearly had an advantage over me and so I shouted "Attack the tall guy!" Haha, everyone surrounding turns around to hit him with the pillow. In the midst of the chaos, the incident made me realise how maleable people are. All of us are sheep following something or someone in one way or another. I contemplated shouting out some politically-incorrect war crys but thankfully, my better judgement prevailed.
I just went to the website to find out more about it. Check it out if you want: http://www.pillowfightday.com/
It basically says something like public event blah blah blah non-commercial blah blah blah more public and social cities blah blah...no one needs a reason to hold a massive pillow fight. I can't help but imagine how this world would be different if International Pillow Fight Day was invented before the 20th Century. How many wars would have prevented by such an ingenious idea? Hitler, Stalin, Churchhill and Musolinni should have just gathered a hundred of their best men and had a massive pillow fight to the death (of their pillows).
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