RRRoll Up the Rim To Vin.doc

Last night/this morning there was a deadly plane crash at Amsterdam's Schipol airport. Originally we heard there was only one fatality, but it was later reported that nine had died. It was a bit eerie to think that a crash of that magnitude took place only a few KMs away, but the city didn't miss a beat (everything was operating as usual). A quick review of the net informed me that it's all over the international news circuits - thank you to those who inquired if everything was OK. You probably read about the real details shortly after I did. It's a bit odd that we've had three high profile plane incidents in the past two months, isn't it?

So, the title is a shout out to one of my favourite holiday seasons, and one that is distinctly Canadian. I remember returning home from Cuba two years ago around this time and Roll Up the Rim was the only redeeming quality about being home. I will miss winning a free coffee one out of every twenty tries. So, in honour of RUTR (rutter?) and as a framing device for this post: Roll Up the Rim Amsterdam

1. You Vin a Veekend Off!
After the whirlwind of a Hyland visit, it was relaxing to have a weekend to myself. I was able to catch up on readings, finish an assignment due at the end of the week, and write a draft of one on the horizon. While I didn't spend the whole weekend looking at the inside of a library, the bulk of my time was spent among the books (I constantly have to remind myself I'm doing an MA degree - 'tis to be expected). Unfortunately, we've only had one day of sunshine in the past five but it happened to fall on Saturday so I was out and about. Amsterdam is actually gloomier than the UK if you can believe it; this constant overcast makes the urban centre appear a little gothic. I'm hoping spring comes quick!

2. You Vin a New TV!
So I don't have a TV, but I've thrown caution to the wind and started downloading a few choice shows and movies again. The rumour is that the residence handbook contains empty threats about downloading. In addition to watching Top Chef (which concludes this week) and a weekly dose of Lost, I've delved back into the world of Brothers and Sisters (mid-Season 2) and am considering a return to Six Feet Under. I also watched Vicky Christina Barcelona recently - I forgot how much of a Woody Allen fan I am. If I could emulate any writer it would be him. That being said, I've decided to try and write a screenplay. Why a screenplay you ask? Well, I was so inspired by the simplicity of Allen's story, plus the Oscar speech from Dustin Lance Black, that I'm thinking it a worthwhile project. If you have any suggestions, send them my way. Here's hoping my Atom Egoyan 'in' pays off...

3. You Vin a free coffee!
So I didn't get any coffee out of it (yet apparently am still sticking to horrible stereotypes!), but a few of us from the MAIPR group hosted a troupe of Columbian performers who are touring a play throughout Europe. It was a pretty wild evening. Only two out of the troupe of a dozen actors spoke fluent English which proved to be quite a challenge - lots of gestural communication and "dos cervezas, por favor" just wouldn't cut it. We took them out to a bar in the Rembrantplein where they promptly took over the dance floor and requested Shakira. It was great to meet some students from South America. The majority of them are completing their undergrad degrees with the hope of becoming teachers back in Columbia. A few of them thought Canada was a really exotic country and wanted to hear more about it (I don't know how you could get any more beautiful and 'exotic' than Columbia!) We exchanged email addresses all around and I will apparently be welcome in Columbia if I ever visit.

4. You Vin a Van Gogh!
Now I must explain something to your North American ears. It appears we pronounce "Van Gogh" incorrectly. Everyone here in Europe pronounces the 'g' as an 'h' as is the custom in Dutch - so it sounds more like 'gawh' or even 'gawff'. I've made the change, not wanting to sound ultra Canadian. Courtney, Adam, and I went to the Van Gogh Museum today. I was pretty certain I'd be a fan of everything I saw, as there are two of the more famous VGs that I really like, and my suspicions were confirmed. The collection was absolutely brilliance. The most enchanting quality of VG's work, aside from the irresistible use of bold and vibrant colour, is that the painting transforms depending on your proximity to it. One has to stand far back and then up close to appreciate all the tiny brushstrokes that compose the complete picture. If it wasn't socially unacceptable, I'd stand right in front of the paintings for an extended period and stare closely at the brushstrokes - the 3D quality and abundance of them is what I was most struck with at the museum. Because of my Museumkaart deal, I might just be able to visit early or late in the day and accomplish this desire (although there is usually a queue). I also took solace in knowing that VG decided to become a painter at age 26 with zero formal training. There is hope for a mid-twenties trajectory shift.

5. You Vin the Boobie Prize!
Nope, nothing to do with the Red Light Distrist - just a grab bag of interesting items.

• I was getting a bit down and out about keeping up with blogging this past week (since it takes a lot of effort when you have a pile of readings to attend to) when I was able to correspond with friends that are notoriously hard to get a hold of - one a busy professional actress in Toronto ;) and the other at a renowned acting school in New York (shout outs all around!) Hearing from them that they were up-to-date with blog activity, and continue to be so, is all I needed to hear to keep the wheels turning.

• My new favourite beer in Amsterdam is called Leffe (pronounced Lef-eh). We went out after the Columbian workshop on Monday for "one drink" and since it was Leffe we said "just one more" about four times. Can you get this stuff in Canada? Nectar from the Gods.

• I cooked with eggplant for the first time ever. I made an eggplant, zucchini, and tomato sauce for some pasta. Since it's quite good for you I hope to keep experimenting with it.

Doc's Prescription for the Day: Please Play Again / Réessayez S.V.P ©

Oscar Predictions.doc

So, I have no way of watching the Oscars tonight. For one, I don't think I can find a streaming feed that'll be broadcasting, and two, the Best Picture will probably be announced two hours before I get up and start my day - thanks six hour time difference! Instead, I'm going to join all those other bloggers out there who predict the races that matter. A more interesting post would include who will win and who should win, but since I've only seen two of the Oscar films, I am not claiming to be a competent judge. Without further ado, posted one hour before the official ceremonies start...

Best Original Screenplay: Milk

Best Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire

Animated Feature Film: WALL-E

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis

Best Actor: Mickey Rourke

Best Actress: Kate Winslet

Best Director: Danny Boyle

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire 

Deep down I think Sean Penn and Penelope Cruz will take home the statues, but for the sake of fun I'm going with the two upsets of Rourke and Davis. So many of the categories are near locks that it's better to pick off the beaten path - it would be dreadfully boring if everything turned out as they're predicting it will.

Doc's Prescription of the Day: I also predict Hugh Jackman will be a fantastic host. Enjoy the ceremony since I am unable to.

Flip Cups, Not Bikes: The Hyland Games (Part 2).doc

Tuesday was one of the most memorable nights in Europe thus far. Not only was a best friend from home meeting the whole MAIPR crew, but there was also a birthday to be celebrated.

As with any party thrown by Hincksy and the Doctor, no detail went unnoticed. We stocked the fridge with Heineken, added a bowl of chips for consumption, and prepared all the necessary elements for a traditional Canadian flip cup competition. There was, unfortunately, only one hitch - no red plastic cups. Emily imported a package of clear plastic cups from France, since all attempts to find something similar in Amsterdam were unsuccessful, but upon pre-party testing we found that these too were a little unfit (they only flipped successfully twice out of twenty tries). Never fear; we didn't panic. We experimented with how to make them better.

Our very first invention proved to be the winner! I'm not sure where our physics ingenuity came from but I was floored that we were able to make “a better flipping cup.” We affixed a coin to the brim of each cup with stick tack to provide some stability to the top. This eliminated the bouncy quality of the flimsy plastic and provided just the right amount of weight so that flipping became more frequent - in our preliminary tests about a flip each four tries (this seemed about right for not having played in a over a year). We prepared ten cups and were ready to host. The obligatory time spent waiting for the guests to arrive is always difficult, so we took some photos.

As everyone arrived we settled into a good round of party conversation before getting to the “games” portion of the evening. Zhenya brought a friend of hers who was visiting from Russia which brought the country total to six. At last, it was time to introduce some Canadian flip cup. I was nervous at first that people would be a little too intimidated to play (since there was a large table in the centre of the room and cups adorned with coins) but the moment I asked nine hands went up in the air. We played a few rounds to introduce everyone to both the musical interlude that accompanies the flipping and the development of individual techniques. We then got down to business – an international flip cup tournament with three teams: Team AussieBrit with the colonial connection (Bec, Stu, and Adam); Team Subzero Vodka (Zhenya, Anya, and Hetta); and Team North Americanizzle (Emily, Courtney, and I).

The coin on cup action worked wonders. In the first round, Team N.A. downed Team S.V. with a score of two rounds to one. In our second match, we blanked team A.B. in three straight rounds. It was an amazing win for N.A. that, with two members from the North, solidified Canada as the flip cup champions! Team A.B. then went on to claim second prize over S.V., but by that time everyone in Canada was too busy celebrating to notice. We played a few more rounds until…unfortunately, we received a noise complaint from the Residence Assistant in the flat beneath. Whoops. Flip cup isn’t really conducive to hushed voices and mini-victories, so we moved on to many rounds of “the finger game” and “Kings.” (Sidenote: Parents, family, and concerned readers – while “drinking games” may read like irresponsible overindulgence, I can assure you we always keep things under control. We have MA degrees please remember). Photo previdence:

All stocked up.

Practice rounds.

Let the games begin.

Yeah, we're pros.

Team AussieBrit.

Trash-talking.

Taking down Team Subzero Vodka.

Coin-cup ingenuity.

Doctor in action.

Team North America is triumphant!

Post-competition debrief.

At 12:00am we sang a hushed, but heartfelt, version of Happy Birthday to a very glowing Miss Hincks. I reminded her that she has spent her birthday in four different countries in the past three years – Cuba, Canada, the Netherlands, and France later that night. To avoid further noise issues, we made our way to a bar around the corner from my place. It’s actually a small pub located underneath Adam’s residence (talk about a noise complaint!). It was absolutely jam-packed but we managed to find some standing room. It was a really neat student hangout. We stayed there for some time, before we peaced out from the MAIPR crew and made our way back to the apartment. It was really special to have Emily meet everyone I study with this year. While they’re all really different from the dear friends I have at home, I really value their friendship here in Europe.

Emily’s birthday morning was a relaxing contrast to the fanfare of the evening before. We slept in to a respectable time, picked up a baguette and some grapes from the grocery store, and walked to the Museumplein. I had grand plans of taking her to the free lunch time concert on Wednesdays, but unfortunately the concert hall was full by the time we arrived. We spent some time just listening to the beautiful piano from the lobby with all the other visitors that were unable to get in. From there we went on a leisurely walk through the city centre and Chinatown until we reached Central Station. My favourite part of the day was sitting in the really spiffy cafe where we sipped on coffees and reflected on the whirlwind weekend. The three days were unbelievably fun which made the parting all the more difficult – bustling train platforms feel positively empty when you say goodbye to a close friend.

The verdict from all of the MAIPR friends, obviously, was that Emily is one cool chick. One classmate said, “If all your friends back home are that fun, you’re one lucky guy.” Yes, I most definitely am.

Doc’s Prescription of the Day: If you have some trouble with your cups a flippin’, affix some copper to get ‘er right tippin’.

Emsterdam: The Hyland Games (Part 1).doc

Emily arrived and departed, but undoubtedly left her stamp on Amsterdam.

I picked her up on a rainy Sunday evening from the Amstel bus station which just so happens to be a convenient 15 minute walk from my house. On the way, I was pestered by a persistent (but harmless) homeless man who followed me for two minutes asking for a handout. He told me his name was Eric. He was so persistent that if I had had any change in my pockets I would have given it to him, but I unfortunately didn't. I greeted Emily at the bus station, where she had made friends with a lady with a baby (obvi!), and we set off for the apartment. We ran into Eric again. I felt like I needed to introduce them at this point:

"Emily....Eric"
"Eric....Emily"

After shaking him off, Emily told me all about her trip to Brussels and I gave her a play-by-play of plans for the next three evenings. We dropped our things back home and were out the door 15 minutes later. Both sides of the dynamic duo had packed a beer for the greeting at the bus station so we consumed those before hitting the town. At the tram stop, which was to take us half way across the city in the rain, we ran into Eric again (three times in one night). He still asked for a 5 Euro bill for his troubles, but we declined yet again. Emily said that we could probably expect to see him at the bar.

Em had been in the city less than an hour before she found herself in line for one of the best Sunday night hangouts in Amdam: De Trut. Luckily, we arrived just when the line started forming so it wasn't a long wait. Upon entry, I introduced my favourite fellow bargain hunter to the reason why the bar is such a great hangout - 1.50 entry and 1 Euro pints (the unisex bathroom is pretty cool too). It was a really busy night and the crowd was quite eclectic.

With the atmosphere in the club geared more towards hanging out and chilling more than dancing, we took the opportunity to do a lot of the former. While we may talk on skype every third day, there is nothing like having one of your best friends there in the flesh; we both realized we were talking a mile a minute! We stayed until near closing and encountered a momentary DISASTER when we went to retrieve coats - mine was missing. Between flashing back to Emma's coat woes in 4th year and looking for a decent coat to take in its place, a guy returned with my jacket with apologies up and down that it looked like his. On the way home we stopped for some fries and peanut sauce (yes, like mayo, it's a condiment that gets a lot of action here in the Netherlands) and were treated to a wonderful skype conversation with Megan and Michael who had just enjoyed dinner at the Deeks residence.

Having no class on Monday was like having a good old Family Day as I remember them from years past. While we missed the unique Canadian traditions and long-developed customs of the holiday, we had our own fun on Monday. We completed two quick errands, a stop to the bank and the library, before devoting the whole day to Family fun - we explored around the centre of town, stopped into a few of Amsterdam's finer shops, and then retreated back to home base. There we played many a survivor games (you must be use to this by now!) and philosophized about our future Euro plans. The highlight of the day was the movie game we played (described in this post) where some of the movie scenarios created are just too good not to recount here: AWray and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jono and Schadinger, Michael Murphy and (oddly enough) Michael Murphy, and Bonnie and Me. This provided hours of entertainment. After such mind bending exercise, we made a delicious peanut chicken stir-fry, inspired by Steve's recipe, and wasted away the evening. The day flew by!

On Tuesday I had six hours of class so Emily stayed at home while I prayed for a quick and painless day. It wasn't quick and wasn't exactly painless (tough lectures) but I think this was just a product of knowing that Emily was in town. I got through the day and raced home to get to party planning. Emily had fixed a coffee for my arrival - it was a painful reminder of the good old Isabella days. I was able to debrief about my day and I was happy to hear that she had been able to keep herself busy in the city AND make it back to the apartment without the aid of a map (so clever!). We had leftovers for dinner, moved the furniture around for optimal flip cup shenanigans, purchased a 24 pack of beer for 8.50 Euros at the grocery store (isn't it insane?) and waited for our guest to arrive.

Tomorrow: The epic party, the birthday morning, and a sad goodbye.

Doc's Prescription of the Day: Avoid Eric at all costs. He may be harmless, but he's persistent when you see him three times in one night. Peanut sauce, however, must be embraced wherever you may find it.

Looooong Weekending.doc

Fellow Canadians, we are sharing a long weekend! You lot back home will be engaging in the long practiced customs and traditions of Family Day on Monday while I enjoy a long weekend here in the Netherlands. OK, so technically all my weekends are long. Having Friday and Monday free from class makes for a great week. It will be short lived, however, since I have workshops being added to the schedule for most of the Fridays in March and a class on Fridays in April. But until then, I've been maximizing the time off.

This past week I was lucky enough to catch two films! Dedicated readers will be use to my complaint that I haven't been seeing many movies, and I just so happened to see two of year's best (if you subscribe to the Oscar categories). A group of us went to see Slumdog Millionaire at a really old cinema in the city centre. I really enjoyed the film. While I think it might have been a bit over hyped, I thought the narrative frame was innovative and the acting superb. The other film I saw was Milk which solidified my appreciation of the work of both Sean Penn and Emile Hirsch. I thought the story was an honest and unapologetic look at the legendary figure. It's just too bad that it wasn't released before the Prop 8 vote in California.

Friday night we had a get together to welcome Jamal from Finland at Dev and Stu's place. To give some background, Dev and Stu have a two bedroom flat in one of the residences. They didn't request to live together, but it has proved to be a pretty hilarious coincidence for us in the program. Dev is from India and Stu is from England - cue the quirky sitcom music. It actually couldn't be more fitting for a cliche sitcom (something named "East meets West" for instance) since Dev is a natural clown, and Stu is more of a straight man. Seeing them cook together was a show in itself. We dined on fajitas, played some games as a bit of a throw back to Warwick, and then hit the town to show Jamal some of the Amsterdam spirit. I've said it before, but I realized again Friday night that we have a really fun group here. There hasn't been a bad night since landing in Amsterdam.

Saturday I treated myself to a sleep in before hitting up the library. The library on Valentine's Day, you say?? Well, the extra weekend work (I did a lot of it) was in preparation for Emily's arrival tonight. I wanted to clear all of my readings so that I wasn't burdened by academia while she's in town. I managed to get a draft of an assignment done that is due at the end of the month and make my way through two readings for Tuesday. I had grand plans of staying until 8 or 9 but the library closed at 6pm?! After checking the schedule, I realized the weekend hours are really short - something I miss from the Stauffer and Robarts days. Upon arrival back at home I was able to connect with a great many people back home - Mom, Dad, and Brother, Aunt and Uncle, Meg, Jess, and Erin - all of whom sent love from Canada. VDay really is about spreading the love.

Today I'm madly rushing to get everything done on my end before Emily gets here - I still have some school work to complete, grocery items to pick up, and a quick clean of the apartment to do. Also on my list is to capitalize on a lead I have on getting a bike in the city! They're actually quite expensive here (100 Euros+ for a used one), so I'm hoping that I can get my hands on this one. More on that in the next post. I'm especially excited about the party on Tuesday to celebrate Emily's birthday. The MAIPR group has heard a few stories of our escapades and I'm really excited for Em to meet the students I've been talking about these past few months. I will be meeting her at the bus station in six short hours!

Doc's Prescription of the Day: Spend some quality time with your wonderful families on Monday. I'm lucky that I'll be spending it with a member of my family of friends.