Farewells and Flat Tires, Sailboats and Weddings

Well it is now official. I am currently the only trainee left in Wageningen. A week ago Thursday we had the farewell dinner for our good friend Farid. When I say we had, I mean he made dinner for all of us. It was quite good, and I’m told a common French dish. To me it seemed a little like scallop potatoes back home but with meat and cheese thrown in too. It was quite good as can be seen in the pictures. AIESEC also presented Farid with some gifts that would help him make little Dutch pancakes. Another trainee has moved on and like all the rest we will miss him as well as his wonderful girlfriend Ayet. I wish them both the best of luck back in France.

That Saturday afternoon I set out like I usually do this time of the week to buy some groceries. However, when I came upon my bike I found it laying on its side itstead of upright in the outdoor bike rack. I picked it up and found that the front tire was completely flat. Scotty was out of commision. Oh well, I’d worry about it later because I still had to buy groceries. The store isn’t too far away so I just walked instead. When I got home I told Hillebrand and Simona about my bad luck. Hillebrand offered to help me patch up the tire if I could get some tools from Adrienne. So I waited until Adrienne got home and borrowed his bike repair kit. I then went downstairs to bring up the bike so Hillebrand and I could take a closer look. As I was taking it out of the elevator I noticed that the back tire seemed to be losing air as well. We got it in the corridor and took a closer look at the tires and found that this had been deliberate. There were thin cuts on both sides of the front tire and also in two places on the back tire. Someone had used a knife to puncture my tires. Someone had assaulted poor Scotty. It didn’t look like we would be able to repair this. Oh well, I figured this sort of thing just happens. Nothing I could do but take him to get new tires on Monday. I was informed by Simona and Hillebrand that most stores in town are closed on Monday mornings and that I would have better luck going in the afternoon.

So Monday morning I made the 30 minute hike up the hill to work which turned out to be closer to 40 minutes with Scotty being dragged beside me. Then at lunch time I dragged him down to the center of town to the bike shop and found that this store happens to be closed all day on Monday. Of course, why would a bike shop want to open on a Monday? That’s just crazy talk. So I dragged Scotty back up the hill to work for the second time that day and then made the 40 minute walk back home at the end of the day as well. Needless to say, I was becoming a little more annoyed with the situation as time passed. Never the less, Tuesday morning I was back out again dragging Scotty’s sorry butt through town but this time I stopped at the bike shop before work. Lucky for them, they were open that day. I went in and left the bike, I mean Scotty, with the guy who would put on two brand new mountain bike tires and it should be ready the end of the day. Finally at the end of the day I made my way back to the bike shop and after dishing out 60 Euros(nearly $80 Canadian) me and Scotty headed home, good as new. I no longer leave him locked up at the bike racks outside. I always put him in the sheds out back now. Won’t be taking any more chances after all the money I’ve spent on him the last few months.

After that unfortunate mess things were looking up for the weekend. This weekend was the great Rotterdam Reception Weekend. This would be a weekend of sailing on the Ijsselmeer, the largest fresh water lake in Europe located in Northern Holland. Four of us would be going from Wageningen but only Dorien and I would be leaving from here. So on Saturday morning we agreed to meet at the bus station at the center of town. I could have biked but I didn’t want to leave my bike outside for the weekend after the week I just had so I decided to walk. Just my luck it was pouring rain that morning. A girl back home had message me the other day telling me that I had the worst luck of anyone she has ever known. Before I thought she was crazy, but maybe she was on to something. Regardless, I made it to the bus station at 7:15am. I was a little damp since my rain jacket seems to absorb water rather than resist it but the important thing is I showed up on time. A couple minutes later Dorien arrived and we boarded the bus to begin our journey. The route of the bus happened to go through town and actually went right by a bus stop outside my building. I could have easily caught the bus there. Neither of us knew that before. Luckily I learned a long time ago to laugh at the funny things in life. I will just know better for next time.

The bus took us to Ede where we then caught a train all the way to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam we met up with Onne from our group as well as almost all the other AIESEC people from around the country who were arriving as well. We then all piled onto a bus that took us to Muiden where we would meet our vessel. This is also where Lisanne from our group met up with us too. We now had our whole group. It was time to come aboard the Sanne Sophia. It was quite a large boat, the biggest sail boat I’ve been on with 3 masts and a huge party room below deck. We dumped our stuff down stairs and went back up and waited for departure. Luckily the rain had stopped and the skies were beginning to clear. It was also getting warmer and would turn out to be a great day for sailing. It took us awhile to leave because we had to wait in a queue to pass through the lock of the canal to get out onto the open water. This took over an hour but once we were out the hoisted they sails and we were on our way.

On board I had the chance to meet with other AIESEC trainees, some I had met in Utrect a few months earlier and some new faces I had not met before. Leslie and Adam from Canada were both there which was good to see as well as Anna, Leslie's house mate from Serbia. One of the few people I have met here who has actually heard of Prince Edward Island. Sadly it is because of the television show Road to Avonlea. I also met Vikas who was born in Canada but grew up in India. The funny thing is that we had been emailing each other before I came to Holland both trying to figure out how the Holiday Work Visa worked. What is also funny is that Vikas had gotten his information from Leslie. It looks like it all worked out in the end for everybody.

After a wonderful day of sailing we started to come upon our destination of Hoorn but the ship dropped anchor just outside the harbour for a time honored AIESEC Netherlands tradition. The national board was passing on their duties to the new board and to complete the process each of the new members had to dive into the water and chase the old member who had the key to their office. It was a very fun and wet experience for all involved full of speeches, hugs, and champagne.

It was then onto the harbour of Hoorn. A few of us went into town to do some sightseeing and take some pictures. When we returned to the ship we were treated with shoarma for dinner and it was good. After that it was time to unwind with some beer, wine, and weird apple flavoured liquor called Pucker. It’s great to have a bar on the boat. Later in the night we all migrated into town and walked to a local pub where we all hung out and had a good time. At the end it was back to the boat to get some sleep.

Trying to find a place to sleep on the lower deck of a sail boat with 60 other people is no easy task. I finally manage to find my own little piece of floor right next to a stack of chairs. I even had to stick my head underneath these chairs to have enough room. Not the most comfortable or safe arrangements but it would have to do. Now if only everyone would be quiet. Most people were trying to sleep but it seemed that a handful of people wanted to keep the party going. There was a lot of yelling and screaming, and one guy was even ringing a bell. I was pretty close to losing my patience but then I suddenly just passed out. I guess exhaustion had just finally over taken me. Hey lucky me.

Next thing I know I wake up because it is raining on my head. I open my eyes and there is something hanging over my head dripping on my face. With great effort I sit up and find that some one had draped their soaking wet air mat over the stack of chairs I was sleeping under. I don’t know why it was soaking wet, I didn’t much care. I just didn’t want it dripping on me anymore. I didn’t so much move it as I did nudge it so the corner wasn’t hanging over my head anymore. Now I could get some sleep. At least the noisy people had finally passed out. As I lied down I found that my pillow was dripping wet. No matter, I’m gonna sleep if it kills me. After several short spurts of sleep it was finally morning and people were starting to move around. I lied there on my back for awhile looking up when suddenly someone passed by bumping the stack of chairs. They wobbled for a second then started coming down on me. Luckily I was awake at this moment to reach up and stop them from toppling onto me. Otherwise I would have been pretty grumpy that morning.

Weather on Sunday turned out to be much worse than it was on Saturday. It rained all morning and it was cold and windy all day. It didn’t much matter to us then, we were all very tired and just wanted to go home so home we went. It was really a great weekend, and I can easily see why it is the most popular reception weekend of the year.

Sadly this week was the week Simona moved out of the corridor. She has been waiting to hear whether she will be able to study here in Wageningen for the next two years and just this week she got the good news. However she went home to Czech for the month of August and then in September she’ll be moving into Asserpark a few blocks away. She had been really stressing out about it all month and I’m glad to see it worked out for her and I’m glad she’ll be coming back in the fall. I’m sorry to see another room mate leave but before she left she somehow talked me into making dinner for her and her boyfriend/former corridor mate Hillebrand. Czech girls are clever like that I guess. She buttered me up real good saying that my shepherds pie was just phenomenal. Well I couldn’t argue with her there. It is rather good. So Hillebrand and Simona came by that evening with some wine and they helped me make what I think was my best shepherds pie yet. We then followed it up with some ice cream. Nothing says celebration like wine, Shepherds Pie, and ice cream. Now the great thing is they owe me dinner next time.

Finally I would just like to take a quick moment to extend my congratulations to my friends AJ and Krista who got married yesterday Aug 6, 2005 back on Prince Edward Island. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to help celebrate but I wish you both all the best in your new life together.

Well that wraps up another exciting installment of The BYTE in Holland. I think things will be really picking up in the coming weeks. All the students will be coming back soon, I’ll be getting a bunch of new roommates, and all the partying and mayhem will get under way so stay tuned. Until next time….