I'm back from the Netherlands and ready to dish out the highlights. Some background first. I was invited to present some work at the annual meeting of the Psychometric Society, which this year was held in Tilburg, The Netherlands. So Paige and I flew to Amsterdam, spent a day there and then proceeded to Tilburg. At the conclusion of the conference, we headed back to Amsterdam for one last night before flying home. it felt like we were in a saturday night live skit for a week.
Highlights (and Lowlights)
- the dutch maritime museum in the amsterdam
- not screwing up my presentation
- the train system. there's is great, amtrak's sucks
- bikes that fold up
- repeatedly saying (to no one in particular) "yo goldmember! i don't speak freaky-deaky dutch!"
- watching a breakdance team perform
- hearing beyonce and the beyonce's remixed with nirvana. did you know that "lose my breath" and "smells like teen spirit" actually sound great when played over one another?
- seeing one of the girls in the red light district and thinking she was a manequin until she moved.
- the sun being out until 10:30 at night
- the idiot woman behind us on flight to amsterdam. yes lady, we can see that we're flying at an altitude at 33,000 feet. and yes we know you only thought Guess Who (one of the in flight movies) was funny because you're tired. we're tired too, and would like to sleep, so how about shutting the hell up?
- the rain on sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, and saturday
- the argentinian steak in tilburg. actually the steak was good. the sickness in the middle of the night was like montezuma's revenge.
- capri pants...on men
- not going into any coffee shops
- dam square being essentially a mix of times square and the boardwalk on a beach. just so disappointing
- the tourist guide book that recommended taking tram route 20 in amsterdam. there is no tram route 20.
- being stopped for a random security check in amsterdam airport on the way home. the conversation with the guy who checked our bags went something like this:
HIM: Are you traveling together
Paige: (nodding) Yes
Me: Uh huh
HIM: Are you married?
Paige: No
Me: No
HIM: Why not?
Paige: (pointing to me) Ask him.
Me: (just staring)
Yeah, good times! And then the guy proceeded to tell us R. Kelly was his cousin.
- Amsterdam security noticing a black line on Paige's passport, which had to be verified by a supervisor, then called in to the supervisor's supervisor, and then run through the computer. Of course, they eventually let us through. Upon arriving in Newark, they noticed it and detained her for a while and did the same runaround, saying they'd been expecting her and eagerly anticipating seeing her passport.
- going from a king size bed in the hotel in amsterdam to a bed smaller than the ones they issue you in college in the "student housing" at the conference. oh, and the communal showers were good times too. let me just tell you how happy paige was.
- not having hot water one day. as our new friend olav says "that's holland!"
- not catching any soccer. the world youth championships were in tilburg the week before we were there. woulda been great!
- finally figuring out a way to order a beer that doesn't come with lemon
- going to a cuban restaurant basically for rum
- australian ice cream. just top notch.
All told a nice trip, got to see some strange things but by the end i was ready to come home.
Wow, sounds like an interesting trip. I like the airport conversation. And I'm glad to hear you were able to get around enough to get beer. But capris on men? That's just weird.
Posted by: Rick at July 12, 2005 09:27 PM