We come home tomorrow, which we are both excited about and apprehensive about. Once we get home the whirlwind starts again, which which we're not looking forward to.
Yesterday we went to Rotterdam and Delft. The day before yesterday we went to the east side of the country (to pick up Chris and Lai Hoi's son ), then into Germany for a short while to grab the best tasting bratwurst of my life.
We had an adventure in Rotterdam. We parked in Delft at Chris's place and took the train to Rotterdam. We had a few hours to walk around and look at the cool architechture and sculpture that is everywhere in Rotterdam, then we were to take the train back to Delft so we could drive to Amsterdam pick up Annemarie and Justin from the airport, who had spent a couple days in Scotland. So we got on a tram, and were headed toward the central station, when suddenly we stopped. We sat for a few minutes, machine-gun Dutch flying around our ears, and we overheard that Central Station had been blocked off by police. (which is where we wanted to go) So we got off the tram and started walking. Even before we got off, there had been lots of emergency vehicles heading in the general direction of the station, but now they really picked up; police cars, ambulances, un-marked cars, all kinds. My antennae were starting to prick up, and I started having thoughts of Spain, London and Japan. We got there and there were police everywhere, with police cordons blocking the way to the station. I went up and asked an officer what was happing. There was an ammonia leak on the construction site (they are re-vamping the station) so everyone had to get out. However, we needed to get back to Delft, because we were on a tight schedule, so I asked if we could still get to the trains; the answer was yes, if we walk all the way around the station and come from the back side. So we proceed to do so rapidly, along with a crowd of other people trying to get to the trains. Right as we are approaching the back door, a voice on a loudspeaker says something in Dutch and everyone groans. I ask, and the whole station was being evacuated. Ok, we're down to our last option: taking the bus. So we go back across the street to find the bus stops, find the right bus number (from Chris) and....the buses are also shut down. The whole area was totally shut down. We ended up taking a tram to the other side of the city, where Lai Hoi was just getting out of class at her university, so she gave us a ride.
It was a long day, and we walked all over the city, so our legs are tired.
Today is a day of food- we are going to get all the good dutch food that you can't get in the US.
It is going to be hard to go back to the US; it has already been hard being here in the Netherlands. It is such a radically different lifestyle than the one we were living just a week ago. Consumerism, immodesty, hedonism, luxury and crazy amounts of money being spent. I had a smoked salmon sandwich yesterday, and my friends eat posho and beans every day.
Dad, we got some good cheese for you at the market today, so get some nice crackers for sunday.
Here is Justin and Annemarie's daughter
john
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