A Hell of a Weekend

Hey

wow, what a weekend!

Saturday was errand day and I now have a fully working bank account complete with bank card. Hopefully I'll get paid this week so I can add to my account. I also refilled my new cell phone with credit, so I can actually call ppl now. It's expensive here, and if I call during the day (the non-cheap hour), I could pay as much as 45 cents a min.

The main event that day was Eric's b-day. My roomies and I bought him a new pair of gloves (he lost his old ones) and a nice wallet. We celebrated with a nice steak dinner and a big party at our place in the evening. It was a nice party, with many international students in attendance.

Sunday

Peter (the AIESEC guy that arranged for me to come here) got the car and took all of us trainees on a nice day trip to Scheveningen. After a 2 hour drive (literally crossing the entire country from East to West) we arrived at our destination at about 2pm. Scheveningen is like the Gold Coast of Australia or the beaches of Miami. It's this nice beach side city that's on coast to the North Sea. Too bad we went during the winter when it's cold and rainy, but during the summer, it's excellent for surfing and sunbathing. We went for lunch in one of a number of eateries around the beach. It was actually the first time I wentout to eat here, so the first thing I noticed were all the menus were only in Dutch. Peter had to translate for me. I settled on Eel Sandwich on ciabatta bread . It was really good, and large portioned. It was even better since it was cheap, about 6 Euros. It was something I never had before, and it taste better then it sounds (taste like smoke salmon). Another thing I learned here, water isn't free. If you ask for water, they bring you a bottle of spring water for 1.50 Euro, which kind of bites =(
After our late lunch, we went to this pier complex that extend past the water. It contains tourist shops, a casino, and a tower built primarily so ppl can bungee jump from it. After ducking into the new buy waterfront mall to avoid the rain, we made our way to the Kurchaus Hotel. It was a very nice hotel, definitely 4 stars and up. It starts at 176 euros a night. After that, it was off to Peter's parent's house.
Peter's Parents had invited us for a traditional Dutch dinner at their house this evening. They live in a little town about 20 min from Enschede. We had
stampot andijvie (mash potatoes mixed with cabbage) served with piccadilly sauce (like mustard and relish mixed together), sausages, and thick pan fried bacon. It was so good, and a good experience to try Dutch cuisine. Now I'm home and getting ready to sleep. Work again tomorrow =(
but it was definitely a nice weekend

That's all for now

LEs