Fun Canadian Fact =)
Came across this as I was surfing the net
PER CAPITA, CANADIANS BUY MORE DIAMONDS THAN ANYONE ON EARTH.
pretty cool =)
LEs
posted by leslie at 10:06 a.m.
|
0 comments
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Monday, April 25, 2005
A fun week in review
Hello
It was quite fun during the last week.
Last Monday, I got my midterm back from Dutch class which I did the week before. Funny thing is that the week before the exam, I was sick and didn’t go to class. Therefore, when I came to class that Monday, I had no idea that it was midterm day. I didn’t study or look over anything. Fortunately, the test was easy, and when I got it back last Monday, I got 80%. It’s quite the boost to the confidence knowing I can wing the test and still get 80% =)
Anyways, since it was the usual Monday bar night, I celebrated my success =)
Wednesday was my second time at Jiu Jitsu. The warm up was harder this time with more push ups and sit ups but my ego didn’t let me quit. I learnt some new ways to defend myself if I was knocked down so that will be useful when I walk down the mean streets on Enschede hehe.
Also, Wednesday marked 7 months that I been with Connie. I miss you Sweetie! =(
The rest really start to get fun on Thursday. Ana’s friend from France, Jonathan, came to stay with us for a couple days. I got to use my French for the first time in a little while. J'ai appris beaucoup du français au cours du week-end, mais Ana était toujours le meilleur Français parlant.
Friday, we all went over Hinke’s place for a BBQ. It was my first BBQ of the year so I was looking forward to it. Hinke lives with 10 other people, and with our 5 (Mizuki left for Spain on Friday), there was quite a lot of food there. We had burgers, fish, kebabs, and salads. Wine was quite abundant as well. After dinner, a fire was started and my firebug tendency kicked in to maintain a nice warm fire for everyone. Equally impressive, Shing came by bus so was bikeless when it was time to go home. Shing rather then sitting at the back of one of our bikes for 20 minutes proceeded to run the entire way back home instead. It was impressive site and made possible by his love of playing football all the time (copious amounts of alcohol to slow inhibition and reason may also have been a factor).
Saturday was sports. We all sacrificed our usually 12-14 hours of sleep on Saturdays, to get up early to play football. AIESEC and us organised a little tournament. I was pretty bad and out skilled. My team, the Mighty Beavers, put up a good fight, but went 0 for 2.
Afterwards, we went to go get ice cream (it was such a nice warm day) before breaking off with AIESEC to get groceries for the weekend. Enschede was bustling with more activity and people then usual due to the batavierenrace (a big long distance race). Every year, there is a long distance race from Nijmegen to Enschede and it began. Students or anybody really, take part in various legs of the race with the final stretch ending in Enschede. In the evening, there is a big party held on campus and it is actually the biggest Student party in the Netherlands, attracting upwards of 10000 students. Therefore, after a nice supper, we headed to the campus to join in the festivities. I bumped into Tina (a nice girl I met at the International Student Party earlier this month). We also met up with Sandra and her friends so there were plenty of people to hang out with. The campus was packed but we had a lot of fun. Good times =)
Sunday was a relaxing day. I have been downloading a new game, Evil Genius, so I was playing that all day. I’m glad since I downloaded a few, but none of them worked on my computer until now =(
The highlight of the evening was the French meal Jonathan cooked for us. Besides 2 French salads, sausage, cheeses, and wine, we had escargot =)
I had them before and I love it, but it was a first for the rest of my roommates. It was a great meal.
Today it’s back to the usual grind, as I sat here at the office on my lunch break, and now later at home. Tonight is the usual Dutch class followed by the get together at the pub. Looking ahead, on Saturday is Queen’s Day. For my non-Dutch readers, it’s a National Holiday to celebrate the Queen’s Birthday (The Dutch Queen Beatrix, not the English one). We are headed to Amsterdam on Saturday to join in the festivities. I also have to wear something orange that day as per tradition. 2 weeks later, I’m headed to Austria to watch hockey.
I’ll post pictures later
Take care everyone
LEs
posted by leslie at 5:42 p.m.
|
0 comments
New Canadian Top 10
TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN NOVA SCOTIA
1. The only place in North America to get bombed in the war ... by a moron who set a munitions ship on fire (* editor's note: well, technically, it was an accident)
2. Your province is shaped like male genitalia
3. Everyone is a fiddle player
4. If someone asks if you're a Newfie, you are allowed to kick their ass
5. The local hero is an insane, fiddle playing, sexual pervert
6. The province that produced Rita MacNeil, the world's largest land mammal (* Canadian Folk singer who is always on TV but nobody watches)
7. You are the reason Anne Murray makes money (* Another Canadian folk singer, but more respected)
8. You can pretend you have Scottish heritage as an excuse to wear a kilt
9. The economy is based on fish, lobster, and fiddle music
10. Even though it smells like dead sea animals, Halifax is considered Canada's most beautiful city
(optional) 11. You have the highest tides in the world, but you have to share them with New Brunswick
I had a really fun weekend and lots of pictures. Only so much I can do on a lunch break so they will be coming soon
LEs
posted by leslie at 11:53 a.m.
|
1 comments
Monday, April 18, 2005
Quick Update & Bermuda Shorts Day
Hello
Just a short post this time
Nothing new to report, it was a generally quiet weekend. The funniest thing I did this weekend was attend a party thrown by the International Student's club. Met lots of people and had a good time. Was also very impressed with myself as I figured out how to make a good shepherds Pie, and I made that on Sunday. It's nice since the whole house is made up of master chefs.
Right now back in Canada, school is officially over and there are just exams left before people go on Holidays. Traditionally on the last day of school at my University, we celebrate something called Bermuda Shorts Day. Basically, people come to university wearing Hawaiian shorts and beach outfits (even if it is snowing). The student's Unions organises Beer Gardens (basically an outdoor concert with alcohol) and other events that day. Classes are still exist that day, but in reality, it is really only optional. The origin of this all day party and drinkfest at the university started when someone wrote on a chalk board in a major lecture hall "Wear Bermuda shorts on the last day of School." Good times, and I'm sure my friends back home all had a good time.
I'll write more later
LEs
posted by leslie at 11:16 a.m.
|
0 comments
Canadian Top 10s
Hello
I use to have a weekly top ten section in the AIESEC house Bulletin board that Eric set up. However, since Eric left, it has fallen into disuse. Therefore, I'll transfer the list to my web blog now. I may do the same thing for my weekly "Canadianisms" and my Fun Canadian Facts section.
Anyways, here are the previous top tens and a brand new one
TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
1. Weed
2. Vancouver: 1.5 million people and two bridges
3. The local hero is a pot-smoking snowboarder
4. The local wine doesn't taste like malt vinegar
5. Your $400,000 Vancouver home is 5 hours from downtown
6. A university with a nude beach
7. You can throw a rock and hit three Starbucks locations (* Starbucks is one of the biggest Coffee chains in North America)
8. If a cop pulls you over, just offer them some of your hash
9. There's always some sort of deforestation protest going on
10. Cannabis
TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN ALBERTA
1. Big Rock (Canada's Best Brewery)
2. Steven Harper (the Leader of the Conservatives. Hard core conservative/religious party)
3. Tax is 7 percent instead of approx. 200 percent
4. The Premier is a fat, wife-beating alcoholic with a grade 4 education
5. Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers (Ice Hockey - Provincial Rivals)
6. Calagry Stampeders vs. Edmonton Eskimos (Canadian Football (not soccer) league -Provincial rivals)
7. You can exploit almost any natural resource you can think of
8. Eventually, it will be your town's turn to ban Smoking
9. The Americans below you are all in anti-government militia groups
10. You can attempt to murder your rich oil tycoon husband and get away with it (updated: Fake a rape incident in the US and shame your city when you get home)
TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN SASKATCHEWAN
1. You never run out of wheat
2. Those cool Saskatchewan Wheat Pool hats (*Everyone seems to wear the same brand of hat with the Wheat pool logo)
3. Cruise control takes on a whole new meaning
4. Your province is really easy to draw
5. You never have to worry about roll-back if you have a standard
6. It takes you two weeks to walk to your neighbor's house
7. YOUR Roughriders survived (* Roughriders are the Provincial Canadian Football (not Soccer) Team that aren't that good, but has the most loyal fans)
8. You can watch the dog run away from home for hours
9. People will assume you live on a farm
10. Buying a huge John Deere mower makes sense (*John Deere = Company that makes grass mowers and large farming machinese)
TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN MANITOBA
1. You wake up one morning to find you suddenly have beachfront property
2. Amusing town names like "Flin Flon" and "Winnipeg"
3. All your local bands make it big and move to Toronto
4. The only province to ever violently rebel against the federal government
5. Hundreds of huge, horribly frigid lakes
6. Nothing compares to a wicked Winnipeg winter
7. You don't need a car, just take the canoe to work
8. You can be an Easterner or a Westerner depending on your mood
9. Because of your license plate, you are still "friendly" even when you cut someone off (* Provincial slogan on licence plate: Friendly Manitoba*)
10. Pass the time watching trucks and barns float by
TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN ONTARIO
1. You live in the center of the universe
2. Your $400,000 Toronto home is actually a dump
3. You and you alone decide who will win the federal election
4. There's no such thing as an Ontario Separatist
5. Your grandparents sold booze to the States during Prohibition
6. Lots of tourists come to Toronto because they mistakenly believe it's a cool city
7. The only province with hard-core American-style crime
8. MuchMusic's Speaker's Corner - rant and rave on national TV - for a looney
9. Baseball fans park on your front lawn and pee on the side of your house
10. Mike Harris: basically a sober Ralph Klein
TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN QUEBEC
1. Everybody assumes you're an asshole
2. Racism is socially acceptable
3. The only province to ever kidnap federal politicians
4. You can take bets with your friends on which English neighbor will move out next
5. Other provinces basically bribe you to stay in Canada
6. The FLQ (* Canada's homegrown terrorist group - see #3)
7. Your hockey team is made up entirely of dirty French guys
8. The province with the oldest, nastiest hookers
9. NON-smokers are the outcasts
10. You can blame all your problems on the "Anglo bastards"
TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN NEW BRUNSWICK *New*
1. You are sandwiched between the French assholes and the drunken Celtic fiddlers
2. One way or another, the government gets 98 percent of your income
3. You're poor, but not as poor as the Newfies
4. When listing the provinces, everyone forgets to mention yours
5. The economy is based on fish, cows, and ferrying Ontario motorists to Boston (City in the US)
6. No one ever blames anything on New Brunswick
7. You have French people, but they don't want to kill you
8. Everybody has a Grandfather who runs a lighthouse
9. Just as charming as Maine, but with more unemployed fishermen
10. You probably live in a small seaside cottage with no television
posted by leslie at 11:05 a.m.
|
1 comments
Thursday, April 14, 2005
On the new household, work, and Jiu Jitsu
Hello people
It’s been a couple weeks now, and things are settling into routine. By that I mean all the new people have adjusted, and I’m growing into the role of the omniscient all knowing one. Haha, just kidding.
Truthfully, we have a good mix at our house now, even though we had a distinct Asian flavour (2 Chinese, 2 Japanese, and a Serbian). Someone has taken the role of “mom” of the household (I won’t directly say who, but your have 3 guesses), while I have the laid back leadership style. Unfortunately, most of us are not going to reception weekend this month due to finances. It’s too bad since it would have been a good experience for the new kids. For me, it’s been a pricey month since I had to pay for transportation to Austria next month. Also, tuition for Dutch class was due this month, and that was 120 Euros. So, in good responsible judgement, I’m not going to Antwerp this month as originally planned. It would be wise to save the 60-80 Euros I would have otherwise spent.
There is still a bit of sadness out there that now that Jose, Eric, and Sol have left us. But I get to manage the second generation now and it will be with this group that I will ultimately spend the most time with.
Work
I came out of a good meeting with my boss yesterday. I now have some new objects for the next little while so I’ll be nice and busy. I have to help set up a workshop this project we’re working on for the insurance board. What that means for me is that I’ll be creating several large PowerPoint presentations and writing up some briefing papers for the uninformed.
Jiu Jitsu
I started taking Martial arts lessons =)
Martial arts were always something I was interested in taking, possibly due to my mom’s fears when I was a kid that I would use what I learnt to hurt others (maybe rightfully so…). I chose Jiu Jitsu since it was the most practical of the other arts being offered at the university since it is based on real world scenarios. In a real fight situation, it’s not going to be like the movies, and most fights are fought and won in a matter of seconds. No time for fancy kicks or Ninja death moves, instead, lots of grappling and ground work. In real life, you also wouldn’t have full head, chest, shin, and arm protection (no offence to the people that are taking tak wan do). I’m not in it to pick fights with people; instead, it’s more of the confidence that the knowledge brings. I will know what my abilities are and what I can and can’t do. Also, by having learnt how to take a punch, I rather have the knowledge and not need it, then needing it and not knowing how. There are several girls taking the class for the very same reasons
For my worried parents, it’s mostly on a self-defence and emphasis on escaping and getting away from a situation (although that is made much easier if you can take out their knees in the process).Also, the chances of using it in real life here are very slim. I have a greater chance of being pick pocketed then being involved in a violent confrontation. Besides, rule #1 is never be a hero.
The other reason is that it is great exercise. I’m still feeling it this morning and my stomach and arms haven’t been this stiff since I started playing competitive volleyball. The warm ups to class, while nothing like SAS training, is still pretty through, and my rather large ego helps me through the various push ups, sit-ups, and other strengthening exercises. I was able to keep up with everyone. The other fortunate thing, the Sensei (at least that’s what I think I should call him) is comfortable in teaching in English, even if I’m the only one that’s not Dutch.
Class is relatively safe, and the teacher shows us a technique, and we practice it. Everything is done slow, and all egos are in check. At my first time, I learnt various ways methods to escape from being grabbed at the wrist. I also learnt how to escape if someone knocked me down from behind by disabling their knee and ankle in order for me to escape. Again, all of this was learnt in a safe and controlled manner.
So that’s the top things I could think of writing, as I’m sitting here on my lunch break.
I’ll write and put up more pictures soon
LEs
posted by leslie at 1:56 p.m.
|
1 comments
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Amsterdam baby!
Saturday
After barely getting the minimum amount of sleep survivable, I set off bright and early on Saturday to meet my aunt in Amsterdam. The train wasn’t pack this early in the morning (I caught the 7:27 train) so I was able to find a good seat so I can sleep for most of the 2 hours there. Although I didn’t know it at the time, Murphy, of Murphy’s Law fame, was going on the trip with me.
Murphy’s Moment #1
Rating: minor annoyance
I always thought the 7:27 train was a direct train to Amsterdam. However, the train I was taking was going to be joining up and linking with another one at a later station, and I would have to get off, and move to the new “front” part of the train which will split off to go to Amsterdam, while the back end to the Airport. Luckily, a friendly Dutchman explained to me all of this, so all is good
Murphy’s Moment #2
Rating: Near miss
I got to Amsterdam station at 0930, giving myself 30min to conduct recon before meeting my aunt. It was at that point that I realised that Amsterdam Central station is larger than I imagine, so just meeting my aunt at the station at 10, is a much more difficult task in real life than planning it via e-mail. Unbeknownst to me, my aunt’s hotel was farther than she realised from the station and she had forgotten to take with her my cell phone #.
After conducting a thoroughly walkthrough of the station, and making a few assumptions, I planned a route that’ll take me through all the likely locations that my aunt may wait for me. At 1030, I finally found my Aunt (who just arrived) during one of my sweeps I been conducting every 15min. Crisis resolved =)
My aunt and I went to get lunch first before our Bus and Boat city tour starts at 12. We settled on a little Dutch café after finding the Japanese place we wanted to go to opens after 5pm. 29 Euros shorter (but full from Dutch pancakes), we set off to the bus tour. Amsterdam is the most international city in the Netherlands that I have been so far. English is abundant and there were tourists everywhere.
The bus drove around the city introducing us to the various famous museums, theatres, Canals, and other famous sites. One thing I didn’t know was that Amsterdam is known as the other Venice and the city has a wide network of canals and waterways. In addition, to accommodate these canals, there are numerous small bridges in the city. It was hard to take pictures from the bus with the window reflection and the speed of the moving bus. The bus made a stop at a large windmill found in the city. It was my first time to be near a windmill. All windmills in the Netherlands are classified as heritage sites and protected by the governments.
Murphy’s Moment #3
Rating: Slow & Lethal
It could be the lack of sleep these past days and the start of a particularly bad hay fever season in the Netherlands, but I woke up this morning not feeling the best. I started with a dull headache, a really runny nose, and sneezing. These symptoms will continue to get worse throughout the day.
Anyways, back to the tour. The second stop the bus made was the “Gannon Diamond Factor.” Amsterdam is the diamond capital of Europe (of the world??) and not Antwerp as I originally thought. We got a tour of the factory and educated on the transformation from rough diamonds to the finished products. I learnt all about grading of diamonds (from colour, craftsmanship, cut, Clarity, and Carat). Now I know that I’ll need to rob a large bank before I have enough money in my piggy bank to grace Connie with a River or pink colour, Brilliant cut (57 facets), FL (flawless) clarity, ¾-1 carat diamond. =)
The second half of the tour was in a canal boat and we saw many of the same thing as on the bus, but also some other neat things. For pictures, the boat tour was better since it was easier to take pictures without the interference of a window. Also, sitting on the starboard side (that’s the right side of the boat for you land lovers) turned out to be the best side since everything was on the right hand side. One of the neatest attractions is the floating Chinese restaurant on the bay. Supposedly, it is modelled on a bigger floating restaurant in China.
With the tour over, and after getting some coffee to wake us both up, we headed to the best part of the trip. My aunt and I braved the line ups and went to “Anne Frank’s House.” As most of you know, The Diary of Anne Frank is about a girl’s family in hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands during WWII. It was spooky seeing how the family lived in real life and for so long before they were betrayed. It was very memorable experience and I recommend it as an excellent place to go when I Amsterdam.
For that night, my Aunt treated me to a traditional Indonesian restaurant. Indonesia use to be Dutch Colony, so the Indonesian cuisine in the Netherlands is among the best place for this type of cooking outside of Indonesia itself. We ordered a dinner special for 2 and it resembled something similar to a Spanish Tapas meal. We had rice, and 12 other small plates of food. None of the food was really spicy and some of them were really neat like ground up coconut and peanut that you put on your rice.
Unfortunately by this time, my headache is pounding and my runny nose was resembled a runny tap. I knew something was wrong especially since I didn’t really have to appetite, even though I really wanted to try Indonesian food. Therefore, after dinner, I declined the invitation for further sightseeing and a taste of the night life to go back home.
2 hours later, I returned home, and the girls took care of me to make me feel better. Overall, it was a nice time in Amsterdam, except for my stupid cold =(
posted by leslie at 9:44 p.m.
|
1 comments
Group Photo
(left to right)
Jose, Shing, Me, Sandra, Etienne, Shangxia, and Peter
posted by leslie at 9:16 p.m.
|
0 comments
Jose's Farewell Dinner, group Photo
Sandra, Etienne, Me, Shangxia, Shing, Affendi, Jose, and Ana
posted by leslie at 9:13 p.m.
|
0 comments
General Leslie's Chicken
An Improvement on the chicken I used for lettuce wraps for Chinese New Years
posted by leslie at 8:24 p.m.
|
0 comments
Apple Crumble
The guests returned the favour by preparing Apple Crumble
posted by leslie at 7:19 p.m.
|
0 comments
Dinner is served
Nice group photo
(Ana, Lutske, Chanel, Frederique, Jose, Shangxia, and Nienke)
posted by leslie at 7:18 p.m.
|
0 comments
So much for updating it bi-weekly =(
It was a hectic last week. First off, there was a constant parade of AIESEC people coming over for dinner to meet the new trainees. Second, Shing arrives, and the last of the expected trainees arrive. Third, Jose leaves =(, and fourth, my trip to Amsterdam.
Wednesday
Later that evening, we all went over to Affendi’s house to watch Football (that’s Soccer for my North American readers) and past the time before Shing was schedule to arrive. At 22:30, Shing arrived, and we all proceeded back to our place. Because Shing, Etienne, and Chanel (the latter two went to pick up Shing) haven’t eaten, I manage to prepare a quick fried rice to appease there rumbling stomachs. Because Jose isn’t leaving until Friday, Shing had to temporarily stay in the smallest room for the first two days (it’s the room that’s smaller than my original one, and only has a bed in it).
Oh, I have a mildly amusing story (sorry Shangxia). Over here, we change our clocks an hour forward last week (March 27th) while North America does it on the first Sunday in April. I always though everybody knew to change the clocks and hour forward that Sunday, in fact it was Eric that reminded me and Mizu. Since Wednesday I only had a business trip, I had the fortune of an extra 30min of sleep as I had to catch the 9:05 train instead of my usual 8:35 train (while everyone else leaves earlier still). So it was great amusement for me when Shangxia came down at 8:45 and proclaimed how early I was up that morning when I could have slept in some more. I proceed to explain to her that she shouldn’t be proud of herself that she got ready earlier than usual, and that technically, she should be at work by now. Apparently, she was the only person in the house that didn’t get the message about Daylight savings time. In retrospect, it explained her comments about how fast her day went by on Tuesday and how she thought that the people at her company were really diligent since they were already working hard when she got to office at 8 on Tuesday =)
Thursday
Work was back to routine stuff and I actually stayed until 17:10 that day so it was highly productive. The highlight of the day was the party at our place that night. Continuing with the theme of AIESEC people coming over for dinner, Peter and Affendi came over for supper. Sandra also joined us, as Etienne came over later on. We all wanted to spend as much time with Jose as possible since he was leaving the next day. The wine, beer, and rum were all flowing freely well into the night as all celebrations should. Lastly, Mizu came home from Amsterdam just in time to catch the festivities.
Friday
Long & Sad Day =(We all got up really early this morning to see Jose off. Shing and I took Jose to the train station. I granted Jose unofficial Canadian citizenship, when I gave him one of my little Canadian pins that I seem to wear from time to time. It was sad to see him go, and we all miss him now. After work, Etienne came over for supper again, as he was trying to book my train ticket to Innsbruck in advance for me for May. In the evening everyone, except Etienne and Ana, met up with Sandra and Maria at the fair. At that time, there was an Easter fair in Enschede. We walked around for a bit and decided to go on a ride. For my Calgary readers, it was the G-Force we know from the Stampede. For others, it is a ride that swings back and forth like a pendulum while the clusters of seats (arranged in a pentagram of 5 seats per cluster) turn in a circle. I’ll include a picture to make things easier to imagine. Since there weren’t very many people, the ride length was 2 min instead of the 30 sec that I’m use to for midway rides. It was fun, but Shangxia didn’t enjoy it as much. My ego also took a hit when I tried my luck at a shooting game. I had a rifle with 3 BBs to try to hit a small heart shape target. In retrospect, you need nothing short of a perfect shot to win the prize, but at least I came close. It was nice holding a rifle again too =)
Afterwards, we went to a pub in the city for coffee, before calling it a night
Saturday….
posted by leslie at 7:02 p.m.
|
0 comments
Previous Posts
- Movies in the Netherlands
- Ooops, forgot Mizu. Here again, the complete AIES...
- Trainee Photos! This is the most current photo wit...
- Mizuki cutting the cake =)
- Birthday Dinner. Sorry Mizu that you still had to ...
- Birthday Flowers from a mysterious stranger =)
- June 27th – Mizu’s Birthday & Looking ahead
- OK, you're not suppose to take pictures at the red...
- Vic and Keegan going through the gate. It was a fu...
- Waiting for Vic's Flight. We just woke up
Archives
