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January 28th 2006
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[NOTE: Two days ago I went to meet up with DE, who was actually in The Netherlands. In the process she hijacked my very own Attic space for her own purposes. Behold, and beware.]
So... here I, DE, sit at Arno's computer typing to the very inspirational music of Fraggle Rock, The Time Warp, and What Would Brian Boitano Do? My IQ just delightfully dropped to an all time low!! Well, where to start? At the beginning I suppose. My parents have relocated to the Netherlands, so, being possessed of the ability to torment Arno at my pleasure, I decided I'd make use of my chance... we got lost... again.
We agreed to meet in Leiden Central Station where I have spent many a day transfering busses. My hotel was in Leiden, a city that Arno informed me means 'Suffering'. How appropriate. We met in the front of the Burger King at 10:00. Okay, so ~I~ was there at 10:00... he took a couple minutes extra. Hmph.
So, after we had all arrived, we made our way to the bus station where we waited a good hour for the bus. Arno had to purchase another bus pass, and instead of waiting at the bus station, I showed him around a bit of Leiden. I pointed out the best pizza place, the museum, the movie theatre... he pointed out the windmill. We finally caught the 43 bus to Den Haag, and along the way I pointed out my family's house, workplace, and sheep.
After arriving at Den Haag, Arno showed me his workplace. Okay, so, I was expecting this puny little cubicle-esqe work environment in a stark building. No... Arno works for ING, a large investment/insurance/bank coorporation and if you haven't seen the commercial for it yet, turn on your bloody TV and look for it. It was a magnificent structure, and even I, the aloof DE, was in some sort of awe. [You can view pictures of the building here. The site goes down quite easily though, so be forwarned.] We tried to figure out where we were in relation to the things I'd like to see, and after nearly killing ourselves by rocks, we made our way back to the station where we dined on the great Dutch meal of Burger King.
[DE was a guest in my country. I felt she should receive a King's meal]
After a delightful meal spent discussing the Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Lab, and the Iron Giant (if you have not seen it, go now!! Or I'll track you down) [Full agreement. The Iron Giant. Find it. Watch it. It deserves it], we made our way to the diplomatic area. Talk talk talk talk talk talk talk. We did a lot of that. We got lost (typical of us) and we had to backtrack our way to Fredrikstraat, a street my mum wanted me to walk down. It was full of tiny shops and expensive restaurants. Needless to say, we weren't terribly impressed.
We walked to a bus stop and sat for a while, talking about... well... cartoons. We then moved to a museum we stumbled across. MAui, be proud... I've never seen so many pictures of cows in my life. And sheep... and giant cauliflower. They had automatic doors, but Arno and I didn't know how they worked, so a man showed us how they opened and I stepped through, only to be locked into a very frightening dark room. Arno laughed. My hero. Okay... so I laughed too, but he laughed AT me, not with me. ;)
After a lovely tour of Arno's first voluntary art museum experience, we back tracked again all the way back to the Central Station. After explaining to Arno that my family and I were close to killing one another after two weeks in a hotel room together while overcoming jetlag, he invited me to Haarlem, where he currently resides. He entertained me with a bad Galatica movie which we quickly began making fun of. Then, he turned the channel to a station playing The European Countdown (a song for you people who don't know things like me) [Actually, it is called "The Final Countdown", by Europe]. Okay... so... er... Arno... um... well... never invite him to a dance club or anything, kay? Just a little bit frightening to see him headbanging around his house, neighbors no doubt staring out the window in horror and a tall man kicking up his heels.
So... now what? Here I am, on his computer, typing his attic section, giving him the freedom and liberty to censor anything. I'm trapped in Arno's house! Help me! Sheep... sheep... sheep EVERYWHERE! No... escape... must... break freeeeeeeeeeee! -DE, the Easily Amused.