An apologetic note.

I just want to apologise for not updating regularly. Or rather, for nearing the stage of not updating at all :).

And to tell you that the Hugh Robson Building is the ultimate study environment, because the Scots have not realised that the war is over and there is no need for bunkers any more.



Cheers,
Beata

A typical 5-day weather forecast for Edinburgh

tonight: showers early
tomorrow: showers
Wednesday: heavy rain
Thursday: light rain
Friday: scattered showers

Sunny Holland

Hi there!

I have decided that my short break in the Netherlands might be a point in my blife (blend of blog & life ;); intended to make you love morphology!) that I start afresh. Hence, a short update on my stay in the Netherlands. I hope to report about February-April the 16th as well of course, but aren't able to say when that will happen, if ever.

In any case, as most of you know, on the 16th I flew back to enjoy "Vlaamse Friet" (proper chips) and a coffee at Schiphol Airport with Tessa and Corianne -- interestingly, I managed to exit the wrong Arrivals' Hall, because the route I had chosen would be quicker. Needless to say, I was right. However, the reason it was quicker was because it was virtually deserted, as a consequence of it being the wrong exit. Luckily, though, I ended safe and sound in my parental home (at a decent hour as well!).

On Thursday I arrived at the shocking conclusion that my hair was in desperate need of cutting, and -having conquered my perfectly reasonable fear of hairdressers within 24hrs- found myself (minus split ends) having dinner with Marieke & Koen in Amersfoort on Friday.

On Saturday, a group of friends had organised a surprise hen party for Marieke; it was a very early day as we had to leave for the location at 8.30am (and I'm not joking!) -- from 11 until 2pm we honed our shooting skills during a cool paintball session (or should it be called painball?), which ended with Marieke being the elephant we all had to hunt!

Afterwards, we enjoyed a slightly less volatile pastime (yet by no means less enjoyable): a High Tea. However, it proved to be quite dangerous, as Jorinde got a cup of scalding hot water on her..

"Last Vestiges of the British Empire", or pictures shot just after hunting an elephant:




In the evening, I travelled from Utrecht to Ninja & Klaas in the Hague -- I had forgotten to buy a ticket for the train, as I usually have an OV-card (free public transport). Terrified that I would have to pay a fine I remembered that the sign read that there was one stop between Utrecht and The Hague: Gouda. Channelling all my brainpower to draw a mental map of the Netherlands in order to figure out how close Gouda was to Utrecht, I had to conclude that I had absolutely no clue where the cheese-city was situated. Finally, I admitted defeat and resigned to having to defend myself in front of a ticket collector; naturally, the train entered Gouda at that point and I was spared a quite embarrassing episode in my life.

Having arrived safely at Ninja & Klaas', we had a very good dinner; and I would like to take this opportunity to recommend Cosmopolitans - they're very good (and is pleasant from both an articulatory and perceptual perspective in my opinion). An apres-dinner tea resulted in my arrival at Leiden CS at midnight -- Diana was waiting for me and we chatted until 2am. I had planned on attending Asia and Rebecca's birthday party, but I must admit that I was completely exhausted and had to throw in the towel -- blessed sleep overcame me.

On Sunday, I returned to the university buildings and experienced the odd sensation of being a tourist in your own city. In the afternoon, I met with Marianne & Sander, and we went for a drink in "De Grote Beer" (litt. 'The Big Bear'). The waiter who attended to us, however, was slightly.. strange. The moment Marianne moved her hand to choose a tea from the box, he closed it just a few molecules short of her fingers. He mumbled something indistinguishable, moved inside, and returned with another box -- this time leaving it on the table while moving away, which revealed to us the fact that he had fastened a wine glass at the back of his apron. At 5pm we were unceremoniously requested to leave because of another party that had engaged the spot, but undaunted we moved to Camino where I enjoyed my first Vasco (red wine) in months -- you cannot imagine how divine it tasted!

Dinner with my brother at 8pm lasted well until 11pm, and when I got home I finally got round to read a bit for an essay which is due soon(-ish).

Monday morning I woke up at 9am, and -I realise this must be a shock and sounds quite unbelievable but I swear it is true- got out of my bed at 9.10am. The reason was the beautiful weather! Truly, I have never expected myself to say this, but the weather in the Netherlands is wonderful! Around 10am I arrived at the university, and I studied a bit in the morning to be interrupted by Rose, with whom I studied (i.e. chatted) until 1pm.

After lunch with Jeroen I had to go to a meeting with someone about a possible internship at an academic publisher's -- naturally, I still had to figure out where the publisher was located, and I had not counted on the slowness of the Leiden computers.. In the end I had to hurry, but I made in almost in time! Just 3 minutes after 3pm! (which is something I'm quite proud of, moreover, I might have been in time if I hadn't missed the entrance door the first time I walked past it)

In the evening I had dinner with Diana -- it was very good except for the fact we had to wait over an hour for our food.. In retrospect, these two aspect might be strongly correlated.. However, it was a good opportunity to catch up, and the iced coffee with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it was a delicious dessert.

Camino with students of English (Anthe, Corianne, Tessa, Marina, Jeffrey and Hester) was the final stop for the day, and I enjoyed the taste of Camino's Chardonnay and some phonology talk!

Tuesday -already my final day in the Netherlands- found yours truly also up and about at 9.15am, and at 10am I had breakfast at the Bagels & Beans with some brave adventurers who had just returned from Saint Petersburg: Dorina, Gea and Alexandra. Around noon I met up with Rose again, and bumped into Marijn, with whom I had coffee and more phonology!

For lunch I met up with Annedith, and we ate our sandwiches in the Hortus -- also a highly recommendable pastime. Soon it was time to leave for the airport, and over a coffee at Starbucks (at Schiphol) Annedith and I ridiculed some people.

Just in front of the last check point, Ninja called me for a chat, but 10mins before boarding time I decided I'd better get going :). Although the hall was known (H), the gate, however, had not yet been revealed. At boarding time the sign luckily changed, though: "DELAYED". Of course. Life's like that.

However, I decided to take it as a sign and finally started reading for the essay that I'm currently writing. On the other hand, my bladder wasn't as patient, but I didn't dare to move to the nearest bathroom afraid that I'd miss my plane (furthermore, I had no clue where it was). Still, after more than an hour of waiting I decided that enough was enough and I left to find it -- it was -conveniently- located behind the check point.

Now, you can already guess what happened: when I came back into the hall the plane was boarding! And I had to go through the check point again, and because I was slightly panicked it didn't go as smoothly as I'd wished it. Nevertheless, I made it in time; the flight was uneventful except for the fact that I couldn't sleep properly because of a very ugly Scot sitting next to me (moreover, he was drinking a Bloody Mary, and I am not particularly fond of the smell of tomato juice).

When the plane landed on Edinburgh Airport I forgot all my worries, though -- it felt incredibly good to be home again! After the bus trip to the centre, I practically ran to my flat! It had been a great holiday in the Netherlands, but I am proud to call Edinburgh my home right now :D.

Now, I have procrastinated enough and have to get back to my essay. Finally, a totally random comment: Chardonnay & Vasco, gives CV which -incidentally- is a perfect syllable :)

Cheers,
Beata