January 01, 2020
the preface, of course
greetings from the future! this is the post from 2006 that floats magically atop the others so that i can be a controlling blogger and greet you all upon entry. hello. background: i'm living in amsterdam for six months. i...Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 01:01 AM |
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January 29, 2005
29 january 2005
It’s four in the morning and I just can’t sleep. Last nite – which is rapidly becoming the nite before last – I went out with my language class to celebrate the course’s end. We spent a few hours at...Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 04:35 AM |
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January 26, 2005
26 january 2005
Tonight I learned to play lacrosse. Natalie, Mariecarmen, Maria and I biked twenty minutes to the sports complex, where city teams can use public fields. All of these fields were uncharacteristically covered in snow, but no one seemed to mind....Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 04:34 AM |
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January 24, 2005
24 january 2005
It’s 2:30 on a Monday afternoon. Hoske down the hall just woke up; he’s watching Robin Williams stand up on his laptop. I can’t hear the routine, but I can hear him break out laughing every 2 – 3 minutes....Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 08:32 AM |
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January 20, 2005
20 january 2005
The first week was a week of disorientation. The second week was a week of exploration. The third week has been a week of working my ass off. My intensive Dutch class happens every weekday morning from nine until one....Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 08:31 AM |
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January 15, 2005
pop quiz
it’s 2:30 a.m. and you’re sitting in a room in amsterdam with a guy cutting his sixth line of coke with a mastercard on an imposter delftware plate and a girl obsessively twisting her hair to the sounds of the...Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 08:02 AM |
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January 14, 2005
14 january 2005
I got home ten minutes ago from five hours in a bar with a South African, a Russian (from Kazakstan), a Hungarian (who grew up in Transylvania), and a Peruvian. Then a Polish boy walked me home. Between the six...Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 08:02 AM |
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January 13, 2005
13 january 2005
This week has brought lots of changes. For example, I am no longer the only person living at Plantage Muidergracht 20. I now share the six-story, fifty-flat building with Natalie from Venezuela and Hoske from Iceland. I don’t see them...Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 08:01 AM |
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January 11, 2005
so, the toilet
Let me start by saying that the Netherlands is, unquestionably, a nation of designers. More design hours have been invested in the average Dutch child’s sock than are spent in the design of a typical American art museum. This reality...Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 08:03 AM |
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January 10, 2005
10 january 2005
My alarm – which is actually my cell phone, since I have no clock – goes off at 7:45: a synthesizer-swing melody that, when accompanied by the rattling of the vibrating phone on my night table, jolts me awake. Even...Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 08:00 AM |
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January 05, 2005
5 january 2005
I sat down to write about the New Year’s Eve fireworks display, which was full of acrid smoke, falling debris, smashing bottles, and general merriment. I found it all delightful and also funny. These people are crazy! I was thinking...Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 08:00 AM |
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January 04, 2005
4 january 2005
Well, you know what they say about the cycle of the years: Out like a lion, in like a bureaucratic nightmare. The fun of December 31 has past, and the reality of paperwork has arrived. Is there a country without...Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 07:59 AM |
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January 02, 2005
2 january 2005
I’m sure that sooner or later I will stop waking up alert and ready to start my day at three a.m., but that time has not come yet. Take the normal jet lag, immediately follow it with an all night...Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 07:59 AM |
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January 01, 2005
1 january 2005
So there I was riding sidesaddle on the back rack of Nikki’s bike, holding on to the seat for dear life as we careened down the wet street on the way to the windmill pub (yes, the windmill pub) for...Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 07:57 AM |
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December 30, 2004
30 december 2004
That tram ride was all I needed. It’s beautiful here. It’s nothing like the U.S.. The buildings are hundreds of years old, the lights reflect off the water in the canals. There is no Gap. Oh, hooray....Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 07:55 AM |
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December 29, 2004
29 december 2004
It’s 2004, I’m 28, and I’m at Gate 21 awaiting my flight to Amsterdam. Not bad. I spent a week in Philly, went with Erin to get her wedding dress altered, saw a Calder exhibit with Matt, came to NYC....Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 07:51 AM |
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December 28, 2004
28 december 2004
December 28. Holy shit. I leave tomorrow. Why am I freaking out? Do I always freak out before a trip? I don’t think so. But it’s been a little while. I’m in Paul’s apartment in Brooklyn. It is after noon...Read this update
Posted by tortaluga at 01:48 AM |
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