Monday, May 07, 2007

Think before you smile and nod

Oh dear god, I should not be allowed to talk when I'm not paying attention. First, on Queen's Day (which was messy anyway), I accepted an invitation to join my new best friends for dinner in Rotterdam. I forgot all about this invitation until Mills came home laughing last week Thurs... informing me that I will be expected at dinner on Saturday evening. We already had plans for someone else's birthday party - which Mills was definitely going to - but seeing as I had unwittingly accepted a week ago, I pottered off to Rotterdam on my own.

Then, while at random dinner with people who I had just met (in a STUNNING apartment on the 19th floor overlooking the whole of Rotterdam port at sunset - picture not included), I agreed to join a mixed league hockey side. Well, I sort of expressed interest in playing mixed league and next thing I was being introduced to my new team mates. Oops. I spent the rest of yesterday and last night praying that they weren't being serious, but opened my email this morning to be greeted with:

"Hey Koekie,
How are you? Did you had a good weeekend?
Hope you are still interested in tonight's hockey game… ;-)
Our game starts at 20.15, so if you could be there around 20.00hrs that would be perfect.
Hereby address details of the club...."

Oh fukkity-fuk-fuk-faaaaak. So it looks like I'm going back to Rotterdam this evening to play hockey in the rain with people who I have never met. What was I thinking??

I wasn't. Nod and smile, nod and smile... I've really gotta stop doing that.

Besides setting up random play dates with random people, I also dragged Mills around the world-famous flower gardens of Keukenhof. Thus the random pictures of a windmill and flowers.

About 10,000 sets of feet tramp those flower paths to death on a daily basis for the brief few spring months that the gardens are open every year, so the place is crowded with busloads of Asians, kids, prams, grannies and walkers. It was a test of patience, but I managed to control any knee-jerk reactions to bratty kids and Mills didn't shove any geriatrics. I almost managed to get a picture of a lady bending over a flower bed as the wind blew her skirt up, but I mistimed it. Would've been good though.
This particular picture involved a bit of negotiation with an individual from Japan/Taiwan/China/South Korea. I waited for a truckload of them to move out of the way so I could get my chance to snap the pretty bloems, but as I raised my camera, a lady straggler decided to stop and pose for me. Thoughtful though this was, I'm not a fan of random people in my pics (unless they don't know I'm taking the pic and they're doing something amusing, like flashing their white granny-broeks). I dropped my camera and gently motioned in the direction of her tour group. Run along now, dearheart... you're missing an important detail on the history of turips. Thank you kind-ry.
But back to important matters, how do I get out of this hockey match without making it seem like it's just because the weather's turned? I'm fickle like that.

1 comment:

ChewTheCud said...

Don't worry koekie - you're accident prone, you'll think of something to break ;P