First England, then France, falls prey to Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th started as any superstitious person might imagine it would start... Let's just say setting off the Weijel's ear-piercing, dead-waking alarm at 7:15 a.m. when trying to go for a run (before Evaline and Joy had to wake up) left me a little frazzled. I also realized at that point that being a notoriously "gimme-5-more-minutes" person trying to work within someone else's time parameters (however kind the other person) is like trying to force a square foot into a round high heel. You can squeeze it in there, but it's really going to hurt after a while... and I think I reached the blistering point when, at 8 a.m., I wasn't able to get in the shower (due to a repairman working on the hot water at that exact time - who knew?), and my suitcase wasn't packed up for that afternoon's move to Anne's. And Hans needed to leave at 8:30 a.m. for work. (Any former roommate of mine knows that my shower time alone could easily kill those precious 30 minutes.)

So, to prevent a total panic meltdown and the sprouting of any grey hair, I decided to take a taxi into Haarlem and let Hans go on his merry way. I must have worried poor Hans - when the taxi arrived at the office a little later that morning, both he and Raoul (and Anne, too), came out to help me unload my stuff and move it into Anne's car. (Dankjewel, yáll!) The taxi ride cost (brace yourself for this - I had no idea going into it) €50. That's about $77, for those of you who cannot convert currency as well I can using my handy online currency calculator. ;) I have to say it was probably worth it, though, even if it wasn't the Disco Taxi.

The day had more ups and downs for the crew at Van Luyken, but I am happy to report that it ended on a VERY positive note for England and for Holland: we destroyed France in football - 4 to 1! This time, I watched the game at Helden (which means "Heroes") in de Pijp with Anne, her friends Nienka (Uma Thurman look-alike) and Iris, and Klaas. We had a fabulous time, even though the cafe was so crowded with giant Dutch men that I could barely see the game:


My view of the game, for the most part.


This was my view of the game when I got lucky, or when I able to duck down and peer through Giant Dutch Man's armpit.

The spirit in the cafe was as exciting and joyous as any sports event I've ever watched. It was like watching the Gamecocks crush Georgia, but having EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY united in glee, overjoyed, thrilled, over-the-moon about it (unfortunately for me, that would only happen in my wildest dreams, especially since I live in Bulldawg Central).

The best part of the night for me was when, after winning, the entire cafe began singing Queen's "We are the Champions." Listen for yourself - I predict you will dub this clip an instant "Hagelslag and other charms of Holland" classic.



So, go Holland! We are on to the next game of the pool on Tuesday - against Romania - but our victories against Italy and France already mean we're definitely moving on to the next round of the playoffs. We'll be playing next Saturday night! I already can't wait to show off my Lion shirt again.

Speaking of, when wearing my Lion shirt out "in the wild" (as Anne likes to say), I realized that I had been slightly duped and the shirt, in fact, is kind of a dorky thing to wear in public here. Just take a look at this ad from The Blokker, the store that exclusively sells the shirts. It says it all:

http://66.102.9.104/translate_c?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://ek.blokker.nl/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dblokker%26hl%3Den

The shirt is actually both team-spirit inducing and ridicule inspiring, but you get more of the latter when you are simultaneously committing the most heinous of all fashion crimes known as "wearning American tennis shoes."

But you know what? That shirt warded off even the toughest of what Friday the 13th had to dish out. I told Anne that there was no stopping me and my Lion shirt now. I will be PROUDLY wearing it out for every football match Holland plays in... just stay tuned!



VIVA HOLLANDIA!