Today was another boring work day. The connection to my work servers was really slow, so it was tough to stay motivated. I did manage to get most of the things I wanted to do done, even though some were at the very last second. Thank goodness I'm 6 hours ahead of Toronto! I called in for my weekly team meeting, thanks to Google Chat's "Call Phone," which, right now, is letting me call overseas for free!  I'm still shocked about this - I was expecting to use skype credits, and I may still, since it appears as though I keep cutting out with Google Chat. That won't fly if I have to call a client!

R plays in a billiards league, and he had a game last night at Cafe Hogenboom. His mom has lent me her bike for the time I'm here, and we biked there in the crazy wind.

I had never seen this type of billiards before - there were no pockets, and only 3 balls; yours, your opponents and a 'communal' red one. The object is to hit both the red ball and your opponents ball with your ball as many times in a row as you can. Sounds easy, right? I can say with certainty that I would only score once, and it would be by fluke that I did. That's why I chose not to play!

A Game of Billiards by Jean Beraud (source)

If you're like me, and a description just isn't enough, check out this video.




The TVs were showing the football game between Ajax, the team from Amsterdam, and Real Madrid. Unfortunately Ajax lost, but had two goals called offside, even though the replay showed they were clearly not. It's hard not to care about football here!

I had a great time meeting some of R's friends. They were very nice, and spoke english with me! My Dutch is improving, but it's still not at a level where I can do much more than count and ask where the bathroom is!