I probably told you before that I do some voluntary work for an organisation named New York Cares. Every Friday I help Arabic women with their English language skills. Sometimes that means I ask them questions which they should know for their citizen ship exam, like what the stars on the flag represent, in which year the constitution was written or if they can name all the states. Some questions are really tough and, like in Holland, the average American citizen would not know the answers. If you want to give it a try, here are a few; questions citizenship.

Sometimes I have to tell them a bit more about a topic and in that case I have to stick to the textbook they work with. There is just one thing I skip all together and that is the story about the exploration of New York and the help they received from the native population, which resulted in a ‘fruitful co-operation’… B-shit patriotic propaganda. Fortunately Gina, the teacher, agrees and is fine with me quickly turning the page to a different subject.

Other times I teach women who just joined the class and don’t speak English at all. Often they don’t know how to read and write in their own language which makes it even harder to learn a foreign language. In that case we just point at pictures an practise words. I wish I knew how to teach them in a better way but there’s just no time for that in this voluntary project.  Next Friday I’ll go for the last time and maybe weird to say but I’m going to miss them. They are all so motivated and happy with every volunteer that comes in to help. I guess I’ll say what they taught me: Masalama!

We have recently bought a video camera, so now we’re learning to use it. This is me going to the office.

Apologies for poor camera handling (we’re learning) and the huge ‘Evaluation Copy’ watermark. I am looking for a good tool to convert the video from it’s native huge format to something that can be shared through YouTube. This software works, but haven’t bought it yet…

As you may have gathered from earlier posts, I go to my Starbucks (on Broadway, close to Grand Street) quite often. About three times a day, roughly. And my order is always the same, a Doppio Macchiato. By now, five months in, most of the employees there (and there are many of them!) recognize me and know my order. Up to the point where I walk in the shop, I hear an order of Doppio Macchiato being called, but the person behind the machines then says that they already got it. So without ordering, I get my drink, often before I paid for it. It’s nice, and it sort of feels like a small coffee shop this way. In a small coffee shop, you expect this to happen after a couple of weeks. But a Starbucks, on such a touristy spot, I wasn’t expecting this.

Last week, things got a little crazier. First, I had a couple of discounts (charging a single macchiato) and even free coffees. Twice in a day, they refused to accept my Starbucks card. Hey, I’m not one to complain about free coffee! Then, one of the guys that seems to be a little higher op in the chain of command in the shop, actually introduced himself to me, and wanted to know my first name. We’re now gettign very friendly indeed. It sort of looked like they were introducing a new way of handling their regular customers.

And then, on Thursday, I received this email:

Dear Jacco,

I’d like to personally invite you to join Starbucks Gold. It’s a new program we’re launching for people like you who love coming into Starbucks. With the new Gold Card, you’ll receive a 10% member discount on most of your Starbucks purchases, plus lots of other exclusive benefits and top shelf treatment.

So, I just signed up, and we’ll see what happens next. But I’m becoming a Starbucks Goldcard holder. I think it’s a sign, saying that I drink way to much coffee…

You might have noticed a lack of mentions of work here on the blog lately. Part of that has to do with the fact that I have worked on a number of pitches, so some of that work is classified. But mainly it was just that there wasn’t that much work.

However, it seems as though all the work has come in at the same time, so now it’s suddenly über-busy. Three projects at the same time, all with tight deadlines. You know, fun stuff! I actually really enjoyed working hard for a change. A pity that this always seems to happen when we have visitors though. Anyway, I’ve been keeping busy with several projects for a large bank (one of the ones that still exist after this week!).

Also, this weeks seems like fall has arrived. The weather’s been holding up fine, but it has definitely cooled down a lot. Right now (Saturday, 1:45pm) it is only 66°F (19°C). Saskia is actually wearing a jacket again, basically for the first time since we’ve arrived. Although I’m going to miss the summer, I’m also looking forward to seeing a different season.

Saskia took her mother to the airport yesterday, after her week-long visit. It was great having her over, and I’m sure Saskia will tell you a lot more about that.

Wow, that must have been my shortest blog-post ever. But I have nothing more to tell you. Check out the pictures on Flickr (September or all), and you can always keep up with my twitter feed.

Wow! That was my first reaction when we arrived at Angela’s house in Southampton. I had left New York on Tuesday morning, together with my colleague Ruby. We had arranged bus tickets for the Hamptons Luxury Liner (!), and around noon we arrived in Southampton. Angela came to pick us up, together with Anouk, her dog. The idea was that we would be working in her house, and enjoy the pool, the tennis court and the beach for a couple of days. Since Saskia had her songwriting class on Tuesday night, she decided to come to Southampton a day later.

We got to the house and as I said, ‘Wow’ is really all that I could utter. What a house. The bedroom I was assigned with Saskia, was bigger than the apartment we have in New York. Ruby and I got settled in and started to do some work, while Angela went off to do some shopping for lunch and dinner. 

We had some lovely sandwiches and did some more work, and around 17:00 we got  in her little Mini Cooper convertible and drove to the Beach with Anouk. We got a little tour around Southampton, and saw houses that were quite a lot bigger than the one we were staying at!

The beach was fun, and Anouk is a dog with more energy than I’ve seen before. It is funny, as in the office, she’s always sort of lazy, almost lethargic. Her dogwalker has problems getting her out of the office to do some wlaking. But on this beach, and actually back home as well, she is a completely different dog! Running after balls we threw away, after birds and diggings holes in the sand, she kept on going!

Back at the house, we got cleaned up and Angela started work on preparing dinner, while Ruby and I played some guitar. Oh yes, I haven;t reported this, but I’be bought a guitar here. Saskia did bring her guitar, but it’s a nylon-stringed Spanish guitar, and I was really missing my acoustic steel-string. Really, trust me, there is a big difference. So i went on a little shopping trip earlier last week, and found a pretty good guitar (Yamaha) for only 150 dollars. And it came with a little gigbag, a few picks, a strap and an electronic tuner! And since Ruby also brought her guitar, we could play a few songs together.

In the mean time, Angela had marinated some skirt steak (an interesting cut of beef, don’t think I’ve ever seen that back home), and had fired up the grill. We had a lovely dinner outside, with some wine, and later some whisky (I brought the Coal Ila we had brought to New York, but had hardly touched yet).

On Wednesday, we woke up and got back to work. I actually had a phone conference in the kitchen, and we could make our own espresso with the Nespresso coffee maker like we have in the UI office in Amsterdam. It felt almost like being back there, except for the fact that we enjoyed the espresso in the garden, with a view of the pool & tennis court, and Anouk, running around askign for attention. 

Around 14:00, Saskia had arrived at the station in Southampton. She had actually tried contacting me by phone, but reception over there is really bad, so by the time we reached her, she had already been waiting 15 minutes. We got into the Mini again, and Angela let me drive so I could learn how to drive this little beast. After all, she would leave the house on Thursday for a couple of meetings, and wanted to make sure we could get around in her car.

After we picked up Sas, we had some lunch and continued work, while Saskia settled in and did some work as well. For dinner, we went to Sag Harbour, to a restaurant that was apparently redesigned by Donna Karan’s daughter, Gabby Karan de Felice. It is called ‘Tutto Il Giorno‘, a small Italian restaurant with a little patio where we could sit outside for dinner. It was immediately obvious that something was wrong with our waiter. He was weirdly fidgety and absent, and according to some he was probably ‘coked up’. We decided to share a couple of starters and each order a main course.

The waiter suggested a wine that would go well with our starters, and we accepted his recommendation. It was a very nice wine. Then our main courses came out. That was a little strange, as we had not yet seen our starters. He was all annoyed, and said he couldn’t remember any starters being ordered. It was all rather uncomfortable, but our main dishes were taken away, and we explained to him what we had ordered as starters. 

When those finally came out, there was a third starter that we hadn’t ordered. But the ones that we did  (fritto misto, with calamari, shrimp and zucchini, and sea bass tartare) were wonderful, and so was the wine. Our main courses came out (again?, we weren’t sure), and they were pretty good as well. we had a lot of fun, the service notwithstanding. On our way to the restaurant, we had spotted quite a lot of deer. A little early, but they were out in numbers. Luckily, on our way back, in the dark, we didn’t see any of them.

When we woke up on Thursday, Angela had already left for the city. We had some breakfast and coffees, and I had another phone conference, in the garden this time. Very nice! We went on a little shopping trip with the three of us, and then had lunch back at the house. Around 17:00, Saskia and I took Anouk to the beach again. When we got to the beach, it looked like there was some big fire somewhere, with lots of smoke. It actually turned out to be a very dense fog coming in from the sea, and it gave the beach a very strange and eerie atmosphere. 

We let Anouk do her running and digging, and then went back to the house. We had bought some fresh fish (Arctic Char) and giant shrimp, and while I worked some more on a sudden rush project, the girls were cooking in the kitchen. I really didn’t get much more work done, and somehow the dinner lasted quite a long time, possible lengthened by more whisky and a game of dice. By the time we decided to call it a night, my colleagues in Amsterdam were already at the office, and wondering what I was doing online…

The next morning, some work really had to be finished before a phone conference at 10, and then some more work before 12:00. We got the work done, with a serious hangover. The rest of the day we relaxed a bit, with some time in the pool and on the tennis court. And then we got back on the bus, to go back to Manhattan.

We had an amazing couple of days! It was fun to hang out with Angela and Ruby, and it was very cool to see how people in the Hamptons live. I totally understand why you’d want a house out there, as well as an apartment in the city. This way, you can actually have the best of both worlds. 

Our fourth guest arrived last Wednesday, my sister! Despite the fact that she is not too fond of flying (understatement) she got on the plain, crossed the ocean and arrived safe and sound at JFK airport. It was very good seeing her come through customs and to be able to hug her again! We took a cab to the Lower East Side where Yvon got to see her apartment for the next week. She was able to rent a room in a apartment of a Swedish girl. This girl has two bedrooms but because she was going on a holiday to Sweden she rented out both of her rooms, one to Yvon, the other to two Austrian girls. The latter departed on Sunday so for the rest of her stay Yvon had the apartment all for herself. After she left her bags in the apartment we walked one block (!) to our home where Jacco was. By that time it was already 22:00 so after a small half hour I took Yvon back to her apartment where she could finally go to sleep.

The next day was the first of a NY heatwave but Yvon seemed to deal with it quite well. She had a good night rest and looked very energetic. I took her to my favorite breakfast cafe and afterwards she had a haircut at my very weird hairdresser. She was already warned through my stories about him so when we entered and he, without saying hello, asked her if she was married, she loudly said ‘Yes I am!’. I stood behind her, wandering if he really said that when I heard him, a little of guard now, asking her again; ‘No,…are you Mary? Hahaha! This seemed more logical but when he told Yvon that Mary was a colleague we lost him again. I think he’s one of the the weirdest men I have ever met but a very good hairdresser. Yvon looked good and much more suited to the hot weather for the next couple of days. We then went walking through Soho, had some lunch on the sidewalk, went to The Strand, a book store that resembles De Slegte and took a subway back. In the evening we met Jacco and went to Lombardi’s, supposedly the oldest pizza place in town, where we shared a mega pizza. We ended the evening with a 23:30 coffee at Think Coffee at Bleecker Street and a stroll home.

Friday started with a subway ride to Brooklyn where Yvon came with me to the Arabic American Family Center where I help women with their understanding of the English language. We were assigned to two girls who were studying for their immigration exams. Amazing to hear how good their English was considering the fact that one of them had arrived 8 months ago (Iman) and the other just 5 months ago (Marocco)! You could tell they were educated girls and they were (again) very motivated to learn. It was nice having Yvon next to me in this class and she had some good teaching tips. Especially about asking if they know certain words they read. This gets you in the difficult situation where you have to explain words like ‘politics’ and the difference between ‘President’, ‘represent’ and ‘House of representatives’. By the time I get back I will know the whole political system in the USA.

After class we bought some lunch and went to Prospect Park, a beautiful big park with large trees that give you plenty of shade. By then it was 95 degrees Fahrenheit so we had to take it slow. At about 16:00 we went home, changed clothes and the three of us went to Brooklyn again. This time to see a film which was part of a festival. Althought they call it the Roof Top Film Festival they arrange spaces out side on whatever level so this Friday it was on a lawn next to a Automotive School. We sat on one of the folding chairs but there were also people picknicking on blankets. The evening started with a band who will probably sound a lot better when they are not drunk. Then the films started. There were about 6 short films about the country side of the US, some of which the writer or director was present. I will take too long to explain them all but they were very entertaining although the last film was mostly gross. It was sort of a documentary about an elderly lady that had a lavatory outside the house and for 10 minutes she only talked about…shitting. The term she used several times was ‘deliver the ashole baby’ while gleeming over her last toilet visit. Very ‘ehw’ but funny. Having seen that we could use a good drink and luckily for us the evening was sponsered by a liqour company called ‘Cabana Cachacha’ so Yvon had her first cocktail at Bar Matchless. A very nice and local evening that ended with a cab ride home over the Willamsburg Bridge.

Saturday started with laundry and breakfast at Olympia, our Greek diner. At midday we went to the Meatpacking District where we showed Yvon the Apple Store, Chelsea Market, some Meatpacking streets and the building of our first NY home. At the beginning of the evening we went to 42 Street where we saw a performance of Studio 52, the project that makes theater with children. The evening was called ‘Act your own age’ and plays were written specifically for each child by a professional actor. Then the performances were rehearsed one on one during a week outside NY and tonight we could see the result. There were eight very funny and crafted plays. Some children were too shy to really act but most of them did a very good job. It certainly served it’s purpose of placing the children in the spotlight. Again a very local evening which we all enjoyed very much. At the end of the plays we took a cab (death ride this time) to the East Village where we had Italian cuisine at Frank’s. Jacco and I had been there the week before and the food was as good as the first time. Another late night stroll home. This is so nice about NY, you walk home at 2:00 and it’s as busy as the same time during the day.

Rest of the week will follow…

Last week, the elevator in our office building started to have some issues. I went up to the fifth floor with a coffee in my hand, when somehwere between 2 and 3 it stopped, fell down a little bit (a foot or so) and then started again. I held on to the bar after that, and it did it again between 4 & 5. It did go up to the fifth floor, and opened, so I got out quickly, but was slightly shaken.

It then started behaving normally again, until yesterday. I heard from Sandra, who wlaked up the stairs, that she had met a FedEx guy who claimed he had been stuck in the elevator for some time. That led to her using the stairs. I sort of forgot about that story when I went out to grab some lunch. I got in at our floor (5th), and two people joined me on the third floor.

However, when we arrived at the first floor (1st floor is the ground floor in America), the door wouldn’t open. We tried to push it a bit, but it wouldn’t budge. We tried going back up to three, where it had opened op just fine, but no luck there either. We tried 2nd and 5th, but no luck. My fellow passengers were the building’s door man, a elderly chinese man that doesn’t speak a word of English, and the son of the building’s owner. The latter started calling the elevator mechanic, who apparently was in the neighboorhood. He left him two messages, and then called his boss.

In the mean time we tried every floor. Every time the elevator started going up, we got a little breeze in the otherwise unairconditioned and fanless box. You can imagine we all got a little hot. I called Sandra in the office, to see whether calling the elevator would help to open the door, but it didn’t. The only thing we got out of that was loud laughs from the 5th floor

In the end, just as the elevator mechanic had returned the calls, the elevator door opened on the second floor. We all got out, and it was great feeling some fresh air in your lungs again! I called Sandra we had finally escaped, and would return with lunch as soon as possible. Of course, when I got back with the lunch, the elevator guy was doing his thing, so had to climb the stairs, as if I hadn’t been sweating enough already!

In the afternoon, I went for another cup of coffee, of course using the stairs. When I got back, my two fellow elevator passengers and the elevator guy smiled at me. The elevator was open on the ground floor. I was going to take the stairs anyway. But the the mechanic said, that it was probably safe to take the elevator, and that he needed a guineapig to see if everything worked (his exact words!). I agreed, feeling that if it got stuck again, at least someone with proper tools was around to free me. I got in, and the leveator took me safely to the fifth floor, where the door opened without problems.

This morning, it was stuck at the basement again…

A bit late (again) but here an update about last week. You can say that I have seen quite some different worlds.
First of all I had a meeting with Greg Taubmann, a young director and founder of Extant Arts, a theater company with many Princeton actors. We met at Waverly Restaurant, a diner where they have regular coffee (no ‘fancy’ espresso or macchiato) and delicious bagels with salmon and cream cheese (lox bagel). Anyway, we talked about his next summer project; Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Central Park. His plan is to have the scenes at different locations (close to each other) and let people walk from one to another. It’s for an audience of about 20 at a time so very small. You are not allowed to ask entree fee in Central Park so people will be asked to donate a suggested amount of 20 dollars.

Amazing how he does this without funding! He explained that in the USA there are only three categories eligible for funding: activities of religious, scientifical or educational nature. The arts is not one of them! That’s why many art institutes offer educational projects. So does Greg, he has a theatre school project. When his company exists one year he can apply for funding. Another way to obtain money is sponsoring, a very difficult way if your business is still that young but many of the larger theatre companies and especially the museums would not be able to survive without sponsoring.

I told him about my work in Amsterdam and that I would love to use my time in NY to see and experience as much of the theatre world as possible. He invited me to attend some rehearsals and suggested I talk to his publicity agent to discuss what he does to promote the play. NICE! They start rehearsing in June, the play will start in the second week of July. I’ll keep you posted.

Then I had my first encounter with the kids of 52 Project. A whole different experience….
I was invited to come at 15:30 so I could meet the kids and play with them until 16:00 when homework class would start. Liz, the educational project leader was not there so I felt a little bit lost in the beginning. I said hello to some of the kids and thought it would be best to first watch ‘the cat from the tree’. These kids see so many different people that you’re not the one they’re waiting for. But after about 15 minutes one of the boys asked me if I knew how to play table tennis. His name is Ismail, a tough but sweet kid of about 11 that asked me if he could call me ‘S’ because my full name was too difficult. Then a very loud and small kid came in wanted to play as wel but within 5 seconds the balls where smashed around the room and we all had to cover our heads in defence. The energy some of these kids have is amazing. That’s why they come in at 15:00, so they can release all that (also negative) energy and have some rest to actually do their homework at 16:00. The super active kid really sat down and started cutting ‘things’ for his school. Of course he didn’t need any help and was finished within 15 minutes. The good thing is that the staff is really strict about home work hour and if you are finished you have to go. So with a big smile he got dragged outside by Reg, the founder of the project. They all do this with a lot of respect for the kids, no patronizing, nothing.

To be continued….

I thought it might be nice to get a feeling of what a typical day in the office looks like for me. So here it is.

I normally leave home between 8:15 and 9:00, and walk to the office. I’ve taken several different routes, but most of those take me along Bleecker Street for a bit. The walk takes between 30 and 40 minutes, so I’m getting some excercise here! Just a block from the office there is a Starbucks, where I will normally go to get a Doppio Machiato to get me started. If I did not have breakfast at home, I’ll take something with me from either the Starbucks, or any of the other places along Broadway and its surrounding streets. My breakfast ranges from yogurt with granola (home, but also from a deli) to a breakfast sandwich with bacon, cheese and egg (good thing I walked there!).

When I get to the office, I’m normally not the first person there. If I am the first one there, I need to unlock the elevator (5th floor). The office has one main working floor with six desks, and two seperate rooms for the CEO and Ops. There is a little kitchenette and a meeting room (with a whiteboard wall, so I feel right at home!). On an average day, there are between 3 and 6 people in the office. The atmosphere is pretty relaxed, with little fits of stress here and there. A lot of people work from home for one or two days a week, something I definitely had not expected in New York.

If I get through the morning without another coffee-run, around 13:00 it is time for lunch. In these first three weeks, I have only once had lunch from a place I visited before! The options are so many, it is really hard to figure out what to have. As we’re on the border of SoHo, Chinatown and Little Italy, you can imagine the variety of choices. So far, I’ve had sandwiches, soups, pasta, pizza, Thai and Mexican. And I’m nowhere near trying all of the options yet. So far, the soup from Dean & Deluca was one of the best, together with the sandwich from Miro.

Around 15:00 it is really time for another coffee, and I normally go out to get that at the aforementioned Starbucks. I always though I’d never be a Starbucks customer, and would prefer the independent coffee shops. However, Starbucks is proving to be easy and good value for money (at least, for the doppio machiatos I’m drinking). So yesterday I’ve actually bought a Starbucks card, a sort of prepaid coffee card.

On a normal day, around 18:00/18:30 I will call it a day, and pack up to walk home again. But last week I spent some longer days in the office, to get some stuff ready for client meetings.

Something I haven’t mentioned yet is the floor in the office. It is an old building, and they’re renovating it. But somehow, this 5th floor office has a floor that is slanted (?). It is not flat. There is a serious ‘vals plat’. After two weeks in the office, I had a sore leg from keeping myself from rolling away from the desk. This week, Sandra helped me turn the desk so that I am now rolling towards the desk. It is a lot easier to stop myself from rolling straight forward, instead of sideways. Of course, you’re all thinking I am slightly exaggerating this. That is why I have made a little movie to prove my point. I guarantee you that no special effects have been used to create this movie. Enjoy!

A bit late but here’s my update of last week. To begin with, it was a bit weird not to be on my bike on my way to work. I mean, the previous week was fun, like a holiday, but it felt like free time was up and work week began. Especially when I said goodbye to Jacco I had to redefine my time.

But I had a few very important goals which included; apply for a work permit, find voluntary organizations and look for an affordable supermarket and hair salon in the neighbourhood. Not minor goals I woulds say! First of all I went to get information on how to apply for a work permit at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Servcies (USCIS) on Broadway (downtown,..not the theatre area). Well, not that easy. Because the visitor door was blocked I tried the employee entrance where I was stopped by a man in a KGB outfit. He began to adres me in a manner suitable to his outfit which means that he began to shout that I could not enter unless I had an appointment. When I said I didn’t have an appointment but that I would love to make one he got even more angry and shouted something which sounded like ‘closed, no, closed (again), tomorrow, three!’. I nodded and walked away, thinking this would be my best option right now.

Recovering with a macchioto at Starbuck’s I thought he probably meant, in his lovely shouting way, that the office was closed for visitors without appointments and that I could try tomorrow before three. o’clock. So I tried the next day and this time the visitor entrance was open (a good sign!). But oh no, I got stopped again! This time by a friendlier looking lady who wasn’t KGB dressed. She asked what my visit was for and if she could have a look in my bag. Of course she could. Inside me and my bag had to go through a scan where after I could finally pursue my quest for information on a work permit. I found the correct desk where I was told by a bored looking woman, to fill in form I-765, mail that with copies of our visa’s, passports, 2 foto’s and a written statement that my earnings are not to support the J-1, pay 320 dollars and wait 3 months for an answer. That was that… Nothing I could’nt have found on the internet. Anyway, my permit is in the mail and all I can do is hope for a fast and positive answer.

What else did I do? On Monday I went to St. Paul’s Chapel to listen to a classical concert. Every Monday they organize concerts (classical and Jazz) which you can attend for free. It was a beautiful concert by a cellist and pianist with work of Janacek, Mendelssohn and Barber. While I was listening my eyes wondered around the church and I saw it was completely packed with memorial notes and photographs. Then it hit me that this was the amazingly unharmed church closest to the World Trade Centre. After the attack the church was transformed into a refuge for people searching for there family and friends and where many firefighters found shelter, food and people to talk to before they had to go out to the rubble again. After the concert I walked past the exhibits with foto’s and little notes. Very, very silencing impressive.

Wednesday I went to see a play reading by graduate students of the New School for Drama. The play was called ‘For the love of the father’ and was written by another student. Although it was just a reading it was in a proper theatre setting (vlakke vloer zaal) with all students (about 14) facing the audience and afterwards it felt like I had just seen a proper play with costumes, decor…everything. Amazing what they were able to invoke.

Then ( I can’t remeber the day) I went to a NY Cares introduction meeting at St. Bartholomew’s church. This is a large voluntary organization that is active in many areas like education, children with special needs, the elderly, environment, health and welness and food facilities for the homeless. I signed my self in and now I can look for appropriate projects in their database. Some of them are just an afternoon, others can involve a few weeks. A good system where everybody can find something that fits in their schedule. I was amazed that the introduction meeting was attended by about 30 young people and they have introductions every day! It felt nice and weird to attend this ‘NY thing’ with only New Yorkers present. I wonder how it feels to participate in voluntary work. I’ll keep you posted!

In between these activities I did’nt find an affordable supermarket (except for Trader Joe’s on the east side which Jacco and I found in the previous weekend) nor did I come across a haircut under 50 dollars (Jacco and are desperate for a haircut). I did find a blow dry shop though, called Blow, where you can dry and style your hair for a trizillian dollars. I should’nt be surprised since they also have salons for… dogs! Yes, the New Yorkers love their, usually petite, dogs. So much even that they can be manicured, pedicured and styled. Any way, I found an Aveda school where they teach students how to cut and style. This will cost you 20 dollars. If I have enough nerve I will go and check that out this week. If it turns out badly I will not use my webcam for a few weeks, so that you know.

Okay, I probably left out a few things but otherwise this update will get to elaborate…if it isn’t already. Later on I’ll write an update of this week.

Just one question though; at what time does it get dark in Holland at the moment? Here it is 20:20 and it’s starting to get dark already. It seems earlier than back home.

Bye!