The Things We Do For Art

As one of the outings for our department, we went to the local art museum, the Groninger Museum.  They had some pretty bizarre art.  It was perfect for a modern art museum, weird, but still interesting.  One of the exhibitions showed various "dresses" made out of very bizarre materials.  And in case you wonder - actual people have worn these dresses!  Of course, their practicality is a bit limited.

For example, this mannequin is making a fashion statement in black tubing.

And this one is wearing a dress made of thin shards of glass-like plastic.

Don't put your eye out!

This one is made of steel wire, and reminds me of a cloud of pollution.  If I remember correctly, the name was "Cloud".

Another artist made things with old clothes.  The benefit is that there is always a cheap, plentiful supply of working material!  Here, she expanded a Volkswagen van using an accordion of old clothes.
  

She also used old clothes to make "cities" within suitcases.  A point if you can guess what city this is.

This one is the inside of a giant brain made of cloth.

And landing gear made of clothes. 

1,001 Ducks in a Canal

Only in the Netherlands do I have an opportunity to dump a box of rubber duckies into a canal.

The building across from mine was having a rubber duck race.  Everyone who entered got a duck with a number painted on it.  Then firefighters were brought in to blast water at the ducks, propelling them across the canal to the finish line.  I helped them set up by dumping hundreds of ducks into the water.

Ducks enter the canal.

The firemen come and start blasting!

And the winners are declared as this poor guy almost falls out of the boat, trying to snatch up all the ducks that raced past him.

Imagine cleaning those ducks up.  I'm sure there are still some rogue ducks out there, still silently floating along the canals.

For a point - what are the two winning ducks wearing?

The Young and the Bikeless

As I mentioned before, if you really want to blend in with Dutch culture, you MUST own a bike.  That is one non-negotiable fact of life here.  The city center is closed to cars, so if you want to travel, walking or a bike is your option.  And if you want to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time, biking is the answer.

This all sounds great in theory, and it is, once you get used to it.  Until that time, walking is a real hazard.  I didn't realize it, but I am used to relying heavily on my hearing when I cross the street.  Don't hear a car?  Good to go.  Oh wait, you just got nailed by a bike.  You loose.

I think the number of times I have almost gotten hit by a bike in the few weeks I've lived here are easily in the 20s...

On a recent outing with fellow coworkers, we made an across-town trek to the museum.  95% of the people in the group owned bike, which left me and another bike-less PhD student to take the bus after receiving detailed instructions from other people in their department.  We are left at the bus stop, as they whisk away on their bikes.

So, determined not to be left out of the fun anymore, we decide to buy bikes.  This is no easy task, however.  Since bikes are in demand, they are also extraordinarily expensive - a clunker with rust and obvious issues which make it impossible to ride still runs close to 100 euro.  What makes things worse, there are thousands of new students who all want to buy a bike right now.

But, there seemed to be a good solution.  With all of these bikes, a lot of them get abandoned or removed by the police for one reason or another.  This means, every month, the police sell anywhere from 25 to 200 bikes for deeply discounted prices.  So why not give it a try?

Well, there's a pretty good reason why: the police hand out numbers to enter the bike garage at about 7:30 in the morning.  On a normal month, people start queuing at about 6:30.  But, remember, this is not a normal month.  Rather, this is the month that the thousands of students also want a bike.  And they are all poor, so getting a cheap bike sounds real appealing.

My alarm clock went of at 4:30 in the morning.  I groggily turned it off and seriously considered going back to sleep.  After all, I'm not as young as I used to be, and I didn't mind paying a few extra euros for a bike if it meant I could sleep.

Still, my new bike-less friend also said he would go buy a bike that cold morning, and the thought of him standing alone in the line shivering made me feel guilty enough to roll out of bed.

Well, I got to the shop at about 5:10 and met my friend.  But even at the early hour, we were still about the 30th people in line.  Ay!  I just hoped there was more than 25 bikes this time.  As the morning wore on and the first touches of dawn lit up the horizon, more than 200 people lined up behind us.  We were beginning to feel pretty lucky.

Eventually, I begin to get a bit nervous though.  The group in front of us say that it's a bit like those shows where a group of crazed brides enter a store of deeply discounted wedding dresses, push their way through the melee, and grab a dress and hope it works. 

Finally, we got our numbers, and returned an hour later to get our bikes.  We are let in with a wave of people with similar numbers.  We all make our way through the lines of bikes, looking for "the one".  The first one that caught my eye appealed to me, well, because it was short, like me.  It seemed like a great bike.  Every bike I looked at after that one were ok, but none seemed as good.

I found someone who looked like he knew bikes, and had him look at my find.  He checked the wheels, saw it had a new chain, good breaks, just enough rust and grime to make it not as desirable to thieves.  He said it was perfect.  It looked like I had found the bike, my bike, the one.  

So after paying for my bike, I am no longer among the bike-less ranks.  I can blend into Dutch culture.  And life is so much easier now with a bike by my side.

My New Ride!  :-)

Congratulations to Our Winner

Congratulations Sjaak on winning the debut game of Beth's Blog Game.  You were a very worthy participant - it was hard to come up with a question you couldn't answer.  I am still amazed you were able to correctly guess the name of my mystery temple in Japan!

Mom comes in a close second.  Mom - my most loyal blog reader.  Thanks mom!

And third place goes to my loving husband, who showed great restraint in not answering questions he was there for because he had an unfair advantage. 

Thanks to everyone for playing!  The points have been reset, so a new round begins!  If you've never played before, considering joining!   

Game Over

Soon, Beth's blog game will come to an end at a randomized yet predetermined time.  Then the winner will be crowned and a new game will begin!  Good luck!

Only in the Netherlands

Now, life in Europe is going to take on a whole new twist - in the last couple of weeks, I made my move to a new European country - the Netherlands.  And if there is one pervading thought, it is this - we're not in France any more. 

Which inspires me to write some experiences I've had in these last two weeks - experiences that could happen "only in the Netherlands".

From Wikimedia commons

Only in the Netherlands: We drive across the country and see alternating field with cows, windmills, canals, and klumpa (wooden shoes) shops.

Only in the Netherlands: I'm surrounded by a sea of tall skinny blonde people.  The men all bear a resemblance to my husband.  Bikes are too tall for me, mirrors in bathrooms are placed so high I can only see the top of my forehead, and microwaves in homes are so high I can't begin to reach them.

Only in the Netherlands - As we are looking for a place to live,  we say we are a bit concerned about the apartment that we are looking at is located over a bar.  Then my husband asks if the street it's adjacent to is the red light district.  Our realtor looks out the window and says,  'Hmm, yes, I think that's it.  Want to see it?'

Only in the Netherlands:  I order a croissant for breakfast and am asked if I want it filled with chicken curry.

Only in the Netherlands - We hear Alanis Morissette's song Ironic and the words were changed:
"It's like meeting the man of my dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife."
to
"It's like meeting the man of my dreams, and then meeting his beautiful husband."

Only in the Netherlands: Rusty bikes with mis-aligned wheels, no gears, and missing petals run for 100 euros.

Only in the Netherlands: I get an opportunity to throw a box full of rubber duckies into a canal.

Only in the Netherlands: I wander the city streets at 7:30 in the morning, and there are no cafes open to get a coffee.  There are, however, plenty of bars that are still open.

And for a point: Owning what one item makes you blend in with Dutch culture more than anything else?  (Only in the Netherlands!)

A Land in History

In addition to all of the important religious sites, Israel is also home to a lot of rich history.  On the far side from the Western Wall lies an archeological dig of thousands of years of Israeli history. 

 Ancient coins.

The Temple Mount, 2000 years ago, was home to the Second Temple.  Here's an illustration of how it would have looked.

The giant staircase no longer exists, but the arch that supported it can still be seen, partially anyways.  You can see the remnant of the arch high on the wall in this picture.

Here, some of the arches (now filled in) and the stairways leading up to them.

Architecture isn't the only thing that has survived.  These jugs, still whole, have been unearthed as well. 

This is the remains of a ritual bath near the Second Temple.  You go in one side, bathe, and emerge on the other side, cleansed.

During our road trip, we head to the Caesarea, we pass sand dunes.  It looked like parts of New Mexico!

We got a little lost, but we just started following the ruins, and eventually found our way.

Flying over the ruins.

A bit from Caesarea, we see the massive aquaducts that line the beach.

More evidence of New Mexico/Israel.

Caesarea was a massive harbor city built by Herod. 

These deep caves were built for storage, and were used throughout the years (even for a pagan ritual site!)

Of course, no ancient Roman city is complete without chariot racing.  Bram really got into it.

Caesarea, with the sea in the background.

As you can see, some of the mosaics survived to this day.

The tracks used for chariot racing!

As the collesium is unearthed.  To the left, you can see the stands, while to the right is what it used to look like, with the stands still under many layers of dirt.

The ruins of Herod's palace in Caesarea.

This stone is the only piece of historical evidence that Pontius Pilate was a real person.

Walking along the beach in Caesarea, Bram tries to get as close as possible to the crashing waves.  Jessa, on the other hand, gets as far as possible, in the dry zone.

Continuing on our road trip, we head to the Crusader town of Acre.

Horses may be present.

Remnants of the city wall.

Jessa and Rodolfo from the walls of the city.

Overlooking the port of Acre, with the city in the background.

We wandered through the old city, and through the markets.

Coke - in Arabic!

Bram is definitely taller than these Crusader tunnels!

People standing on the water to fish!  Actually, they are standing on the manmade ancient wall, that helped to create the port.

Walking through the streets.

Some teenagers jumping from the city walls into the ocean below.  And for a point: how did this teenager, jumping into the water, cause me to be very bruised and sore more than a month later halfway across the world?

An ancient hotel.  Camels were put up here as their caravans stopped for the night.

Interesting potted plants.

Acre has a nice mosque that we were able to tour.

Inside the mosque.

And of course, what visit to a mosque would be complete without dressing appropriately!

Next, we toured some of the ruins from the Crusader time period.  This was a great hall.

The Crusader latrines.

And the sewers!  As Jessa said, "Try not to think about it."

The old market of Acre.