Dinner with Geoff in Amersfoort - Gourmet

On September 11, I usually have a moment of silence before I start my day. I did so this September 11, also. Then, opening up to the NYTimes, there was nothing else to do but browse all the news on memorials, services, observances. I had two “Do you remember where you were on 9/11?” conversations. One person I spoke to was in the Netherlands when it happened; another in Spain. And now we’re all in the same neighborhood. Small world; we should try to be nicer to each other; you never know where you’re gonna end up.

I took the bus to the Uithof (where the main campus is), armed with iPod fully charged, horse meat sandwich (a standard meat in the deli department here), and hope that I might find a “back up” apartment in case this thing with Vi didn’t work out on either end. To my disappointment, my iPod had been synced without my knowledge and it now only consisted of 12 songs I wasn’t fond of. When I got to the Uithof, I went to the library to get some work done.

While there, I had the best idea of my trip. I have recently been informed that this half of the semester ends in November, and that I can write a paper for credit, for the second part. I emailed the advisor of the paper and asked if I needed to be in the Netherlands to write the paper – since I could just email it to him when complete, and for editing. My idea: living in Paris from November to December, writing a paper on international law! More like a fantasy than an idea, but we’ll see what he says.

I had a coffie (“co-fee”, close to our “cough-fee”), took the bus to Centraal to meet Maggie for soup and do more reading at this diner in the station, and hopped on a train to see Geoff in Amersfoort, where he lives with his cousin and his cousin’s girlfriend. The trainride was quick, he came by the station on his bike full of groceries, just as I came down the platform. After wandering around a new city with new friends for a few weeks, he sure was a sight for sore eyes!

We made corchette (zucchini) stuffed with mushrooms and rice, pan-seared steaks, and beet salad with goat cheese. Geoff is a great cook, and his cousin’s certainly appreciated the wonderful meal as much as I did. For dessert, we had a beautifully-presented, delectible dish of vanilla ice cream, hand-whipped cream, blue berries, and fresh Turkish figs, with mint from the herb garden. If Geoff and I hadn’t been so allergic (to Dutch plants, Dutch air, and/or the two cats), it would have been a perfect evening. I really enjoyed the company of his cousin and his cousin’s girlfriend, and Geoff and I agreed at the end of the night that there is nothing like having a friend “from home” in a foreign country – someone who you feel like really knows you. It really made me look forward to Pauline’s visit this upcoming Friday.