#40 Boston - The Lump - March 10, 2005
Aaah - yes, that would be me - the lump. Jet lag has turned me into the quintessential sofa spud this week, tired, wrinkled and with the biting temperatures outside the weather has made it easy for me to indulge my body's wish for down time. I have already consumed all my Netlfix movies that awaited me at home, and am now moving on to magazines and books, nothing is safe as long as I don't have to leave the sofa.
I returned to Boston late Sunday where conditions have been muy frio, mis amigos! Tuesday morning I left for work with a balmy 40 degrees, so decided to put on a short skirt, and leave the polar wear at home. When I returned from work at 6 PM, I was welcomed by ... well, what was it? Hard to say, it looked like snow and all was white, but I swear it was raining ice! Cursing and cussing I ran down the street in my little skirt and my little pumps, and was convinced that I would never make the 100-yard dash home without sustaining serious frostbite. Massachusetts weather at its best, yet again (and no, I am not tired of it yet...)! That night, the sky kept dropping rain, sleet, snow, ice and who-knows-what, and combined with crazed gusts of wind, I could observe the most unbelievable display of weather-related turbulences. Needless to say the running group this week has not taken place, and we are hoping that by tomorrow we might be able to make a feeble attempt at jogging outside.
Meanwhile, back in Amsterdam the weather had been equally disconcerting, at least to the Dutch, who had not seen weather like this (8 inches of snow) in 25 years. The city was obviously overwhelmed, side walks were either not cleared at all (which made for some nice icy surfaces to slide around on) or attempted to be cleared with diggers and dredgers that they pulled off the closest construction site. The airport shut down and when my boss arrived a day late, he could not believe that they closed the airport for this imperceptible amount of snow - he was expecting huge snow drifts and blizzard-like conditions New England style.
The conference itself was enjoyable and busy, held at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, a mere 20-minute walk from my hotel. We were all given passes for the trams, but after experiencing one ride, I decided to walk - people were packed in like sardines - scenes reminiscent of the Tokyo subway, where they push people in until they pass out. About 300 people attended, a very small conference by comparison, but it allowed some more in-depth discussions with those who were there.
Friday night, the organizers had come up with a social program - I was a little suspicious at first, since by its name alone I could not - even by stretching my imagination - figure out what it was or supposed to be. "Boom Chicago" (http://www.boomchicago.nl/) is apparently an Amsterdam institution. Most of the conference attendees and yours truly crammed into the 300-seat Leidseplein Theater for dinner and a show. Not only was the dinner top notch, but so was the program! Boom Chicago is an improv troupe - with some scripted skits but most of it improvised - with (in our case) enthusiastic cooperation from the audience. We had a grand old time, folks! Amber Ruffin, Tim Sniffen, Rachel Miller and Rob Andrist entertained us to no end, and even I made it into one of their little parodies ("Where's my little Petra?). A particular crowd favorite was a segment called "Dutch Products We Are not Going to Endorse" which included "Sissy" (soda), "Pipi" (toilet Paper), "Retard" (a cough syrup if I remember correctly) and some other unmentionables.
The Dutch are a friendly, but dangerous kind - as I learned one evening in my hotel, when I headed for the bar for a night cap, and got involved in an interesting discussion with two sailboat sales guys from the Netherlands. I learned that the beer I was drinking was called an "amsterdammetje" and I was educated about a New Year's custom called "Carbidschieten", where it is apparently pretty easy to blow your head off (If you want to experience "Death by Milk", this might be for you - carbide is put into a milk can with some water, which makes explosive acetylene gas and is subsequently set on fire). Apparently people die from getting in the way of these exploding milk cans! These people are insane!
The weekend is coming near, and after vegging out at my house all week, it is time for some action and outdoor activities! I will be attending a slide show at REI on Friday on "Classic Hikes of the World"; will do some trail conservation work with Boston Cares on Saturday up in Lynn Woods (a 2,200-acre municipal forest park north of Boston); and on Sunday, go on a hike with Boot, the AMC naturalist - this time in Belmont at the Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, just six miles northwest of downtown Boston - so look for another botanical lesson coming your way! We are expecting snow again this weekend, so this might be interesting!
I hope this update finds you in good spirits - until then! Goede Avend!
pet:)
I returned to Boston late Sunday where conditions have been muy frio, mis amigos! Tuesday morning I left for work with a balmy 40 degrees, so decided to put on a short skirt, and leave the polar wear at home. When I returned from work at 6 PM, I was welcomed by ... well, what was it? Hard to say, it looked like snow and all was white, but I swear it was raining ice! Cursing and cussing I ran down the street in my little skirt and my little pumps, and was convinced that I would never make the 100-yard dash home without sustaining serious frostbite. Massachusetts weather at its best, yet again (and no, I am not tired of it yet...)! That night, the sky kept dropping rain, sleet, snow, ice and who-knows-what, and combined with crazed gusts of wind, I could observe the most unbelievable display of weather-related turbulences. Needless to say the running group this week has not taken place, and we are hoping that by tomorrow we might be able to make a feeble attempt at jogging outside.
Meanwhile, back in Amsterdam the weather had been equally disconcerting, at least to the Dutch, who had not seen weather like this (8 inches of snow) in 25 years. The city was obviously overwhelmed, side walks were either not cleared at all (which made for some nice icy surfaces to slide around on) or attempted to be cleared with diggers and dredgers that they pulled off the closest construction site. The airport shut down and when my boss arrived a day late, he could not believe that they closed the airport for this imperceptible amount of snow - he was expecting huge snow drifts and blizzard-like conditions New England style.
The conference itself was enjoyable and busy, held at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, a mere 20-minute walk from my hotel. We were all given passes for the trams, but after experiencing one ride, I decided to walk - people were packed in like sardines - scenes reminiscent of the Tokyo subway, where they push people in until they pass out. About 300 people attended, a very small conference by comparison, but it allowed some more in-depth discussions with those who were there.
Friday night, the organizers had come up with a social program - I was a little suspicious at first, since by its name alone I could not - even by stretching my imagination - figure out what it was or supposed to be. "Boom Chicago" (http://www.boomchicago.nl/) is apparently an Amsterdam institution. Most of the conference attendees and yours truly crammed into the 300-seat Leidseplein Theater for dinner and a show. Not only was the dinner top notch, but so was the program! Boom Chicago is an improv troupe - with some scripted skits but most of it improvised - with (in our case) enthusiastic cooperation from the audience. We had a grand old time, folks! Amber Ruffin, Tim Sniffen, Rachel Miller and Rob Andrist entertained us to no end, and even I made it into one of their little parodies ("Where's my little Petra?). A particular crowd favorite was a segment called "Dutch Products We Are not Going to Endorse" which included "Sissy" (soda), "Pipi" (toilet Paper), "Retard" (a cough syrup if I remember correctly) and some other unmentionables.
The Dutch are a friendly, but dangerous kind - as I learned one evening in my hotel, when I headed for the bar for a night cap, and got involved in an interesting discussion with two sailboat sales guys from the Netherlands. I learned that the beer I was drinking was called an "amsterdammetje" and I was educated about a New Year's custom called "Carbidschieten", where it is apparently pretty easy to blow your head off (If you want to experience "Death by Milk", this might be for you - carbide is put into a milk can with some water, which makes explosive acetylene gas and is subsequently set on fire). Apparently people die from getting in the way of these exploding milk cans! These people are insane!
The weekend is coming near, and after vegging out at my house all week, it is time for some action and outdoor activities! I will be attending a slide show at REI on Friday on "Classic Hikes of the World"; will do some trail conservation work with Boston Cares on Saturday up in Lynn Woods (a 2,200-acre municipal forest park north of Boston); and on Sunday, go on a hike with Boot, the AMC naturalist - this time in Belmont at the Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, just six miles northwest of downtown Boston - so look for another botanical lesson coming your way! We are expecting snow again this weekend, so this might be interesting!
I hope this update finds you in good spirits - until then! Goede Avend!
pet:)
posted by My Boston at
4:22 PM
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