31-12-2009

The End of The Old With The Start of The New Beginning

Newyears eve:
always fun
always eat well
always drink well
experienced it in Austria since 4 years

Not posting anything about snowboarding today
just something to reflect on 2009
Just write down i remember, and have remembered with pictures. Not mentioning too many people, but you know if you were my friend or not, if we shared any times together. I don't need to remind you of that. Thats for you to remember. So here i go:
I remember that i was here in the same bed last year, and i had to get up because i had to catch the plane back to england on the 1st of January.
That was quite annoying because i couldn't drink a lot and had to go to bed relatively early.
This year is different though: going back in 2 days, which means i can go crazy tonight.
Which essentially means that i am going to go crazyyyyy wild.
It will be epic.
It will be good.
Let it be.

OK, so what has happened in 2009:
Since the last snowboarding holiday in england, I had IB mock exams straight afterwards.
I guess i kind of studies for that, as i usually don't do, and was quite unprepared for them.
Also i was relieved because i had just completed all of the internal assessments for every subject before the winter break. So i had a great week in Austria then, a lot more snow than this year, and had a white new years eve instead of a green one.

In january: My 18th birthday, celebrated quite epically and filthy in the garage of our england 'villa'
Collaboration of Shisha, Cider, Beer, too much drama, too many drunken faces.
Was a night to be remembered (or not to be remembered, by some)

By that time i was able to enter pubs and clubs in the UK without having to show ID and to drink legally!
Celebrated this fact by going to the pub before my birthday party with a friend
and in February with an epic night in London town, in a nice club, (Taman Gang it was called i think) where my camera got mugged, and learned a little bit more about why London is such a popular clubbing city.
Lets keep it to the fact that there was a huge bottle of Belvedere vodka present, and i was so far gone at one point, that i even bought a jaegerbomb that was 11 pounds. Epic Fail.

In March, were a couple of things, of course the IB was still haunting me as i had finals coming up in may....
but as i look through pictures of me on facebook i remember the many house parties that were either hosted by me and my brother Bart, or by other mutual friends. These parties consisted mostly of ridiculous drinking games, and there was always two people (preferrably a girl and a guy) ending up snogging eachother. Oh, and lets not forget the unforgettable amounts of Shisha we had at all of these parties. Also, a bit less important for me, unlike some of the Americans at our school (or actually, it were mostly their mothers) Graduation Photo's. What a bloody hype. It's just one big fake-a-smile day. Lets keep it at that. Although i must say it was quite amusing to see everybody in my grade wear a robe. Also there was THE LAST DAY of actual school. High School that is. Now we basically had one month of revision to go through before finals. What epic rape of time that was.

April basically was one amazingly huge timewarp. Nothing amazingly good happened. Nothing Amazingly bad happened. It was pretty decent, i must say. Although: in april, or actually a bit before that, Track & Field had started their season: and as the only senior on the team, i did feel quite honoured as well as enjoying the fact that i was the oldest one in the entire team!

May.
There is so much to say about this month.
It has been the month of Pre-exam house Parties that got out of hand, A shitload of revision (some of it rather procrastinated by free will), Final exams (that i had t sit through till the end, as my Psychology exam was the LAST exam of the schedule), Senior Trip, Graduation, Post-Exam Parties, Random House parties Celebrating our new-earned freedom and many many other things.
Let me just put a few pictures in, because it is too much to explain, it could be a book by itself.











































































































Ok, so that was a good month, in which a lot happened, a lot of parties, i went to Zante, which was basically a second england in Greece, with a 'party bag of lies, booze and then deceit' kind of ;)
and then i graduated. I WAS DONE WITH HIGH SCHOOL. I HAD ABSOLUTE FREEDOM!
Or at least i thought i did....

June and July were one huge bundle of drinking, smoking shisha, ACTUALLY meeting people my age from the hockey club i played for, and just enjoying life with the people i had started to care for quite a lot during these last 3 years i had lived in England. Also was i sad to see so many of them that had to leave to America as they had to settle and get into the idea of living so far away from their families and such sentimental ideas. To pick out a few things: We had a garden party for all the people we knew at the Eastcote Hockey Club (where everybody knew me and my brother as 'The Dutch Boys'), this is where i actually met and talked to many of the people from there for the first (and for many of them the last) time. Then the Tegelberg family arrived in England, visiting us for nearly two weeks, this was overall a good experience, as well as all the sub-experiences that took place: my Father's leaving party with the navy, which was a VERY drunken one for me. I could not really stand up straight, mostly due to the fact that there was a seemingly endless supply of beer, champagne, wine and other alcoholic beverages present. Also i went to Matter (at the o2 arena) with my friend Coen and a group of people that included a friend of mine that was celebrating her birthday. This is where i got to know about the filthy nature of Dubstep music, the dark grungy sound of electro and the amazing performance that was exceeding my expectation by High Contrast. I danced, and had a load of energy from 9pm - 6am. It was great. Especially when Coen and me got home, and i realized that i had forgotten the key, therefore had to dig a spare one up somewhere hidden in the ground around my former house. Fail. Overall this was probably one of the best nights out ive ever had.
Also i had a few house parties for the people from the hockey club, people from school, and others that were closely involved with m summer activities:) Furthermore i went to Fabric, which was pretty good, but not as good as i expected. The music was great, but the people i had gone with, didn't have enough energy to sustain the night. Although a early morning snack at the McDonalds did change their mind a bit. Doing this whilst waiting for the London Underground to continue their service, as it was and has always been pretty shitty.
These two months had been my partying episodes for the summer.

August.... was a rather sad month. I started to realize that i was going to leave the people that i had either just recently met, or felt comfortable and accepted with. This really started to hurt. I basically started guarding myself against these feelings of loss and sadness and kind of became apathetic for a while... I had some pretty sad moments, saying goodbye to people from school, people from the hockey club, randomers that bad been my friends or even closer than that. It was sad to say bye to the people that i had been close to for the last one, two or even three years. It was like i was going to have to leave a part of me behind.

Now then: the months after August, they are mixed up, messed up, and majorly weird. I had chosen to study Physiotherapy, in Utrecht, a city i had never been before. I had to live alone. I came from England, not been talking to the old friends from my home town. I was alone. Completely miserable.
And as someone's anonymity also brings freedom, i had a ''fuck all'' attitude towards everything for the first few weeks i was in Holland, this was mostly due to the fact that i was still settling, i did have a room for myself, exploring my new found freedom (again) and the fact that ACTUALLY nobody knew me.
There was nobody to control me, and i went to about every party i could. I drank so much beer that even a full grown alcoholic would say AMEN. I made so many mistakes in those first few weeks that god would send me straight to hell if i believed in that kind of stuff.
But to tell you the truth: it felt amazing.
For ONCE in my tiny life, i did not have to worry about school. I did not have to worry about underlying rumors about me. I did not have to worry about people judging me. I was completely and utterly crazy.
And i did not think for ONE minute that it was going to stop.
Although, it did.
After the UIT (utrecht introduction time), de University College Utrecht introduction, the introduction of my own College, The introduction of my fraternity SPIN, there was an empty hole. From there on, i became quite  lifeless again, making sure i had enough money to spend on beer, and on food, but to gain some every month i got my allowance from the government. I went from a party-crazy-nutter, to the introvert-shameful-little boy again. I have connected with quite a few people in Utrecht, and reconnected with quite a few of my old friends, so i know a few people again, but to call them friends?
I dont know. I guess you could call the second half of 2009 kind of like 2006, 2007 and half of 2008 together. Nothing much happens, you don't know many people, and you're just a nobody in a group of students that isn't noticed (so it seems).
Although when i think of 2009, i get a weird feeling in my stomach. One of happiness and amazing memories that i will never forget. And another lingering scary one, of the fact that i have to go back to college in a few days to pick up my books again to read and learn about bonestructures and musclerecover again. In other words: right now im in doubt if this is what i want.
But to finish this off: Where would we be without doubt in our lives?
It would be cruel of me to answer that question for you with another huge ramble from my side, so i will leave you with that question.
Happy New Year and an amazing 2010

28-12-2009

This Hangover Could Last A While

















The Hangover just became The Reality
haha the last couple of days in Austria have been crazy, amazing and fun
Snowboarding has been alright, still not alot of good snow, only high in the mountains, which is slightly annoying, sad, weird, whatever you want to call it.
Yesterday me and Coen went to the craziest steep mountain in the area, without any good snow. It was slightly scary at times, and i've had a few good crashes, good that i bought a helmet on beforehand to protect the head. THANK YOU PRO-TEC !
What more...
Sauna: A-MA-ZING
i love the sauna, its so relaxing, even made me sleep so nicely and the day after i was super relaxed and was ready for some good boarding!
Also, 2 days ago we went to The Tenne (there are two places called this, we went to a big club called that).
We got there with several other Dutch people, and all we could see were 14 year old skanks in glittery dresses that were slightly too short, shaking their not-so-protruding asses to the likes of David Guetta's Sexy Bitch that was pre-announced by the shittiest DJ in the world, shouting the (already few) words of the song through the microphone with an Austrian accent. In other words: it was a rather amusing sight.
That was defenitely one of the highlights of this holiday:P
But on number one of craziest/effed-up nights was defenitely last night.
I will illustrate the scene for you: Went out for dinner with the whole hotel. Crazy as the Germans are, they ordered about 3 rounds of schnaps for everybody, as well as me and Coen both had about 2 beers with dinner. Coen was still suffering from his America-Jetlag, and said that he wanted to go to The Tenne (a little après-ski bar near our hotel) so he could party it up and wouldn't fall asleep.
So after we got back to our hotel, we rushed in to get our coats, gloves and walking shoes, and went to the Tenne. I was kind of dead in there, except for a (what we thought was) a family with what seemed to be a Dad, Mom, and two decently looking daughters. The women turned out to ALL be daughters and the old man was their father. Epic fail in judgement. When it was around 11ish, people started coming in, and the Tenne became quite filled with already merry people. From here i will sum everything up that has been told to me, or the tiny bits that i can recall:
We met 2 Dutch people from The Hague in the sketchiest après-ski bar in the middle of nowhere
These men decided we were cool and kept buying us drinks
Consequently we were all quite hammered around 11 o'clock
The bartender started playing good old après-ski music, including the hits Das Roten Pferd and Lebt Denn Der Alte Holzmichl Noch.
This obviously made the crowd go wild and start dancing their socks off, and because of this more and more beer was bought
Coen was getting quite tired around 11.15 as he was remembering that he had a jetlag and wanted to go back to the hotel
Me and Tobi (a guy from our hotel) felt like staying at the Tenne and drinking more, so we did.
Around 12 we decided to walk home and from here it got even crazier...
First when we were right outside the Tenne, i decided i had to take a piss, i did, while coen decided it would be funny to push me.
He did and i fell into a ski-rack that, hitting my head. Painful fact number 1
I became really angry and thought it was fair to punch Coen in the face, and so i did. Painful fact number 2
Tobi then came running after us with a snow-shovel and found two kegs of Gluhwein outside a hotel.
He self-served himself to some of this drink and when he had finished it, started throwing the shovel around.
I thought it would be a good idea to take a picture of this shovel-throwing-madness, so i shouted to Tobi i wanted to take a picture, got ready, and then shouted ''throw it !!!'' at him.
Either really bad luck, or because of Tobi's amazing drunken aim, the shovel managed to hit me on the knee with the iron part while it was thrown backwards. Painful fact number 3
I fell down on the ground in pain, shouting my vocal chords out, while Tobi and Coen were just laughing their asses off at me because everything was so ridiculous.
I did not like this and shouted at them that they had to stop laughing or i would knock them out.
Coen thought this was SO funny that he burst out into laughter immediately.
I thought he was laughing at me and started running at him at what seemed to be full speed (probably wasn't due to being intoxicated) and rugby tackled the guy making him pass out in the snow for a good 2 minutes. Painful fact number 4
Tobi and me wanted to get home, so we kind of started dragging him along with us, when Coen started laughing again, we told him to get the f*ck up and we walked back home.
I was still in pain and was apparently shouting that i could never play sports again and that ''I GOT A SHOVEL THROWN AT ME''
when we were close to the hotel, we saw light poles that were next to the street.
What we thought was a good idea was to start hanging from them, what was quite amusing.
Then after we got back to the hotel, just went to sleep.
Now: some pictures :)
1 Coen, Tobi + Shovel :P
2 Shovel being thrown at me
3 View from top of a mountain
4 Coen loves beer ;)
5 Coen, Me + Dutch people :D








25-12-2009

White Paradise


(Writing from the living room of the hotel as seen on the left!)
Arrived in Austria yesterday after a 12 hour drive from Den Helder... We drove from 9.30pm til 9.30am right through the night, it was quite a rough ride and it didn't suprise me that i fell asleep for 5 hours after i had unpacked my bags, and called my parents that i had arrived all right. What is the title of this blog-post is actually a misconception of mine, as when we (Me with my good friend and his family) drove into Ramsau (where i am staying) what we saw was not a white, but a rather green paradise. In other words: there was NO snow present around us. This was quite a let down, as we all were hoping for the best snowboarding holiday ever, but i guess that was too much to ask .... or was it..?
Today me and Coen got up quite early (he, suffering from severe jetlag due to his American endouvers) and me, due to him waking me up while getting out of bed, and had a great breakfast. After that, we changed into out snowboarding outfits and got onto a the bus (which we had to wait for about 30 minutes.... EPIC fail) to the Planai. It still wasn't snowing, and we didn't think it would be a very epic snowboarding adventure. But when we were in the lift up to the top, we looked out of the window and all of the sudden we saw that it had started snowing...
We thought: YESSS! THANK GOD IT'S SNOWING AT LAST! WE GET FRESH POWDER.
How wrong could we be: Yes, it was snowing, and Yes there was fresh powder. But there certainly wasn't any scenery that was more than 5 metres  away. We had almost no sight. So we decided to start our day off by doing one run down a nicely freshly powdered slope, and then go to the legendary Onkel Willi's Hutte, the only place on the Planai with Chicken Wings!
This was of course A-MA-ZING, as always, and we stuffed and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly! Was defenitely the highlight of the day. Also the BEER! OK, i've had a lot of good beers, but bloody hell, if you EVER go to Austria, doesn't matter where, GET Wieniger Hefe Weissbier. This is honestly the most tasty beer i can think of right now! We both had a good pint of that, which turned our lunch into a heavenly feast! The look on Coen's face says enough ;)



Although the weather today was pretty horrible, and it wasn't optimal for snowboarding, i did enjoy it as a first taste of the time to come! Hopefully it will keep snowing as much as it is doing now (where you can barely see the other side of the street) and we will have amazing powder packed slopes tomorrow :D!
Tonight were going out to dinner with everybody from the hotel, should be fun!
I'll update as soon as possible again!

20-12-2009

SO. MUCH. SNOW.

How is this possible?!
I thought that one day of snow would be enough, and that there wouldn't be much more to come, but i guess i was wrong.
While I got stuck on Utrecht Central Station, for three hours, because the NS (Dutch National Rail) shut down the whole bloody train service due to the fact that there had been one inch of snow. How can it be that if there is ONE inch, that all the public transport has issues staying up and running?!
I got SO annoyed.
especially because I had a party i was attending that night, and had to be home around 7, and the NS told me to postpone my travels til after 7. Also, i had a VERY heavy bad, snowboard, snowboard boots and a backpack with me, which made it even more annoying to get on the train around 6 pm with about 250 other people that wanted to go to the hague. Being squeezed into a tiny sapce with about 50 other people isn't so fun. THANKS NS!

But now, its snowing again, more than thursday, and the trains are down AGAIN!
Bloody NS.
Although, now i can understand, because now there is a decent 20 centimetres of snow laying around, which is decent, and i could even snowboard on that !
w0000:D
speaking of snowboarding: AUSTRIA COUNTDOWN IS DOWN TO 4 DAYS!
YESSSS
in 4 days I will be in the beautiful country of Austria, with a thick layer of snow, a BIG mug of Wieniger Weisse beer, Coen and his family, a Sauna, and a WHOLE load of amazing slopes to shred to pieces with my own snowboard. I CANNOT WAIT:D
YES YES YES:D
WOOO
i wayy too excited:)

15-12-2009

Addiction or Boredom?


I cannot stop watching this series. Too good. Or am i too bored to do anything else? I have no idea.

ALSO


THESE ARE BLOODY AMAZING
if you are in holland
and see these
BUY THEM.
they. are. sex.