A New Week, A New Part of Town

The weather in Enschede last week was been cold and rainy. There were a few parts of days with sun, but it is definitely still winter here. Yesterday was a warm clear day though, so Roxi and I took the bus to a nearby neighborhood with a grocery store that we've been wanting to check out. Although we have a store on campus, some of the prices seem a little high, so we thought we'd see if there was a cheaper alternative off campus. While we were waiting for the bus, I got a few more pictures of some campus buildings.


Dormitory


Bastille (Student Union)


Football Field (soccer to us Americans)


Neighborhood grocery store not far from campus.


More of the neighborhood by the grocery store.


Roxi waiting for the bus to take us back to campus with our groceries.

The grocery store ended up being a great find. It gave us a little comparison pricing for items in our campus store. It also taught us that some things in Europe are just that much more expensive than we are normally used to. For a country with such a large coast, fresh seafood is very expensive. I suppose it's because the local fish from the North Sea is mostly herring and that appears to be a bit cheaper than other things which must be imported. We also took a chance on what seemed like a very cheap bottle of Tawny Port. We're used to having to spend about $40 or $50 dollars for a good bottle of port, but this one only cost about 6 Euros ($8) and it's pretty good!

Later in the afternoon, we went back out to the neighborhood to try some Indonesian take-out food suggested by one of Roxi's colleagues. We took the bus to Jupiterstraat (Jupiter Street) so that we could walk around the neighborhood a little more before ordering our dinner.


The bus stop for Jupiterstraat. We had to take this picture in honor of Roxi's cat Jupiter.


Houses along Juipterstraat.


More houses along Jupiterstraat.

We got our food but found that we had just missed the bus back to campus. It had been a warm day, but as the sun was setting it was starting to get cold. Rather than wait for 20 minutes for the next bus, we decided to try the walk back, which was supposed to be about 30 minutes. That way, we'd be home abut the same time and not just sitting in the cold waiting. The walk wasn't too far (it will be better once we find some inexpensive bikes) but it really started to get cold once the sun set. We were almost back to campus when we saw a sign with the temperature on it.



It's funny because even though the temperature was at the freezing point, it didn't feel like it. Neither Roxi nor I knew how we might fare in such different weather than we're used to in south Louisiana, but this reassured us a bit. Granted, it was still pretty cold and we weren't about to have a picnic, but we realized that we could manage this weather for another couple of months.

The Indonesian food ended up being very good and similar to Chinese take out that we are used to but with some variations. Of course we only ordered a fried rice dish, a vegetarian noodle dish and a sampling of appetizers, but I liked the differences in the way the food was prepared. Next time, we'll get more adventurous and try something really different!

Friday Night In Enschede

We made a trip into a cold and rainy Enschede last night for dinner and drinks. I guess it was because of the weather, but there weren't as many people out and about as I was expecting. Of course it could have also been that most of the shops were closed. The restaurants and bars were open and that was our chief concern. We ended up at a really great Mediterranean restaurant and had some delicious shawarma. Then it was off to several bars to get a feel for which might be our style. The first was a really nice British style pub but it was kind of empty. The second place was our favorite of the night. It was more like a beer garden with a selection as well as a large menu of fingerfoods. Plus it was a very comfortable atmosphere and was not overly crowded. The final bar was exactly the opposite; overcrowded and a very minimal beer selection. We had a good time exploring some of the Friday night options. It will will be nice to go back on a much more hospitable night.

New Furniture

On Thursday afternoon, Roxi and I got ourselves motivated to head to Enschede for a late lunch and to continue exploring. We decided to make two stops on the way that changed our plans for the better. While trying to find the grocery store on our first full day on campus, we ran across what appeared to be a furniture store. We were in a hurry to get essential items at the grocer so we decided to save the furniture store for another day; after all, our apartment was already furnished! On our way off campus Thursday, we thought that it might be a good day to swing by the furniture store just to check things out. We got more than we bargained for!

I noticed a sign in the window in English, but before I could read it, the proprietor greeted us and told us about her shop. The shop consisted of two rooms: one containing second hand furniture with no item priced over 50 Euros; the other containing a mixture of new and second items also under 50 Euros (roughly $65). We began looking around the showroom and were impressed by the quality of the second hand furniture which included very nice desks, entertainment centers and couches. The owner informed us that people in town give her the furniture that they no longer want so that she can sell it to students at greatly reduced prices. People get rid of stuff they don't want, poor students get a good deal on used furniture and she makes a little money in the process; everybody wins!

While walking though the store, we saw several things that would have been nice if not for our limited space. One must have that I spotted though was a very fancy looking coffee/espresso/capucino machine for only 25 Euros. I myself do not drink coffee, but it is one of Roxi's daily beverages. She's been getting by with a stove-top percolator that does quite well, but once I saw the very inexpensive second hand machine, I knew that we were not going to leave without it.



We also found a small couch for only 30 Euros that would fit perfectly in our living room and could replace the makeshift couch that Roxi had made out of two minimalist armchairs.



Two great purchases for a mere 55 Euros!

The store also offered delivery service for a fee of 35 Euros. I was not ready to blow our profit margin by spending that much just to move a relatively small couch a few hundred yards across campus. I asked the owner's opinion, and she agreed that we would be better off saving the money and carrying it. So we decided that we'd make two trips back to our apartment: one with the couch and one with the espresso machine.

The day was clear when we headed over to the store so naturally on our walk back with the couch it was overcast and threatening rain. We had barely carried the couch a few feet when I first felt rain drops. It turned out to be freezing rain which under the circumstance was a little better because we could at least brush it off the couch before it melted. So we made the trek back to our apartment cutting as many corners as we could along the way. The couch was not extremely heavy but it was a little awkward to carry. Eventually we got it to our building, up the stairs and in place. Of course a little reorganization of the apartment was required, but we found a place for everything and it even feels like we have increased our floorspace somehow.

We made a long detour on our second trip first stopping at Roxi's office building to take care of a a few administrative things. Following that excursion, we headed back to the store to retrieve our new espresso machine. By the time we got it back to the apartment, at least an hour and a half had passed since we had originally left to go to town for lunch. We were both still pretty exhausted from moving the couch and decided that we were just as happy staying put the rest of the afternoon and making another meal at home. So it turned out to be another good day in the Netherlands even though we had no idea that by the end of it we would end up with two good-as-new items for the apartment!

"Because You Left" & "The Lie"

I can't believe that LOST is finally back! It seems like it's been more than eight months since we last saw the show. I recently completed re-watching Season 4 and, in doing so, was reminded of just how much I love this show. And if the first two episodes of Season 5 are any indicator, there's going to be so much more to love!

STOP READING NOW TO AVOID SPOILERS!!!!!

I was fooled with the opening scene as I am every premiere since Season 2. Actually, it was strikingly similar to the opening of Season 2 with Desmond in the Swan Station. It is an understatement to say that I was surprised to see Marvin Candle aka Edgar Halliwax aka Mark Wickman aka Pierre Chang as the focus of the first scene. If I hadn't seen the Comic Con video (listen for the voice around 2:35), I would have been even more surprised to see Daniel Faraday on the Dharma construction crew for the Orchid Station. In any event, what we all suspected is in fact happening this season: Time Travel!

"Because You Left" was an amazing episode surprising choked full of exposition. But even more than that, I loved the non-linear nature of it all. My favorite episode of the entire series thus far is, without a doubt, "The Constant." "Because You Left" is like "The Constant" on steroids! I still prefer "The Constant," but "Because You Left" was a really great season premiere. I found myself trying to keep track of where the Losties were flashing to in time and trying to think about what had already happened and what would be happening in the story as we previously knew it. Roxi and I had to keep pausing the show to discuss where they were flashing to within the time line that we have already seen. God I love this show!

I must admit, I kind of miss the flashback/flashforward motif that I am accustomed to, but the Oceanic 6 vs. Island stories really lend themselves to be told the way they have been in the first two episodes. After all, we are seeing flashbacks and flashforwards every time we are shown the Losties on the island.

On the island, I loved that Locke got to see Yemi's plane crash and then get to be there when Ethan discovered it. So did Ethan kill the survivor(s) of Yemi's plane crash? And Locke's reaction to Richard Alpert telling him that he has to "die" to save the Island was stunning. For better or for worse, Terry O'Quinn will always be John Locke. And speaking of crazy time travel stuff, I knew that Daniel Faraday's note about Desmond as his constant would be important eventually. I loved that Desmond realized how important that his dreamemory of his meeting with Daniel was.

And off island, it appeared, after the first episode, that all of Ben's plans were coming to fruition. Although neither he nor Jack had made contact with Sun, it appeared that the remainder of the Oceanic 6 would probably be on board with returning to the Island. So what about Sun? She really sounds ready to kill Ben. I don't think that she would be working for Charles Widmore per se, but in killing Ben, she might achieve his goal.

"The Lie" was also a good episode, but there was too little Locke. I can't help but be intrigued about how and why it is that he left the Island and, of course, how and why he died going by the name Jeremy Bentham. But it was interesting to see the Losties get attacked by the Dharma Initiative and/or the Others. I would imagine they were from Dharma seeing as how Pierre Chang had been recording an orientation film for the Arrow Station (for defense against the hostiles) at the start of the previous episode. But you never know on LOST!

It seems that Ben still has his large network of Others off the Island spanning from his meeting with the woman in the butcher shop to Ms. Hawking. I was convinced that Ms. Hawking would be revealed as Faraday's mother, but it was still cool to see that she did play a part in the episode. So Ben only has 70 hours to gather the Oceanic 6...that's about three episodes so I guess we can assume that Jack and Co. will be returning to the Island just in time for February sweeps.

All in all this was a great start to the season! I'm looking forward to more!

Grolsch

The beer of Enschede.