Welcome to Ruudje's Weblog!!

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Why?? Facebook came along... No need to keep updating the same stuff on two different places.


Saturday, February 24, 2007

My new job ;-)

I am becoming nocturnal...

Since I'll be going back to China I thought my time in Holland would be well spend earning some hard euros! However I prefer to be free during normal office hours in order to make all the necessary arrangements. So I ended up working shifts at a printing company called Roto Smeets de Boer. The work itself is really boring, but the money is good and I get to work night shifts.

So I spent the last 6 nights (23.00 - 7.00) in a row moving parts of magazines from one place to another and making sure the machines would do their job. The people are very nice, but when you tell them you studied Economics at a University they give a look like they want to say: So what the fuck are you doing here then??? Nevertheless, the work is just fine for now and it serves its purpose: increasing the balance of my bank account!

I already thought of some dates to go back to China and most probably it will be somewhere in the middle of April. I am really looking forward to it and hope I won't encounter any stupid things that will mess up my plans!

That's all folks!
Rudolf

Monday, February 19, 2007

Carnaval!!!

Yesterday I killed another million billion brain cells...

Dressing up like an idiot and behaving like on too. That is what carnaval is all about :-) This year Saturday was the only day I had the opportunity to really celebrate it, since I have to work night shifts at my new job the rest of the days (btw new job is at a printing company). So I put on some party clothes from last year and started the evening with Mark, Sven and Erwin at my sister's place. A "few" beers later we went to Harry & de Gebroeëke Zwiêgelkes and ended in town.







http://images.travelpod.com/users/ruudbatta/serre_chevalier.1171201800.mvi_4725.avi

Although the night was great ending in being really drunk, the morning after wasn't that great... ;-) Poor brain cells! Oh well, I had fun! On Sunday I only briefly went to town, because work started at 23.00. I wonder where I'll be next year at this time of year...



De groeten,
Ruudje

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Highlights & Lowlights

Best experience of my life!!!

Of course some things were more exciting than others, some events will vividly remain in memory while others will fade. As a very short summary I will give you all the highlights and also the "lowlights" of my trip.

Highlights

Trekking through Tiger Leaping Gorge! The views and people along the way were just incredible!

Visiting the highest place in the world: Mount Everest! The first sight of this incredible mountain and the extremely cold night I spent in Everest Base Camp are moments I will remember forever.

Walking on China's Great Wall! The wall itself isn't that spectacular, but when you see the inaccessible environment where they build that thing... you're awestruck!

Spending a few days with the Chinese Family of my friend Sun Chao. It gave me a new look on this huge country. No tourist in sight for the next 200km, but just experiencing the real Chinese way of life.

Having fun and drinking BeerLao en whiskey while Tubing in Vang Vieng! My first real holiday feeling. No cultural, no temples, no traveling, just drinking and laughing!

Doing a boat trip through Halong Bay near Hanoi. The karst mountains rising from the water give you the feeling you are set back in time.

World's biggest man-made temple complex: Angkor!!! Unbelievable that people can be so dedicated to some gods that they build structures like this.

Partying during New Year's Eve and The Full Moon Party at Koh Pha-Ngan. Being at a house party on beach and going on until the sun rises again :-)

Climbing Gurung Bromo at sunrise! Although the horses did most of the work, the last climb to the top, the surreal surroundings and the smell are things never to forget.

Getting around is easy in Asia, but renting Push and Motor Bikes rulezzz!! Traffics seems to be crazy, but when you go with the flow everything will work out just fine!!

There is one thing you get from visiting all these sites and that is a very good appetite! Luckily Asian Food is among the best in the world and I enjoyed every single meal!!!

Although all of the above highlight sound great, they would have been so much less exciting if it wasn't for The People I met during the trip! Thank you all for making my trip an unforgettable experience!! I can't mention all of you, but Scott, Iris & Matthias, Rodney, Shoshannah, Martti, Sun Chao, Ryan, Alan, Jordan & Dana, Jack & Jess, and Inge deserve a special thank you!!!


Lowlights

Planting my foot in a piece of glass in Tibet. In the beginning I thought everything would be alright, but it ended up in a bad infection and me spending a few more weeks in China as planned. The positive side is that the foot healed perfectly and I had a great time staying in Kunming!!

Not a real lowlight, but more kind of a disappointment: The Terracotta Warriors. I am glad I saw them, but they weren't as impressive as I imagined/hoped them to be.

And in general the Poverty (and extreme difference between rich and poor) you see all around in Asia. Although it does make you realize how lucky we are :-)


That's it... no more Asia tales from Ruudje. But don't be sad... the ultimate highlight still has to come. I love China and this combined with the people I met inspired me to go back there. So in about two months I will go back to China, get myself a teaching job and lead a happy live there!

De Groeten,
Ruudje

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Serre Chevalier

Sun, snow, beer and friends :-)

My return from Asia didn't quite go as planned. The flight from Jakarta to London Gatwick was good, but then for some reason I decided to walk to the wrong train station and buy a ticket for the wrong train... Before figuring out that I did something incredibly stupid I was to late to catch my flight from London Stansted to Eindhoven. Luckily the next flight left the day after at 6.55 PM, providing me with enough time to catch the bus that would bring me (and Mark, Sven and Erwin) to our skiing destination (Briancon, Serre Chevalier).

The trip was once again amazing!! The first few days were hot, really really hot! So during our lunch breaks we could sit/stand on our balcony in our bare chest!! Just great!



Of course we also did a "little" bit of partying!! The party wasn't as good as last year... our hostess was just boring!! That meant we had to make our own party and when you have a notebook, lots of music, some speakers, lots of beer and us... a party is guaranteed :-)





The fourth day it started snowing and that made the skiing absolutely fabulous! Deep powder snow always ensures great fun on and off the slopes! The ski lessons we took this year only increased the fun due to the very nice people in our group (Karin a.k.a. Kaatje and Gert a.k.a Gerard or G-G) and our teacher Marc.





The last days the weather once again was sunny and hot, so Mark and I "abused" the situation and got really drunk on the slope drinking hot red wine :-) once again bare chested... And for some reason (probably because we looked so damn hot...) we got a round of free wine from the waitress haha!



Certainly something we should do again and again and again :-)

Au revoir,
Ruud