I’d always known it but being here has confirmed it: Europeans LOVE bad dance music. I heard Robbie Williams’ “Angels” for the second time recently. This time I was prepared enough to sing along and record it. But after a month of dancing to repetitious beats with vocoders singing over them, I’m supremely thankful for every 50 Cent song that gets played. But I have an entirely different kind of thanks for my friends for getting me out to shows. Last week, Lorenzo got me out to the Clash of the Titans semi-finals (a battle of the bands) and last night Cody convinced me to see The King Khan & BBQ Show.

Clash of the Titans

We were mistaken about the starting time and consequently missed Natureboy, a jazz-hip-hop act. We did, however, arrive just in time to see Leslie Grows, an Interpol-esque act with Franz Ferdinand angular-guitar riff tendencies. Too bad I didn’t discover them when I was 17. I would have been all over this shit. But based on music alone, they were my favourite band of the night. They did lack all sort of stage presence but they’re cute, so you know.

It’s silly to assume that the only rap music is only made in English but it just never occurred to me that there was Dutch hip-hop. But that changed after I saw Reflexy. They were the clear crowd favourite and the room emptied out after they did their set. This made it confusing when they didn’t end up winning top honours at the end of the night (though they will advance to the finals.) I didn’t understand a word but was entertained because of showmanship, partly because of sheer amazement. The Youtube video is giving my layout grief, so click here to see it.

Top honours went to Alura, a metal band fronted by a fey-punk girl. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy them as much as I did but, well, I did. For lack of a better comparison, they were like Evanescence except metal rather than nu-rock. And the co-ordinated guitar riffs weren’t cheesy at all. Apart from Reflexy’s popularity with the crowd, I can’t say I’m surprised that they won.

And then came I Wish I Knew. So the singer walked on stage and I felt my heart go a-flutter. “We’re in for a twee-old time,” I thought gleefully. Sadly, it was not to be. Their music was weird blend of shoegaze, post-rock and, dare I say it, screamo? The unfortunate part is I am a fan of shoegaze but this was just boring and not in the realm of ethereal. The lead singer’s outfit was widely talked about but ultimately misleading.

Now we come to King Khan & The BBQ Show. I had been forewarned, nay promised, that these guys would put on a weird but good show and they delivered. Granted it was mainly their attire that was weird, otherwise it was good old-fashioned rock show. King Khan came out decked in a Nazi helmet and vest, only to change into a sparkly gold cocktail dress mid-way through the set. BBQ rocked a Chinese silk shirt and a turban that covered his eyes and unravelled on his face as he played his mini-guitar and baby drum set. His socks were neatly tucked into his sneakers a few feet away from his drum set, as he prefers to drum barefoot.

This duo from Montreal play no nonsense garage rock with healthy amount of surf rock influence thrown in. As Canadians (and the sole people dancing) we got a few shout-outs from the band. If you thought Toronto was bad with people standing still with their arms crossed, well you ain’t seen nothing yet. Everyone there probably had more to drink than I did but they were all incredibly reserved. It was the same thing during the Clash of the Titans (with the exception of Reflexy.) Applause here is also slightly delayed after the end of the song, consistently producing moments of awkward silence. If a brown man dancing around with his man-boobs hanging out of his Value Village dress can’t make you loosen up, what can?

DB Studio, the venue where both of these shows took place, is super close to my house and, to borrow the words of Lorenzo, “located in a postindustrial middle of nowhere.” It reminds me of Lee’s back home and for two nights I was hundreds of kilometers closer to home than I had been since I arrived. I found myself actually feeling physically relieved after going to Clash of the Titans. It had been so long since I had heard live music (both in Utrecht and in Toronto) and it reminded of how much I missed it.

posted by vicky at 4:01 pm under Europe, Music, Netherlands
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If there’s one thing that changed about me since I’ve moved to the Netherlands is that the sun now makes me react. When it’s sunny there is no staying home. Last Saturday was like any other except for the fact that it was sunny. So with no plans, I decided to go on a walk through Utrecht. I parked my bike and began walking through Neude when I was approached by two people holding signs that said “Free Hugs.” It reminded me of newmindspace and I happily obliged. They asked me to join and next thing I knew I was walking around the city, holding up a sign and hugging strangers.

Turns out I had wandered into was a Couchsurfers gathering. These people are an online community who members open up their homes to travellers and expect the same when they go abroad. The Free Hug aspect originated from an Australian who posted a video on Youtube. The funniest moments were when conversation turned nerdy and people started talking about the website (“People give out references so easily these days, it used to be a really serious thing to write a reference for someone.”)

Their free and open spirit really showed when during the post-event drinks, a couple invited everyone over for dinner. A bunch of people left the bar and went grocery shopping. The rest of us followed later and walked to their house. More people volunteered to cook dinner under the guidance of our main cook. After sitting around, chatting and blowing bubbles we were presented with a meal of couscous, homemade pumpkin soup, homemade hummus and bread. There were about 15 of us, everyone only had to pony up 3€ to split the cost of groceries and drinks. It was by far the cheapest and most satisfying meal in Europe so far.

After dinner, those who didn’t help cook washed the dishes. In a team, I powered through the largest pile of dishes I have ever washed in my life. The rest of the night was spent playing a selection of board games from our hosts’ rather large collection. We played Halli Galli, a frustratingly difficult children’s game that involves counting the number of fruits and slapping a bell. Following a few rousing rounds, we splintered into smaller groups and I ended up playing Machiavelli. It’s a strange game about building a city where you take on the roles of a priest, king, builder, destroyer etc. Finally, we finished off that involved asking questions and stereotyping eachother. I think the English equivalent would be Scruples.

Around 2:30AM we packed it up. One girl surfed there and another two headed home with another girl who lived in Utrecht. I walked back to where I parked my bike some 12 hours before and went home. And that’s how I spent my Saturday.

posted by vicky at 7:23 pm under Europe, Netherlands
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Originally I had planned to post two video from the Amsterdam Bibliotheek but wasn’t able to figure out how to show both without messing up my layout. I mentioned I’m a little behind on my coding ability yes? But it seems from the comments some people are misconstruing my thoughts about the OAB vs the TRL. I know that the last video didn’t actually show any of the library parts but I thought the fact a library had a restaurant bar and harbourfront view would make it obvious which was better. In any case, I’ll let this video set the record straight because frankly: there is no debate.

posted by vicky at 10:18 am under Europe, Netherlands, Videoblog
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When I was 13, I was sure that I wanted to be a website designer. The word “blog” didn’t exist at the time and I was way ahead of the coding-skill curve for a pre-teen in the late 90s. But time and the dream passed and consequently my meager coding ability was antiquated in the age of “Web 2.0.” In the race against irrelevance and old age, I bring you my first video blog. You can see me and hear me in my travels–a crazy concept I know.

Last week I took a trip to Amsterdam and found myself at the Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam, or library. The building itself looks like a museum of the future. …Kind of like this website eh?

posted by vicky at 5:38 pm under Europe, Netherlands, Videoblog
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Exchange by definition entails some give and take. I’ve only been an exchange student for two weeks but I’ve seen a fair share of give (but mostly take) when it comes to the food in the Netherlands. Eating out is expensive here especially when this is considered a student town. Most meals cost between 7€ and 11€, a far cry from the cheap and plentiful eats back home. Even Chinese food (which was invented to cheap, tasty and plentiful) commands a prohibitive price (unless I want to eat from the Dutch equivalent of Manchu Wok.) But all this aside, here’s what I have found so far.

Patat met fritesaus

Also called frites sometimes, this is the quintessential Dutch fast food. Here it is pictured with a disgusting amount of mayonnaise, the condiment of choice here. It’s a common sight to see people walking around holding a sno-cone of fries on the street, in the mall, in the train station. That’s about as Dutch as it gets. Walking around Maastricht last week, I saw someone eating fries with gravy and mayo, which I guess is Dutch version of poutine but it wasn’t nearly as appetizing as cheese curds.

Salmon Salad

I first felt the temptation when I saw it sold in containers in the supermarket. This is homemade salmon salad on a croissant for 3,20€ at a café in Amsterdam. I was slight disappointed because for some reason I thought that it was actually smoked salmon and it turned out to be just salmon mixed with mayonnaise. It wasn’t bad but I think this marks the end of my journey with salmon salad. Salmon is one of my major vices and raw/smoked is the only way I like to take it.

Andijvie

During orientation, we were given a Powerpoint presentation that included a slide about Dutch food. It included a blob of green-looking stuff with a sausage on top. The presenter made a sarcastic comment about how delicious it looked, which confused me because I did want try it. A few days ago I found the frozen food version and gave it a go. This is actually mashed potatos with something spinach like mixed in and bits of meat. It’s a bit bland but hearty.

 

Dürüm Döner

I’ve always thought doner and shwarma (or shoarma, as it’s commonly spelled here) were the same thing. This is not the case as the meat here is prepared by shaving it off the rotating skewer. The hot sauce here is actually hot sauce and not just the flavourful stuff. I bought this for 3€ at Döner Plaza at the train station. It’s about the same price it is at home but far inferior. Don’t worry shwarma fans, the search will go on.

Stroop-wafels

Prepare yourself friends, for what I’m about to say might be quite shocking. I would trade the entire Tim Horton’s “bakery” section (including my beloved honey crueller) for ready access to these back home. Stroop-wafels have a bit of a resemblance to cookie but are superior in every other way. It’s a generous layer of syrup sandwiched by two thin waffles. Looking at the cookie you think it would be light but it’s surprisingly heavy once you pick it up. The stroop-wafel is its own food group in my diet and I go through about 3 a day. Since this is one of the most Dutch things you can have, it only sets you back an affordable 1,40€ for a package of 10.

This is only the beginning of my gastronomical journey, conversion rate and God permitting.

posted by vicky at 6:56 pm under Europe, Food, Netherlands
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I haven’t experienced any major culture shock since I embarked on Dutch life one short week ago. There were a many little quirks here (circular shaped buttons to flush toilets) and there (gas stoves that need lighting) and inconveniences aplenty (the majority of stores stores don’t accept credit card), but nothing that really was jaw-droppingly baffling. Well actually, that last one was a little bit, but that was before I experienced the thing they call Carnival.

I had heard of Carnival in a Brazilian context and then again when one my roommates flew back to her native Spain this week to celebrate it. It seemed to me Carnival was a thing for temperate, relaxed countries full of bronzed party people. But it’s actually a worldwide celebration that happens in all different countries, even the Netherlands. The Québec Winter Carnival is a familiar Canadian culture touchstone but I never knew it was part of anything bigger.

I first learned of Carnival during a Powerpoint presentation during orientation on Friday. Saturday morning, my fellow j-schoolers hopped on a train to Maastricht, an old city at the southern most part of the country, and ended up in Eindhoven. What we found were entire cities filled with drunk Dutch people in ridiculous costumes listening to really cheesy traditional Dutch music. They don’t celebrate Hallowe’en here but this was bigger than any Hallowe’en celebration I’ve ever seen back home (yes, including Church Street.)

As we got off the train in Maastricht, a musical procession headed down the opposite platform. We followed the party across the bridge to the other half of the town. There people would be drinking in a square, dancing to Dutch music performed on stage by cheesy performers. We followed the local fashion and went to the grocery store to buy a case of beer and drink it in the square. Our second case of beer we took onto the train and drank on the ride to Einhoven. A train employee checked our tickets and barely seemed to notice our drinking. I don’t think drinking openly on the train is normally accepted but there probably wasn’t much point in trying to crack down. Plus, compared to the Dutch people we had seen on the trains, we were incredibly calm.

In Eindhoven, EVERYONE was in a costume and as people not dressed up we were questioned about it a lot. Their costumes weren’t the half-assed “Look I drew on some whiskers, put on ears and hey I’m a cat” type costumes. They were neon-coloured non-sensical costumes, the more garish, the better. Lots of people rented full out costumes like animal suits and nun’s habits (especially men.) It wasn’t just young people either; half of the people were middle-aged. In Canada I find that Hallowe’en costumes are mostly cop-outs for the illusion of participation and an excuse be hypersexual. The men and women here didn’t seem to concerned with trying to look hot, in fact, most of them looked really, really stupid. It really felt a lot more innocent and genuinely concerned with fun than image. Already I’ve begin to realize that Toronto (and Canada) is a very self-conscious place.

This young gentleman told me that this week is the only time he’s allowed to express his true self. I told him that for a people who have such a free and liberal reputation, they must be more repressed than they seem. A lot of Dutch people dressed up as people from other cultures (Mexicans, Asian geishas, Karate senseis, Scottish warriors, Ghengis Khan.) Some of the costumes were pretty culturally insensitive. There was a group of people dressed as Native Americans with face paint, fake braids and pan flutes. One even held a CD with a blank cover and asked me to buy her CD. Another had some crystal sugar in a plastic bag and a miniature can of Coca-Cola. I asked if them if they had ever met a Native person and they said no and their costumes were just a fantasy. They were pretty frank about their ignorance about Native people but didn’t believe it was offensive. They didn’t dress up to be mean-spirited but I thought the Dutch know better than believing in cartoonish stereotypes or at least P.C. enough to choose a safer costume.

Being the in Netherlands has left my sense of irony out of whack. Everyone I talked to knows they look ridiculous but they truly enjoy it. Maybe it’s just that simple, people just want to have fun. And that’s probably the hardest thing about this culture for me to come to terms with.

posted by vicky at 12:26 pm under Europe, Netherlands
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