Day 26 & 27 - Delft Party & Sinterklaas @ Fugro

Saturday. Errands/cleaning day. my favorite!!! i got up, went for a run. it was cold. as usual. when i got back, i did some major cleaning for a few hours. made a little cabinet space for my food in the kitchen, which was a major task becuase every square inch of cupboard and kitchen space is taken up. went to the grocery store, and stopped by the (outdoor) shopping center to get some leggings and a skirt. very fashionable here. leggings with a mini skirt with the high boots.

A side note. the shopping centers and restaurants here act like its NOT cold and rainy here all the time. all the shopping centers/malls are outdoor malls. most restaurants have outdoor patio areas. its COLD and its RAINY all the time. why is everything outdoors???

saturday night i went with rik, my neighbor, to a big party at TU delft. we rode our bikes over, about a 10 minute ride. i had on two jackets and i scarf, but with the leggings and my heels my feet and legs were FREEZING. i couldnt help but laugh. its probably about zero degrees out. i'm riding around town on a bike with a skirt on. and that's totally normal.

we get to the party, and its a big aparment building on campus. apparently this is a big annual party. theres roving spotlights on the top of the building so we can see it from far away. like hollywood spotlights. the building is 8 stories, and each floor has a different theme and DJ. most floors have some version of techno/dance music, others have hiphop, one had rock music. the DJ's are all awesome. some people are dressed up in crazy costumes, like dragons and lizards, football (american football) players, and other crazy things. i'm thankful i'm wearing my heels becuase otherwise i would have felt like a midget.

we went to all the floors - it was insanely crowded but the energy was awesome. saw jasper there and chatted for a bit. he had sent me a text earlier to wear a costume feathers. no, feathers aren't a good look for me. i can't tell if he was being serious or just messing with me. lost in translation i guess. i wish i knew more people there, but still it was fun. rik and i rode our bikes home around 2ish. the party was still raging though, but was so crowded it was impossible to move. when we left there was a huge line of people outside waiting to get in. suckers!!!

sunday i (reluctantly) got up very early and went over to Fugro to help out with the Sinterklaas festivities. armed with my dictionaries, i had signed up to help at the kids' craft table where they make the sinterklaas and the zwarte piet hats. the car was frosted over this morning. wish i had an ice brush.

the fugro sinterklaas party was, of course, perfectly organized. the whole atrium was decorated in everything sinterklaas and zwarte piet. streamers and ribbon and flags and other decorations everywhere. the atrium had the stage set up with rows of little kid benches in front. a big bouce house was there as well. the hat making table, lemonade stand, and a snack table was on the atrium floor as well. the lemonade was green btw.

below the atrium floor, there were about 15 special games set up. these were like real carnival games, not some crappy homemade imitations. i guess fugro bought them and keeps them in storage and uses them every year. all really cool games that even i thought were really fun to play!!! when the kids all arrived, they were given a little card which had all the games and stations listed. as the child completed each game/station, we checked off the picture on the card.

my hat station was a hit!! all the kids loved to make thier own sinterklaas and zwarte piet hats. they were all so cute. the kids here are all well behaved. none were running around or screaming or crying. i didnt see one temper tantrum. i didnt see one parent raise there voice or have to invoke the dreaded 'time out'. everyone was just coasting along pleasantly. kids just sat down and made thier hats, colored, or cut paper.

i got to meet jan willem's girls, so cute!!! he has 2 little ones. i also met many other co-workers kids, including freek's littlest baby boy who looks EXACTLY like him!! adorable!! seeing all of the kids and the families made me want family too just for a little while. maybe some rental kids that i can take back after a few days.

after all the kids had done the games and hats etc., there was a big sinterklaas play, about 20-30 mins long. at the end of the play, which was quite a production actually- you can tell all the people rehearsed and it was really cute, sinterklaas distributed the presents. each child got a present from Fugro that the parent had previously picked out. so each child's name was on the package. sinterklaas read the child's name and then one of the zwarte pieten would bring the gift to the child. once all the children got the gifts, they all opened them at one time. it was a big roar of paper tearing, shrieking and laughing.

i got back home late afternoon and took a much -needed nap, cooked some dinner, and did some studying for my dutch class tomorrow night.