Carnaval Parade in Tilburg...

I love parades and this one was by far the largest I’ve ever seen in the Netherlands (or perhaps anywhere for that matter). I wore my bunny onesie again and was definitely not alone in being dressed up in the audience.

This parade consisted of two major components: giant floats and dressed up groups. I thought these cards were very cool.

It was funny seeing these folks pretending to try to clean up the confetti-filled streets.

I loved all the bright colors...

...and creative costumes.

This appears to be the Royal Throne...

...followed by the necessary toilet paper.

I thought these crazy dresses were an especially clever use of plastic cups.

Carnaval Hash...

I had never experienced Dutch Carnaval before, so was excited when Pink Panter extended an invite to Tilburg for hashers to run trail, party until the wee hours, and then stay over to experience the Carnaval Parade the next day. This region of Brabant was historically Catholic and parties hard for days in preparation for Lent. As you can see, orange and green are the colors of Tilburg.

Pink doesn’t run anymore, but that didn’t stop him from laying an excellent trail with several beer stops. We went back to his apartment for the circle and dinner before hitting town. Unfortunately, there’s no photo of me in my bunny onesie.

Needless to say, we partied hard before five of us crashed on Pink’s couches and floor. This little shot holder was made especially for the local liqueur.

Art in Tilburg...

The De Pont Museum of Contemporary Art was built in an old wool mill. Rather than tearing out the interior, the architects left the many small side rooms which lent itself well to displaying art installations, such as Deja Vu which featured ink dripping on a stack of newspapers with the latest edition put on top every day therefore capturing the time of the exhibiton.

I was very disappointed that I wasn’t allowed to bring in my camera as my phone just didn’t do justice to these sculptures—Great Spirits by German artist Thomas Schutte—or the rest of the museum.

It was fitting for the museum to have this sculpture of 42 bikes entitled Forever by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei.

By far my favorite pieces were by Anish Kapoor, an incredible British-Indian sculptor. This was Vertigo, which at first glance just looked like a large curved mirror. When Anne instructed me to stand in a particular spot in front of the mirror, something quite crazy happened: we appeared upside down.

She then instructed me to start walking towards the mirror which was easier said than done since seeing yourself grow bigger upside down is very disorienting. Strangely enough, just before hitting the mirror (there is a guard to ensure no one actually does hit the mirror), we appeared right-side up again. This piece definitely earned its name.

From behind, it just looked like the giant curved mirror that it is. Afterwards, we had a great lunch at Eetbar De Wagon, a charming café inside a train car from 1900. Anne was very kind to accompany me to Pink Panter’s house for the start of the hash, where I was about to see a whole different side to culture in Tilburg.

Sky Mirror in Tilburg...

While Jimmy was in London, I headed to Tilburg for a Carnaval Hash Weekend. First, however, I met up with Anne from the AWC, who happens to live in Tilburg, for a visit to the De Pont Museum. Just outside of the museum is a highly polished rectangular sheet of steel that is 20 feet high.

Having seen several other pieces by Anish Kapoor, I initially wasn’t that impressed by Sky Mirror when we entered the museum.

When we left the museum, however, the blue of the sky had deepened and the hazy clouds had disappeared. Sky Mirror took on another dimension entirely and I loved it.

Art in Rotterdam...

One Saturday, Jimmy and I headed to Rotterdam to get some culture. Sadly, when we wandered into the Kunsthal’s exhibit called Circus Europa, I wish I hadn’t as it was very graphic and disturbing.

I much preferred Cabin Crew: Fashion in the Air, which featured 200 of the 1,400 uniforms amassed by a KLM purser who started his collection in 1993.

Then we went to Sint Laurenskerk (the only remaining medieval building after the Germans decimated Rotterdam in 1940) to see the World Press Photo Exhibit. Perhaps I was just naive, but I was not prepared for how violent and depressing most of the exhibit was and now know to avoid going to future exhibits.

There were a few unrelated things in the church that I enjoyed, including this display of LED candles surrounding the candles lit by visitors for loved ones.

After all those disturbing images, it felt great to laugh at the two tables filled with photos of Tiny Trump, which is apparently a meme sensation that we hadn’t seen before.

Just outside the church was this cool sculpture shaped like a Dutch house with step gables.

Learning Dutch...

After 12 years, I finally took an Intensive Beginner Dutch Course in January that started at 9:30 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m. for ten days. The morning session was taught by several serious teachers that threw so much grammar and vocabulary at us that my head was spinning. We learned a lot during the afternoon as well, but Petra was like comedy relief in comparison. She was older and hilarious, which helped to make the entire experience bearable.

I was the oldest and only non-EU student; in addition, I was the only student that didn’t already speak two or more languages. Strangely, four of the eight students were Portuguese dentists who are trying to relocate to get away from bad working conditions. Those poor kids went straight from the beginner course into the intermediate, which I was neither academically or mentally ready for. 

We finished the course with an exam, wine and Dutch snacks. While it was a painful experience, I did learn a lot. I still can’t speak more than a few sentences, but my vocabulary has really increased (although in exchange I keep forgetting English words). Perhaps mijn brein is vol (my brain is full) and there’s no space left for all that I must still learn to get long-term residency.

Hashing in February...

February was another very cold month, but still a few intrepid hashers joined us for some runs. This is hard to see, but proof that the full moon does occasionally make an appearance during a FILTH Full Moon Hash. 

This was an excellent hash in Amsterdam that started with quite a fuss when a neighbor complained that the hares were vandalizing the street. Apparently they didn’t care that the chalk wasn’t in front of their house but rather was in front of the hare’s house. After a heated discussion with several hashers in Dutch, the hare’s wife decided it was best to just wash up the chalk to help keep the peace.

It was the hare’s 54th birthday and throughout the trail he had us stop and take pictures in front of the number 54.

No surprise that we stayed to party with Bob and Lisa to continue the birthday celebration. In a small world moment, it turned out that Bob used to share office space with our friend Marc in Washington, DC, although neither knew that the other was a hasher at the time.