Haag Blog

Busted!

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:52:00 +0000

20 € ($30) ticket for bicycling without a headlight. Technically, I have a headlight; it's just that it's broken. A true Dutch experience!

Happy new years!

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 13:33:00 +0000

For the past week, this country has sounded as if it is under attack, as the Dutch have spent their days lighting fire-crackers with maddeningly loud booms in odd tribute to the conclusion of the year. Personally, I can see the appeal of fireworks -- pretty colors -- but fire-crackers? All day, every day? For what?

Last year, the Dutch spent $80 million dollars on fireworks. This year stores are permitted to sell only 10 kilos (22 pounds) of explosives per person. And it is only legal to ignite such pyrotechnics from 10am on 31 December until 2am on 1 January, but that hardly seemed to deter the masses. The police in Amsterdam apparently made 162 arrests for untimely fireworking, so I guess they did crack down for approximately 28 seconds.

These pre-schedule inflammations built to a frenzied crescendo until yesterday, when the city around me entirely erupted. It sounded as if I was inside of a very large and loud pot of popcorn. When I left work, I could hardly see 10 feet in front through the very heavy cloud of smoke. By 11pm, firecrackers turned to fireworks and by midnight the skies absolutely ignited with color.

There's not even a municipal celebration -- it's all private. And as I came home at 2am from my friend's house, through the smoky haze, it looked a bit like the scenes of rioting from Paris. Large christmas trees burned in the streets, blocking traffic. Tables and chairs were added to the fires. Roving masses of drunken adolescents.

In Utrecht, a lovely city of 300,000 people, 22 cars were set on fire. Riot police were called out in Nijmegen (population 160,000) and Tiel (population 40,000). Arrests across the country....

And today, as I look out the window, I see the fantastic detritus of last night's aural invasion. The normally refined and ordered country went crazy for one night; maybe they're too ashamed today to clean up.

Sinterklaas - Last Words

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 16:19:00 +0000

A last word about Sinterklaas... This email was received this morning:

Dear all,

As you are all aware, today, 5 December, is a big day in The Netherlands. This is the day that St. Nicholas ("Sinterklaas") presents gifts to Children for their good behaviour during the year.

The Presidency is pleased to inform all staff that they may leave today, at 15:00 hrs. in order to be with their families during this special day.

---------------------------------

Chers collègues,

Comme vous le savez, aujourd'hui, mardi 5 décembre, est un jour important aux Pays-Bas. C'est le jour où Saint Nicolas ("Sinterklaas) distribue des cadeaux aux enfants pour les récompenser de leur bonne conduite au cours de l'année.

La Présidence est heureuse de vous informer que tous les membres du personnel pourront quitter la Cour aujourd'hui à 15h00 afin de célébrer ce jour particulier au sein de leurs familles.

Really?

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:13:00 +0000

Here's an email I received this morning from the Synagogue. I left untouched the original formatting and colors. A translation of sorts follows.

Lieve vrienden,

Chanoeka!

Een drukke, vrolijke tijd met veel gezelligheid. Ook voor jullie is er weer van alles in petto. Zo hebben we deze vrijdagavond weer onze gezellige Kabbalat sjabbat. Zondagochtend hebben we een speciaal Chanoeka programma. Ook al ben je niet van de vaste zondagochtend-gangers, schroom niet om te komen.

Het wordt zeer de moeite waard.Zoals je in de bijlage kan lezen hebben we o.a. een eetbaar knutselwerk!

Nog nooit in Nederland vertoon! Dat wil niemand missen.

Kom! En neem vrienden en familie mee.

Laat je even weten wanneer je komt en met hoeveel personen?

Chanoeka Sameach!

So I put the above into the babelfish translator and here's my result:

Kind friends, Chanoeka! A busy, lively time with much gezelligheid. Also for you is there of everything in petto. Thus we have this Friday evening our sociable Kabbalat sjabbat. Sunday morning has we special Chanoeka programme. Even if are you not of fixed zondagochtend-gangers, schroom not come. It becomes very the effort worth such as you in the appendix is possible read has to we among other things edible knutselwerk! Never in the Netherlands vertoon! That wants nobody missing. Bowl! And take along friends and family. Let you just as know when do you come and with how many persons? Chanoeka Sameach!

Well, I had my appendix removed, so I'm not sure this applies. But then, as with everything else in the Netherlands, there will be much gezelligheid.

Finally, speaking of Dutch silliness, here's a screen-shot of multi-lingual print settings:

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 11:30:00 +0000

I'm starting to think that the best way to update on my life here is by photograph. So, without further ado....

I've been going to Amsterdam (.mp3) at times. Time-wise, it's kind of like going up into Manhattan for lunch, but it costs €10 round trip (with discount card) - about fifteen bucks. It's about 60km away and can take as little as 40 minutes or as long as 1.5 hours, if you get stuck on the train that makes all the stops.

Here's a shot of the doors to an old telephone exchange office in Amsterdam and an old world cheese shop, as it were:

On Thursday, I saw the Brooklyn band The National play at the Melkweg (milky way) in Amsterdam:

Following up on my post about Sinta Claus, here are some advertisements for Black Peter (his assistants) from an Amsterdam shop window:

Back in The Hague, my neighbor had a fantastic 30th birthday party. The theme was "Roaring Twenties" and people were well dressed up. She had this terrific jazz band play, heaps of amazing Moroccan food, and strange looking but very tasty cakes. Apparently, she told her father that about 40 people would come. When the family showed up with restaurant size pot after dish after pot, she asked, "But papa, I said 40!" to which he replied, "Well, I figured 100 just to be safe!" Sunday afternoon I came over for leftovers; Sunday night I was back again. That evening for dinner, I was the only lawyer-type (rare in this town); there was also an Iranian girl spending a few days here in The Netherlands; two Moroccans; a Senegalese; an Italian; an Israeli; and finally a very tall (naturally) Dutch guy.

On signage: (a) it's very unclear why they must have name streets like this; (b) the second photo was taken in the W.C. at De Paas, which features more than 300 beers. Well, my Dutch is rather limited, but the sign starts Beste heren, (Dear men,) Geen (it is forbidden or do not or something) peuken. I think this may actually mean something else in Dutch, but....

Amsterdam by Photos

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 09:27:00 +0000

On Thursday evening, I went up to Amsterdam to see the band Beirut. I had to wait for a little while for my friends before the show, so I thought I'd wander about and grab a take-out beer. And although some neighborhoods in Amsterdam are quite lovely, this one teemed with tourists and tourist friendly establishments.

Some places that I did not eat dinner included a pancake-mussel house; any and all places offering a "tourist menu"; a restaurant specifically looking for 20 year old female waitresses; an empty chinese restaurant with stereotypical "architecture"; a self-proclaimed "Falafel King," who obviously has nothing on the Vendy Award runner-up King of Falafel and Shawarma of Astoria, Queens.

Beer was also harder to procure than you might guess. It would have been straight forward to buy magic mushrooms or marijuana; the latter is sold at "coffee shops." Both types of establishments apparently offer a side dish of the touristically required internet access.

But a beer? This place was so cheap that it was boarded up.

But in the end, it was a nice walk and a fantastic show.

Sinterklaas

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:24:00 +0000

Nicholas was born in 270 CE (AD) in Turkey; he apparently "had a reputation for secret gift giving." He died on December 6, 343 and this date on the calendar became known as St. Nicholas Day. [Wikipedia]

Fast forward thirteen centuries to Manhattan, in New Amsterdam:

As in the home country, the Dutch children would break out in song:

Saint Nicholas, good holy man,
Put on your best coat,
Then gallop to Amsterdam...

And on the sixth of the month, the saint's feast day, they would wake to find that he had left treats for them. ...among the English, the French, the German, the Swedish families of Manhattan, pressure was brought to bear on parents; the Dutch tradition was adopted [by them, also], and, later, pushed forward a couple of weeks to align with the more generally observed festival of Christmas. So 'Sinterklaas' began his American odyssey.

...it was [in Manhattan] that American children first longed for the arrival of 'St. a Claus' (as Rivington's New Yorker Gazetteer spelled it in the early 1770s, noting that the saint's feast day would be celebrated 'by the descendants of the ancient Dutch families, with their usual festivities'). ... It was a slim fellow in a bishop's hat whose arrival the children of Dutch Manhattan looked forward to on St. Nicholas' Eve; typically, he left treats in their shoes, but occasionally ... in stockings hung from the mantelpiece. As the non-Dutch families adopted him and he gained momentum, bits of other cultural traditions stuck to the ritual; the media (Thomas Nast's cartoons in Harper's Weekly plumped the saint and whitened his beard) and corporate advertising (the white-trimmed red suit came compliments of Coca-Cola's iconic ad campaign in the 1930s) refined the image....

[Copied from The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America, which I highly recommend.]

And now fast forward some more to, obviously, the Hague. As is tradition, Sinterklaas arrives by boat from Spain; given the niceties of modern diplomacy, he is met by the Spanish ambassador. For some reason, which unfortunately I don't remember, Sinterklaas has to arrive well in advance of December 6; this year, it's this Saturday, as the posters proclaim around town (see photograph).

Despite his Turkish origins, Nicholas is thoroughly Europeanized; meanwhile, his assistants wear blackface. Rather than change this overly and overtly racialized tradition, their blackface is simply explained away as "soot" from the ship.

Some photos

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 22:44:00 +0000

Some days, when I swipe onto my floor at work, I get this inspirational message.

I finally found a vending machine that takes coins (right), but it's still pretty technologically advanced.

Moving onto food, it turns out that New York pizza is actually from a southern suburb of The Hague, seeing as this is apparently "the original." I did not eat here.

Finally, apparently the Dutch don't mind
vaguely-Asian menu items with
vaguely-demeaning names. Woki Yaki Woki. Right.

Dutch Environmentalism and Blinky Lights

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 21:39:00 +0000

This post is quite difficult to entitle... so I'll describe. There's a Dutch word that has been translated variously as cheap, environmental, conservative and somewhere in between. For example, I've already commented on how they ride bicycles everywhere. Ask them why? Well, they're conserving money and the environment and it's just plain efficient. Then there's my roommate, who stuffs all of his smaller garbage into an old milk container and will one day (hopefully) throw it out with the rest of thrash. Why? Apparently, he's conserving too.

So Rotterdam is 25km away (15 miles) and a major highway connects it to The Hague. Apparently, the speed limit is only 80km/h (45mph) because -- as Americans know but do nothing about -- driving faster increases pollution. And you can't exceed the limit, either, because cameras note your plate on the on-ramps and exits and then calculate your speed. A guy I was having dinner with last night just received a €60 ($100) ticket for driving on it at 5km/h (3mph) over the limit at 1am on a recent Monday night. That and the two tickets the Belgian cameras mailed him from a recent weekend trip.

Speaking of tickets, national debate is currently raging here over bicycle lights. Many older bikes have the Dynamo system, which powers a white headlight and red taillight with a tiny generator attached to your front wheel. But many kids these days have those blinky lights that you might know from the US.
Well, there is a recent national decision that these blinky lights are out of compliance with the requirements of the national bicycle lighting law and that the police must start ticketing.

Thus, the headlines and the swirling debate. In response, the police chiefs of Utrecht and another city have decided not to comply and to permit riding with blinky lights. Other cities have promised to crack down. Parliament has scheduled at least one full day of debate for next week. And naturally, everyone's talking about it.

Then there's me: my Dynamo died last week. (I have a "bottle" dynamo to be precise.) I had thought it lucky that I brought my blinky light with me from the US. But foiled again!

Darfur

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:39:00 +0000

Intellectually, The Hague is a wonderful place to be since it stands at the epicenter of international law. In fact, the concept of international law was largely founded by Hugo Grotius at the University of Leiden, just up the road, at the beginning of the 1600s.

I've already been to a two day conference about the ICC - one day in The Hague and one day in Amsterdam; a lecture at the Asser Institute, an international law research institute; and tonight I went to a discussion about Darfur sponsored by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Unfortunately, I've had to miss two other interesting conferences, including one sponsored by the International Committee of the Red Cross held at the International Court of Justice. But I'll be back at the Asser Institute on Thursday.

The topic for this evening was Darfuri and Sudanese views on the ICC. The reporters and NGOs recounted that Darfuris do know something about the ICC and that expectations are high, if overly optimistic. Apparently, Darfuris drew up a list of 51 people they hoped to see arrested. Many expect punishment governed by talion.

Given these expectations, the ICC may disappoint. Obviously, an eye for an eye does not exist here as a principle of punishment. The ICC has indicted two Sudanese on war crimes charges stemming from the conflict in Darfur: Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman and Ahmad Muhammad Harun. The ICC and NGOs are trying to spread their word and principles in Sudan, but (I'm quoting the evening's participants) "to mention the ICC brands you as a traitor... In Darfur, you could be killed just for mentioning the ICC." They said that there is total governmental control of the media. Apparently, a few journalists recently came to The Hague for some training, but were marked as traitors upon their return and denounced by the supposedly-independent journalists' union.

Naturally, Sudan refuses to turn over the two indictees. Until this evening, I didn't quite understand why the government doesn't simply offer them up as pawns to justice and to attain recognition for "international cooperation." It was explained that the government fears that these two would implicate higher-ups. One of the participants is from the same town as Harun. He said that Harun is "really worried" that the government will kill him to silence him; so worried that Harun has apparently "lost weight" and "can't sleep."

The evening's event will be aired on Radio Netherlands Worldwide (like a Dutch version of Voice of America or BBC), on their program "Amsterdam Forum." It should be posted here soon. Shortwave frequencies here.

(Speaking of International broadcasting, did you know that Voice of America reaches out in about 50 languages? Although the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting only offers 27 languages, it has something that VoA does not: news and radio in Hebrew, on Kol David ("The Voice of David"). )

A bicycle friendly country

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:39:00 +0000

After a year navigating the streets (and traffic) of new york city by bicycle, The Netherlands is certainly a joy. There are certainly more bikes here than cars; indeed, it's oft stated that there are more bikes than people. One fast fact at hand: the Amsterdam train station has a parking garage for 2,500 bikes. And that's not counting the masses parked in front of and around the station.

As you can see in these two photos, I don't work in a small building. At fifteen stories, it's the biggest building around and one of the larger buildings in The Hague.

This large office building has two parking garages, in front and in the rear -- both are for bicycles only -- there's no car parking. On the left is the my parking lot at work. On the right is a shot of my bike at the supermarket, which also has no car parking.

Streets basically have four parts. From left to right in the two photos below: traffic; car parking; bike lane; sidewalk. In fact, the City of New York has proposed exactly that for Manhattan's 9th Avenue, well at least for seven blocks thereof, which would give us cyclists a solid 90 seconds of security. Still, I don't want to knock it, because it is a lovely system and (in an ideal world) perhaps it could catch on in New York. A diagram can be found here (Gothamist).

When you come to an intersection, you get your own green/yellow/red traffic signal, at bicycle level (photo on left) and some intersections have bicycle specific direction / distance signs to neighboring towns (photo on right).

During rush hour, a lot of bicyclists can arrive to these mini-red lights, so some intersections have special left turn lanes - within the bike lane. (photo on left) In the rare case where the bike lane is not segregated, you get to cut in front of the traffic into a "bike box" while you wait at the light. (photo on right) This concept is much better documented and photographed here, where it shows Manhattan's one and only such "bike box," located at W. 9th and 6th Avenue. (StreetsBlog!)

In Manhattan, 6th Avenue is a great way to get uptown because there's a very long bike lane. But when a building is under construction, for some reason the bike lane gets eliminated, leaving you completely at the mercy of traffic. That would never happen here. These photos show two examples of the Dutch making a path for bicyclists, despite the road work.

Here are two final photos. On the left, there's some sidewalk work going on, so even the bike lane gets a warning sign. And on the right, a wheelchair-scooter-thing, which is how people in wheelchairs zip around the city in bike lanes.

Switzerland

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:55:00 +0000

I spent the weekend in Lausanne, Switzerland. The French alps loom above the town, just across the stunning Lac Lémon.

And the Swiss countryside....

And the Swiss Alps....

On Travel

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:48:00 +0000

Schiphol, Amsterdam's international airport, is a stop on the main north-south route. It takes only about 20 minutes to arrive from the center of Amsterdam, or 30 minutes and €7 from The Hague. The trains run every ten minutes or so and deposit you directly into the terminal. Couldn't be easier. Obviously, since this is the Netherlands, bicycle paths go to the airport as well.

No one actually wears the traditional Dutch wooden clogs anymore, although tourists certainly buy them as souvenirs. At Schiphol, they have a creative new use: bathroom flower planters.

Onto Switzerland.... They have these nifty ticket kiosks, even at the neighborhood bus stop. And most fun, you have to buy a child-priced ticket for your dog!

And for a European statement on travel, I present this photo, taken in Lausanne:

And finally Geneva airport, with prime diplomatic parking:

Morning View

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:59:00 +0000

I basically live in a "project" by the central train station, but this being Europe (and specifically, not France), it's reasonably nice. That said, the view from the balcony isn't much to write home about, or blog about, as the kids say these days. But yesterday morning, the sun reflecting off of the clouds rolling in off of the ocean was stunning. (The camera doesn't begin to do it justice.)

More Photos

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 20:22:00 +0000

I went to Amsterdam for a conference on Friday. I was happy to see that I am well represented there:

I met up with my dear friend Katharina for lunch. After the conference, I met up with my good friend Elad, with whom I lived in Israel in 1998-99.

Elad is working (in Israel) for a Swedish company and was on his way to Sweden for business. En route, he spent two days in Amsterdam and then came down to spend two days with me in The Hague. We spent Saturday walking about in The Hague; the weather was beautiful.

This is where the Queen works (she lives in the next town over).

This is the International Court of Justice. Andrew Carnegie gave the money to found the institution, hoping it would ensure world peace and end war permanently. It opened one year before world war one.

Incidentally, I don't work here -- I work at the International Criminal Court, which is housed in the former headquarters of the national phone company. Think big Verizon building -- much less nice.

Finally, this is the sunset over the beach at Scheveningen, the fancy end of town. While the Netherlands was occupied by the Germans during World War II, Germans learned Dutch and attempted to infiltrate the Dutch resistance. As a result, the Dutch started using the word "Scheveningen" as a password, since no matter how good their Dutch, this word was still unpronounceable for the Germans. And everyone else.

two photos

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 19:03:00 +0000

First, Hans and Frans. How could I not take a photo?

Second, yes that's me in a goofy robe. Apparently lawyers in Europe, and at the ICC, wear these robes in court. In Belgian french, they actually call this a "toge" -- a toga! Naturally, within minutes of putting one on, I got sweaty, started sneezing and coughing, and ran out of the courtroom. Thus, I sat there the rest of the time in only a suit and tie. Not a major problem though - seeing as I was in the last row, hiding behind a large computer monitor.

The Enemies of Freedom

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:49:00 +0000

The enemies of freedom have followed me to the Netherlands. See attached photo, taken on my floor, posted following a mission in which said enemies dared to throw away my perfectly good leftovers.

But luckily, the United States Congress has already (preëmptively) passed the so-called "Hague Invasion Act." No, seriously: "The President is authorized to use all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any person described in subsection (b) who is being detained or imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of the International Criminal Court." 22 U.S.C. § 7427(a).

I'll have to find a lawyer to determine whether the President is sufficiently authorized to invade for the purposes of the release of my leftovers.

On Language

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:33:00 +0000

When I come to a new country, I certainly do my best to learn the language. But the utility of Dutch is pretty non-existent, when you consider that nearly everyone here speaks English and the language is basically spoken nowhere else. Ok, so I'm ignoring Aruba, etc., but the point is, this isn't like learning something with value, like arabic or spanish.

Upon arrival I managed to learn to identify the crucial words posted on apartments all over town, "Te Huur" and "Te Koop" -- for rent and for sale. I dutifully recorded phone numbers and addresses, only to discover that anyway real estate agencies wouldn't deal with my six month stay.

The Dutch also say "sorry," which luckily means, "sorry," so I figured that was a word within my grasp, but despite my best efforts to mimic their accent, they still reply, "No problem at all." I next turned to numbers and the first few numerals came easily, so I looked for the rest in my guidebook (Nagel's Holland Travel Guide (1951)), but it warns, "it is almost impossible for a foreigner to understand figures spoken by the Dutch." So it goes.

And I think I have a sufficiently difficult lingual challenge at the office with the French -- a challenge which I adore -- so I'll probably stick there, for now.

Although I must add that another barrier is the stupid Chipknip (pictured above). The thing is, they give me change in coins everywhere, including 1 and 2 euro coins, the latter being worth almost three bucks. But then when you go to a vending machine, for say, a much too alluring 20 cent cup of instant coffee, you can't buy it, since they only take Chipknip.

"Big" News

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:42:00 +0000

I got a cell phone. And a rain suit -- which is perfect for riding to work in the rain, since it seems to do that every single day. And.... an apartment! ! The Rabbi connected me with a very nice guy who has recently taken a job in Amsterdam. He's mostly living there, but coming back on some weekends. He has a very nice two bedroom and I will take up one bedroom. On the plus side, it's right next to the central train station; on the minus side, it's right next to the central train station -- and I mean right next to -- so I hope I can sleep at night. The roommate is an older guy and religious too, so I'm about to have a crash course in keeping a kosher kitchen.

Today there was a hearing. The courtroom is gorgeous and very different. I'll have to recount in due course, but tonight we had a very lovely (and very European) team dinner and now it's a bit late.

In brief, I didn't sit with the defense during the first hour, and I imagine the news photogs took their shots and left, so you probably won't see me. But here's the AP's version of today's events: Prosecutors in Congo warlord trial want witnesses protected from reprisals And from another wire service: Trial date uncertain

The simultaneous translation (through headphones) is pretty sweet. If only I could wear such things at all times....

The Office

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:15:00 +0000

A few words about my office:

I'm working for the defense team, which is currently composed of seven people: a woman from France and I are the "stagieres" (interns); there are two "assistants" from Québec; a case manager from Belgium; and finally two "counsels" (lead attorneys) from France. Plus, they may hire one more person from the DRC and of course the client is also from the DRC. Thus, French is spoken in four unique accents; five if you count Paris.

The ICC is located 2km south of the center of The Hague, in an area called Voorburg. It's in a large, retrofitted building that once housed the headquarters of the national phone company. It's nice to be in the ICC's building because I have had the opportunity to meet people -- especially interns -- from all of the different units, such as those working in the Office of the Prosecutor, in judges' chambers, for the registry (a civil law thing - like trial administration), plus those working for the ICC as an institution (HR, IT, facilities, etc.).

There's a lovely cafeteria which is a good place to bump into everybody. The defense team eats together each day. They (we) linger for a while after lunch and then have an espresso. As you know, I'm pretty talkative (an understatement), but the French is all a bit intimidating, so I'm mostly silent. I listen; I people watch.

Prison

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:11:00 +0000

Met the client this morning.

The first photo was taken to the side of the prison's main (and very modern) entrance. I'm not sure if it was retained ornamentally or if it is simply a gate to the (very nice) neighborhood abutting the prison.

Links

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:42:00 +0000

Man Stuck in Chimney:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/242/popup/index.php?cl=4154069

The Brian Lehrer Show: U.N. Roundup
The world's leaders are in New York this week at the United Nations. Blake Hounshell, Web Editor for ForeignPolicy.com, has been blogging on the UN, GA, and the Clinton Global Initiative.
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2007/09/26/segments/86147

Apartment Hunt -- In Dutch

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 15:31:00 +0000

I've been searching for an apartment by word of mouth and by using websites. I responded to an notice on a website and received this is response:

Beste Adam,

Beste aankomend kamergenoot,

De kamer is, door de vele aanmeldingen, van kamernet gehaald.
Wij gaan nu een selectie maken van wie we uitnodigen voor de hospiteeravond voor a.s. woensdag 3 oktober! (hou deze datum dus zowiezo vrij een andere datum is niet mogelijk) maar heb wel nog even geduld en je zult een mailtje onvangen over hoe en het bij ons in huis reilt en zeilt en hoe de avond er uit komt te zien.

Als je niet door de selectie bent gekomen wensen wij je veel succes met het zoeken naar een leuke en geschikte kamer voor tijdens de studie of afstuderen.

Met vriendelijke groeten,

Huize Php

And that's fine, because I have Babelfish to "translate" it for me:

Dear Adam, Dear prospective kamergenoot, The chamber has been obtained, by the vele applications, of kamernet. We will make now a selection of which we invite 3 October for the hospiteeravond for next Wednesday! (hou this date therefore zowiezo rather another date not possible) but still have been just as tolerated and you mailtje onvangen concerning how and it sails at us in house reilt and and how the evening comes see there from. If you have not come by the selection wish we you much success with zoeken to leuke and suitable chamber during the study or graduate. With pleasant groeten, Huize Php

Well, now that that's clear, "and it sails at us in house," as they say, we'll just be proceeding along with the apartment search.

status update

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:36:00 +0000

Bought a bike. Found a grocery store. Got health insurance. Still need: apartment; mobile phone; Dutch national ID card.

I'm making progress.

NGO cocktail party

noreply@blogger.com (The Gingi) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:19:00 +0000

After work today, I attended a cocktail party of some NGO that is affiliated with the ICC. I went with three people from work: a Uzbeki guy, a Georgian girl, and an Azerbaijani girl. I enjoyed watching the lingua franca(s) of this trio from the former Soviet republics, which was a bit of Russian mixed into their mostly French conversations.

Upon arrival, I fell into a group of Africans representing various NGOs at a conference that is apparently being held this week at the ICC. Mudather, from Khartoum, Sudan, does work for women in Darfur. Roger, from South Kiva province, Congo (DRC), is doing human rights law there. And there was a guy from Rwanda and another from the Central African Republic. Naturally, we were all scavenging for free drinks and appetizers.

Luckily last night I had read up on the fighting in North Kiva province, so Roger and I had a good discussion. Roger and I also spoke about President Kabila; Roger told me that the east of the DRC supported Kabila during the elections -- he said that his (Roger's) province tallied 98% of their vote for Kabila. The west does not support him, which makes it hard for him to govern in Kinshasa. He said that although Kinshasa, as the capital, attracts people from all over the country, even people from the east who live there do not support Kabila. He said that Kabila's support is waning, which Roger believes is the reason that Kabila has been actively courting Chinese "investment."

Roger also said that he had worked as a lawyer in the case of the murder of the former president, Kabila's father. He didn't say, or wouldn't say, exactly his involvement in the case, but he did seem to believe that Kabila had killed his father in order to assume the presidency.

As a novice anthropologist or geographtician or something, I also asked Roger about comparing Brazzaville to Kinshasa. Roger said that Brazzaville is much more relaxed than Kinshasa and more like the east of the DRC, where he is from, than Kinshasa, which he finds to be stressful and crowded. He said that you cross the river by boat; there is no bridge; and there are lots of complications and bribes to pay in order to cross.