The loser has to fall...

09:06 Unknown 2 Comments

Hi all,

I'm writing to you on a Friday morning, just past nine a.m. The first lecture is supposed to start in 15 minutes, but I won't be going there. And that's not just because it's a French guy talking about electronics (something with a detecteur, an amplifyeur, curr-ahn and voltash) but because I haven't been in my hostel this night and I really need a shower.

Last night I tried to do some work from seven till nine, to catch up on the hours I keep missing in the afternoon, when it's so hot that I just cannot think of anything else than how to get out of here. After work I locked the Alice room I'm working in and went to the restaurant to see if there were people around. They were there. After a glass of wine (and another one, as the first one fell over - the restaurant guy must have thought I drank it really fast) we decided to play poker. The first round I didn't play, but the second was for money so yeah, I was in! We moved from outside to inside the restaurant when it got dark, from inside to outside again when the restaurant shut at midnight, and from there to the hostel of building 38 when it started to rain. I think it was one of the heaviest and most beautiful thunderstorms I've seen here so far.

We all put in our small coins, about 2 francs per person. Not a big lost when you lose, but a handful of nothing when you win. I am too honest to play poker, but I had a few lucky shots and suddenly Mike and I were the only two players left. Many of the others went to bed, but of course, we had to play it till the end. Mike played well and forced me into a few mistakes, which made me lose my advantage and eventually the game.

Gunvor proposed to play beer-bowling (some Danish drinking game) but it was around 2 am and I still had to go back to St. Genis. I congratulated Mike on his deserved win and said goodbye to everyone, only to return within a few minutes... I couldn't find my keys. Now that's not new, I did that before. But it was raining, and raining, and thundering and lightninging (let's introduce that word in the English language, I like it) and it was dark. I looked around the restaurant, went back to the Alice room (which was locked, of course..) but there was no chance I was going to find it at that moment. So there I was, very tired, late at night, soaked from the rain, lost the game and no idea how to get home. Luckily the people still around were very, very nice to me. I got a blanket from Gunvor, a t-shirt from Stephen, a key to the common room of bldg 38 (a large, lockable room with sofas) from Jeroen and much support and "if you need anything, just knock, my room number is ###"'s from others. I slept till after eight, which means I spend a good five hours on that sofa.

This morning I again tried to look for my keys around the restaurant, asked whether they had been found, but nothing was there. Then I suddenly realized I had gone to the toilet in the Alice building just after locking the computer room. I probably had my keys still in my hands by then.. So I went back to the building and yesss, there they still were, on the toilet paper dispenser +o)

So I can get into my car and room now, which sounds like an excellent idea. I'm off for a shower, clean clothes and a proper breakfast. (Just got a croissant from the restaurant.) I'm sorry, you French electronics expert. I lost the game. But I'm alright now and very grateful to all the kind people in bldg 38 who helped me last night!