It’s already been a month and that time seems to have flown by. Perhaps it’s because life goes on here more or less the same as back home; it’s in any case completely different from traveling in another country. That said, my perception of New York has changed over the last month. At first, I could only see the ugliness, but there is charm in ugliness as well. It’s still ugly though. And New York gives me the impression of a place that was, rather than a place that is, the city where it all happened, rather than the city where it happens. It is not old in the way Amsterdam or Budapest are old, it is old in the way a mine worker with pneumoconiosis, a broken back and crooked, blackened teeth is old. Uncovered wires and pipes of all sorts running down the side of a building, the tilted, broken pavement, the rusty fire escapes (as seen in West Side Story and Law & Order) — paint blistering from rusty iron beams in a subway station — the stench of urine in that same station, the rain coming in through grates in the pavement above, bringing the grime of the city, while the screeching brakes of a battered subway train slowing down echo ’round — the filthy, standing water between the tracks, a rat looks up, darts away… It is ugly, it has charm, but it is the charm of a city spent.
dev.alwaysontherun.nl is the site I use to try new functions and / or designs for various websites, but mainly for my personal travel photography blog: alwaysontherun.nl, so you probably shouldn’t even be here. No worries though. At the moment I’m trying out new gallery software. Because of that, there are quite some photo’s here, though not nearly as much as on the main site. If you came here for that, or for my blog, you might want to check that out.
Please note that this site is designed for Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3 and up (other modern browsers are, of course, also supported). If you use an older version of these browsers, please upgrade! It is always free and makes browsing faster and safer.
If you have any feedback, please use the contact form.
Yes, this is the view from my room. And no, it’s not depressing. I just keep the blinds shut all the time.
What do Ethiopia and New York have in common? They both have taxi drivers who go ‘Ah, Holland? Ruud ven Nistelroooi, Frenk dé Buuur, Robin ven Persiieee’ . What do New York and Amsterdam have in common? They both have taxi drivers who shout in Arabic in their phone whilst driving.
I know the Dutch are the tallest people in the world, but I’m only 5’10. So how come my feet stick out of what the Americans call a ‘full size bed’?
‘Hey, we’re Verizon, the biggest cell phone company in the US. We don’t use SIM cards, that’s something for Europeans, so no you can’t use your own phone, you’ll have to buy our phone. Oh, and you have to pay to receive a call, and to receive a text message. And yes, by chance we’re also the biggest assholes in the US.’
I don’t want you to ask how I am. I want you to take my order and make my goddamn coffee!
Two fried eggs with bacon, unlimited coffee and some fries for breakfast – five dollars. One, yes one jar of peanut butter – six dollars. American Logic – priceless. (voor de rest, Eurocard / Mastercard)
Got a reply from Teller about the 1L Elective courses. He says exchange students are only allowed to take them if there’s space, which there wasn’t. If he saw this on a registration form he would mail the student so that he or she could make adjustments. However, I was late in submitting my form so he didn’t mail me. For God’s sake man, why on earth didn’t you just send a mail to every exchange student to tell them they shouldn’t list 1L Elective courses? Don’t you think that would have been easier than mailing them all individually if you spotted a 1L Elective course and then have them send in a new, corrected form? Are you really that — mm, maybe I should leave it at that.
