Weddings, parties, birthdays and general fun times.
The Irish do get around, don’t they? Lucky for the rest of the world that they do, because it means we’re all allowed to get extra drunk once a year when they celebrate the day of their patron saint. This is cultural appropriation at its most useful, and the larger the Irish population is in a city, the more frivolous the day will be. Good thing … Continue reading Getting Chirish
The one time I forgot to check the weather forecast was the time Chicago experienced its 5th heaviest snow-dump of all time. OF ALL TIME. It began snowing at about 8pm on Saturday. I was in a dive bar in Ukrainian Village on a date of the romantic sort, and was informed by the establishment’s owner, as he showered us with free cheese puffs, that blizzard-warning nights are always … Continue reading #Superbowl #Snowday
I remember watching Friends and other apartment-based American sitcoms as a youth and being slightly sceptical of the premise that there were all these apartment buildings in big cities filled with people that actually hung out with each other. I remember moving into my first landlord-rented apartment in 2010 and, in the two years I lived there, having a grand total of zero instances of communication with any of … Continue reading Tales from the Castle
At the end of my last post, I was somewhere in up-state Wisconsin on a coach that was 4 hours behind schedule with a US phone that had run out of battery and a UK phone that was about to follow suit, knowing that, even if everything from now on went to plan, I was going to be dropped at a bus station approximately 2 miles … Continue reading A Wausau Wedding
Prologue A series of odd circumstances converged this week, with the unexpected outcome that I’m spending the first ten days of 2014 in New York City! I’ve arranged to spend a few days with my good friends Holly and Syed at their apartment in Brooklyn, a few days with my good friend Tom DeGroot at his house in Wantagh, Long Island, and a couple of … Continue reading Race to Crown Heights
It’s my Birthday. Time to throw a party. Theme? 90s Eurodance. Naturally. In my 10 months in Maastricht so far, I seemed to have garnered quite a reputation for my frivolity skills. This was confirmed last week when I received the coveted “Party Animal” award at the final International dinner piss-up. Then, like it does every year, my birthday came around and, having a lot to prove … Continue reading Party to end all Parties.
Having spent 6 months in the Netherlands so far, I can tell you with a fair amount of conviction that the Dutch are not the most reserved people you will encounter. This is generally. You know, average everyday dutchness… the type that occurs about 360 days a year. Of the 5 days not included in this figure one is Queen’s day, where everybody dresses from … Continue reading Carnaval Madness!
So our program, and we shall be known from this post onwards as MPP (Master of Public Policy), is very nationally diverse. From about 100 students in total, there are about 45 different nationalities represented. To celebrate this diversity, and so that we can all get to know a bit about each others’ cultures, there will be “international dinners” held sporadically throughout the year, where we … Continue reading First International Dinner
Ouch. Hangover. Truly great night out last night though! One of Colleen’s friends in Erie had just moved into a new apartment. Naturally the only polite thing for us to do would be to bring a hefty amount of rum and christen the place good and proper. And what better rum is there than the Kraken? It also just so happens that the stuff you get … Continue reading Let’s Get Scottish!
the lost scot 