Oppikoppi & Rotterdam

Oppikoppi Brochure circa 2008, originally uploaded by gniezen.

With almost everyone I know being at Oppikoppi this weekend, I thought I should make this 2008 Oppikoppi brochure I found in one of my books my title picture (as a tribute :).

I spent most of the weekend in Rotterdam, leaving on Friday evening at 18h00 (and realizing as I got on the train that the weekend return ticket I bought was only valid from 19h00, luckily my ticket wasn't checked) and returning tonight (Sunday) at 19h00. On Saturday evening I had dinner with some of my family - my aunt Danielle makes a killer bobotie (from a recipe she got from a South African guest house). I also received a new bicycle bag from my uncle Marcel, which will make it a lot easier to do grocery shopping on my bicycle (and without having to perform a crazy balancing act as is currently the case).

Most of my weekend was spent reading a new book by Neil Strauss called "Emergency - One Man's Story of a Dangerous World and How To Stay Alive in It. It chronicles his quest for second citizenship and learning survival skills "Just in Case". It makes for very engaging reading, and also made me realize how extremely lucky I am to have been able to obtain second citizenship so easily (almost the entire first half of the book is dedicated to his struggles in getting it). The book makes you think about how much you would need to know and be able to do to become completely self-sufficient and survive on your own.