Family weekend etc

Well, that was an interesting weekend last week! On Thursday night, I flew into Amsterdam, and took the train to Groningen. I was staying at my brother' place and while I had some difficulty reaching him, I finally did manage to do so. The next morning I had enough time to look at little Hannah (8 months old now) and give presents to Leah (sort of early for her third birthday next week). As usual, she managed to pick the cheapest nonsensical present to be most excited about and she spent the entire visit blowing bubbles...

I was very happy to also meet up with my other brother, his pregnant wife (next child: September) and little Daan, in order to give him presents for his upcoming third birthday as well! After this first dose of family, Marielle was so nice to bring me to the train station in Assen, where I realised that I had left my jacket, wallet and passport in Groningen. So, with an hour's delay (yes, I am a retard, I know), I finally arrived in Nijmegen at about 16.00, where I was met by Fedor's mother's boyfriend Rob. Together with his daughter, we then continued to Wellerlooi, for the long-awaited Family Weekend of Fedor's family.
I am not the biggest family guy, in all honesty, but I most certainly did have a great time! A LOT of alcohol was consumed and many games were played. I missed out on the Eurovision Song Contest, but it was absolutely worth it.

It was particularly cool to see Fedor's soon sister-in-law (the wedding is in three weeks), who is getting more an more pregnant...

(more photos can be found here)
Anyway, on Sunday, Fedor and I returned to good old Milano, where we had a nother busy week of work. I've been working my ass off to get as far as possible on the paper I am writing together with my friend Idil and I am rather confident we are going to make it in time! The deadline is the end of June, but neither of us has a lot of time available in June... In my case, this is due to my slightly overloaded Conference Schedule during that month, as posted previously. It may be some time before you hear from me again, because I'm not around a lot. Tuesday, it starts with a very early flight from Milano to Tunis...
But don't worry, in the famous words of A.S.: I'll be back...

Ciao,
OJ

updating 101

There is no excuse, there really isn't. Except that I've been working my ass off and had other things on my mind. That is the only excuse for not updating for so long.

However, there is quite a lot to say now (you've got to appreciate the small things, eh?). First of all, the move to the new building has been a complete success. I am sharing an office with my friend and we love it! It's light, there is air, air-conditioning and some sort of view (well, not really). I'm very happy about my new office! The occassional electricity interruption notwithstanding, I am also finding myself to be able to work quite well there. I will soon take some pictures and post them, because it certainly is quite a sight!

Two weeks ago (I believe) we had Matt and Anthony over from England. It was an exhausting weekend, with faaaaaaar too much to drink, but plenty of fun was had! As it was their xth time in Milan, we had to perform some alternative activities, and I think we succeeded rather well. After a Mongolian meal on Friday with other friends, we picked them up from the train station and spent the rest of the night drinking. On Saturday, after long considerations, we decided to go to Como and to pedalo for some time

At night, we went out with friends and got outrageously drunk (well, I did, anyway), so we slept late on Sunday again as well... But when we finally got up, we managed to go to Vigevano, the cute little town after which our street was called. It's a lovely place, with a gigantic castle and equally impressive Piazza right in the middle of it. While we only spent a short time there, it was nice to be away from Milan for some hours!



The next morning, the boys went back to England and rest returned to our casa. Rest, and a loooooot of work, but that's okay.

I have also finally got my schedule for my OJ-goes-Global World Tour. I will do 4 continents in 3 weeks, starting June 3rd (Tunisia) and finally finishing in Amsterdam (until July 2nd), visiting 4 different conferences. I am looking forward to it, although poor Fedor will surely miss me a lot (and probably enjoy the relaxing freedom i will give him too). Anyway, before that we have a few other things to look forward to: This weekend, our long-awaited quasi-annual Spring Party takes place: the International Stereotypes Party. I am looking forward to it very much and I really hope it will be successful! If it is, it's going to be absolutely insane...

Next weekend, we will be in the Netherlands, for a family weekend of Fedor's family. That is surely going to be a few enjoyable days of relaxing, drinking and playing games: sounds pretty good, no?

Anyways, in conclusion, there is still lots to do and I will do it now.
Ciao,
OJ