Oh come on...

We officially establish our Jaarclub, I say goodbye to Susanne and I come home to an apartment without knives.
Wednesday sailing was cut short, because we had to meet all of the other first year members of Orionis. I would have much preferred to sail for another hour and have dinner in the clubhouse of the sailing club at Sloterplas like we usually do. But we had to go, as it was a somewhat official event. So at eight o'clock we were present at restaurant 'the views' in Magna Plaza. Magna Plaza is a stunningly beautiful building. When you enter you will step into a huge room in the middle of the building. It has a marble floor and massive pillars go from the ground to the ceiling. I had to stop for a second to look up and around and take it all in. It only has three levels, yet the central room has a higher ceiling than a church. The ceiling of each floor is so high above your head, that you can almost feel the weight of the air above you. Even a crowded can look almost empty when the ceiling is up that high and there is easily room for impressive chandeliers.

The windows of restaurant the views can be seen on this picture. They are on the second floor in the tower-like corner nearest to the photographer. At first I thought this place was way too classy for us, a bunch of loud students, but I was wrong. There was absolutely nothing classy about the restaurant. The tables and chairs were cheap and shifty and the place had mixed styles so much that there was nothing left of the classy atmosphere of the Magna Plaza or even of the view referred to in the name. They served nothing but all-you-eat and the buffet had no good food at all. It consisted of 2 salads, a hot aubergine dish, a fatty lasagna, some dry bread and two bad soups (ok, I didn't taste the minestrone soup, but it didn't look any better than the tomato soup). They served this for 120 hungry students without breaking a sweat, because they had it all prepared on beforehand. On top of that they offered us pizzas and pasta that we could order with the waitress. Yes, there was only one waitress and 120 students. It was completely impossible for her to take all the orders, so she just took some of them. The result was the half of us waited for more than an hour to get pizzas (in the hope that they would be a little better than the buffet). She routinely forgot orders and served everything in a chaotic 'who needs a pizza'-like manner. I can safely say that it was the worst restaurant I have ever eaten at. But that was not the point of this evening. The point was to officially establishment of our Jaarclub and get some group pictures taken. For pictures, the location was ideal as it didn't take much effort to find a place with a beautiful background in the Magna Plaza. This also meant that everyone was dressed up, girls in high heels and dresses and boys wearing a white shirt or their regular clothes (only one boy was wearing a suit, but I think we all should have, if we wanted to match the girls). I think seeing all the girls dressed like that was the best thing about the evening. My own Jaarclub is not one I am proud of. I know five of the guys in the group and I like three of them, but among the other nine I don't think I will find any friends. Laurens my friend from the monstergroup expressed what I was thinking after we had been in the restaurant for a little while. "I don't really know anyone from our monstergroup and I don't think I like them either". That made me smile, because it was so obvious that these boys were not like us. They are the kind of boys that I would be embarrassed to walk around with in the street or be associated with in general, but like Laurens I'm not going to make a fuzz about it. You choose for yourself how much you want to involve yourself with the group and you can just socialize with the other groups if you don't like your own. There are only a few events where you are expected to do something with your Jaarclub, but it is encouraged that you become a tight group of friends of course.
At work, we said goodbye to Susanne Thursday evening. It was her last day at Winkle since she had not obtained a permanent contract, when the last final temporary contract ended. We gave her a proper goodbye with a gift, a little speech, drinks and tapas. I remembered to thank her for finding Orionis for me, the single event with the most impact on my stay in Amsterdam so far.
At home, I was once again surprised by the actions of my host. She had visited the apartment while I was at work and picked up some stuff that she must have needed. That is: a cupboard, a clean bed sheet and linen, all the knives from the kitchen and a notice from the rental agency. She is such a strange woman. The half-disassembled couch is still in the living room and she also didn't care to pick up their toothbrushes or her kitchen appliances. But she had to take all the knives, not even leaving one behind so I could comfortably eat my dinner. Well I can tear a chicken breast apart without a knife, but still...