Party People

Another fun evening last night. I have now been here six months and although it's taken some time to get started, my social life is definitely blooming.

I went to a birthday party in the City. Met some great people and it was in a lovely apartment - I am getting very jealous about the places some people manage to acquire at minimum cost compared to my disappointing attempts at finding a bargain. Amsterdam is pretty pricey and places tend to get snapped up, so I have some very lucky friends!

A few large glasses of wine into the evening I ended up salsa dancing with a slightly odd guy from Essex, participating in a three-woman cabaret act that involved lip-synching to 'It's Raining Men' (using hairbrushes as microphones), having an in-depth conversation with a Dutch midwife about the colour of afterbirth (she compared it to the soy sauce we were dipping our spring rolls in) and finally cycling all the way back to Zaandam at 4am. The journey took me around an hour (not easy on my rusty bike with a slightly flat tyre) and involved a journey on a ferry (occupied solely by me and three slightly worse-for-wear Dutch teenagers who danced around the ferry to the sound of their car stereo). Another highly-entertaining confirmation that Dutch men and Dancing is an uneasy combination.

When I finally got back to Zaandam I checked the seat of my trousers for saddle damage. This has become a necessity since I wore two large holes in my best trousers one evening on a similar journey. I just hope that the damage occurred on the return journey otherwise I must have spent the whole evening showing off my pants to the Dutch. Good job we're in Amsterdam where these things are probably considered to be normal.