greetings reader. tragedy hath struck. my hotmail account has plummeted (possibly with two t's) into a firey death and now resides in the ether. my addresses are lost, my emails, my everything hotmail. and i no longer feel it is suitable to use it, so i ask that from now on, all shall please use my jaffle at westco.co.nz address when emailing me; at least until i establish the hotmail problem and combat it. heel goed. dank uu.
cut up an onion pretty fine, stick it in a pot with some hot oil. stir it around until it cooks to translucency, then add in a generous spoonful of pataks curry paste (i use mild, but if you're brave like dave, maybe you can use a stronger paste ok?) and stir it around to mix it through (you might maybe need a little bit of water here, just a dash though, enough to let the curry paste moisten up a little). then, once you can smell the spices, add in some chicken, about 150-200g per person should be ok (or if you like chicken lots, like dave, put in a whole big pack. or, perhaps, whatever suits. just add the chicken alright, however much you like) stir it around, and let it cook for a bit. after a while, add in a can of tomatoes, and then a short while later, chuck in a clove of garlic, cut up into little bits or big bits, or whatever type of bits you fancy. now let it cook. i guess it doens't really matter how long for - i never quite figured that bit out - but it's the kind of dish that can just stew away and simmer and cook and be all nice and stuff - it's good like that. but just before you eat it, you can pour in some yoghurt, maybe throw in some cashews, or instead of those, you can add coconut milk. really, i guess you could add whatever you felt like, if you thought it'd be nice. it's quite a versatile dish this one. now, serve it up on some good basmati rice (yes, it's important, don't be using normal rice, it's just not the same.) and you can sprinkle the rice with coconut if you feel like it, that is nice. you can then put on some relishes, like mango or something. you can also make a simple minted yoghurt, or, you can be clever and make an indian version of tzatsiki, whcih i think they call kerchumba or something (or is that a band?) just mix some yoghurt with some cucumber and add a dash of mint. it's luffly.
direct all compliments to dave c/o implosionz@hotmail.com, or in the comments box.
ps. if you happen to be in the netherlands currently, don't forget to put your clocks forward an hour tonight... ok? heel goed.
well, you know, sort of. but perhaps i'm exagerating a tad. i am really, really tired. it's been a really taxing week, not only trying to read as much as i possibly can, assorb the information, and understand it to the point where i can relay it back to trainees, but also, standing in front of a group of twelve trainees and train them in a subject that most of them are more experienced in than i am. the first three days i worked towards fourteen hours. i'd forgotten what hard work felt like; what mental exhaustion felt like. information overload was the basis of my existance. but despite all that, i'm loving the work, loving working with people again, and looking forward to the next training course that arrives a week sunday. in the meantime, more personal training is on my agenda; on sunday we begin being trained on training people to work with children. directly following that, a course of childrens couriers (i know, it sounds like a dodgy name for the job role, but, nevermind) arrives for training, allowing us the chance to observe an entire training course to aid us in our own delivery.
my dutch is coming along, with new words being added to my vocabulary daily. The venue staff look after me well, answering my ten thousand daily grammar/vocab/translation questions.
my dates of returning to london a varying still, so i'm a little dissapointed to probably not be returning on the 9th as i'd hoped. However, the following week is looking promising.
i've discovered some excellent foods here, mainly sugar filled goodness mind you. my current favourite is the extra-grote stroopwaffel -- a layer of thick caramel toffee sauce snadwixhed between two coaster-sized waffels. this is preferable to the pickled herring - small raw herrings, about 10-15cm long, gutted, decapitated, pickled, then held above the mouth and lowered, eaten bite by bite. a dutch specialty that they're awfully proud of for some reason. personally, i prefer the waffels.
and so tha packing begins again. i hate packing. brings back memories of tidying my room (which didn't occur too frequently) and spending long minutes reminiscing over objects and never really getting much done. however, i leave the country tomorrow, and the packing won't do itself - drat.
internet access is scarce in hoeven - so updates will be few and far between until we get internet estblished. but they shall resume again... oh yes they shall.
i'm exhausted after a day's travelling to yeovil to collect my material possessions from storage. it's all upon my back, near equal to my own body weight, straining on my shoulders, stressing my legs. gradually i climb the stairs, hand on rail, attention diverted to the very-out-of-place fluorescent lighting in the recess above the rail. the top of the stairs draws near, a horizon falling, exposing a vast sun set against the opposing wall. for a moment, i have an eye each on the rail lighting and the sun, a moment of sensory overload, fluorescent flooded colours in the midst of a monchromatic environ, a surreal moment. the rail gone, left behind me, the sun now fills my vision - the silohettes of onlookers case before me. all sounds rapidly deplete, double back on themselves, rendering a peculiar auditory phenonoma whereby echoes of fading sounds constantly fight against one another for existance. a distant layer of sound, a deep humming drone, creeps along the floor and up through your legs, as if it's coming from within. people are everywhere, standing here and there, lying down there, over there, and under that. they're holding hands, smiling, laughing, staring, wondering, watching, playing, eating, drawing, taking pictures. many are watching themselves far above in the overhead mirrors, making shapes with their bodies, waving, pointing, watching themselves in the context of a crowd, as seen from far above. they're perplexed. it's a people-watchers paradise here. the sun is not heated, but it is warming none-the-less. something inside of you tells you it is warm, and so you believe it to be true. we lie there, scorching. bliss.
a haircut, fruit caj and promised details. | mar 18 2004, 03:33
so much for having an early night. this is the third night in a row that i've attempted an early night, but found myself with a huge list of things i'd wished to accomplish online, and subsequently, ventured on into the small hours, typing intricate html code, researching transport options to somerset and contemplating the reality of all that is happening around me.
today i finally got a haircut. andrew didn't really cut it as short as the timetabling girl cut it; it seemed to grow much quicker this time around. awful shame. but dave kindly worked his artistic magic on me this afternoon and rendered me a little less bohemian. i bathed, mmm bubbles, and walked down to the sainsburys in west ealing. I needed to purchase a variety of fruit caj. see, you can't get it in netherlandic parts of the world, so i decided i'd best take a supply with me. I now have almost two hundred teabags to take with me. that may well be deemed as a little excessive, but, i've taken quite a liking to the stuff, and no doubt others will partake in the occasional cup. now i'm wondering why i am justifying taking all that tea with me. oooo deary me.
so, here's the gist of what's going on. sunday morning, i'll be standing in waterloo station, dressed in this hideously blue "leo's fun station" hoody. I'll meet a training group of english folk and escourt them to our training venue in the netherlands. our training venue is a huge building with accomodation, our appartment, a restaurant and a collection of seminar rooms. a staff of five, we'll be training people in leadership, motivation, management, and on company structure and content. Essentially, we're an inhouse corporate development unit. We'll also be training european employees, and later, people working with children. The sessions are all scripted, but with room for creative freedom. it's all very exciting. they also have windmills in the netherlands. that's quite exciting too. and the clothes over there are...
so, despite being dissapointed about leaving london, there is plenty to look forward to, and endless opportunity beyond...
firstly i have to say how annoying those little bits of random nail are that you sometimes get between your finger and your nail - you know, the little spikey bits that seem to appear from nowhere and just get in the way and hurt far more than they ought when removal is attempted. i think they like me. bleh.
now, a couple of disturbing bits of information about english youth. sixteen and seventeen year olds will soon be eligible for minimum wage, which evidently, they're not currently. The minimum wage for a sixteen year old will be £3 an hour. Ok, so, once you convert that to dollars, it's a fantastic $9 an hour. however, that's unrealistic. to be fair, it's more like $3 an hour. $3 an hour is criminal pay. £3 an hour is criminal. by 22 they can be on full minimum wage of £4.50. Now, assuming someone living in london is working forty hours on minimum wage, that amounts to £180 a week. take 20% off for tax (which is a conservative figure by all accounts) and you're left with £144. Average rent is about £60. leaving £84 a week. Bills will amount to at least £20, leaving £64. It is possible to live on £30 for food if you like dull unimaginative bland food without herbs or spices or anything interesting. the reamining £34 needs to cover transport, from £10-£22, and incidental costs. Something is fundamentally wrong with this picture. someone under 22 does not qualify for £4.50 an hour.
criminal.
the other perturbing fact is that englsih boys are tested for testicular cancer from age five. age FIVE. i don't understand. something seems horrifically wrong with that concept.
what a strange country.
however, i am leaving it again in a few days time. i've been contemplating just what to journalise in regards to my expereinces over the last week, and also, what i expect of the next few months. it's now nearing three in the morning and my mind is hallucinating of things unseen, craving chocolate or sleep, possibly both. Tomorrow I'll attempt to decipher my mind and come up with a suitable post detailing all that remains unsaid of the netherlandic experience.
tuesday marks one month in london. one month of struggling against the jobmarket. the last few days I've been quite low, not coping with the huge amount of rejection that the industry throws back at you. however, things changed today when i was finally offered a job. now, it's debatable just what my "career" is - some would say design, some would say "outdoors" some would say a little of both, but largely undecided. And that's where I'm at - a point where I'm not too sure just what i want to do, but, so long as i'm enjoying myself, i can't see it makingmuch difference. So i leave for amsterdam on sunday to take on a job in the redlight district working as a... wait a minute - to amsterdam to take a train to the south of the netherlands where i will take on a job as a trainer or people. To simplify things - I'll be training people to work with children, among other things. Careerwise i think this is a good move - it should get me some good experience, and give me the opportunity to work in yet another country. To be honest - I'm terrified. It's all come a bit suddenly, and with little time to prepare. I've only just really begun to establish myself in London, making a few freinds, a fantastic flatmate, and learning the gist of how things function here. Yet, here i am, shipping off to somewhere new to start all over again. It's not something I'm unaccustomed to - so, i don't envisage any problems there, but i guess it's just frustrating - feeling like the last month was something of a waste. But, I've enjoyed myself, and forged a really strong freindship with Dave my Landlord/flatmate (perhaps the most difficult part of leaving is leaving him behind). London will still be here - and no doubt I'll return...
The future is uncertain - my rough plan is to complete this contract, perhaps work back for 3D for the summer, and then, some travel, somewhere, and returning home around october. But, my plans are very fluid, and have changed constantly over the past year - and, i suspect, will continue to evolve depending on where i am, and who i meet.
years ago, well, three years maybe, i had my attention drawn to a picture of monument valley, arizona/utah, usa. i was entranced by that photo, astounded that a place could be so majestic. i assured myself that i'd get there, find a way somehow and see it. and while there remain countless places on this planet that i long to experience, i feel better for knowing that i accomplished my goal to see monument valley. (thanks mum.) i have a large collection of photos from the area, most of which i have yet to scan, however, here is a sample, a little something that maybe will instill the same dream in you, despite it being low res and so little.
and the sun is shining in london today, ahhh bliss.
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