Goodbye 2009

New homes, car wrecks, drunk hospital visits, post-bar fights, heartbreaks, crazy parties, speeding tickets, new friends, new families, waking up on the bathroom floor, snowboarding, getting teeth knocked out, traveling, laughing, crying, learning...I think it's safe to say that 2009 was quite the turbulent year. Chances are, you played a role in my life this last year, and for that I want to thank you.

Every person I met this year brought something new into my life; each experience I shared with you is a memory I won't forget.

I found that finding a home has nothing to do with whether you like mountains or beaches, hot weather or cold, it has to do with where your friends are; the people you love make a house into a home. This year, Moscow became my second home.

I hope I was able to make a positive contribution to your 2009 as well, and that you, like me, will look back at this year and smile.

Now, onwards to 2010! Make it count!

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When 'accidents' happen, Sears can help get rid of them

The Golden Tour of Mike

Dates and Locations

12/22 - 12/28 Pocatello
12/28 - 12/30 Moscow
12/30 - 01/04 Coeur d'Alene (01/03 Schweitzer)
01/04 - 01/15 Atlanta
01/15 - 02/05 Moscow
02/06 - 02/22 Netherlands

Does work get better than this?

icanhascheezburger.com and Heineken from students that borrow your books...really, I don't think it gets much better.

If this doesn't put a smile on your face...

Flip mobile #2

Ok...so after driving around all euro and flipping an SUV, I came to the conclusion that I'm not Am'r'can enough to be driving that kind of stuff. So I decided to stick to my European roots and get something a little less flip-able and a bit more, well, let's call it 'sophisticated' (yes, I like to think of myself as being quite sophisticated); a '93 Audi 100 CS that only has 60,000 miles on it (about 100,000 km for you Dutchies and metric lovers out there), and is fully loaded.

So now apartment 303 is getting even more German...as if David driving around a '92 Benz wasn't enough.

Anyway, I drove it home from CDA to Moscow, and already found one big BIG problem with it...the speedometer...it goes up to 160 mp/h (260 km/h). Who lets ME drive a car that can go 160 mp/h!? fml...it's so tempting.

Well, I plan on keeping this one in good shape for a long long time...pray for me. Though I don't know if praying will be enough...

I'm not your toy

Adios kids!

Last Saturday was our Adios Internationals party -- an amazing goodbye to new friends. Saying goodbye sucks, I prefer 'see you later!' or 'until next time.' The sad fact of the matter is, though, that even if we see each other later or next time, the time in between we'll spend apart.

Now Semisonic put it quite brilliantly when they said that "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." I'd like to see this as the end of the beginning that started when I met a bunch of random people from across the globe. It's the end of the beginning of new friendships in Moscow, and the beginning of friendships that stretch across the world. I'm sad to see my friends go, but I'm glad I'll have a place to stay when I tour across Europe.

This semester was amazing, thanks to you guys. I'm gonna miss you!! Until next time and see you later!

Garden Lounge

Yep...we did it again.

A good night at the Garden Lounge! Results? Invented 3 new drinks: the Napalm, the Cherrybomb, and the Biohazard. The most intelligent thing I heard was probably the bartender telling us that if we wanted to make up disgusting drinks and give them to our friends to make them puke, we were in the wrong place. Even though he totally missed out on the fact that the drinks were not for friends, but for us, it made sense. A few minutes later though, we had our new drinks and were on our way towards disabling our short term memory. This is where my camera phone comes in handy.

I believe that without this device, I would probably forget even more. Even more great memories would be lost. I wouldn't remember:

Me being shitfaced

David being shitfaced

Us both being shitfaced

Kissing a flower...whatever that was about

David trying to make a hap-pee face

Me actually making a pretty good hap-pee face

Us running away from the cops (here's David jumping a fence)

Us ending up in jail

Alright...I remember enough to know we didn't run away from the cops and end up in jail, but you believed it! Right?

Are you kidding me!?

This was just one of those days that makes you wonder: 'really?'

lots of cereal, no milk - really...?

lots of chips, no salsa - really?

DANGIT...REALLY?!?!

I'M STILL HERE

After a game of Edward Forty-hands...

eating concrete...

eating bad American food and drinking bad American beer...

and flipping my car...

it's quite the surprise that...I'M STILL HERE!

So where is here, why is that where I am, and why did I decide to start this blog?

Here is Moscow, Idaho. I came here through an exchange program between my home university, the Hague University, and University of Idaho. And I started this blog because I know that you miss me and want to know if I'm still alive (or what almost killed me this time).

I will try to keep this sort of up to date so you won't ever have to doubt if I'm still here...

Knuckles!