Jason's Daily Notes

So I'm in Amersfoort. Staying at Mike's dad's place. It's a very nice house, and very clean. And I can tell you why: They are very anal about keeping the house cleaned and organized. For example, you are expected to wipe the shower down after each use! It's effective, and it's definitely a good habit to have, but it's a big shift fromt he casual, "whatever" attitude that I have been living with on this trip.

I wanted to go out, and to buy some things from the grocery store, so Mike lent me their extra bike (which, by the way, has a lock embedded in the bike itself! How convenient.) and we rode the bikes to Lidl. There, I bought some bread, sliced meat and cheese, toothpaste, and tissues. I also considered buying croquettes but Mike took them away because (1) they don't have a fryer, and (2) they had shrimp in them. D'oh! Biked back home (there are a lot of turns on the route back to his house; it's kind of confusing so I just followed Mike. At least there are bike lanes everywhere, as you might expect in the Netherlands.

We dropped off the stuff at home and then walked to Albert Heijn in a nearby shopping center. It's the store where Mike used to work. Along the way, we walked by the house of a famous footballer. The neighborhood is very pleasant and pretty modern. It reminds me partly of Irvine (master-planned suburbia) and of Tampere, Finland (European modern and spacious).

I had a phone interview at 3pm, with Trivago. The call went well; the manager who spoke with me was American. I did my best to impress him (given that I have another job offer), because it's always good to form strong connecting with whomever you meet.

After the interview, Mike and I just chilled at home for the afternoon. I helped him re-write his CV and LinkedIn profile to help him get a summer internship. (I do not feel worried for him at all. He's got good connections and always puts in great work in whatever he does.)

Why do we pronounce the word "nothing" as "nuthing"?

Dinner was at 6pm sharp. Roeline returned home around 5pm, and Coen shortly thereafter. Mike and I went downstairs to see the kitchen already made up and prepared for dinner. The menu: Pork shoarma served on toasted buns with chopped lettuce and sauce. It was tasty and well-prepared. We ate, put away the dinner plates, then brought out the dessert, which was yogurt with grapes. Put those away, and we each had a piece of chocolate (which I had brought from Belgium).

After dinner, we sat around watching TV. There was football on, Schalke vs Galatasaray. We watched; I offered a round of beers but no one else wanted to join me, so I drank alone, and we also distracted ourselves on our phones. Roeline went upstairs and to bed. Soon, Coen joined her.

Mike and I stayed downstairs and watched There's Something about Mary. Then, to bed. We have to be very quiet when going to bed, so as not to wake up the dad and stepmom.