Groningen, Day Two

Well, I made it through another fast-paced day of facilitation training, and what a day it was. For one thing, it started out MUCH better than yesterday. My walk was leisurely, I didn't get lost, I made it there in plenty of time and people seemed glad to see me. We went through about 60 different techniques today (and while that sounds like an exaggeration, it actually isn't). During the two days, we had a little game going that involved little orange dots--we would get them for returning on time after breaks, for answering questions correctly, for providing helpful thoughts and suggestions of our own. Yours truly won, and I'm grateful for the book that I received as a prize (I'm told that it is the number one book on facilitation at amazon.com. I actually was told that alot!). Anyway, it will be a good resource, but I think that I will have to mail home my three inches of material.

I was supposed to meet the gang again for supper, but given the issues I had with the telephone yesterday, I asked them to call me. They had problems too, so I ate alone again. This is late night in Groningen, though I don't think that many of the stores and restaurants actually close. I wasn't all that hungry, truth be told, so I indulged in some french fries with mayonnaise.

North Americans need to learn this way of making fries. They are always served piping hot. They are always nicely seasoned, and it isn't just salt. They are always crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. They taste good. REALLY good. And, they are the perfect wander around town kind of food. I also tried something from the frickendel, which is a wall of food, literally. I was curious, but the problem is that I really couldn't tell what I was getting. And I didn't like it.

There was one other thing I didn't like today but I gave it a good try. Apparently, there is a type of milk in the Netherlands, called Karnemelk. In my opinion, the Dutch can keep it! It was kind of yogurty, kind of sour, kind of milky, awfully thick, and generally...icky. I guess it's really a type of buttermilk. And I didn't like it one bit. That could be because I was expecting something totally different!

Tomorrow I get to sleep in a bit, and I hope that I do. Then I have the morning to look around and perhaps some of you will get postcards eventually. If it's not raining (again, and again, and again) I might wander somewhat the other way (I have been walking the 4 km each way to school so it would be nice to have some different scenery).

Speaking of walking, I am incapable of using my ipod here. Oh, many do, that's for sure...but I can't look, and walk, and avoid bicycles, cars, and people..and the occasional duck...at the same time.

That's it from me. We'll see what day three brings!