I had such a splendid evening, it reminded me in a way of hanging out with some of ‘my’ students at the Rietveld Academy, we would always end up in weird places, meeting people and not knowing what would be next. I went to the Times by public transport and called CS. to come and collect me since you need a special pass to get into the building. CS. and Christina both had to finish off some things and then we took a cab to Saffron Hill.
The exhibition was not really what we expected it to be, it wasn’t actually photography but more like collages made of photographs, some odd and some beautiful. I brought my camera but forgot to take pictures because I ended up talking to MvdM. who invited CS. to the exhibition. It turned out he’s Dutch. I’ve met the first Dutch person in London but I still wonder where the others seem to be hiding… MvdM. showed us around the building, the office etc. and we got a gift from one of his colleagues which was in a white carton box.
Anyway, we left after about an hour and half to get something to eat. I had two glasses of wine on an empty stomach which wasn’t such a good idea… While we were talking outside the building MvdM. came to us and told us he was on his way to another exhibition of a Dutch photographer and invited us to come along. So we did… We took a cab up north but to be honest, I have no idea where I was… Daft, I know, but my brain gave up on me by the time we got there and it refused to work till about 16.00 this afternoon. [It was Hoxton… found out later when I was sober again.]
We found the place and I ended up talking to several Dutch people which was actually quite cool and at times confusing [I tend to mix up English and Dutch when I’m drunk, or forget Dutch words and come up with the English translation… what’s wrong with me?] The exhibition was nice, but we were late and it was about to close. We ended up going to a pub which was around the corner, there was a crowd of us, about 20 people all different nationalities, all creative people, photographers, graphic designers, web developers etc.
People kept asking me questions about the contents of the box, since I was ‘a bit’ drunk I kept telling them my dead hamster was in there, while shaking the box. I told them he was so stiff you could hear his bones rattle. You should’ve seen their faces, hilarious! I met a really nice English lady who asked my phone number, she’s a photographer and would be in Amsterdam next week, she wanted to stay in touch so I gave her my business card. Met another photographer who gave me his business card. Met a Swiss girl who studies graphic design and her boyfriend a photographer who was also showing his photo’s at the second exhibition.
The pub was closing so we moved on to the next pub which was about a five minutes walk. There was a bouncer at the door [that’s odd to me but a good thing!] so I opened my bag to show him the contents, he just smiled at me and showed me in [that feels good actually… especially when you’re drunk] *wink* The pub was crowded but a fun place and again I had to keep a poker face while telling some people about a dead hamster in a box. I found myself talking to this English guy who told me he was a *ta da* graphic designer in the music industry. By the time I got fed up and tired the pub was closing and we took a cab to CS.’s. MvdM. came along, he lives just around the corner.
AS. took me home and had to put me to bed, I was too tired and drunk *yes I know, I’m terrible!* It’s been ages since I have been this drunk, I was in control till we got home, then I lost the plot completely. When I woke up at noon I could still feel the alcohol rush through my veins. Never again will I drink on an empty stomach, that’s a promise! I shall behave… honestly! We [MvdM. and myself] are going to organise a Dutch evening for English people, so they can try all the Dutch ‘goodness’: oliebollen, frikandellen, zuurkool met worst, hagelslag, Unox erwtensoep and haring met uitjes en zuur. I will prepare an Indonesian rice table [rijsttafel], it will be a blast.

I’ve met some really nice people and handed out a few business cards and got some in return, who knows what will be next…

My ‘dead hamster’ that I managed to get home in one piece