Hup Holland!

Last Wednesday I went to my first soccer, I mean football, match in Amsterdam. It was a friendly between The Netherlands and England. I did have to leave class about five minutes early (a tour of the TU-Delft library, but I went back for another tour because I needed to return for my new library card, I was the only one in the class that was not in "the system", basically they forgot about me, but that was resolved). Anyway, it's really convenient that the Amsterdam ArenA is just over an hour away by train. So about a dozen of us went, there were a few Columbians, some guys from Ecuador, the Spanish girls, among others. I went with people from cultures that actually know and care about football. So it was nice.

Unfortunately, the game wasn't very exciting. It was a friendly, and both teams seemed uninspired. But the Dutch fans were really fun and colorful. I still have not figured out what the word "Hup"means, but it's on all the banners and scarves and sounds appropriately Dutch. The English supporters were segregated from the rest of us and extra police were on duty, though I'm not sure if it was for our protection or theirs.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw and there were no penalty kicks. I love the conciseness of a football match. Start at 8PM finish before 10PM. So, what do a dozen grad students do afterwards (the ones who don't have to meet their advisors in the morning)? Go to the Red Light District for a drink of course. We didn't actually have drinks there, we just walked around and looked at the windows. We found another place for a drink that was closer to the train station, because after midnight the trains only run once an hour. In bed by 3:30AM. In class at 8:45AM.