Jup Holland Jup

I took this job in Taiwan for many reasons, one of which was seeking a greater challenge than what I was experiencing in the States. So far, it has exceeded that expectation. This trip is panning out to be quite the challenege as my job function revolves around global sourcing and I am lobbying to transfer work from one location to the other which tends to piss of the "from" location. My boss is flying out on Monday to come try and seal the deal. The new boss is another reason why the job is very challenging. I think it's just a matter of the two of us syncing up. He's a bit more, say, emotional that any previous supervisor I've had. In our business, people usually just look at the #'s whereas he glances over the #'s and looks at the words. I'll have to figure out how to adjust my style.

I slipped out of work early on Friday and did some work at the hotel because the Netherlands was scheduled to play the quarterfinal World Cup game at 4PM. Shortly before then I made my way down towards the square to grab something to eat and find somewhere to watch the game. I would have to look far as they has a jumbotron in the square and thousands of people were making their way there, decked out in orange to support the Dutch. It was literallu, 100 degrees out and sunny. The bars along the edge of the square had awnings set up with flat screen TVs underneath so I grabbed a beer and ducked under to get out of the sun.

It was Holland vs. Brazil which was probably the best matchup to date in this World Cup. The crowd was silenced as Brazil took the lead mid way in the first half on a strange ball that got through the Dutch defense. Typically, at this point, the Dutch hang their heads and just fall apart. But not this time as early in the second half they equalized, and town square went crazy. Apparently, when the Dutch score, you are supposed to just throw your beer on the ceiling. Shortly afterwards, the bartender comes out with a tray of free beer to replenish. I think beer is the cheapest liquid around here as gasoline and water are more expensive.

Then with a header off a header off a corner kick, "Oranje" went up 2-1 and looked very strong with a few more chances that they could have converted. At the end of the match I grabbed this video of everyone just going crazy.




The party lasted for hours. They have a gate at the town square to keep out glass bottles. You can buy beer in plastic on the other side for ~2.50euros, not bad considering what a beer costs at a ballgame in the States. A couple hours after the end of the game, the square was still pretty packed and the trash was calf deep in places. I'll still be here for the semifinal match on Tuesday against Uruguay.

The other tradition is a lot of dancing and singing, in Dutch, of songs which have Dutch lyrics overlaid onto pop songs. One was the Pet Shop Boys "Go West" and despite my best efforts, travelling 10k miles away from Boston and then another 5,000...still had to sit through Sweet Caroline, bamp, bamp, bamp...