Haven't written in ages.
First off: QLTS was shit. It was utter shit. My last-minute preparations eventually amounted to naught because I was slaughtered by my fatigue and the sheer intensity of the duration of the assessment. The morning session went okay; I felt like I could scrape a 58% or whatever, just enough to pass. The afternoon session, however, was a disaster - and an unmitigated one. I was so tired and sleepy for the first 1.5 hours that I could hardly focus on what I was reading, let alone understand the questions (some of which are a paragraph long). I forgot a lot of things. I skipped all the accounts/taxation questions and went back to them when I was done with all the questions, hoping to make an educated a guess as I could on what the answers could possibly be. At the end of it all, I was just relieved that it was over.
The test was on Thursday. On Wednesday, I went to the LSE library to prepare for it, but went back to the hotel when I discovered that the free WiFi didn't work. I was cooped up in there from 5pm until the next day when I left the hotel room for the test venue (London ExCeL). Wouter went out to watch the football but came back after the first half, so I got to watch the Netherlands undeservedly lose to Argentina on penalties. That was not fun.
Nevertheless, we had a good trip. We met up with a couple of my LSE friends, one of whom happened to be in London at the same time as me (Toby). I really liked that Wouter could talk to them; when he was talking, I couldn't help but gaze quite dreamily at him and thinking, What a guy. WHAT A GUY.
I dragged him to Tiger Tiger on Saturday night. It was really fun. He said that I was 'dancing really wild', which I attributed solely to the shot that he induced me into drinking, which made me more tipsy than I usually get when I go to clubs. We left way before closing as we were both tired, which was a shame; would've been nice if we'd stayed longer.
On Friday night, we went to Gong bar at The Shard. When I lived in London, I always wanted to go to these fancy places but had no one to go with, so I was really pleased that he was totally onboard with my suggestion to go to one of the F&B establishments in The Shard after I was done with the QLTS. It was really convenient too because our second hotel was on Bermondsey Street, which was a mere 7-minute walk away from The Shard.
The view was perfect. The company was even more perfect. I was happy and giggly. He was handsome and charming. It would be amazing to live with him in London - my perfect love in the London that I still love so much.
*
As for my birthday, all I will say about it is that 1) Wouter made it perfect, unsurprisingly; and 2) my colleagues (i.e. fellow interns) at work gave me a birthday cake which I totally did not expect. Life can be good sometimes.
Wouter brought me back to the scene of our first date. I found him incredibly charming that day. He brought me two other gifts despite already giving me an iPod Nano when we were in London: The Xenophobe's Guide to the Dutch, and a collection of Phillip Larkin's poems selected by Martin Amis. I was so excited when I saw the second one. When we were in London, I dragged him into Waterstone's on the LSE campus and picked up the Larkin book that I'd wanted to get but somehow never got around to doing it. He actually noticed and made a mental note of it, and in a happy coincidence, got me an even better one: a collection chosen by Martin Amis. He'd be even more amazing if he'd realised that I'm currently reading London Fields by Amis, but well, a girl can't ask for too much, innit.
*
A quick note about the weekend: It was FUCKING HOT. It was 34 degrees on Saturday. I nearly died. It was 31 on Friday. It was so hot in the office that I don't know how I didn't faint. Needless to say, the Netherlands doesn't do air-conditioning because no one in Europe does, so the only reprieve I got from the heat on Saturday was when Wouter kindly took me into a gently air-conditioned mall while walking to Centraal Station (in Amsterdam) because he knew that I was dying, and when we took an air-conditioned train to Haarlem.
Haarlem was great. The church was amazing. Found out after the fact that Mozart once performed there when he was 10. Wish I'd paid more attention when I was there.
I dragged him to 22 Jump Street at 11.25pm on Saturday night. He said that Rembrandtplein was a 15-minute walk from his place. It was more like 25. I walked 25 minutes to the movie theatre and it was the hottest day in the Netherlands in 3 years (or whatever the stat was) and I was in jeans and heels. I was really irritated. It says a lot about how great he is that he put up with it and loves me all the same.
Movie was funny. He didn't think it was that funny. I liked the black jokes and the old jokes. I like this "franchise" because the jokes aren't just sexual and are pretty good for an American comedy. He said the plot was predictable but I wasn't even paying attention to the story, just the lulz. It was enjoyable.
*
I'm super tired. Gonna go to bed now.
The test was on Thursday. On Wednesday, I went to the LSE library to prepare for it, but went back to the hotel when I discovered that the free WiFi didn't work. I was cooped up in there from 5pm until the next day when I left the hotel room for the test venue (London ExCeL). Wouter went out to watch the football but came back after the first half, so I got to watch the Netherlands undeservedly lose to Argentina on penalties. That was not fun.
Nevertheless, we had a good trip. We met up with a couple of my LSE friends, one of whom happened to be in London at the same time as me (Toby). I really liked that Wouter could talk to them; when he was talking, I couldn't help but gaze quite dreamily at him and thinking, What a guy. WHAT A GUY.
I dragged him to Tiger Tiger on Saturday night. It was really fun. He said that I was 'dancing really wild', which I attributed solely to the shot that he induced me into drinking, which made me more tipsy than I usually get when I go to clubs. We left way before closing as we were both tired, which was a shame; would've been nice if we'd stayed longer.
On Friday night, we went to Gong bar at The Shard. When I lived in London, I always wanted to go to these fancy places but had no one to go with, so I was really pleased that he was totally onboard with my suggestion to go to one of the F&B establishments in The Shard after I was done with the QLTS. It was really convenient too because our second hotel was on Bermondsey Street, which was a mere 7-minute walk away from The Shard.
The view was perfect. The company was even more perfect. I was happy and giggly. He was handsome and charming. It would be amazing to live with him in London - my perfect love in the London that I still love so much.
*
As for my birthday, all I will say about it is that 1) Wouter made it perfect, unsurprisingly; and 2) my colleagues (i.e. fellow interns) at work gave me a birthday cake which I totally did not expect. Life can be good sometimes.
Wouter brought me back to the scene of our first date. I found him incredibly charming that day. He brought me two other gifts despite already giving me an iPod Nano when we were in London: The Xenophobe's Guide to the Dutch, and a collection of Phillip Larkin's poems selected by Martin Amis. I was so excited when I saw the second one. When we were in London, I dragged him into Waterstone's on the LSE campus and picked up the Larkin book that I'd wanted to get but somehow never got around to doing it. He actually noticed and made a mental note of it, and in a happy coincidence, got me an even better one: a collection chosen by Martin Amis. He'd be even more amazing if he'd realised that I'm currently reading London Fields by Amis, but well, a girl can't ask for too much, innit.
*
A quick note about the weekend: It was FUCKING HOT. It was 34 degrees on Saturday. I nearly died. It was 31 on Friday. It was so hot in the office that I don't know how I didn't faint. Needless to say, the Netherlands doesn't do air-conditioning because no one in Europe does, so the only reprieve I got from the heat on Saturday was when Wouter kindly took me into a gently air-conditioned mall while walking to Centraal Station (in Amsterdam) because he knew that I was dying, and when we took an air-conditioned train to Haarlem.
Haarlem was great. The church was amazing. Found out after the fact that Mozart once performed there when he was 10. Wish I'd paid more attention when I was there.
I dragged him to 22 Jump Street at 11.25pm on Saturday night. He said that Rembrandtplein was a 15-minute walk from his place. It was more like 25. I walked 25 minutes to the movie theatre and it was the hottest day in the Netherlands in 3 years (or whatever the stat was) and I was in jeans and heels. I was really irritated. It says a lot about how great he is that he put up with it and loves me all the same.
Movie was funny. He didn't think it was that funny. I liked the black jokes and the old jokes. I like this "franchise" because the jokes aren't just sexual and are pretty good for an American comedy. He said the plot was predictable but I wasn't even paying attention to the story, just the lulz. It was enjoyable.
*
I'm super tired. Gonna go to bed now.