Night Kayaking

Tonight I went on a fantastic kayaking trip along the Utrecht canals. It was amazing seeing the city from such a different perspective, and seeing how interconnected the canals are throughout the Netherlands. Since the trip was coordinated through the great UU summer program rather than through UCEAP program, we went along with a number of foreign students from throughout the world. Along the trip I made friends with a Flemish student and his Portuguese rowing partner. The only drawback of the trip aside from its late culmination was getting another full set of clothes, literally every article of clothing I had on, soaking wet for the second time in a day. Meeting new people and going kayaking was a great way to spend a Thursday night.

Though I didn't go into great detail, the kayaking trip was a very eventful experience. Here are a few more details missed in my first post:

At times we brought together a number of kayaks and formed a large raft on which we could more easily meet people from other countries. Throughout the trip I had a nice banter with the student from Belgium, reminding him of a lack of coherent government in his country, and asking about his love for waffles. My rowing partner (who for the record was awful) and I had a sort of competition with to Spanish students to see who could reach each stage the most quickly. As there was a boat occupied by one girl from Hong and another from Taiwan, both of whom repeatedly crashed, our victory in our contests with the Spanish usually resulted from finally passing the crashing boat. Also on the trip I watched people at a bar play snooker: a game which frankly is so boring it should never have been created. Kayaking was also a great way to see not only the restaurants on the water, but also into the fascinating homes of those who live on the canal-level as well.