Wednesday, February 06, 2008

My Patriotic Duty

















These are tulips. Trust me.

Q: What's the best thing to do when you're a half-salary teaching intern going to grad school full time, when the economy is crashing and your house is perhaps no longer worth what you paid for it last year, when your savings are depleted and you face a summer sans income before you get your first fat paycheck in September?

A: Use the forthcoming Bush tax refund check and your credit card to book a trip to Europe for Spring Break!

I haven't been to Europe since 2002. I haven't been out of the U.S. since January 2006. In March Yahtzee and I are flying to Amsterdam to, ah, er, ahem look at tulips. Yeah, that's the ticket. Cha, who will be in Milan and Venice for work the previous week, is hooking up with us on her way home.

Found some reasonable prices on Expedia.com--good hotel/air packages are still available in March. Of course, once I get to the Netherlands and the $1.60 Euro I'll need all those savings to afford Indonesian food, wine, beer, museum entrance fees, and ah, er, ahem coffee. Yeah, that's it. Coffee. And tulips. The credit cards will groan with debt until next fall. But that's what credit cards are for!

Anyone want to join us? It's Australian for Beer! and Natasha are thinking seriously about it as well. You know you want to. The Apocalypse might happen in April, and boy would you be sorry you missed this opportunity to ride a canal boat and visit the Anne Frank Secret Annex Museum...

[Image Credit]

4 comments:

Casey said...

My dear friend (and blog contributor) is currently in grad school in Amsterdam. He's pursuing his masters in Hermetics and Western Esotericism, which I had no idea was even possible. He wants my wife and I to sojurn with him around the time of your excursion, but alas, I have no passport. And I don't think I can get one in time.

Geoff said...

Wow. That's a dream grad program. I guess the campus bookstore sells Salt, Mercury, and Sulphur. And the Crowley Tarot. And 501 Enochian Verbs in full conjugation.

Isn't passport central in your neck of the woods? Expedited processing for those who visit in person...

fernie said...

Dad and I are packing and will be ready to go. We figure we'll curtail you need for coffee consumption and tulip viewing.

Geoff said...

The more the merrier! We could rent a car one day and drive down to the Grand Platz.