The Ambassador invited me for drinks and meet the Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende. That was such a big honour, I even got to shake his hand. I tried to shoot a picture of myself and the Prime Minister. It's my face in the foreground of the picture. There was also a professional photographer, so maybe I can get hold of a better picture. The PM made a nice speech, with some good jokes. He even made a really nice adlib joke to a heckler on Carnaval being a Catholic contribution to Dutch culture, not suited for a Protestant.
A big surprise moment was when the Prime Minister introduced the two times winner of the Elf Stedentocht Evert van Benthem, who is now a cattle farmer in Canada. On the picture, you can see him wearing his cowboy hat. He got a big round of applause of course, from the expats. I am now watching the opening ceremony, and am getting in the Olympic mood. On Sunday I will visit the Holland Heineken house, and the week after that I will be there watching the 1500m speed skating on the big screen.
4 comments:
Aah, lekker netwerken dus. Prachtige openingshow gezien, en heel veel punten van herkenning in Vancouver eo.
Heb je eigenlijk wel een Hollandse drie kleur om op je balkon te hangen? of achterop de Suzuki te bevestigen?
Nou je kunt je hart ophalen aan de Hollandse kaas van van Benthem en de andere lekkere hapjes in het Holland Heineken Huis.
Doe de groeten aan Sven!
A genuine Dutch icon! (Van Benthem, that is. Not the PM :-)
But how did you ever meet the ambassador?! Normally one does not even get past the desk clerk at an embassy...
Heel veel plezier met de O. Games,
dat je maar getuige mag zijn van heel veel huldigingen in het Holland House.
En vooral veel foto's maken en doorsturen!
Els
Is that the 1500m men or women?
Post a Comment