Matt's Visit / Conlanging Meeting

On Tuesday 20 November 2001 14:06, Matt wrote:

> BTW, how can you
> compose about 25% of the choir -- I guess you suddenly
> had many drop-outs.
No, we've never had more than 4-6 people. I'm the only alto most of
the time, and we have two sopranos, a bass and two part-time tenors.

> Nah, you oughtn't interpret elder as a reference to
> physical age but rather to your advancement in the
> conlanging world.  Okay, in lieu of that term, may I
> call you "lang-guru" :p ?
No, you may not. If I were a man, I'd be just a bloke.

> Hmmm, I've found a possibly-obscure fact that
> lang-guru doesn't know?  :-?
I told you before that I'm not a fount of knowledge. If you still
think so, please think again. (I *really* don't like it, even as a
joke). It's just that if I don't know something, I don't speak up :-)

> Do night trains run all night, every night, or do they
> stop running at a certain time?
Night trains run all night, every hour, at least on all weekend
nights (Fri-Sat-Sun). I'm not completely sure about weekday nights.
The only thing is that they don't run everywhere, just in the
"Randstad" area, comprising Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag and
Utrecht and possibly some places just outside that region (not
Deventer, and probably not Eindhoven). If you want to go a long way
north or south or east, trains stop running at somewhere between ten
and midnight.

["gezellig"]

> Hmmm, somehow it sounds like the Portuguese concept of
> _saudade_ in that it is a sort of state-of-mind.  But,
> _saudade_ tends to be reserved for feelings of longing
> to return to a past situation, missing something.
No, that's "heimwee" or "nostalgie"; "gezellig" has absolutely no
connotation of sadness or melancholy, only of comfortable homeliness
and companionship.

> Does Utrecht offer a lot of sights/sites to see?
Depends on what you want to see. It's a nice old town with a few
interesting museums, beautiful churches and the highest tower in the
Netherlands (which you can climb). I don't care much for the real
touristy things myself, so I don't know anything else :-)

> Yes, the 4th in Den Haag clearly looks agreeable for
> all of us.
Yes, for us as well; it looks as if we're going to be able to have an
all-night babysitter, but we still want to take the last train home
(with or without Matt and Nobu; if they're going out Friday and/or
Saturday night they're probably better off in the west) so she can go
home in the morning any time she likes instead of having to wait for
us.

> BTW, what do you mean about the train
> system?  Is it really that dangerous to use the trains
> there?  I've heard/read about the pick-pockets, but
> nothing about unsafety.
No, it's not the safety, but the delays; you can't be 100% sure
whether there is a train in the first place and if there is one,
whether it will be on time so you can catch your connection (or even
get home at all). When you're actually on a train it's safe enough,
they stand still much more often than they crash ...

> I want to use my MC or
> AMEX most of the time, charge it and pay once back to
> Tokyo in the following weeks.  My bonus should arrive
> anywhere from late Dec to mid Feb, so I don't want to
> rely too much on cash.
Many ATMs take all sorts of credit cards, so you can get cash from
the machine that's charged to your card. Hotels and many restaurants
also take cards, though cafes and museums probably don't. Anyway, you
do need some cash for smaller expenses (using a credit card under
about 50 guilders is very unusual).

   Irina

--
           Varsinen an laynynay, saraz no arlet rastynay.
irina@valdyas.org (myself)     http://www.valdyas.org/irina/valdyas

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