Day 125: ESN Final Gala

Thursday, May 20, 2010: Tilburg, Netherlands

This was the day we all realized  how close we were to  the end of our time together in Tilburg. While I haven't blogged much about my time in Tilburg during the months of April and May (due to how much  I was traveling!), there was a lot of bonding going on between all of us during these final months together. Many late nights out in the city centre at the LG, coffee breaks at Verbs 90 and trips to Albert Heijn for last minute dinner items. The relationships I had developed in Tilburg only grew stronger in these last few months, and it was startling to all of us when the evening of the Gala arrived- our official farewell to one another.

We  had heard about the Gala since the beginning of the semester, but only found out the details a few weeks before the event. We were each given a formal invitation telling us the location of the event and about ticket sales. Bali, Mateja, Shaun, Daniel and I all decided to go to the Gala and began to make plans about what we should do beforehand.

The girls and I spent the afternoon in Bali's room on Verbs 90 getting all prettied up for the night's event. I had gotten a dress at V&D, a Dutch department store, on sale that I was super-excited to wear. Bali would wear her sari, and Mateja opted for a simple, elegant black dress. We all brought our things over to Bali's where I straightened Mateja's hair and Bali did each of our makeup. It took us awhile, but shortly after six, we were ready to go!

The plan was to meet up at the bus stop on Conservatoriumlaan to take the bus to city centre where we would go out to dinner, then have some drinks at Clancy's and then take a cab to de Albatros, the boat on which the Gala was being held. Daniel was supposed to meet the three of us girls and Christophe (France) there, as Shaun was planning on fixing dinner with some people at Tilburg and meeting up with us later at Clancy's for drinks.

Well, due to some miscommunication, Daniel did not make it to dinner with the four of us. He and our friends Martha (South Carolina) and Kelly (Louisiana) ended up going to this Italian place in Tilburg, while Christophe, Bali, Mateja and I tried a place a friend had told us about, Lokaal Zeven (Local Seven in English!). We were used to the Dutch system of eating out by now....slow! We were not surprised that we had to wait several minutes before our waitress even came to take our order. However, we were a bit shocked at the hour it took to bring our food to us! And when she did come by after an hour, she only had mine and Christophe's dinner in her hands. She quickly apologized, saying that the cook thought Christophe and I had ordered starters (Portobella Mushroom Plate) and that the other two dinners would be out shortly. We were irate at this point, as our portions were smaller than meal size and the girls still did not have anything to eat! I asked if we could at least get some bread in the mean time so that Bali and Mateja would have something to eat, as we were all quite hungry.

Christophe and I finished our meal, and the girls had still not received theirs. We had realized earlier on when we arrived at the restaurant that we had all forgotten our tickets to the Gala, so I decided to head back to Verbs with Christophe (as he was not planning on going to the Gala) in order to retrieve the tickets from our rooms. Christophe gave the restaurant staff a hard time for us, complaining about the lousy service and mix up and retrieved our bill. He and I paid before heading back to the bus stop. Bali and Mateja waited at the restaurant until their food came and ate before heading over to Clancy's to meet Daniel and the other girls for pre-Gala drinks.

I managed to get back to Verbs with Christophe and back to City Centre in time to meet up with everyone at Clancy's in time for drinks. Mateja and I wanted to do a few shots for this challenge we had started back in April, so Bali joined us and we had a few shots while Daniel and Shaun sipped on their beverages of choice. After our drinks (and telling some guy to "go away" in part English part Dutch), we decided it was time to head down to de Albatros for the night's event!

We ambled down the straat and piled into a taxi together. It was a short ride to de Albatros, which was on a small canal (who knew Tilburg had canals!) just a few blocks behind the city centre. We paid the driver and got out, admiring the small ship that we would be on for the next few hours.

We were greeted on the steps of the ship by the ESN board members who checked our tickets and took our coats. As we entered the boat and walked down the steps, we were offered a complimentary glass of champagne each, which we gladly accepted! The rest of the evening is a blur of goodbyes, lots of dancing, taking pictures, sipping on white wine, and chatting outside the boat. Daniel was hell bent on trying to convince people that the stairs at the back of the boat led to the bathroom, and actually got a few people to try and climb up in pursuit of the toilet!

Near the end of the evening, the ESN board called for everyone's attention and announced the ESN semester awards. There was Gala Queen, Gala King, Cutest Couple, Biggest  Alcoholic, Biggest Porn Star and Best Mentor. We watched our friend Bari (Canada) be crowned King and Katy (Scotland) Best Mentor, but the best award went to Bacon (Canada) for biggest porn star. When his award was announced, he performed a strip tease in the middle of the dance floor. Of course, this was all in good fun!

Afterward, we danced for a bit longer before deciding to call it a night, as it was getting late and we were getting tired. Daniel, Shaun, Bali, Mateja and I piled back into a taxi and road home for the evening. What a fun night and a good way to celebrate the semester with everyone we had met this semester on exchange!