December 19, 2005
Odette behaved herself
In the spirit of last things I met Odette at one of our favourite cafes, De Oosterling, in de Utrechtsetraat. This is one place, along with the Ooievaar on the Zeedijk, that I shall really miss. The Oosterling has been there since 1740 and it is obvious in the tilting floor, the nicely worn grooves in the bar into which you can settle your elbows and the plumbing on a warm day.
Odette is almost the only person I know who really enjoys a borrel. Jenever, that is. Young, or Jong jenever, still doesn't do a a lot for me but I don't mind a tipple of the old stuff, Oud jenever. Odette, I should mention (since she seems concerned about my mentioning it) was on exemplary behaviour with no hangovers to nurse and a dedication to the-man-waiting-at-home that was a credit to milk maids all over Holland. And here she was, complaining about my negative portrayal of her on the web! Poor girl, she can't win.
Odette is single handedly reponsible for both the worst-job-of-my-life and the best (in retrospect) and while Dutch to her bone marrow is welded to an armour of irony and cynicism that has found it's home in post-modern-russian-cynicism. Or Vodka, to the rest of us. Ok, Vodka and Oleg, although we suspect he is soft. Anyway, we are going to miss her more than almost anything else because her emails are crap.
Groetjes, Odette en Oleg. Ik verwachht jullie recenties.
Posted by Faith