just another 'normal' evening

Last week, a Russian tourist fell into the canal. Drunken, stoned, and/or clueless tourists end up more often in the canal, so this wasn't all that unusual. It just so happened that it was rather cold last week, and remaining wet and cold could have been dangerous to his health. Thus the police asked if anyone had a shower this man could use. Sjoerd graciously volunteered our place.

And so at 10.30 at night, Sjoerd and the policeman made bad jokes at the expense of the tourist who was having a much different kind of evening in the Red Light District than he might have imagined. At breakfast, a day or two later, we joked about it further. And we wondered what the newest housemate had made of the whole experience. She didn't seem too phased. She figured that police in the hall and drunken Russians in the shower were not a normal part of life here. She's essentially right - normally that doesn't happen. But after living here for a few years, she's also a bit wrong - strange things here happen here all the time. So even if showering drunken Russian tourists isn't normal, that there could be a drunken Russian tourist in the shower or a duck in the kitchen or police checking on a crying child in the middle of the night or overly stoned tourists coming in asking for help - well, those possibilities are all pretty normal around here. And hey, at least life's never dull.