Yesterday, I went with several other externs on a tour of the Peace Palace (Vredespaleis), home of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and Permanent Court of Arbitration. To answer a question often asked of me, the ICJ is the court that condemned Israel’s security barrier, not my court. That aside, the Peace Palace was an amazing place to walk around. Every room was filled with marble floors from Italy or tapestries from Japan or a hundred other priceless gifts. My personal favorite was the elephant tusks from the King of Siam, which probably wouldn’t fly as a gift these days. The main courtroom was called the “Hall of Justice,” though it disappointingly was not the home of the Justice League. I especially liked a room where every nation’s ambassador had his own chair with the seal of his country sown on the back. The building was beautiful; since we were prohibited from photographing the interior, the attached picture is the best I can do.
Last weekend, my court held its annual party for the staff in Grote Kerk, the oldest and largest church in The Hague. We had fun, though I’m not sure it was the best location. First, the interior was so massive that it felt empty even with 1,000 people dancing inside. Second, it was a little strange to be partying in a church, even if this particular church is apparently no longer “sanctified.” There were professional dancers strutting their stuff on platforms, and the bar stools were placed over sections of the floor that had people buried underneath. Ironically, I think the non-Christians found more disconcerting than anyone. At any rate, at some point I left the party and ended up hanging out with a bunch of random Germans in another bar. It was a strange night.
The next day, I went wine tasting in Breda, which is in the Dutch province of Noord Brabant, close to the border with Belgium. Breda was a charming little Dutch town, and it was fun to be somewhere different. I went with a group of friends, one of whom knew the owner of the wine store; he let us sample wines from all over the world and gave an explanation of the background and taste of each one. (Though I noticed none of the wines were from Holland; I guess Holland is too cold for good wine.) Afterwards we had some fantastic Indian food (I had a meal that included five vegetarian entrees), and headed back home.
Last night was the first time I’ve stayed home for the evening in a long time, due to my family visitors and due to the fact that everyone is starting to realize that the end of our time is near. On Monday night I went to an Italian restaurant for my first goodbye party for a friend. It was fun, but I can’t believe we’re all leaving Holland in less than two weeks... Madness! Anyway, happy Hannukah! (And happy Sinterklaas tomorrow!)
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