Guus Bosman

Yesterday evening we went to Andrej's birthday party that he celebrated on a parking lot at Duke.

This may sound like an usual location but this weekend is the weekend that the season tickets for the Duke basketball team are on sale. The basket ball team is Duke's most successful sports team and tickets are in high demand. Students who want those tickets have to "stay in line" for over 48 hours, and on Sunday evening the tickets are distributed. Over the years this weekend has become a big party weekend, and in addition to students staying in tents there are many who choose to rent a big truck or even a RV to spend the weekend as comfortable as possible.

Andrej, a Ukrain national, had brought many Ukrainian snacks and drinks (vodka, of course) and celebrated his birthday in style. We didn't stay until very late but it was fun. When we left he gave of some Ukrainian sweets for in the car.

There's an article on Economist.com about a black market in candy bars in a school where candy bars are no longer sold by the school.

Reading that article brought back some really nice high school memories. When a vending machine for candy was placed in the hallway where we used to sit in the breaks, we decided to undercut it and made a nice profit for about two weeks.

Yesterday Julian Milan Zane was born!

Julian was born at 5.13 am in New York and mother and son are doing great. He's 20" and weights 7 pounds 7.2 ounces.

A wonderful addition to the Zane family.

Jonathan, Irena, Ilana: many congratulations from both of us!

On Monday morning we had breakfast together and Sasha and I left for work. Joost and Ankie spent the morning in the mall, and then came to my office and we had lunch together.

We went to Ole Time Barbeque, a great BBQ place near my work where they serve traditional East North Carolina BBQ, in a vinegary sauce. I don't come there often (it's not exactly light & healthy) but it's very delicious and the people are very friendly.

After lunch Joost and Ankie continued their journey; next stop Asheville. It was really nice to see them again and spend time together!

I'm in New Jersey for two days. There's a training day tomorrow near our office that I'll attend.

My flight in the morning had over an hour delay because of the rain in Newark.

Yesterday evening I saw an outdoor Christmas tree. Either it's been decorated the whole year or they are very early.

On Saturday morning Joost and Ankie arrived in Durham. They started their trip in New York a week ago, and traveled by car via Washington to North Carolina.

We had coffee the four of us, and then we went for a walk in downtown Durham, and did some shopping. Joost and Ankie took a lot of pictures -- architects have an interesting view of the world.

Later we went to Duke University, where we made a walk over campus. We also visited the Gothic Reading Room which has an exhibition on the history of Duke University.

Our close friends Joost and Ankie arrived today in Durham. They are on a journey along the East Coast, and traveled from Washington D.C. today.

We went to Duke University and downtown Durham and in the evening we all went to the Emily's and Christoph's house warming party. It was a very nice day -- it's great to see them.

I want to cut back on the amount of coffee I drink. Over the last couple of weeks I've noticed that I crave coffee, especially on the weekends, even if I had quite a lot of coffee that day.

My goal is to only drink a large of cup coffee in the morning, and not drink coffee in the afternoon. This is the pattern I used to have, until about a year ago. Now I drink coffee both in the morning and the afternoon, combined with drinking a lot of water.

So this morning I got a Starbucks Grande Coffee (372 milligrams of caffeine) and drank it slowly over the morning, and told myself: that's it for today.

Ettie and Gerben bought a home! This weekend their bid on a house was accepted -- a happy occasion.

Congratulations from both of us. We wish you all the best with your new home!

It's a big house with 3 bedrooms and a nice garden, in a good neighborhood in Leeuwarden. They'll get the keys early December.

I spent the afternoon at the pool, chatting, swimming and enjoying the great weather. It's around a 100 degrees again.

Tonight I felt like eating stamppot boerenkool, a Dutch classic. Maybe it's because of the memories the red currants brought? In Holland boerenkool is served in winter, when it's chilly and a warm plate of potatoes with kale and a sausage drives away the cold, but it tastes great on a hot summer day too.

I went to Whole Foods to pick up some potatoes and fresh kale. When I passed by the beer section a young guy asked: "excuse me, do you know if gas stations around here sell beer, typically?".

It was a first year Duke student, who was apparently unpleasantly surprised by the beer selection in Whole Foods ("well, you know, something that isn't eight bucks for a six pack") and I pointed him to a store nearby that sells lower priced beers. The new university year starts next week and many students are moving in this weekend.