Wednesday January 29, Home Base, 12:39 PM Local Time
One of the neat things about being in a foreign country is that even the most mundane of things become curiosities. Today, I thought my building was on fire. Yes, I know, this statement doesn't normally fall under the category of "mundane", but having lived in a University residence for three of the past four years, one comes to expect the shrill buzzer screaming "YOU ARE GOING TO BURN" more often than they'd like. I'm assuming it was just a drill, as they didn't bother to tell us to evacuate from the lobby. At least, I'm seriously hoping this was a drill, otherwise I don't think I should have much faith in my building's fire procedures. Now, when faced with a false alarm (let's assume for the sake of my sanity that this was in fact a drill), there are a number of reactions one can assume. For instance, they may: 1. Completely ignore the alarm, and carry on their merry way. This is not recommended, as one can never be too sure so early on if this is indeed a drill 2. Complain that they are cold/too busy for this/too stressed/think that fire drills are stupid/think whoever pulled the fire alarm is stupid/etc. This is the most common route, as people are often eager to express their frustration over silly things. 3. Photo document the ENTIRE thing like it's the most interesting thing that has happened to them all day. This course of action would likely be considered weird. Here are my photos of Dutch firemen and their Dutch firetrucks.
