Walking around...

My first trip around Almere in half a year. Living in a sweet house just five minutes from the Stadium. I have to say that the Albert Heijn, might be the greatest store in the world. Strange thing happened though on the way to dinner in downtown Almere with our ace pitcher and my good friend Sten van den Badem. We are at the ATM where Sten is communicating with the Alien Time Machine, and a man comes up to me speaking some sort of Dutch that I really can’t understand. I’m not paying much attention and neither is Sten. I finally tell the guy “Ik weet het niet” I don’t know (in Dutch) … so the guy responds back in some broken English – “You Asia”? So Sten turns around and tells him no he’s American. I respond also with a nod, why what’s up I said to the homeless looking guy, sort of like the 2010 version of Jayson Werth, but dressed in a cardigan sweater with a sports coat over it, maybe looking like Happy Gilmore’s caddy dressed up for a nice dinner – goes “F*** you, F*** America.” As he starts to back away from me, with his middle fingers in the air, he proceeds to yell “Jihad, jihad! Osama Osama!” As I just stood there frozen in disbelief. In the previous 3 years in Europe I have Never Ever encountered anti-american so blatant and so in my face. I’ve had discussions with people who have been adamantly against our government policies, but this was straight scary, although Happy Gilmore’s caddy did not invoke any fear in this Detroiter, it was startling nonetheless. The guy was clearly more afraid of me and the new and improved massive Sten, as he scampered off, I turned to Sten and asked “What can you do?” Welcome back to Almere Justin Prinstein. First practice game against DOOR Neptunus, the best team in Europe today at home and then tomorrow in Rotterdam.