=== 04/23/2015 - Day 1 ===
On my way to Pico Day, I arrived at Schiphol airport where I took my plane at 8:45AM on the 23rd of April. At least, that was supposed to happen. There were some technical difficulties. The flight itself took me 8 hours. Flying with the curve of the earth, it was 3:00PM in Philadelphia when I arrived. Everyone in Holland probably finished eating dinner about that time. This was the first time I ever flew alone, and I expected customs to give me trouble, but it was quite okay. Upon arrival, I took the shadiest looking cab I ever rode in, and arrived at my airbnb location, conveniently located in the same street as the NG office.
=== 04/24/2015 - Day 2 ===
The next day would be Preco Day. After exploring the area a bit during the day, I bought a 12-pack of beer and rung the office bell at about 5:00PM. Someone came down the stairs, opened the door for me, and offered me his hand. It was @TomFulp. This moment was pretty surreal. I stuck out my hand and told him my username, but - like with many of my other introductions - I probably did not articulate it well enough. "The guy with the green dinosaur image?" Nope, that didn't seem to ring any bells.
I followed him up the stairs where the office was. We went through a corridor into an open space where I noticed some people playing pool. I was introduced to @Sherbalex as he was working at a desk when we passed him. A group of people had formed around a desk with a brown carton box sitting on top of it. The lid had a slot hole in it, with an agnry faic slapped onto it, and someone had written on it with a marker. "Ideas to improve Newgrounds." I would often find myself returning to this box. Tom joined in on their discussion about how forum regulars are far more outspoken about the functionality of Newgrounds than content creators are. And me, still wallowing in a wavering pool of disbelief, held onto my 12-pack as I followed their discussion and took some glances around the office. I noticed a NATA poster hanging from the wall, and realized that a split second of my animation was on that poster. Turning right from the wall was the pool table, in close reach to the famous NG vending machine. Following the wall even further, it led to an open kitchen, in close connection to the gaming corner. "Where shall I put these?" I asked eventually.
After stocking up on beer, I met @VicariousE and watched @DuDul work on a dragonballZ animation he was making in ToonBoom. He gave me, @Flikkernicht and a few others a quick tour of the software. So much want! During this presentation, @Luis came in. With him came @Lochie, who took a 26 hour flight just to be there! He's the coolest guy ever. I'm glad I finally got to meet him in real life. He was pretty hyped about meeting @Ansel, whom he very much looks up to. I met him myself later on. Me, Luis, @AlmightyHans and @luka had a brief little reunion, as we met eachother before at the Amsterdam Meet in 2009. Eventually the sun went under, and the room poured full of people. I tried talking to as many people as I possibly could. I met @Mike early on, and then a little circle of people started to form with @Josh-B, @andthology and @Skragathor. @mohawkade would then drop in to inquire about our most renowned works. At that point, the person sitting on the couch's armrest would make himself known as @yurgenburgen. Our group was joined by @notcrispy, who introduced us to another circle of other people. I remember meeting @Emily-Youcis, which was pretty cool. I'm not sure if I got acquainted with the rest of them. I should have! Maybe it's because I saw @Johnnyethco and decided to make some smalltalk. Somewhere in the slur of that night, I think I met @Saminat, @JaShinYa, @Knights, @Emrox, @ThePivotsXXD, @EthanAlways, and I learned that Sexual-Lobster is @Fthreat's sworn enemy. Tom showed us the new game he's working on, and I was surprised to learn that @ZJ, @Jay and @EJR all knew me from the website. I'm not sure at what point I decided to leave, but I guess a lot of people had already left. I remember ending the night talking to Ansel about American drug commercials.
=== 04/25/2015 - Day 3 ===
I woke up with a headache, took a cold shower and had a protein lunch at the station. The night before was BYOB and while I wasn't that drunk, apparently I mixed too many drinks. Bad day to be hungover, but I bought a new 12-pack and headed over to the office for another adventure. The place was packed. After dumping my beer in the fridge, I was headed downstairs when I met @Muteyoh. Cool, he's in the CTSG project! He asked me to draw something. Though I'm not particularly used to have people watch me while I draw, I decided to give it a go. I usually start with sketches, but I didn't have such luxury at the moment. As I was trying to come up with something to draw, I noticed I was still feeling a bit weak. I didn't rest the sketchbook on a table and just held it. When my pen touched the paper, I noticed just how much my hands were shaking. The result of my drawing was god awful. I'm sorry! D:
I didn't really know where to start meeting people, so I hung out with Lochie for a bit. He told me Shadman stayed at the same place as his. He was in our vicinity, but I never got to meet him. After @Thundaboom trolled me into thinking he was Bluebaby, I eventually I joined the stream, where I met @theonewithoutaname sitting right next to me. There was a rumor going about that the king of the portal would be there, I noticed this one guy wearing a StrawberryClock shirt, so I decided to check if that was him. It wasn't. I think I was talking to @RadioTubeClock. I'd seen his work before so that was pretty cool. At some moment I went outside for a bit where I stumbled upon @Raziberry. I didn't expect him to be present, which was a neat surprise. Lochie and me thought it'd be fun if people were to play some of our old games, so I made my way inside. I got caught up in conversation with @Grub-Xer0 and I think that's when I met @MysticSkillz too. Back inside I met @Nogfish and I think I also introduced myself to @Afroninja. @WadeFulp too, he was there. It might have been at this point I also shared a few words with @Mindchamber, but I'm not too sure when that was anymore. At the stream I met @14hourlunchbreak. He was the one to play our game Communist In Space. At some point I crashed down on one of the fatboys to chill and watch the stream a bit. I introduced myself to the guys already sitting there, and met yet another CTSG animator. This time it was @IvanAlmighty. I wandered around some more and found myself in a circle with Tom and a few others when I introduced myself to @Stamper. I had to repeat my username like 3 times. Didn't ring any bells with Stamper, but Tom seemed to realize who I was now. Not sure, but I think that was when I met @JohnnyUtah too. My hangover gradually wore off. I hadn't drawn a whole lot of stuff before I met @Kashi. While I felt kind of tense about drawing in public, she convinced me to keep going and I kind of eased up. Drawing became sort of addicting afterwards. My headache had worn off too.
It was already getting dark when I met @TomaMoto. It must have been around this time when @Funy-Mony called me over to the stream for an introduction. I showed them Girl In A Room II. Only the next day did I realize I should have been whoring out the CTSG projects. So much regret! I think I was still on stream when I met @PikaPetey and @thisbemoo. When I got away from the stream, I think Muteyoh, got interviewed next. I also remember seeing an animation by TerminalMontage before Emily-Youcis got interviewed by Funy-Mony. I must have headed up the stairs about that time. "Not the popcicle!!" It was getting pretty late when I overheard a conversation, and found @StrawberryClock close to the idea box. I was reminded of my camera when I saw someone take a picture with him and decided on doing the same thing. I might have met @Cleod-9, @danceondeadmen, @LeftHandedSock, @RyanStorm and @RWappin around the same time, but my mind is pretty foggy on that. I remember my pen left a mark on LeftHandedSock's awesome jacket at some point. Luckily it was barely noticable, he was very cool about it. Upstairs people were playing Cards Against Humanity, so I joined in. I didn't know every one of them, and should have introduced myself. When I met @Sabtastic it was already getting pretty late. @Oney and @redminus too. It was pretty damn late when the dapper man in orange known as @Matt-Porter showed us his games on stream. By then, the place was pretty much deserted. The night ended with ZJ playing 14hourlunchbreak's game. Tom watched that one from the projector. I remember how much he liked it. I eventually told myself to leave because I would have stuck around forever. Most people were getting ready for bed, and sleep was much needed for me as well.
=== 04/26/2015 - Day 4 ===
Upon arrival at the office, people were still taking turns to use the shower. There was some speculation over whether we should go to a Barcade or not. Eventually everyone dripped in. "Have you guys seen The Color Brown?" Tom Fulp asked the bunch of us. The projector was right there, so we looked it up. Turns out there's no better way to start the day. Most of the people who were still around didn't go to the barcade and just messed about the office. I know Luis went there with his party though.
Downstairs some people were watching youtube videos on the projector. Meanwhile, upstairs, Hans made slowmotion videos of NG users making fullbody jumps into some of the fatboys laying around the office. I parttook in this myself, it was really fun. At some point a bunch of us found ourselves in the meeting room, where Tom brought up Newgrounds' virtually non-existant relationship with Google. I got to meet @liljim during the day and was surprised to learn he heard of me. As it was getting darker, Luis arrived with a bunch of others. @deathink was flipping through a book with last year's drawings when I met him. The people in the game corner switched over to use netflix and started watching robocop about that time. I think it was after the movie had ended, that I got in a car with Tom, liljim, Josh-B and deathink to get some cheesesteaks at a local pizza place. When we got back, they were watching Danger 5. What a delightful show that is! Towards the end of the night, I found myself in the hall downstairs, where a lot of artsy movies were being shown on the projector. That's where @CatFat was running the show from behind the computer. I spent some time here watching videos, and talking to people before I went back home to catch up on some sleep. I'm pretty sure I had a short conversation with a guy who does photography. Don't remember his username though.
=== 04/27/2015 - Day 5 ===
It was pretty quiet when I arrived at the office. People were working on their projects, and I remember one of the tablets wasn't working, so we went looking for a different pen. I walked around the office, snapping pictures of cool merchandise for a while, and came across a dvd for cats. Curiosity got the better of us, and we watched it for shits and giggles on the big tv upstairs. I also remembered I hadn't taken any pictures with Tom, so that happened. I thought some more about any possibly souvenirs. Seeing as I didn't leave the office much, I figured I should buy some leftovers items from the store.
Thus far I had not spent any quality time in the game corner, so me and Saminat decided to play some fighters. Eventually, Wade showed up at the end of the afternoon. I had the pleasure of getting my ass handed to me in streetfighter IV by his kids. They are pretty good. I held my own pretty well in Soul Calibur II though. Oh, and according to one of those kids I apparently sound like PewDiePie? I went out to have dinner with Tom, liljim, and Saminat. When we got back, the place was pretty lively. It was good to see PikaPetey still endulged with his poopie obsession. His tireless fascination inspired me to draw too. After playing some Doom with Saminat, the gamecorner got pretty crowded and we switched over to Smash Bros. I took quite a few beatings. Lot's of bacon! I briefly made acquaintance with @Oryozema, and @ColonelCheru as well. I was planning to head for the airport pretty early the following day, but Tom convinced me to skip by the office first. Not much later I left and got some sleep.
=== 04/28/2015 - Day 6 ===
I had let Lochie know that this would be my last day, so we decided to meet at the office. I was still uncertain about whether I should grab a cab or go by train. I really should have planned this better. Over at the office, I met someone with an Irish accent, I think? I don't remember who he was though. Eventually Lochie came in and a bunch of us went to Wawa's to go and get something to eat. I bought some American candy so the people back in Holland could try it, and although my sandwich was delicious, I wasn't completely satisfied with my purchases when I got back. "Wanna check out the thriftshop and gamestore closeby?" I asked Lochie. I was out to get more souvenirs, and he decided to join me.
When I got back, I was running out of time. At this point I had never used Uber before, and my phone was screwing up. Eventually Lochie helped me out. Thank god for that! I got at the airport in time and almost thought I had left my phone at the office. I later found it connected to my powerbank in the pocket of my jacket. It was covered by my laptop bag, which hung from a strap down my shoulder. What a relief! No trouble apart from this. I flew to Holland and came home the next day. What an adventure this had been. 10/10, would come again.
People met: 62.
