New Year's in Tilburg is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Everyone loads up on fireworks and firecrackers and sets them off all day long all around the city. Then at midnight they all bring their trees downtown and have a huge bonfire. Then it's down to the business of fireworks. The city does not provide the fireworks. Every household around the city buys their own and sets them off all at the same time. The guys we were with spent around $500 on fireworks. It was absolute chaos for a good 30 minutes...
Danelle: "It brings back childhood memories. It doesn't even phaze me at all. I'm a military brat and so this is just normal. When I was in Camp Pendelton bombs used to shake the house and knock things off the shelves. Don't ever use the bathroom when the military is in the field."
Wayne: "I keep turning to war, and my impressions of what urban warefar must be like. With explosions and small bursts going off all around you. You can picture yourself as it would be back in World War 2 if you were fighting in Tilburg. Grenades going off and machine gun fire. Tanks rolling through the streets and firing on buildings. And you're just a young 18 year old kid from small town Saskatchewan, taken out of everything you could ever imagine put into the line of fire. Fighting against someone that you would have to kill or they will kill you."
Lindsay: "A huge firecracker went off about 5 feet behind me and I went down like I was shot. So did about 10 other people all around me. Stupid kids running away laughing. But I bet if I was younger I think it'd be the funniest thing in the world to scare people."
Danelle: "It brings back childhood memories. It doesn't even phaze me at all. I'm a military brat and so this is just normal. When I was in Camp Pendelton bombs used to shake the house and knock things off the shelves. Don't ever use the bathroom when the military is in the field."
Wayne: "I keep turning to war, and my impressions of what urban warefar must be like. With explosions and small bursts going off all around you. You can picture yourself as it would be back in World War 2 if you were fighting in Tilburg. Grenades going off and machine gun fire. Tanks rolling through the streets and firing on buildings. And you're just a young 18 year old kid from small town Saskatchewan, taken out of everything you could ever imagine put into the line of fire. Fighting against someone that you would have to kill or they will kill you."
Lindsay: "A huge firecracker went off about 5 feet behind me and I went down like I was shot. So did about 10 other people all around me. Stupid kids running away laughing. But I bet if I was younger I think it'd be the funniest thing in the world to scare people."
Marj: "They're very loud, and very close, and very obnoxious. All these young hooligans running around with firecrackers... Nothing seems to be illegal here."
Adrienne: "I don't know Brendan, I don't think anything about the fireworks. I was accomplishing other important missions. It's not fair that I have to go so late because everyone's already said everything that I would say."
Brendan: "Imagine 4 teenagers dressed all in black with blonde spiked hair. Imagine an incredible complex to show off, and the confidence you get to do stupid things when you're with your friends. Imagine the drinking age around here is 16 and that marijuana is legal. Imagine that they're all carrying bags of firecrackers. Imagine using the cigarettes you're smoking to light the firecrackers and dropping them by unsuspecting people as they walk by. And imagine the scared thrill you get running away in 'ring and run' but times that by the closeness and loudness of a firecracker."
Jill: "Just so irresponsible. If they were my schoolchildren..."
(This is the aftermath. The smoke was over the whole city afterwards, no word of a lie.)
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