Vervroeging

This message will be in Dutch, cause it addresses a Dutch matter: The public transport in Nijmegen.
De volgende blog heb ik geschreven zonder revisie, een stijl die ik bij wijze van experiment vaker wil proberen omdat deze danwel minder stijlvol is, maar in mijn mening puurder is dan het verbeteren van eerder geschreven teksten.

Het lijkt wel alsof het gewoon niet goed mag gaan, alsof ik in mijn eentje ervoor moet zorgen dat het aloude beroep van smid zal blijven voortbestaan in de vorm van de plaatselijke fietsenmaker. Wist ik de klap van het verlies van mijn fietsstuur in eerste instantie nog te counteren met een nieuw stuur en een nieuw stuurkolomonderdeel dat ik zelf in elkaar zette, het lot sloeg een week later terug doormiddel van een gemankeerde kogellager. Het mocht gewoon niet zo zijn, mijn fiets moest weg ter reparatie.
Nu is dit tot zover prima, zij het niet dat de reparatie van een fiets wegens drukte een dag duurt. En gedurende die dag dient een mens zich toch te verplaatsen - ook over grotere afstanden. De burgerij heeft hiervoor een prima oplossing bedacht in de vorige eeuw: het openbaar vervoer.

En met dit openbaar vervoer komen we bij de kern van mijn betoog. Dat de NS altijd problemen heeft, daar zijn we aan gewend. Dat een trein of een bus vertraging heeft, daar kan ik inkomen. Zo kan het voorkomen dat er vaak voor een rood licht gewacht moet worden, of dat het kortweg erg druk op de weg is. Dit soort externe tussenkomsten zorgen voor een niet kunnen nakomen van de dienstregeling waarvan ik vind dat je begrijp moet kunnen tonen. Er is echter een zaak die ik niet kan rijmen met belofte en fatsoen; een in Nijmegen terugkerend fenomeen dat mij tot grote ergernis drijft: het te vroeg vertrekken van bussen. Het is meer regel dan uitzondering dat een bus te vroeg langs een halte komt. Dit zorgt ervoor dat de punctuele mens voor wie elke minuut er een is vaak de bus mist en onterecht moet wachten tot de volgende voorbij komt. Vaak betreft de "vervroeging" een minuut of twee, maar naarmate de avond vordert neemt ook de vervroeging toe. Zo zal men wanneer hij of zij de laatste bus van 00:24 uur wil halen rond 00:10 uur op de bushalte aanwezig moeten zijn. Zo niet, dan resulteert dit in taxikosten, gemiste treinen of lange avondwandelingen richting bestemming.
Dit kan zo niet langer. Bussen die voorlopen op hun schema dienen netjes te wachten totdat zij weer op de beloofde tijd de haltes zullen passeren. Ik heb begrip voor chauffeurs die denken: ,,Hoe harder ik rijd, hoe sneller mijn dienst erop zit en hoe eerder ik naar huis kan", maar goedkeuren of zelfs tolereren kan ik het niet. Het is tijd dat de busmaatschappijen en de gemeente hierop gaan toezien en de reiziger weer op nummer 1 zetten, en niet de dus of hun chauffeur.

Back in Holland

Sunny day in Heumen. Like most of my days, I got up at 7.30 (yes, AM) this morning and got on my bike to get to work. I work at a camping near Nijmegen, handling check-ins, renting out bikes, listening to crap stories of people, the usual. Easy job though (apart from getting up at an "un-Christian time") that makes some good money: 1500 for 4 weeks is not bad. Cause there is not much to do at the moment, I'm spending all my days reading articles online, listening to the radio and - as you can see - writing blogs.
It has been a while since I wrote my last blog. Back then I was still in my culture shock, having trouble blending in my old habitat and picking up life back in Nijmegen. Like most of the Erasmus I got through a rough period, but now I'm back in the game and doing fine. Not only missing the many new friends I made in the past six months, I also missed (and still miss) the lifestyle I practised. Getting up late every morning or afternoon, eating my chocolate sprinkles breakfast, reading email, making plans for the night, eating, drinking and sleeping again. This had been my life for 5 months in the Irish capital city, and although I was bored at times and didn't know what to do with my life, I loved it! Back in Holland things changed. No Erasmus students who went out every night, no cool card games, no big pints, nothing of that all. Instead there were pre-occupied friends (uni, work, you name it) and a house that mostly contains people who are not home or have a different lifestyle and way of thinking as me. Totally different from my great friend and former room mate Alice, with whom I had an awesome time in Dublin. Although it is kinda crap that you never ever have the place for yourself to just chill out, I couldn't have wished for a better person to share my room (and thus life) with during the exchange months.
Yesterday I had a day off from work and decided to make a selection of photos that I want to use for a big photo collage of my time in Ireland. This was so much fun to do, as I relived all the moments all over again. Drunk-and-eyes-closed-elena, leopard-freak-Kait, guitar-hero-Javi, angry(hungry?)-Margherita, jumping-Tine and many many more. I ordered them I now I'm waiting until they arrive so I can start on the big project.
Now it's three days later, and I'm bored as hell. Nothing to do at work, and I still have an hour left to work... But i'll keep my back straight, just think about the money I will make by sitting here writing my blog. Yesterday I got great news. Just days after the final confirmation that I have my Bachelor Degree in Business Communication (as one of the first of my year). I also heard from the language centre of the Radboud University that I have the job as a student assistent English. I'm really happy, cause this is a great chance for me to do some interesting work and make some money and meet top-managers at the same time. I will have to support high profile professionals who are following a very expensive language course. So that means interesting conversations, great lunches and new experiences. I will start somewhere in August and I'm very much looking forward to that!
This Saturday, the Nijmegen Summer Festival starts. It's a seven-day festival in the centre of the oldest city of the Netherlands and comprehends music gigs, comedy and much much more. Cool stuff, although I have to work so I have to choose my days well as I will have to get up early every morning (work from 10 till 19h). Good thing that I have the Wednesday off so I can get a little rest, although I'll probably be partying the night before and during that day ;-).
Thursday 23rd now. At this very moment I'm still looking for a summer break, cause I don't want to stay in Holland all summer now that I'm used to travelling around Europe. The way it looks now I'll be going to Sardinia (Italy) for a week in the beginning of August. Would be great: Nice weather, white beaches, prob seeing Italian Elena and Nohemi and just a lot of chilling. Gonna fix my tickets today, hope that things will work out.

I did a lot of partying this week during the Summer Festival. The best gig was definitely the Room Eleven concert at Habana Waal Beach Nijmegen. Awesome singer, great live instruments and a beautiful sun and rainbow after the terrible weather earlier that evening. I really enjoyed myself and made some great pictures. Tonight I will be going out too, although (like every day this week) I have to work early the next morning. Let's hope I'll wake up on time tomorrow :P.

Now it's time to finally publish my blog, otherwise it'll never go online ;-).

Back-up

It’s raining all day
But I don’t mind
I go outside

I could take the bus
But no, not me
‘Cause I like to suffer sometimes
Life is good enough
Sometimes I make it just a little more
rough than necessary

Strugglinh through a storm
Makes me dream of coming home
Makes me dream of your standing there
Wrapping me in a towel or three
Room Eleven, It's Raining (2007)

Two weeks left in the capital of Ireland. Dublin cries bitter and never ending tears, while I am getting ready to go back to where I come from and, as I found out, somehow belong. Dublin brought my a bittersweet experience, with good times and many boring times. I had fun during the visits of friends, the trips to Cork and Belfast and the awesome club nights. But I also survived the boring days and night during which I had nothing to do and others here stayed in and refused to make something of their life. Somehow I cannot be thrilled by many places and people; I need spontaneous and easy-going friends who are always in for something fun. These people cannot be found here, but are all around me in the Netherlands. Starting with my oldest friends, that I have since high school. Call them for a bbq or a game of Halo at Mr.V's and they will be there just a few moments later. Then the close friends I made in Nijmegen, having met them at university, at the sports centre or at one of my (former) accommodations, there are so diverse and trustable that I can call them anytime for a drink, a concert or a game of football. I had so much fun with them that I was a bit sad to go; there was no reason for me to leave because I met so many new people every week and my friendships were growing stronger and stronger each week. But I always want to try new things, and so I decided a few years ago that I would go abroad for a few months. Not to read books and study, but just to grow in life. To get maturer, to meet other cultures and to test myself: I wanted to know how strong I am.
And now I can say I am strong, and I am stronger than before. The first few weeks of rain, terrible housing and ignorant people were a struggle. The period after that was somehow not as good as I expected; I wanted to party all day like Erasmus should do. Then my month of travelling followed: Barcelona, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Paris. Never have I travelled so much in my life as in this year. Earlier on this year I already went to Madrid and London, and now getting on a plane is like grabbing the bus; I don't even care anymore, and it opens up Europe for me. I can go were I want and when I want. I found that I can easily be on myself, but I need others around me. I need to be able to share my experiences with others and go to awesome parties with the best people I know. And now, now it's time to say goodbye to Dublin. People who know me and talked with me know I am happy to go back, back to my big private room, my own bed, my sometimes annoying flatmates (but most of the times just great), my cats, my football mates (I miss the game soooo much), my Goffertpark, my AH XL, my Babylon, my city but most of all: my friends. It is time to go back and to remember the good times and learn from the bad and boring times.
This ends my blog for now. I will soon write more about all the things I did this last month and a half. I hope you all read my blog and let me know what you think about it.
See you in two weeks!

I remember running around in the greenest grass
Chasing each other laughing in a late summer light
With every step I had the feeling that life had just begun
Room Eleven, Greenest Grass (2007)