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 ;-).
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Monday, 25 May 2009
It's final
Time to write on. With still little signs of yesterday’s sunburn this day will be the first of my last seven in Dublin. It’s time to give you an outline of my last week, so you know what keeps me busy. You have to excuse me for my English though; it’s somehow deteriorating due to too much sleep and laziness.
To start off: Indeed, sunburns. Yesterday was Ireland’s hottest days in sixty years if you ask me, cause everybody was going crazy in the streets and all parks were overloaded with people! The sun shined and there was no single cloud in the sky. This resulted in red people like you only see them on the Canary Islands during a nice summer with many Brits. And I decided to take advantage of the situation as well: I was outside the entire day, resulting in a nice glow on my skin now. Happy weather times in Ireland, who would’ve thought of that in my final week?!
And of course it’s cloudy today, so no reason to leave the house, except for some grocery shopping I’ll have to do. I have to think about something to eat, probably end my Dublin time as I started it: potato wedges and fish sticks. Long time no fish or potatoes, so actually not such a bad idea! Today it’s Bank Holiday, which results in empty streets and boring situations, other than the days of in the Netherlands are (when everybody jumps in their car to enjoy some nice traffic jams on their trip to Scheveningen, de Efteling or Ouwehands Dierenpark). So indeed, I’ll keep up with the Irish and stay in. No reason to leave the house anyway…
Tomorrow will be day one of my “plans to have a productive week”. This means that I will go to the Garda station (Police) and put in a declaration of stolen goods. During my 4,5 months stay somebody nicked my winter jacket and my watch. In order to get some money back from my insurance I will have to have some solid proof that it has been stolen. This is actually the first time I took an insurance policy that paid off, instead of always paying for these things and having nothing to file for. Not that I’m happy though; all the cold Irish nights without a proper jacket and the timeless hours spent without my (nice!) watch can’t be solved with just 160 euros. But it helps though ;-).
The day after tomorrow I won’t watch the movie, but I’ll write some obligatory stuff for my home university. The central International Office requires me to write about my Irish experiences and so does the International Office of the Faculty of Arts. So this means I’ll be writing two papers on my experiences. Good thing is that I can use one master copy and tweak in into two papers. Saves time, effort and useless mumbling about nothing. But still, this is all part of my exchange so I’ll have to take this serious, while I had almost nothing to do here so I force myself to do the things I have to do in a proper way.
Wednesday night we will throw a party in our house, themed “Rock and Metal Party”. Therefore I will have to work on my “outfit” by getting some cardboard boxes and crafting a guitar out of that. And then get some beer, clear the kitchen and living room out and get my iPod in place. This party will hopefully be a lot of fun, as it’s one of the final parties that many will attend as almost everybody (90%) will fly home the 30th or the 31st of May (me too). I’m looking forward to that.
Then on Thursday, I wanna have a look at an assignment I will have to hand in at the Radboud University Nijmegen, and pre-finish the thing up so I can have it checked by my teacher before actually handing it in. I have to get this right cause when I get a pass this will mean I’ll have my Bachelor Degree in Business Communication this summer among the first of my year, and that is what I want. I might not have the highest grades, but I passed all my exams in one take and even though I went on an Erasmus semester I finished it all up within three years. This means I will be in the top 5 or 10 percent of my year, and that is what I always planned for.
Friday will probably be my last Dublin party night out, as many will leave on Saturday and I want to chill out on Saturday night to be fit on Sunday when flying back the Amsterdam. I don’t want to be late at the airport this time, and in order to save myself from stressful situations I will just take it easy and leave my dorm on time. Saturday will be an important day for me, as DOVO will play the promotion/relegation (degradatie) match against DETO. When they when, they’ll stay in the Hoofdklasse. But if they lose, it will mean that we will have to play Eerste Klasse next year, and that is not what everybody has in mind. Three years ago we were in the same situation and lost the match after 23 minutes of injury time (!!!). The year after that we were champions in the Eerste Klasse and therefore got back into the Hoofdklasse again, but I don’t want to have another season like that. Therefore the 30th of May will be of great importance and I am quite sad that I can’t be there in Wezep when the match takes place. But I’ll stick to the radio and be nervous all day, so I’ll still be there somehow. I wish everybody good luck that day, and I hope that the help of the supporters will get us through the match and secure another year of Hoofdklasse.
Ann finally, Sunday will be the day I’ll leave Dublin. After 4,5 months, it is time for me to leave this city of rain, high prices and great night clubs. People who read my previous blog know more about my opinion on Dublin and the months I spent there, but still I want to stress that I learned some stuff here and I grew stronger out of it. Coming back to the Netherlands will mean my own room, football and Albert Heijn again, but it will also mean crappy Dutch music in the El Sombrero and annoying paupers in the busses. Bottom line is that every place has its benefits, and it is up to you to find the place where you belong. I haven’t decided yet where I belong, but Dublin it checked off my list.
I hope to talk to you later in my next blog, probably written and sent to you from Dutch soil.
To start off: Indeed, sunburns. Yesterday was Ireland’s hottest days in sixty years if you ask me, cause everybody was going crazy in the streets and all parks were overloaded with people! The sun shined and there was no single cloud in the sky. This resulted in red people like you only see them on the Canary Islands during a nice summer with many Brits. And I decided to take advantage of the situation as well: I was outside the entire day, resulting in a nice glow on my skin now. Happy weather times in Ireland, who would’ve thought of that in my final week?!
And of course it’s cloudy today, so no reason to leave the house, except for some grocery shopping I’ll have to do. I have to think about something to eat, probably end my Dublin time as I started it: potato wedges and fish sticks. Long time no fish or potatoes, so actually not such a bad idea! Today it’s Bank Holiday, which results in empty streets and boring situations, other than the days of in the Netherlands are (when everybody jumps in their car to enjoy some nice traffic jams on their trip to Scheveningen, de Efteling or Ouwehands Dierenpark). So indeed, I’ll keep up with the Irish and stay in. No reason to leave the house anyway…
Tomorrow will be day one of my “plans to have a productive week”. This means that I will go to the Garda station (Police) and put in a declaration of stolen goods. During my 4,5 months stay somebody nicked my winter jacket and my watch. In order to get some money back from my insurance I will have to have some solid proof that it has been stolen. This is actually the first time I took an insurance policy that paid off, instead of always paying for these things and having nothing to file for. Not that I’m happy though; all the cold Irish nights without a proper jacket and the timeless hours spent without my (nice!) watch can’t be solved with just 160 euros. But it helps though ;-).
The day after tomorrow I won’t watch the movie, but I’ll write some obligatory stuff for my home university. The central International Office requires me to write about my Irish experiences and so does the International Office of the Faculty of Arts. So this means I’ll be writing two papers on my experiences. Good thing is that I can use one master copy and tweak in into two papers. Saves time, effort and useless mumbling about nothing. But still, this is all part of my exchange so I’ll have to take this serious, while I had almost nothing to do here so I force myself to do the things I have to do in a proper way.
Wednesday night we will throw a party in our house, themed “Rock and Metal Party”. Therefore I will have to work on my “outfit” by getting some cardboard boxes and crafting a guitar out of that. And then get some beer, clear the kitchen and living room out and get my iPod in place. This party will hopefully be a lot of fun, as it’s one of the final parties that many will attend as almost everybody (90%) will fly home the 30th or the 31st of May (me too). I’m looking forward to that.
Then on Thursday, I wanna have a look at an assignment I will have to hand in at the Radboud University Nijmegen, and pre-finish the thing up so I can have it checked by my teacher before actually handing it in. I have to get this right cause when I get a pass this will mean I’ll have my Bachelor Degree in Business Communication this summer among the first of my year, and that is what I want. I might not have the highest grades, but I passed all my exams in one take and even though I went on an Erasmus semester I finished it all up within three years. This means I will be in the top 5 or 10 percent of my year, and that is what I always planned for.
Friday will probably be my last Dublin party night out, as many will leave on Saturday and I want to chill out on Saturday night to be fit on Sunday when flying back the Amsterdam. I don’t want to be late at the airport this time, and in order to save myself from stressful situations I will just take it easy and leave my dorm on time. Saturday will be an important day for me, as DOVO will play the promotion/relegation (degradatie) match against DETO. When they when, they’ll stay in the Hoofdklasse. But if they lose, it will mean that we will have to play Eerste Klasse next year, and that is not what everybody has in mind. Three years ago we were in the same situation and lost the match after 23 minutes of injury time (!!!). The year after that we were champions in the Eerste Klasse and therefore got back into the Hoofdklasse again, but I don’t want to have another season like that. Therefore the 30th of May will be of great importance and I am quite sad that I can’t be there in Wezep when the match takes place. But I’ll stick to the radio and be nervous all day, so I’ll still be there somehow. I wish everybody good luck that day, and I hope that the help of the supporters will get us through the match and secure another year of Hoofdklasse.
Ann finally, Sunday will be the day I’ll leave Dublin. After 4,5 months, it is time for me to leave this city of rain, high prices and great night clubs. People who read my previous blog know more about my opinion on Dublin and the months I spent there, but still I want to stress that I learned some stuff here and I grew stronger out of it. Coming back to the Netherlands will mean my own room, football and Albert Heijn again, but it will also mean crappy Dutch music in the El Sombrero and annoying paupers in the busses. Bottom line is that every place has its benefits, and it is up to you to find the place where you belong. I haven’t decided yet where I belong, but Dublin it checked off my list.
I hope to talk to you later in my next blog, probably written and sent to you from Dutch soil.
Sunday, 17 May 2009
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)
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)
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