Thomas suggested I title this blog post “Why did I leave Amsterdam?”.
The answers to that question are: Amsterdam is dirty and noisy, people yell and curse and complain about everything all the time, summers are always rainy, the metroline is still not finished, there is no job for me, and how would I ever find/finance a house with a garden.
Nevertheless all my expat friends around the world ask me in their emails to “please stop torturing us with your ‘Amsterdam-is-so-great’ stories, we are getting seriously homesick”.
During my 2 weeks in Amsterdam a lot happened.
Went to 2 funerals, therefore saw a lot of family and people I hadn’t seen in a long time and went back in time whenever a “ghost from the past” materialized at these occasions.
We celebrated a bachelorette party by bike in pink – and I am SOOOOO sad I can’t make it to the wedding.
Amsterdam being what it is, is a very popular place for bachelor parties, so we ran into a good deal of them when we were in pink, but I also met a group Kazakhstani guys on a train wearing matching red t-shirts saying “TOUCH ME”. They started chatting to 3 Dutch girls, only to learn that Amsterdam was at that moment swarmed by the Gay Pride. The girls giggled “You will get a lot of attention with your t-shirts!”.
I worked hard on my presentation for the conference in Prague next week, and visited the university for a day of microscope work. Again back in time, chatting to all my old profs and friends.
Hilarious microscope Prof: “They fired me last year”.
Me: “ehm, isn’t it called “retirement”?”
Prof, looking extremely bitter: “That’s the same thing really”.
Lots, and I mean LOTS of coffee, tea, champagne (oh dear, too much champagne), lunches, dinners, drinks, snacks with friends and family. Even managed to go dancing twice, our 31 year old bodies protesting a little bit against certain moves but still able to dance the night away.
So strange being part of everyone’s life again for 2 weeks.
As it is in life, people die, people get married, and children get born. We were just in time to see a wonderful little lady a day after she was born. So cute!
It was incredible how all these things happened in just 2 weeks. The whole life-cycle. I am happy I could be part of it all, the sadness and the happiness. The same things happen in Christchurch, but it is different when it isn’t your hometown. New Zealand doesn’t seem to exist here, I can hardly imagine I have a house, a job, a life there. Luckily I take my time going back there – “home” – so maybe by that time I’ve come to terms with the distance again.
Nevertheless all my expat friends around the world ask me in their emails to “please stop torturing us with your ‘Amsterdam-is-so-great’ stories, we are getting seriously homesick”.
During my 2 weeks in Amsterdam a lot happened.
Went to 2 funerals, therefore saw a lot of family and people I hadn’t seen in a long time and went back in time whenever a “ghost from the past” materialized at these occasions.
We celebrated a bachelorette party by bike in pink – and I am SOOOOO sad I can’t make it to the wedding.
Amsterdam being what it is, is a very popular place for bachelor parties, so we ran into a good deal of them when we were in pink, but I also met a group Kazakhstani guys on a train wearing matching red t-shirts saying “TOUCH ME”. They started chatting to 3 Dutch girls, only to learn that Amsterdam was at that moment swarmed by the Gay Pride. The girls giggled “You will get a lot of attention with your t-shirts!”.
I worked hard on my presentation for the conference in Prague next week, and visited the university for a day of microscope work. Again back in time, chatting to all my old profs and friends.
Hilarious microscope Prof: “They fired me last year”.
Me: “ehm, isn’t it called “retirement”?”
Prof, looking extremely bitter: “That’s the same thing really”.
Lots, and I mean LOTS of coffee, tea, champagne (oh dear, too much champagne), lunches, dinners, drinks, snacks with friends and family. Even managed to go dancing twice, our 31 year old bodies protesting a little bit against certain moves but still able to dance the night away.
So strange being part of everyone’s life again for 2 weeks.
As it is in life, people die, people get married, and children get born. We were just in time to see a wonderful little lady a day after she was born. So cute!
It was incredible how all these things happened in just 2 weeks. The whole life-cycle. I am happy I could be part of it all, the sadness and the happiness. The same things happen in Christchurch, but it is different when it isn’t your hometown. New Zealand doesn’t seem to exist here, I can hardly imagine I have a house, a job, a life there. Luckily I take my time going back there – “home” – so maybe by that time I’ve come to terms with the distance again.
