So much for the holiday...

The first week of work after my one-week holiday is over and it was marked by 'busy, books, no blogging'. The pictures of my holiday make me smile. I am very happy having spent quality time with family and friends. It gave me new energy, renewed power. And of course I want to tell you all about it! So here we go...

I spent last weekend in Germany, Köln (Cologne)to be more precise, with Sarah and Henry. Well, that is to say that I visited Sarah, who did not know that I was taking Henry along. Henry and I left for Köln on Friday afternoon. It took us some extra miles (due to 2x horrific sense of direction), but 2x Louise Attaque, 0.5x Manic Street Preachers, 1x Mano Chao, 1x Noir Désir, 1x Dezerter, a couple of traffic jams and 1 headache for Sanne (blame it on Dezerter!) further we finally arrived. Once at Sarah's house Henry put himself on the ground, acting as a beggar, just around the corner of the street. I rang Sarah's doorbel, greeted her and asked if she could give me a hand taking my luggage out of the car just around the corner... and of course there she stumbled upon Henry! I'm glad that she could appreciate the joke! We had a good laugh.
That evening the three of us went out for dinner in a little Thai restaurant. The food was delicious and we had an absolute blast with the cocktail served in a bowl with three long straws. We had fun with loads of rum (two bowls!); I laughed so much! The pictures will say it all, so CLICK HERE if you want to see more...
The next day we had a slow start, guess why... However, eventually we got out into the city. Our tourguide Sarah advertised the city as not particularly beautiful, which I agree on. I think we got a bit spoiled living in other old cities like Kraków. Fortunately Köln has one absolutely great feature. No, it's not the Dome you see advertised on the Internet; it's the Chocolate Museum! Oh yeah! I never got to see the famous Dome of Köln, but I did spend good quality time in the Chocolate Museum. Yummy!
Walking to the Museum, we went through a street where there was a street fair. People were out, music was playing and German popular culture was all around. The funny thing is that practically all stereotypes Dutch people have about Germany were out on the street, including the music. Of course I had to tease Sarah with this and for the benefit of all of us I took some pictures, that you will find HERE among the other pictures of Köln.

Before I went to Köln, I spent some days with my parents in Netherlands' southern most province Limburg. This province is - both culturally and geologically - very different from the rest of the Netherlands. The more Bourgondic life style, the strong Catholic influences and the hilly landscape make it very distinct from the Protestant North of the country where geometrically shaped fields stretch untill the far horizon. It was nice to be in this bit of 'foreign Netherlands', especially since I had not been in Limburg for over ten years.
It also was long ago since I had last been on a holiday with my parents, but it was nice to be the only child around for a couple of days. My parents made sure they spoiled their oldest daughter for the time she was there! We visited the city of Maastricht, hiked in the surrounding, went out to restaurants, etc. All very pleasant. Also, I got completely hooked on the wirlpool in the apartment my parents had rented. Bliss! You can see the pictures by CLICKING HERE.

During the days in Limburg I took my parents to the nearby American War Cemetry, where 8,300 American soldiers who died in World War II (WWII) are honoured. I had intended to go on the 11th of September, as a symbolic gesture, but unfortunately that didn't work out. So we went to the cemetry one day later. It is a very impressive place, at a beautiful location with peaceful surroundings. There were more visitors than I expected and my parents and I spent quite some time in this place. On the walls where the soldier's names were listed I looked for the family names of my American friends, but did not find any of them. While reading some information, an old man who stood next to me adressed me in the Limburg accent that is difficult to understand for my more nordic ears. "Is this your first time here?", he asked me. I nodded as a response. "I go here often", he said. "It's quite something", he continued, "nowadays we blame the Americans for everything, but back then they came and saved us. Should not forget that". Respectful silence.

I think the pictures will say it all. CLICK HERE to see my impression of the cemetry.

Ramadhan Mubarak

Ramadhan is estimated to start on the 23rd of September this year. Therefore I'm sending a Ramadhan Mubarak (Blessed Ramadhan) out to those who will fast, contemplate, pray and celebrate. I'm not a muslim, I will not be fasting. (The reason why I'm cutting down on food intake since some days is that I'd like to lose some weight.)
Still, Ramadhan has come to mean something to me since the city I live in is one with a substantial Muslim population. Ramadhan changes the market, the Turkish and Moroccan shops. The changes are small - certain products in the stores, more dades on sale, the number of people coming out of the mosques -, but they all mark this festive little buzz in the air which leads me to think of Ramadhan with happines and positive feelings. I'm almost longing to participate...

This Morning in the Mail

From: Emily
Subject: 21 September
To: Sanne

Happy Three Months to Departure Day!

I cracked up. This is humor.

Busy times here. I still owe you a post about all my holiday adventures. To be continued during the weekend. Here's a picture of what's still waiting to be posted:

On to the next destination...

September, the 11th

It has been five years. Five years ago I climbed the stairs of my apartment to find my partner at the time all shocked on top of the stairs, saying: "There has been a disaster in America. Look at this". My first reaction was sceptical, very sceptical for I saw this as the consequence of the way in which USA high-level politicians have decided to conduct foreign policies.
However, upon seeing the images I realized that, being in my first year in an international class, the attacks on the Twin Towers would have far, far reaching consequences. I realised that I didn't know where my American friend Shreya was at the time of the attacks. I called some friends and family, telling them to turn on their television and watch the world change. For that is what it was - our world changing, although none of us was able to fully grasp that at the time.
The aftermath of 9-11 was full of tension and emotions at school. The attack on the World Trade Centre was felt on this side of the Atlantic too. The respectable French newspaper made this clear with the 13 September 2001 editoral headline Nous sommes tous Américains [We are all Americans]. In the center of this city the American embassy was transformed into a fortress, an army tank was stationed in front of the building in the middle of the historical city center. In my class I translated Voltaire's Prière à Dieu and we brought the text to the fences surrounding the American embassy where we put it among the flowers and candles on the street.

So, so much happened since then. There has been Afghanistan, Fahrenheit 9/11, Iraq, Sorry Everybody, Guantanamo Bay, lies, secret CIA prisons in Europe, more lies, too many lies. There is the trial of Sadam Hussein, but Osama Bin Laden still roams around... and so many lives were lost on all sides. I wonder what has happened to the concept of Human Rights, or - well - at least the Geneva Conventions. Don't we put these into practice anymore?
So, we're five years on and I think that the most appropriate in this situation is still the earlier-mentioned Prayer to God by Voltaire, who - important to know - was a deist. His prayer to God is an address to humankind. I'm offering it here again, with hope for improvement of the status quo.

Prayer to God,

I don’t address myself to men anymore; I address myself to you, God of all beings, all worlds and all times: if it is allowed for weak creatures lost in vastness, and unperceivable to the wider universe, to dare ask you something, to you who gave us all, to you whose decrees are immutable and eternal, to you who is good enough to look with pity at the errors attached to our nature; that these errors do not make our calamities. You did neither give us a heart to hate each other, nor hands to cut each other’s throat; make that we mutually help each other to support the burden of a painful and momentary life; that small differences between the clothing that covers our weak bodies, between our insufficient languages, our ridiculous customs, our imperfect laws, our foolish opinions, our conditions that are so disproportionate in our eyes, and so equal in front of you; that all these small nuances which distinguish the atoms called men are not signals of hatred and persecution; that they who light candles in full midday to celebrate you support those who are satisfied with the light of your sun; that they who cover their dress with a white cloth to say we should worship you do not hate those who say the same under a black wool coat; that it is equal to adore you in the formal jargon of an old language or in newer idiom; that those whose dress is dyed in red or purple, who dominate over a small piece of a small heap of the mud in this world, and who possess some round fragments of a certain metal, enjoy without pride what they call power and richness, and may all others look at them without desire: because you know that there is in these vanities neither anything worth envy, nor anything worth pride. May all men remember that they are brothers! May they all be appalled by tyranny exerted on the heart, may they similarly execrate armed robbery that forcefully destroys the fruit of work and peaceful industry! If the plagues of war are evitable, don’t let us hate each other, don’t let us tear one another apart in the centre of peace, and let us all use our short existence to bless in thousand languages, from Siam to California, your kindness which gave us this moment.

From: Traité sur la Tolérance, chapter 23
By: Voltaire
Translation: Author of this blog

Gone...

... on a little holiday to the south of the Netherlands!

There where is light, is hope... - a Mantra

This heart is yearning. Questions, doubts, thoughts passing through my head at the speed of light. The torment of restless nights.

I am not a victim here. I have chosen this turn in life, but maybe I made the wrong decision this time. There are options to explore. There is no reason to despair. This is life; raw life in an affluent country, in a luxurious position.
Luxury, because there are options.

Humbly bowing my head, in company of moon and stars, I can but gratefully ask the spirits, they who know the unbearable lightness of being, for a guiding light. Namah Te.

Picture source: www.pathyoga.com

Early morning train...

Early morning. First day after all holidays are over. Everyone resumes work. The train is full. The last people take a run to catch the train and ...

it doesn't leave...

A couple of minutes pass. Passengers look at each other. Question marks in eyes. Confusion. Hesitation. Why does the busiest train in the railway station not leave? Did we miss an anouncement? Trouble on the line?

We wait, we wait. Frustration rises. People get agitated. It's rush hour. We need to go places. Then, a voice: "Ladies and Gentlemen, we apologize for the delay, but we cannot leave. There is no driver on the train."

Ehm, yes, I guess it's hard, the first day of work after a long holiday...

The best scones in The Hague

Missing Emily

About two weeks ago. I couldn't sleep at night. Tossed and turned, felt alone. Missed Emily. Knew that - if she would live around the corner - I would sms her 'are you still awake?' and hope to go over for tea at an insane hour. Tossed and turned more, no, really no sleep. So I got up and sent off a heartfelt email onto the dark digital highway towards a part of the world where the light would still be on by that time. Soon I got a long email back from Emily that ended with the sentence 'Hope to be drinking tea with you soon!' and that was it for me. If the Emily cannot come to Europe (law school seems like a good excuse to me), the Sanne will get herself to the States... and I did what I thought I would not really do: I bought that flight ticket to the States! Big grin! Yes, I pretty much ruined myself, but - d*mn - does it make me smile! How many days still until the 21st of December?

The ultimate crème-brûlée-feeling

Smile, the weekend is here! And there are even flakes of blue sky visible, some rays of sunlight peaking through. Indulging on crusty bread with garlic - grilled in the skin - spread out on it and grilled tomatos. Worked hard on getting some of my positive vibes back at work and succeeded in doing so. Chocolate always works... and so does the delicious Bonne Maman crème brûlée... ;)