Mantra for 2010
Gelukkig Nieuw Jaar people!!
"And what he greatly thought,
he nobly dared"
- Homer
- Homer
Gelukkig Nieuw Jaar people!!
Where to begin, where to begin...
Ok, well how about I start with a tale of delusion and dreams - wait, pause .... just on that phrase, how can one possibly tell the difference between the two? What is a delusion and what is a dream? There is most certainly a fine line between the two, nee? A grey area has to exist, and I think that sometimes people don't know when they are crossing that line. Like me for example. I think I teeter on that very fine tightrope a lot.
Wasn't my whole idea about coming to Amsterdam with no clue about the city or country- in terms of geographical layout, worldwide reputation, culture, environment- a somewhat vague, unformed, unplanned, misty dream to me, but had others thinking that I was completely delusional??
"She's been TALKING about going travelling for over 10 years. Seriously, the girl needs to jump or get off the diving board and admit defeat." (P.S Shout outs to anyone that had to endure the countless hours of THAT conversation,which would be, well, everyone I know. I know you were all thinking what I just wrote, no need to deny it. I understand. If I was my friend I would have told myself a long time ago to wake up and smell the chai latte, and move on with my life.)
But, you know, I say, allow others to live in their dreams /delusions, as long as no one gets hurt. (I'm not advising that because you happen to think that you have a spiritual connection with Jude Law, and that he would MOST DEFINETELY recipricote, if, you know, you could happen to get within 10 feet of him at a film premiere and just introduce yourself, but to do that you would need to hysterically knife some bouncers of his that just happened to be in the way, and... errr... i digress...)
Anyway, back to the start of the post- dreams and delusions. So last night, everyone in my office left at about 3:30pm, after watching the live weather feed on the internet intensely since about 1pm. Phone calls from concerned mothers in Haarlem blocked the office switchboard, sms' from boyfriends came through thick and fast, all bearing the same message: "Make it home now if you can, there's a storm a brewin'."
My colleague Evelien was showing me photos that her friend had sent her from Haarlem, a town nearby to Hoofddorp - I mean to me, it didn't look that unusual, it was just a picture of it snowing, and she said "No man, that's like a blizzard happening 10 minutes ago in a town 20 minutes away... "
"So?"
"SO?!? So, if we don't leave now, there will be traffic jams for sure, and the trains will be disrupted, it could take us hours to get home."
One of the department managers strolled into our office, hoodie on, jacket buttoned up, beanie planted on bald head, and said "I'm leaving - you all should too if you know what's good for you." and then dashed off. I looked around at my colleagues and there was about a nano second of hesitation, and we had laptops packed, folders clutched, coats on, and we were like a stampede of wild african buffalos running from a famished cheetah.
The thing is about the snow is that Netherlands hasn't seen this much snow in years - so I'm told. Must be my lucky year. Their infrustructure isn't coping with it. For example, there is a salt shortage at the moment, which means that roads and pathways will be slippery, and be hazardous.
People don't really know what to do - last night, trams weren't running, trains were late, and Evelien told me this morning it took her sister 5 hours to get home, when it's really a half hour journey. Ridiculous.
Anyway, preparing to haul ass to work today, I dragged myself out of bed, got dressed ( half an hour, two pairs of socks, long johns and a thermal, top, vest, jacket, gloves, pants... you get the idea) and nearly broke my neck trying to haul my oversized laptop briefcase to the tram stop about 600 metres away through the snow, and I check my phone on the tram, and there's a message from my boss;
"Don't risk coming in to the office today - work from home today if you want, I will."
Yee-fucking-har.
So I am almost at Centraal Station, and I get off, and then hop back on the tram going the other way, and think, "today's a working from a cafe sort of day."
Ok, well how about I start with a tale of delusion and dreams - wait, pause .... just on that phrase, how can one possibly tell the difference between the two? What is a delusion and what is a dream? There is most certainly a fine line between the two, nee? A grey area has to exist, and I think that sometimes people don't know when they are crossing that line. Like me for example. I think I teeter on that very fine tightrope a lot.
Wasn't my whole idea about coming to Amsterdam with no clue about the city or country- in terms of geographical layout, worldwide reputation, culture, environment- a somewhat vague, unformed, unplanned, misty dream to me, but had others thinking that I was completely delusional??
"She's been TALKING about going travelling for over 10 years. Seriously, the girl needs to jump or get off the diving board and admit defeat." (P.S Shout outs to anyone that had to endure the countless hours of THAT conversation,which would be, well, everyone I know. I know you were all thinking what I just wrote, no need to deny it. I understand. If I was my friend I would have told myself a long time ago to wake up and smell the chai latte, and move on with my life.)
But, you know, I say, allow others to live in their dreams /delusions, as long as no one gets hurt. (I'm not advising that because you happen to think that you have a spiritual connection with Jude Law, and that he would MOST DEFINETELY recipricote, if, you know, you could happen to get within 10 feet of him at a film premiere and just introduce yourself, but to do that you would need to hysterically knife some bouncers of his that just happened to be in the way, and... errr... i digress...)
Anyway, back to the start of the post- dreams and delusions. So last night, everyone in my office left at about 3:30pm, after watching the live weather feed on the internet intensely since about 1pm. Phone calls from concerned mothers in Haarlem blocked the office switchboard, sms' from boyfriends came through thick and fast, all bearing the same message: "Make it home now if you can, there's a storm a brewin'."
My colleague Evelien was showing me photos that her friend had sent her from Haarlem, a town nearby to Hoofddorp - I mean to me, it didn't look that unusual, it was just a picture of it snowing, and she said "No man, that's like a blizzard happening 10 minutes ago in a town 20 minutes away... "
"So?"
"SO?!? So, if we don't leave now, there will be traffic jams for sure, and the trains will be disrupted, it could take us hours to get home."
One of the department managers strolled into our office, hoodie on, jacket buttoned up, beanie planted on bald head, and said "I'm leaving - you all should too if you know what's good for you." and then dashed off. I looked around at my colleagues and there was about a nano second of hesitation, and we had laptops packed, folders clutched, coats on, and we were like a stampede of wild african buffalos running from a famished cheetah.
The thing is about the snow is that Netherlands hasn't seen this much snow in years - so I'm told. Must be my lucky year. Their infrustructure isn't coping with it. For example, there is a salt shortage at the moment, which means that roads and pathways will be slippery, and be hazardous.
People don't really know what to do - last night, trams weren't running, trains were late, and Evelien told me this morning it took her sister 5 hours to get home, when it's really a half hour journey. Ridiculous.
Anyway, preparing to haul ass to work today, I dragged myself out of bed, got dressed ( half an hour, two pairs of socks, long johns and a thermal, top, vest, jacket, gloves, pants... you get the idea) and nearly broke my neck trying to haul my oversized laptop briefcase to the tram stop about 600 metres away through the snow, and I check my phone on the tram, and there's a message from my boss;
"Don't risk coming in to the office today - work from home today if you want, I will."
Yee-fucking-har.
So I am almost at Centraal Station, and I get off, and then hop back on the tram going the other way, and think, "today's a working from a cafe sort of day."
To conclude my point, I am choosing to live in a delusion/dream today.... so am plonked at a cafe near my house doing not much in general, pretending to be a freelance writer and staring thoughfully out the glass windows overlooking the river Ij, and pretending to be typing something of great importance that will shape the future of generations to come with wit and insight. I wish.
I want to be a freelance writer. That would be the ultimate life goal for me. Spending days in cafes in Amsterdam, steaming coffee verkeerd on the table, laptop positioned infront of me, people watching, researching on the internet, writing musings of life, love, destiny, that sort of thing ( or maybe even just about a dog show I had to review and what pedigree won first prize, i don't really care.)
The quote by Homer as you see above was printed on my tea bag tag ( what are those things called exactly, the cardboard tip at the other end of a tea bag), and by gosh, I am going to live by it in 2010.
I don't particularly want to talk about my New Years Eve (Oud + Niuew), but how can you start a new year post without talking about what you do on the universal night of partying? As many of you know, I went to the Southern Hemisphere to Indonesia for Christmas to see my brother in law, sister, and my folks. It was weird almost being so close to Australia, but not having the opportunity to make it there.
It was a hard time, but also nice in some respects. I thought about staying for longer than a week, but for my own reasons I decided to return to Amsterdam.
I spent my New Year's Eve at Gate 29 in Hong Kong International airport, lining up to board the aeroplane. And admittedly, the flight was not much better, let alone the return to central Amsterdam. 400 drunk/passed out dutch kiddies, that had invaded Amsterdam for the party of all parties, were strewn across Centraal station like my wardrobe often is across my bedroom floor. And there were no trams. And some crook of a taxi driver charged me 40 Euros to get to my house which is about 1.2 km from the station. There's a word for people like him - and I know that I use a lot of profanities on this blog, but I still consider myself a lady (of sorts) and typing the filthy word is a lot different to thinking the filthy word - so I won't type it, but you know the word I'm thinking of.
Rock on 2010.
I caught up with Laura a couple of days after my return, and we chatted about our holidays, and then she turned on her new laptop and played the Hilltop Hoods; "Nosebleed section." and I turned to her, with eyes as wide as saucers -
"YOU KNOW the Hoods??"
"Yeah, i love them. My friend from Switzerland and I cycled around Iceland and the only song on her broken ipod that would play was this song!"
Then I get home and Amber has the new Sia album sitting on her desk.
"Where did you get that?"
"My dad gave it to me.Love her, she's soooo good." Wow. Maybe I'm reading something more into this than I should actually be, but it is totally blowing my mind that my American housemate loves Sia, originally from Adelaide. And my Swiss best friend, loves the Hilltop Hoods, also originally from Adelaide. I mean, granted, music is a universal connection that transcends borders and both are highly talented commercial artists, and, yes, I realise we live in the modern world where music is marketed to the whole world, but it still blew my mind.
It's not that I think coming from Adelaide is necessarily a handicap to success in the world stage (any world stage, be it musical or otherwise), but it's just inspiring to keep these people in midn when I think about these examples when i feel dejected.
I went back to work yesterday, and was pleased to see my colleagues. The fact of the matter is, I really like my colleagues - they are nice, genuine people, and work is so much more fun because of them. My flatmate, Amber, came home the other night and she said " yeah, all my colleagues walked around this morning and did the whole happy new year, dutch kisses thing, and I was like, errrr, I don't even like you people."
Luckily, I am not in the same boat as her. I was genuinely pleased to be reunited with my work colleagues yesterday. When it was my turn (in the 10 strong line of hungry office workers) to buy lunch at the canteen yesterday, the tea lady, also called Evelien, was sooo sweet. "Raaaani!! Hoe gaat het? Allest good?? Oooh, gelukkig nieuw jaar mijn schatje." ( Happy new year my sweetie) and she leant over the counter and gave me three kisses and everyone behind me was like "Woah... she must be pretty tight with the tea lady..." Funny stuff. Anyway, let me conclude this post with some imagery that I have taken of my snowy surrounds.
The quote by Homer as you see above was printed on my tea bag tag ( what are those things called exactly, the cardboard tip at the other end of a tea bag), and by gosh, I am going to live by it in 2010.
I don't particularly want to talk about my New Years Eve (Oud + Niuew), but how can you start a new year post without talking about what you do on the universal night of partying? As many of you know, I went to the Southern Hemisphere to Indonesia for Christmas to see my brother in law, sister, and my folks. It was weird almost being so close to Australia, but not having the opportunity to make it there.
It was a hard time, but also nice in some respects. I thought about staying for longer than a week, but for my own reasons I decided to return to Amsterdam.
I spent my New Year's Eve at Gate 29 in Hong Kong International airport, lining up to board the aeroplane. And admittedly, the flight was not much better, let alone the return to central Amsterdam. 400 drunk/passed out dutch kiddies, that had invaded Amsterdam for the party of all parties, were strewn across Centraal station like my wardrobe often is across my bedroom floor. And there were no trams. And some crook of a taxi driver charged me 40 Euros to get to my house which is about 1.2 km from the station. There's a word for people like him - and I know that I use a lot of profanities on this blog, but I still consider myself a lady (of sorts) and typing the filthy word is a lot different to thinking the filthy word - so I won't type it, but you know the word I'm thinking of.
Rock on 2010.
I caught up with Laura a couple of days after my return, and we chatted about our holidays, and then she turned on her new laptop and played the Hilltop Hoods; "Nosebleed section." and I turned to her, with eyes as wide as saucers -
"YOU KNOW the Hoods??"
"Yeah, i love them. My friend from Switzerland and I cycled around Iceland and the only song on her broken ipod that would play was this song!"
Then I get home and Amber has the new Sia album sitting on her desk.
"Where did you get that?"
"My dad gave it to me.Love her, she's soooo good." Wow. Maybe I'm reading something more into this than I should actually be, but it is totally blowing my mind that my American housemate loves Sia, originally from Adelaide. And my Swiss best friend, loves the Hilltop Hoods, also originally from Adelaide. I mean, granted, music is a universal connection that transcends borders and both are highly talented commercial artists, and, yes, I realise we live in the modern world where music is marketed to the whole world, but it still blew my mind.
It's not that I think coming from Adelaide is necessarily a handicap to success in the world stage (any world stage, be it musical or otherwise), but it's just inspiring to keep these people in midn when I think about these examples when i feel dejected.
I went back to work yesterday, and was pleased to see my colleagues. The fact of the matter is, I really like my colleagues - they are nice, genuine people, and work is so much more fun because of them. My flatmate, Amber, came home the other night and she said " yeah, all my colleagues walked around this morning and did the whole happy new year, dutch kisses thing, and I was like, errrr, I don't even like you people."
Luckily, I am not in the same boat as her. I was genuinely pleased to be reunited with my work colleagues yesterday. When it was my turn (in the 10 strong line of hungry office workers) to buy lunch at the canteen yesterday, the tea lady, also called Evelien, was sooo sweet. "Raaaani!! Hoe gaat het? Allest good?? Oooh, gelukkig nieuw jaar mijn schatje." ( Happy new year my sweetie) and she leant over the counter and gave me three kisses and everyone behind me was like "Woah... she must be pretty tight with the tea lady..." Funny stuff. Anyway, let me conclude this post with some imagery that I have taken of my snowy surrounds.
Brouwersgracht, Jordaan district
Laura has a tantrum because of the snow pelting down on us
A blizzard by Amsterdam standards
Vondelpark
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