My colleagues were sitting on needles, mocking me the hele¹ day.
“You know you owe us with the entire story… We’re Women, we need to gossip”

Lovely. Now I can’t even have a moment of peace at my workplace.

I arrived home with just enough time to pack my things and head for the train. Figuring out the system wasn’t simple, the western public transport is a lot more complicated than it seems. Nevertheless, I managed to not leave the country.
Apparently it’s very easy here to just board a train, look at the endless wheat fields and suddenly wake up in Germany.

An hour later when I got to the station where we were supposed to meet – She tells me that the hangover from last night’s heavy drinking is still undermining her attempts to get to me.
This is why books are handy. No anxious phone tapping, just chilling and reading while waiting.
After 30 minutes She arrives to finally kidnap me, but describing her location isn’t one of her peak qualities. It took about 7 minutes to find each other, even though her car was right fucking next to me. I walked past it 4 times, at least.
Clumsy bitches, we have been.

We were heading towards “The Dutch middle of nowhere” – as She calls it, a quiet and hidden place, away from all the bullshit.
The plan was to binge-watch Stranger Things.
With FOUR Women. You can(‘t) imagine.
This came with the consequence of inevitably meeting her Family.
I would lie if I said that the thought didn’t stress me.
I mean – compared to her, it couldn’t be a bigger deal…

Her brother and sister were the ones who first saw me.
Their welcome was warm and friendly.
Apparently people just can’t stop being kind here – Which makes me wonder if it’s their culture or they just simply like me.
Regardless of what the answer is, we had to prepare for a long night of binge-watching – but before that, our stomachs had to be filled.

All I could do is pet their sweet Spanish dog(s), while the 2 blonde goddesses were cooking.
“Wat een Leven” – dacht ik²
The greatest feeling of the day was that I got used to their dialect very quickly. They were mostly using English, but that didn’t mean that I shouldn’t answer in their language.
After all, if not now, when would I do it?
For some reason, the impression it made was lasting.

Soon the food was prepared, and it was served at the exact same time when the Story I’ve written; The Treasure of the Sea – was published. She was eagerly waiting to read it.
With the help of her sister, we could restrain her from sinning. The amount of effort She put in cunning and trickery was unending. She would do everything in order see it, even if the timing wasn’t right for it – we had to keep an eye on her every second of every minute.
While we were eating, She rushed to her room to bring something – a notebook from her last trip, depicting the Sea.
She was the one who took me – for the first time – to the Sea.

This was the first gift I ever received without a Special day.
People don’t really surprise you in Hungary, unless it’s Christmas or your birthday.
It ended up decorating my room – whenever I walk in or out of my place, it reminds me how far I’ve came from the place that I thought would be my grave.

“Stranger things first, reading second” – a reminder had to be made.
Her attempts to cheat on us didn’t cease.
After eating, their friends started to show up, so we could finally begin.

Oh god. They just couldn’t stop talking.

But it wasn’t just foreign noise anymore, every word suddenly had a meaning. The sentences slowly echoed in my head, making more sense every minute.
All these months of studying, and I finally made it.

I don’t remember the last time I was this proud of achieving something.

Though She kept distance the entire day, by the end of the second episode She was cuddling like a bear, trying to contain her screams as the jump-scares appeared.
In the meantime the annoyance didn’t cease.
“cAn I rEaD iT?” – She asked endlessly.
The night was supposed to be chill, but with her it ain’t that easy.

Apparently it became the best piece I’ve written since I started blogging, and that made her sit on needles while we were binging.
Just as The Story, so was day – completely amazing.
Not long after finishing the 3rd episode, I finally gave in.
She popped her phone in a fraction of a second and started reading.
It didn’t feel right to see her do it while She was next to me. It might sound weird, but somehow, distance would’ve made it more intimate. Nevertheless, the reaction was far from what I imagined. The disappointment would’ve hit me, but the positive feedback from others balanced it.

Around midnight when everyone else was already asleep, we were laying on the couch, trying to figure out what the hell this is.
If something is difficult in Life, it’s knowing exactly how you feel about certain things.
“Baby steps” – we concluded after spending 2 hours on self-discovery.

By 2 am we got to the point where the only option was going to sleep, so we dragged ourselves to the garage and struggled to transform a storage room into a four-star hotel with a fireplace.
She carefully lit the logs, so we would fall asleep to the sound of fire-cracking as the Moon above us slowly slipped away.

The next morning they were preparing to spend the day in a Dutch amusement park: Efteling
There was no time to fool around, yet She chose to make us a decent ontbijt³.
The amount of ingredients She used to fill a simple sandwich was above my pay grade.
Not once have I seen two slices of bread stuffed like this.
I wish a had a photo of the art piece, but the hunger was stronger than the desire to document it.

After eating the 5 of us was squeezed into the car and we left the property.
On the way to drop me off I saw her turn into a Woman from a 14 year old kid.
It’s incredible what make up does these days.

Her sister is an actual artist – and we agreed on once making me a gorgeous female, but for that; as all Woman – they wanted to get rid of my beard.

There is only one way to do it: with a wild bet on it.
Something that involves an exciting risk – otherwise it’s not worth it.
One does not simply lose his beard without gambling.

On the way to the station we’ve been through at least 4 tickle-fights. That’s how you make an impression, by showing off both your childish and mature sides. Staying in touch with the inner child can be challenging.
Before they parked the car and dropped me off, I was given a piece of wisdom to think about for the rest of my Life:

“Life is a bitch, so learn how to fuck it”

– Her Mom

I wish adults were this badass in my country.

When they left I pulled out my book to wait for the train, but before I would dive into it, I sent her one last message:
“Jouw familie is… echt gezellig”*

Take care,
Erik

04.07.2019 – Day 164

[Dutch Dictionary]
Hele ¹ – Entire
Wat een Leven, Dacht ik ² – What a Life – I thought
Ontbijt ³ – Breakfast
Echt Gezellig * – Extremely pleasing* – A kind of compliment that means a lot, especially if it is received.

Featured Image: Farewell to Anger by Leonid Afremov