Archives
“I may or may not have fallen asleep”The one sentence everyone wants to hear 20 minutes before a date. For these things, it comes in handy to have a few friends who can be late with literal days – you end up getting pretty fortified against only a few minutes. Luckily, I’ve been well-trained on this field.Though they still miss out on the opportunity to throw in a sassy “might be late… Read More
“He is smiling!” – One of the Ladies from the group stares at me.I was lifting the massage bed over the balcony to help my neighbor after a heart surgery.“Oh, jij doet massage? Nou kom maar!” – All of them starts laughing [“Oh, you can massage? Come come!”] And I did. After finishing the treatment, I packed everything in and went straight to the other side of the street. You’ve never heard… Read More
“If I’m ever going to write about this day, you bet it’s gonna start with how you’re always late” It’s 3 o’ clock, Friday.I’m sitting on the couch, meditating. Preparing for the upcoming hours mentally.The house is clean, I went through the whole place and erased every little trace of our “Man cave”.A box full of snacks was waiting in the kitchen, filled with delicious grapes, almonds, cashews and blueberries.I loaded the… Read More
Working on a project of a Lifetime is quite difficult.The challenge to document the process of growing into the person we want to become, just like anything else, has ups and downs. Sometimes it just flows out of my mind, I speak my heart and it’s as easy as that.Sometimes I can’t even look at the keyboard without disgust.“If I have to fill another page about what I’ve done, I’m gonna tear… Read More
A lot of people told me that it’s not going to be easy. “Dutch people are cold and distant – they might be tolerant, but that does not equal acceptance. You can try as much as you want, but getting friends will always be the difficult part. Integration is hard, even if you learn their moedertaal1, you’ll still be a foreigner in their eyes.”This was the kind of “encouragement” I got when… Read More
How can you LOVE and HATE something at the same time? This problem occurs quite often throughout our lives.Let it be the person we love, a habit we want to get rid of, or a harmful hobby we enjoy.You know you shouldn’t eat that entire box of ice cream you just bought, but it still ends up in your stomach.You know the new episodes of your favorite show are 10/10 ones, so… Read More
Poor walls.I’ve been talking to them for 2 hours now. 540 words. No more, no less – and my job was to remember all of them.After practicing the act over 30 keer1, I felt quite confident.The speech was clear and fluent – but a good public speaker doesn’t leave anything to chance, so I repeated it another 20 times and made sure that nothing would ruin the performance. I was very excited… Read More
Clark Kent is a rookie compared to him. Even though we barely knew each other for 5 minutes, he offered an entire day to show me things.“What’s the catch?” – I wondered, baffled by the amount of friendliness.There was none, whatsoever. Such generosity came from within. It started with a trip towards our “rival” city: Nijmegen; Arnhem’s Nemesis. The route should’ve taken 1 hour by cycling, but the headwind was stronger than… Read More
Whether there is a mysterious force called “Luck” or “Fortune“, some events remain inexplicable. Is there such a thing as a coincidence; or everything is pre-written? None of us can certainly tell, but there are days when such questions are even more prevalent – and Friday the 13th is one of them “Hei, how eager are you to bring me the computer?“My friend forgot his laptop at home when he left.This caused… Read More
“Mooi op tijd1” – He smiled at me as I locked my bike. It was 8:00 in the morning, we were about to hop into his car and do some gardening where he Lives. I made a promise that I won’t talk in English from the beginning of the year, which I kept quite easily. You see, this promise doesn’t include talking in Dutch either, just the lack of English. So I… Read More
It was 5:30. I woke up and couldn’t believe it.I was stuck staring at the lamp in the middle of the ceiling.“This is a new country…this is a new country” – I kept repeating. A year ago I was living in Hungary with my parents, about to dive into the Western World and start a new Life in the Netherlands. My country is not famous about its broad possibilities to travel outside… Read More
A story about defeating Social Anxiety and overcoming fear to achieve our dreams – by taking a banana on a glorious journey.
I had a chat with the suicide prevention hotline the other day. Things weren’t going well, and I had nobody to turn to or talk with.Reaching out for help seemed to be the only possibility. When they picked up, they started to ask questions about where I am and what I’m doing.– At home, I’m safe. I’m not under the influence of any substance.This sentence was enough for them to close the… Read More
What would you do, if tomorrow was too late? The answer is supposed to be easy. Donate stuff, call some friends, make amends. Say goodbye to your family, co-workers, pets.Let go of the reign.Make peace with it. Is that really the best way to spend your last day? What about the Dreams you’ve had, the Promises you’ve made?It may not be enough to explore a Country, but it’s more than enough to… Read More
“There is no man living who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can do.” ― Henry Ford When was the last time you truly believed that you can do something epic?When you felt that you’re capable of achieving something great? Good ideas can be scary. Great ideas are straight up terrifying.But why is it that every time our souls are set ablaze by a spark of passion, the second it… Read More
“…Parkinson’s disease… and Cancer” – These were the only words I could remember.“I don’t know what to say…“– Mom… The pain was like being pierced by the sharpest Katana, through the heart – with the force of a rhino on the run. I collapsed.Then got up, grabbed the corner of the wall.-What? Not possible. Clearly not.I didn’t understand. Couldn’t comprehend. – What does it mean? What are the numbers?You become curious and… Read More
He can’t turn water into wine, but boy, does he know how to play Reggie. Stevie arrives to the store, eyes blazing, legs shaking.He just came from the Canary’s this morning.– My man!I smile and attempt to do a handshake, but he falls of his bike during parking. “Bhro, I’m so fucking high right now” – He says, as if tumbling on the concrete floor didn’t give it away.– Let’s get some… Read More
You’d be crazy to miss this. It all starts with a plan, filled with the kind of ideas most of us would reject the second our brain comes up with them.To be honest, I wasn’t fully aware of the consequences, but I knew one thing: A snowball would start to roll down on a hill, and soon turn into an avalanche moving towards the building of the Chamber of Commerce. We were… Read More
And so began the War on Mentality. I was supposed to get to the airport with a little help, along with a “Goede reis”, but the promise behind that broke like a thin tulip against the wind.Pinky-swears are still a thing. When I got to the gates, a legénybúcsú1 crew was on the lose, men dressed like Vikings came to conquer, but their only weapons were folk music and fake beards –… Read More
They might call you crazy, and they might be right. I stood there for a solid 30 seconds before I walked in.Not many of us made such a decision in our History, and I had no idea what would happen if I stepped in. All I knew was a line from Google translate:“Hoi, ik zou graag mijn haarkleur naar lichtroze veranderen1“– Licht….roze?“Precies“– Aahmmm… okay…. 20 minutes later I had the appointment. It… Read More
Road to a New Life 