Life in point form

Where to start? I’ve been absent a long time again. And breaking my promise to myself to post once a week. It’s been surprisingly hectic since I flew back from Toronto two weeks ago (excuses, excuses), but not in a way that would encourage picture taking. Nevertheless, I’m here and I’m documenting recent events!

1. I officially graduated and have my Master of Arts!
Many days of nervous pre-defence sweating and stomach churning were involved (not to mention the day itself) but I did it. It still doesn’t seem quite real. In typical Dutch fashion, my thesis advisor appeared to be seriously underwhelmed by my efforts throughout the defence and spent longer than the allocated time asking me difficult – verging on philosophical – questions. He and my second reader then sent me out of the room and spoke in raised Dutch voices for what was surely an eternity before finally summoning me back in and awarding me with a much higher grade than I had dared hope for. Typical. I could have hugged them but I restrained myself. Fortunately Pieter was waiting for me outside!

As a side note, I swear this is a trick all Dutch people learn before they get to interact with us over-eager Canadian folk. I’ve been the recipient of similar sweat-inducing treatment from bankers, university secretaries, immigration workers … Two weeks before I made the move over here, there was a particularly stressful incident where an agent from the Dutch consulate informed me that one of the 73862 documents I had brought for my visa application was in fact two days too old to be acceptable. Yes, two days. ‘I’ll send it, but it’ll be up to my colleagues in DC to decide and they’re usually really strict with these things.’ His expression was very grim indeed. Thus followed, predictably, a week of extreme anxiety.
What happened when I (very very timidly) returned to the office a week later, fully prepared to hear the crushing, plan-destroying news?
The man nonchalantly handed me my new visa and then gave an incredulous laugh when I let out a sigh of relief! ‘Why were you nervous? Of course you got it, it’s just a Working Holiday visa after all, it’s nothing serious.’
…
Anyway.

2. It was my birthday! I am officially 24. Panic.

It’s been the birthday that just keeps on giving this year. First of all, even though my family and a lot of my friends are across the ocean, I’ve been showered with cards and messages and gifts, and I’m so thankful. I’m so happy to live in this day and age, where everyone is just a Skype or a What’s App away and where mail gets delivered ridiculously fast and, while I’m at it, where human beings can fly! For crying out loud!

On Friday I took the train up to Groningen, where my wonderful, beautiful, hilarious friends had planned a little surprise to celebrate my birthday and my graduation. As I was led up the stairs into the house, I was welcomed with a flurry of balloons and sternly instructed to sit in ‘my’ seat: a kitchen chair wrapped in pink paper and adorned with ribbon and more balloons. There was singing and clapping, followed by a delicious strawberry cake and fizzy pink cocktails – complete with drink umbrellas, obviously.
Long story short, it was the perfect night: all balloons and cocktails and sushi (yes, sushi! I was treated like a veritable princess!) aside, it was just great to be with my friends, laughing, talking, groaning in pain as we devoured way too much food …
(I didn’t take any pictures, but I’ve stolen a couple from the gorgeous Dawn to break up this giant block of text!)

When I returned to Leiden late Saturday night, Pieter joined me and counted down the seconds until the clock struck twelve before singing me a lovely rendition of Happy Birthday and toasting me with some chilled bubbly. The festivities continued the next day and well into the evening as we had dinner at a fun, multicoloured Mexican place we’ve both been wanting to try for months. The verdict: well worth the wait. The restaurant has an unpronounceable name, Popocatepetl, and extremely delicious dishes. They also bring you chips & salsa while you make your agonizing choices, which is always a major plus in my books!

This is already getting to be quite the novel, and yet I feel I haven’t even started gushing! To be extremely short and cheesy: I’m truly thankful to all of my friends and family for making me feel so loved all week. Even just yesterday, a fellow Canadian friend handed me a bottle of maple syrup! Oh, sweet elixir … (She also handed me her cat, but considering the length of this post that’ll be for another day.)

3. Pieter and I are moving in together!
We’ve been looking around for over a month and we spent last week running around Leiden and Den Haag doing viewings. It’s been stressful and discouraging at times, but we’ve found a place and we’ll be moving in within the month. I was pretty much sold as soon as I saw the kitchen: an oven AND a stove AND a fridge AND cupboards? These are definitely things I used to take for granted. In my 15+ months here, I have seen kitchens that continue to haunt me to this day.
Rationally, I know that there are far worse fates than living in an oven-less apartment, but there’s something about living in a foreign country that makes you crave a real home. I’m so happy that we managed to find such a great place, and with only minimal amounts of sweat and tears involved!

4. I got my job contract extended!
All of the fighting I did with the job agency and the work permit agency was worth it. I’m hired until 1 December, which greatly reduces the stress and pressure of finding a job immediately.

I’ve now officially written roughly one twentieth of my thesis in a half hour, so I think I’ll leave things here. They’re promising us 31 degrees on Saturday (!!) so I hereby promise to take pictures and to bring back the more Holland-focused content shortly. Until then, have a wonderful weekend!

Wild & outdoorsy

As with most of my posts, I’m going to start this particular entry with a remark on the weather.
It has been hot. Actually no-jacket-required, sweat-inducingly hot.
Accordingly, I’ve been spending a lot of time outside.

Sunday was Pieter’s Oma’s 89th birthday party, and the whole family made the trip over to her house for a day of celebration. There was coffee, there was sunshine, there was table tennis … And there was an abundance of cake. (I’m still holding fairly strong on the ‘diet’, but it’s conceivable that a piece found its way into my mouth. Through no fault of my own, of course.)
A similar event was held last year around the same date, and on that day not only was I meeting everybody for the first time, but I also couldn’t string together more than five words of Dutch.
Granted, I still don’t do much speaking, but now understanding takes about 1/20th of the effort it used to! Not to brag or anything.

We met at Pieter’s parents to bum a ride and before getting into the car, I got to enjoy a few minutes in their garden, which I just love! They also happen to have chickens, which is always a plus in my opinion.

Following in my outdoorsy streak, I met my old housemate for dinner in the park on Monday. We’d been planning to head to Ichiban for some take-out, but as fate would have it, they’re closed on Mondays! Instead, we tried a Nepalese place called Everest Tandoori, and it was a definite hit. The food smelled so good that we were visited by every dog within a 500-meter radius throughout the evening. It was also so good that I didn’t stop long enough to wipe my fingers of the samosa grease to take a picture of it …
But here we are, stuffed and happy.

Throughout the week I’d been anxiously awaiting my thesis feedback, all gurgle-y-stomached and racing heart and sweaty palms … Only to receive it in the middle of the party Sunday! After that, it was another two agonizing days of waiting for a meeting with my advisor.
All the drama was really unnecessary – I have a LOT of work to do, but my prof gave me such helpful feedback and so many useful resources that I’m almost looking forward to getting back to it.

I came out of that meeting feeling practically manic with relief; a coffee by the canal with a friend was just what I needed. He’s also recently had his meeting, so naturally we compared our experiences, right down to our prof’s choice of words and subtle shifts in posture.
That’s not even a huge exaggeration.

(I didn’t have my camera on me, but my cellphone still does an okay job I think.)

I never know how to end my posts, so I guess I’ll close the way I started – with more weather talk. As of this afternoon, it’s started raining again. At least that should restore some of the discipline I seem to have lost recently!

Whirlwind weekend, pt. 1

This weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to catch some of my closest friends in Groningen for some much needed girl time. We stay in touch as much as possible, but with different courses of study, extracurriculars/jobs, and other friends to keep up with, finding the time to see each other is something of a miracle. This weekend we only had about 30 hours, and we made sure to make every last one of them count!

I caught the train at a very respectable 10.47 on Friday morning, feeling like something of a pack mule with a multitude of bags hanging from my body … I was finally going to celebrate three very belated birthdays, and I wasn’t going to do it in halves! Cupcake mix, homemade cream cheese & maple frosting, candles, and gifts were all accounted for, not to mention some celebratory necessities: heels (groan) and black tights. (I had big plans to raid the girls’ closets which, as always, was a very satisfying and fruitful experience!)

Better late than never!

As usual, reuniting felt as if no time had passed, and two hours flew by without our notice as we talked and laughed over cappuccinos. (Drip coffee either doesn’t exist in the Netherlands, or it costs 3 euros at Starbucks and is reserved for emotional emergencies.) Naturally, I also had to reaffirm my status as a foreigner … by taking a picture in the bathroom. Can you blame me?!

World’s most orange place.

What country are we in again?

Before we knew it, it was time to start thinking of more practical issues: how to get myself, the groceries and all of my things up to Barbara’s place on the back of her bicycle. (Nicole and Elisa would join us there later.) Barbara is a force to be reckoned with on a bike, and eventually we were home, but a certain soreness in my arms and derrière reminds me that it was no picnic!

We had decided to make sushi and were leisurely reading the back of our sushi kits (and perhaps also feasting on jelly beans) when two unexpected pieces of news were brought to our attention:
1. Barbara’s housemate had commandeered the kitchen, and
2. We were expected at a party in two hours.

But could we do it? Yes we could! We transformed Barbara’s room into a (fishy) lab of efficiency, taking turns to attend to the sushi, decide what to wear, and, in my case, whip up a batch of cupcakes. Totally do-able.

Note the chopsticks strewn across the table!

And, amazingly, the sushi turned out to be truly delicious! My camera doesn’t do so well in poor lighting, so you’ll have to take my word for it, but we built a veritable tower of it and devoured it at unprecedented rates.

Finally, although Barbara’s place looked very much the worse for wear, we were only 30 minutes late to the party, and the night was a huge success! Highlights include: the bar playing ‘Cotton-eye Joe’, as they always always do in Groningen; myself being the only one to know and perform the accompanying dance (or maybe being the only one without shame?); and Nicole telling a pesky boy that they would have a beautiful wedding to get him to leave her alone.

We didn’t shut our eyes until 6 in the morning, and a mere five hours later, we were up and ready for the day. While Barbara and Nicole attended a career fair, I baked and iced the remaining cupcakes …

… and scrubbed some mayonnaise off of my shoes.

You know, the usual. The rest of the day was spent in some of my favourite Groningen haunts, but I’ll save those for another post. For now, it’s back to the books!