From Hyderabad with Love
24 December 2012 | India, Secunderabad
People, the internship is over (+).
When I write this it is Christmas eve, and I am alone (-), because many of the people I have met here are no Christmas celebrators (-). And so I listen to the Dutch radio (+), which simultaneously comforts me (+) and makes me miss home even more (-). But the internship is over, and so I have been able to spend the last four days in blissful peace (+). I did some final (window)shopping (+-; but did get myself my first pair of Chucks ever), I visited the farm of my current host (big +), I got a full body massage with a delicious cacao-butter-oil mixture (+), and I sang Christmas carols in two different houses untill 4 am (+). I got harassed (big -, hopefully for the last time), and for the next couple of days I am planning to
- go to a Christmas lunch (+)
- prepare more Hutspot (+), to bring to an international Christmas dinner tomorrow (+)
- finally watch a movie on the great IMAX screen (the Hobbit in IMAX 3D, big +)
- finally print my work and hand it in, and get a letter from my internship organization in return (+)
- and, finally, send off some of my new stuff home (??) and then get ready to go to Singapore on Friday! (biiig +)
So, making up this balance it seems like I am primarily engaged with happy things. And I guess I should also feel happy. But the truth is that I am so ready to go home that that single thought has been lingering in the back of my mind for the last two weeks or so. And not being able to join my mother at our fireplace back home, chatting about whatever while drinking tea, and then to hand out my gifts to her and my family.. all of that makes me want to be home even more.
But not all is bittersweet, because while my mind is processing the last four months I am also just very excited. Excited about what the future may bring. While Christmas is celebrated for the occasion of the birth of baby Jesus, (one of) the forerunner(s) of Christmas is the “pagan” festival of Yule. This occasion, and many other similar holi-days in other cultures celebrates the return of the light; the winter solstice. And as the sun will shine its light longer on the Northern hemisphere, so will I return to the Netherlands; as a different person, shaped by the last year, but equally looking forward to what is yet to come. While last year I was thinking how 2012 would be themed after the internship in Hyderabad, so 2013 will probably largely be about another graduation. And then what? I’ve had dreams about another trip already – to Canada, on a bike – but being away from home so long has also made me realize how at ease I feel at home. *writing this from India, however, I still have to see how I feel about the Netherlands when I have been ‘home’ for a while.
But I guess I wanted to take the occasion to wish you all a joyful Christmas. I realized I know people and have friends literally All over the world, which is nice, I guess.
So while India is not the best place to spend your Christmas eve, I hope that you all can be or have been able to spend it in the way you please.
Next update will, I think, be from Singapore ^^
When I write this it is Christmas eve, and I am alone (-), because many of the people I have met here are no Christmas celebrators (-). And so I listen to the Dutch radio (+), which simultaneously comforts me (+) and makes me miss home even more (-). But the internship is over, and so I have been able to spend the last four days in blissful peace (+). I did some final (window)shopping (+-; but did get myself my first pair of Chucks ever), I visited the farm of my current host (big +), I got a full body massage with a delicious cacao-butter-oil mixture (+), and I sang Christmas carols in two different houses untill 4 am (+). I got harassed (big -, hopefully for the last time), and for the next couple of days I am planning to
- go to a Christmas lunch (+)
- prepare more Hutspot (+), to bring to an international Christmas dinner tomorrow (+)
- finally watch a movie on the great IMAX screen (the Hobbit in IMAX 3D, big +)
- finally print my work and hand it in, and get a letter from my internship organization in return (+)
- and, finally, send off some of my new stuff home (??) and then get ready to go to Singapore on Friday! (biiig +)
So, making up this balance it seems like I am primarily engaged with happy things. And I guess I should also feel happy. But the truth is that I am so ready to go home that that single thought has been lingering in the back of my mind for the last two weeks or so. And not being able to join my mother at our fireplace back home, chatting about whatever while drinking tea, and then to hand out my gifts to her and my family.. all of that makes me want to be home even more.
But not all is bittersweet, because while my mind is processing the last four months I am also just very excited. Excited about what the future may bring. While Christmas is celebrated for the occasion of the birth of baby Jesus, (one of) the forerunner(s) of Christmas is the “pagan” festival of Yule. This occasion, and many other similar holi-days in other cultures celebrates the return of the light; the winter solstice. And as the sun will shine its light longer on the Northern hemisphere, so will I return to the Netherlands; as a different person, shaped by the last year, but equally looking forward to what is yet to come. While last year I was thinking how 2012 would be themed after the internship in Hyderabad, so 2013 will probably largely be about another graduation. And then what? I’ve had dreams about another trip already – to Canada, on a bike – but being away from home so long has also made me realize how at ease I feel at home. *writing this from India, however, I still have to see how I feel about the Netherlands when I have been ‘home’ for a while.
But I guess I wanted to take the occasion to wish you all a joyful Christmas. I realized I know people and have friends literally All over the world, which is nice, I guess.
So while India is not the best place to spend your Christmas eve, I hope that you all can be or have been able to spend it in the way you please.
Next update will, I think, be from Singapore ^^
Reageer op dit reisverslag
Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
