there, and back again *cheesy, I know :D
14 Februari 2013 | Nederland, Nederland
It has been a long time since my last message, which was still from Singapore. And thus also quite some time since I came back home!
But! I am still aliiiive, and doing fine (again).
Coming back home was in some ways more difficult than I had hoped it would be. Not that I was longing for the Far East so much, but it was tough to arrive back at Dusseldorf Airport on a wednesday only to go back to university and thus move out again on the monday thereafter.
That was just a little bit too fast.
And, of course, there were tons of things that had to be arranged after my return. Or at least it felt that way. Municipalities that had to be informed, insurances that had to be updated, contracts that had to be confirmed (or cancelled), handing over my motorbike to my sister, and I 'just' had to come up with a topic for my Grand Master Thesis *brrr
When I got back to Maastricht all of this kind of overwhelmed me, which made me decide (despite the fact that I paid a ridiculous amount of rent for my temporary accommodation at that time) to go back to my parents. And there I slept - most of the time. I slept 12/13 hours per night without any difficulty and still felt tired during the day. So.. I slept some more :P The good thing about the first phase of thesis writing is that there is not yet thAt much stress about deadlines etc. So in the first 3 weeks I was a lot at my parents' place. Not only to sleep, of course, but also to simply enjoy the company of my family again :)
At the end of january I found a new place to stay, which is where I am at now. The (student)house is considerably shabby. But zhe rent is cheap and my room is fine. And the landlord seems to like me, which makes it easier to complain about things that are not to my liking, yet ;)
By now I have gotten accustomed to the Netherlands again, and I picked up some things of my old lifestyle. Although I realise some things about me have changed. I have become (even) more conscious about my own consumerism, which has translated in my new motto: First Finish. So I am first going to wear my clothing before buying new stuff, and if I buy something new I want to try to do it with an eye for the production processes of the product.
Oh, which brings me to another nice thing after returning back home: it was so much fun to distribute my gifts to loved ones! My box full of clothing from Daram ('our' store), and books, and bags, and shoes [...] arrived pretty much exactly at the same time as I did. We found the note of the delivery service when we got back from the airport ;P So I had to wait only one day for my goods to be handed back to me. The customs (here or in Mumbai?) had opened the box, but I was relieved to find all my stuff still in there.
And so the circus of showing, sharing and smiling began ^^ It was just great. And the dupatta (extremely large scarf) that I got for my brother is worn by him every single day since :D Mission Accomplished.
The cute teddybear sits on my parents' couch, as do the Ikat cushion covers and I enjoy plenty of the props I took home for myself :P
Last weekend I more or less closed the adventure when I threw a picture-party that included a small buffet with Indian dishes. One actually even tasted as it did in India. Yaaay fresh garam massala ;)
It was a nice moment for me to share some of my experiences with family and to reflect upon some stories myself as well.
I just uploaded one more photo from Singapore (thanks to a fellow Dutchman we met over there ^^) to my India-album on facebook. Although there are obviously tons of things I have not showed or mentioned I think I would like to leave it at that.
I can honestly say that I am glad to be back again, although there are also things I miss. The spirit of the people and the continuous sense of adventure that any romantic traveller maybe will recognise, for example.
Last week I was dreaming already about my next big undertaking. Don't know yet where that will take me, though. Canada is still very, very high on my list. But first I have to do the research for- and write that thesis. The deadline is set on August 1. So, until then, I guess I will be occupied. But 2 years ago I told two friends from Singapore that I would come to visit them whenever I would be 'around'.
Let's see what the next 2 years have in store?
From Holland with, perhaps, even a little bit more love..
But! I am still aliiiive, and doing fine (again).
Coming back home was in some ways more difficult than I had hoped it would be. Not that I was longing for the Far East so much, but it was tough to arrive back at Dusseldorf Airport on a wednesday only to go back to university and thus move out again on the monday thereafter.
That was just a little bit too fast.
And, of course, there were tons of things that had to be arranged after my return. Or at least it felt that way. Municipalities that had to be informed, insurances that had to be updated, contracts that had to be confirmed (or cancelled), handing over my motorbike to my sister, and I 'just' had to come up with a topic for my Grand Master Thesis *brrr
When I got back to Maastricht all of this kind of overwhelmed me, which made me decide (despite the fact that I paid a ridiculous amount of rent for my temporary accommodation at that time) to go back to my parents. And there I slept - most of the time. I slept 12/13 hours per night without any difficulty and still felt tired during the day. So.. I slept some more :P The good thing about the first phase of thesis writing is that there is not yet thAt much stress about deadlines etc. So in the first 3 weeks I was a lot at my parents' place. Not only to sleep, of course, but also to simply enjoy the company of my family again :)
At the end of january I found a new place to stay, which is where I am at now. The (student)house is considerably shabby. But zhe rent is cheap and my room is fine. And the landlord seems to like me, which makes it easier to complain about things that are not to my liking, yet ;)
By now I have gotten accustomed to the Netherlands again, and I picked up some things of my old lifestyle. Although I realise some things about me have changed. I have become (even) more conscious about my own consumerism, which has translated in my new motto: First Finish. So I am first going to wear my clothing before buying new stuff, and if I buy something new I want to try to do it with an eye for the production processes of the product.
Oh, which brings me to another nice thing after returning back home: it was so much fun to distribute my gifts to loved ones! My box full of clothing from Daram ('our' store), and books, and bags, and shoes [...] arrived pretty much exactly at the same time as I did. We found the note of the delivery service when we got back from the airport ;P So I had to wait only one day for my goods to be handed back to me. The customs (here or in Mumbai?) had opened the box, but I was relieved to find all my stuff still in there.
And so the circus of showing, sharing and smiling began ^^ It was just great. And the dupatta (extremely large scarf) that I got for my brother is worn by him every single day since :D Mission Accomplished.
The cute teddybear sits on my parents' couch, as do the Ikat cushion covers and I enjoy plenty of the props I took home for myself :P
Last weekend I more or less closed the adventure when I threw a picture-party that included a small buffet with Indian dishes. One actually even tasted as it did in India. Yaaay fresh garam massala ;)
It was a nice moment for me to share some of my experiences with family and to reflect upon some stories myself as well.
I just uploaded one more photo from Singapore (thanks to a fellow Dutchman we met over there ^^) to my India-album on facebook. Although there are obviously tons of things I have not showed or mentioned I think I would like to leave it at that.
I can honestly say that I am glad to be back again, although there are also things I miss. The spirit of the people and the continuous sense of adventure that any romantic traveller maybe will recognise, for example.
Last week I was dreaming already about my next big undertaking. Don't know yet where that will take me, though. Canada is still very, very high on my list. But first I have to do the research for- and write that thesis. The deadline is set on August 1. So, until then, I guess I will be occupied. But 2 years ago I told two friends from Singapore that I would come to visit them whenever I would be 'around'.
Let's see what the next 2 years have in store?
From Holland with, perhaps, even a little bit more love..
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