Saturday, 28 June 2008
Thursday, 26 June 2008
The girl is back in town!
I've spent so many days packing that by now I could consider it as a part of my normal daily routine. In fact, for many days it seems that I've almost only been packing. Packing all your stuff up and preparing to leave is depressing. I gave my furniture to Dávid and Gábor with the condition that if I end up in Utrecht in a year, I'll get them back. I left two boxes of random things for Fiona - she can have fun with selecting things that she likes. I gave a bag full of teas, coffee and candles to Lynn and I sold my bike to Rose Ann for 20 euros, hihi. I warned her that she should break in time; the breaks don1t work too well. So, even then, I filled up a large suitcase, a smaller suitcase (which was just small enough to be allowed to be labelled a hand luggage), a bag for my skis (which also hosted 3 pillows, a scarf, numerous pairs of socks and all my shoes besides my skis for those couple of hours), and of course, I had my laptop in a laptop bag and I had a proper handbag. I still had to give a bag full of things to Lynn, which I will pick up next year when I'm back.
So, yes, I could write about how it feels to pack up your life and leave, but I don't feel like getting emotional at the moment. I guess you appreciate that too. Some tears were shed, some depressed, distressed and sad hours went by, but now it's time for something completely new. I'm starting a life completely on my own, as a grown-up young woman. Exciting, isn't it?
I am in the process of moving all my stuff to my new place, just 7 minutes away from where I used to live with my parents. That's a convenient distance in terms of going over for dinner or going over to walk the dog if they are not at home. Last night my whole floor was covered with clothes and things ranging from body lotion through an mp3 player to a tea egg. That's actually not too hard to achieve if the full area of your apartment is around 30 m3. I bet I could cover a larger surface with my mess though :) By now the flat is in a pretty civilized state. I've had a lot of firsts already: first proper meal, first eyebrow picking, first washing up, first broken glass. First blog post :)
It's very gezellig. I feel at home here. I expected it to be a bit worse, but since the place really looks like the way I wanted it, it feels like a familiar environment. After all, I did spend a whole summer and a winter furnishing it... So, it feels like MY home. There are only a few things missing: a laundry bag, speakers (I want them for my computer), a headset (so that I can skype) and a fishtank (yes, I'll get fish!).
I'll post some pictures later...
So, yes, I could write about how it feels to pack up your life and leave, but I don't feel like getting emotional at the moment. I guess you appreciate that too. Some tears were shed, some depressed, distressed and sad hours went by, but now it's time for something completely new. I'm starting a life completely on my own, as a grown-up young woman. Exciting, isn't it?
I am in the process of moving all my stuff to my new place, just 7 minutes away from where I used to live with my parents. That's a convenient distance in terms of going over for dinner or going over to walk the dog if they are not at home. Last night my whole floor was covered with clothes and things ranging from body lotion through an mp3 player to a tea egg. That's actually not too hard to achieve if the full area of your apartment is around 30 m3. I bet I could cover a larger surface with my mess though :) By now the flat is in a pretty civilized state. I've had a lot of firsts already: first proper meal, first eyebrow picking, first washing up, first broken glass. First blog post :)
It's very gezellig. I feel at home here. I expected it to be a bit worse, but since the place really looks like the way I wanted it, it feels like a familiar environment. After all, I did spend a whole summer and a winter furnishing it... So, it feels like MY home. There are only a few things missing: a laundry bag, speakers (I want them for my computer), a headset (so that I can skype) and a fishtank (yes, I'll get fish!).
I'll post some pictures later...
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Graduated!
It's raining outside. Smooth, quiet rain. I was thinking about going to town today, but this weather makes the day more appropriate for other things. Such as cleaning and arranging stuff. I threw out half of my notes and the remaining folders still fill up half a box. Maybe I'll just have to leave a box with someone. I might return to this place anyway. It would be nice then if I didn't have to start everything from the beginning and I'd have my own bedding, some books etc. If I end up going somewhere else, I can still come and pick up the things I need and bring them home. And yes, it's also the perfect weather to write a post. I owe a post on graduation; after all I've been working for this little A5 sheet of paper for 3 years...
It's an honor to be asked to be the valedictorian, and it is a nice job, but it is also very stressful. I had 3 weeks to figure out what I wanted to say and whatever I did, it was always at the back of my mind. You might ask why I never wrote about it if I knew it 3 weeks in advance. Well, the Dean asked me not to spread the word. Nevertheless, I did tell some friends and it seemed that they took care of spreading the word because the closer we got to the big day, the more people came up to me to congratulate. 3 days before graduation I restarted the whole speech. I didn't like the original version. It was too standard. So, I went to to the bar in the afternoon, I got a Red Bull, sat down at our BarCo meeting table, and started writing. Handwriting :) I realized that words flow much easier if you take a piece of paper and a pen. Typing blocked me from putting things down. So, I started writing different lines of thoughts on different pages and once I had enough, I moved to Voltaire to type it up. I liked it. Of course, I added stuff the last night. There is no real work without time pressure.
My parents came 2 days earlier than graduation to have time to look around and visit some places. On the day itself, in the first 5 minutes of meeting them my mother already managed to piss me off. I sent them inside. We were outside the theater for a long while, taking pictures, talking, being excited. Everybody in a gown boiled under their outfit. I loved my purple dress. It was absolutely beautiful and very airy. The procession into the hall was lovely. Everybody in the audience was standing and applauding. I wasn't nervous at all during those couple of minutes. Simply happy that we got there. 3 years of hard work, damn right, we deserved it.
The whole ceremony was very nice. The commencement speaker was the mayor of Amsterdam, and his speech was much better than that of the last commencement speaker, but I have to admit that I was concentrating way too much on what I was going to say to pay attention to everything he said. I was glad he really addressed the graduates instead of just talking about himself. Maybe he talked a bit too much about himself too, but at least there was a message. The Dean was okay. We got our diplomas. My shoes almost fell down while on the stairs, but in the last minute I managed to get my heel back in :) Before graduation I thought that the best entrance would be to fall right on your face when walking up to the stage - it would certainly take the stress away. It would also make the whole thing very funny and then you could show it to your grandchildren: "look, here is granny getting her diploma", bang. But I didn't fall. I did put the knot on my belt from the right to the left though instead of doing the thing with the cap. I didn't have a cap either, you see.
They said I wouldn't really see much when I was going to speak on stage, and it's true that I didn't see much of the faces, but I saw most of the silhouettes. I wished I didn't. The theater was completely full. I don't mind talking in front of people, I actually love giving presentations in class, but this was huge. Fucking up in front of a class is fine. Fucking up at your graduation is not so fine. So, yes, I was nervous. But it went well. Especially based on the feedback. So many people I didn't know came up to me to compliment. Parents, random guests, tutors I didn't know. What I thought would be my 10 minutes of fame ended up being something like 3 hours of fame. So, I was all happy; the message was well received. Floris said that the Dean's head went quite red when I said that UC is pretentious, but that's something I expected to happen the least. He didn't get a heart attack or anything, so it's all good. I did talk to him afterward and he didn't mention anything about my criticisms.
The reception was good. I couldn't eat anything all day, so I got tipsy in no time. In the morning I couldn't get anything down, and I figured that it's better not to eat than to throw up. Later there was no chance to eat. I muched on a piece of biscuit just before I had to get on stage and that was it. So, the three glasses of wine could just as well have been a whole bottle and it felt so nice. The moment I got off stage, I finally felt the stress evaporate, and the light tipsiness at the reception removed all the traces of nervousness. I was very hungry though. My parents and I reserved a table at a tapas place for half past 6, which more or less the time I got there after the reception and I ate as if I hadn't eaten for two days...
I had a shower when I got home, lied across my double bed naked and passed out for half an hour. Then only got back to bed around 6 am.
And it is indeed a summa cum laude.
It's an honor to be asked to be the valedictorian, and it is a nice job, but it is also very stressful. I had 3 weeks to figure out what I wanted to say and whatever I did, it was always at the back of my mind. You might ask why I never wrote about it if I knew it 3 weeks in advance. Well, the Dean asked me not to spread the word. Nevertheless, I did tell some friends and it seemed that they took care of spreading the word because the closer we got to the big day, the more people came up to me to congratulate. 3 days before graduation I restarted the whole speech. I didn't like the original version. It was too standard. So, I went to to the bar in the afternoon, I got a Red Bull, sat down at our BarCo meeting table, and started writing. Handwriting :) I realized that words flow much easier if you take a piece of paper and a pen. Typing blocked me from putting things down. So, I started writing different lines of thoughts on different pages and once I had enough, I moved to Voltaire to type it up. I liked it. Of course, I added stuff the last night. There is no real work without time pressure.
My parents came 2 days earlier than graduation to have time to look around and visit some places. On the day itself, in the first 5 minutes of meeting them my mother already managed to piss me off. I sent them inside. We were outside the theater for a long while, taking pictures, talking, being excited. Everybody in a gown boiled under their outfit. I loved my purple dress. It was absolutely beautiful and very airy. The procession into the hall was lovely. Everybody in the audience was standing and applauding. I wasn't nervous at all during those couple of minutes. Simply happy that we got there. 3 years of hard work, damn right, we deserved it.
The whole ceremony was very nice. The commencement speaker was the mayor of Amsterdam, and his speech was much better than that of the last commencement speaker, but I have to admit that I was concentrating way too much on what I was going to say to pay attention to everything he said. I was glad he really addressed the graduates instead of just talking about himself. Maybe he talked a bit too much about himself too, but at least there was a message. The Dean was okay. We got our diplomas. My shoes almost fell down while on the stairs, but in the last minute I managed to get my heel back in :) Before graduation I thought that the best entrance would be to fall right on your face when walking up to the stage - it would certainly take the stress away. It would also make the whole thing very funny and then you could show it to your grandchildren: "look, here is granny getting her diploma", bang. But I didn't fall. I did put the knot on my belt from the right to the left though instead of doing the thing with the cap. I didn't have a cap either, you see.
They said I wouldn't really see much when I was going to speak on stage, and it's true that I didn't see much of the faces, but I saw most of the silhouettes. I wished I didn't. The theater was completely full. I don't mind talking in front of people, I actually love giving presentations in class, but this was huge. Fucking up in front of a class is fine. Fucking up at your graduation is not so fine. So, yes, I was nervous. But it went well. Especially based on the feedback. So many people I didn't know came up to me to compliment. Parents, random guests, tutors I didn't know. What I thought would be my 10 minutes of fame ended up being something like 3 hours of fame. So, I was all happy; the message was well received. Floris said that the Dean's head went quite red when I said that UC is pretentious, but that's something I expected to happen the least. He didn't get a heart attack or anything, so it's all good. I did talk to him afterward and he didn't mention anything about my criticisms.
The reception was good. I couldn't eat anything all day, so I got tipsy in no time. In the morning I couldn't get anything down, and I figured that it's better not to eat than to throw up. Later there was no chance to eat. I muched on a piece of biscuit just before I had to get on stage and that was it. So, the three glasses of wine could just as well have been a whole bottle and it felt so nice. The moment I got off stage, I finally felt the stress evaporate, and the light tipsiness at the reception removed all the traces of nervousness. I was very hungry though. My parents and I reserved a table at a tapas place for half past 6, which more or less the time I got there after the reception and I ate as if I hadn't eaten for two days...
I had a shower when I got home, lied across my double bed naked and passed out for half an hour. Then only got back to bed around 6 am.
And it is indeed a summa cum laude.
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Just some quick thoughts
Teaching was amazing! I really enjoyed it. It's nice to see when people finally understand and start to aply stuff. They look happy, and I'm happy because their success is my success.
Bojan left a couple of days ago. This morning Flipo and Andrew left too. BarCo is falling into pieces... Yesterday I transferred my responsibilities to Natasha, so she is the one making the schedule for the graduation party. Yay. Yesterday I also swang one of the lamps :) "We built this bar. Our blood, sweat and tears..." Whoohoo. Max was chiefing. He didn't really like it.
This whole graduation business is quite stressful. I got my tickets yesterday. I didn't order a sweater or a cap or a gown, but I did order a DVD. I'd like to have the footage. I think I'll be quite anxious on the day itself. I kind of wish it was over already. It will be, in due time... Haha, I wonder what the Dean will say afterwards, if he will say anything.
My parents are coming today. As in, mom and Béla bácsi. It would certainly be less stressful without them, but I'll be fine. I hope they come with good intentions. This is going to be my day. I still have to find a restaurant to eat at after the ceremony.
And then we're going to party and be hungover for a whole day. It should be nice :)
Oh, and BarCo is going to reunite at the Balaton Sound festival!!!
Bojan left a couple of days ago. This morning Flipo and Andrew left too. BarCo is falling into pieces... Yesterday I transferred my responsibilities to Natasha, so she is the one making the schedule for the graduation party. Yay. Yesterday I also swang one of the lamps :) "We built this bar. Our blood, sweat and tears..." Whoohoo. Max was chiefing. He didn't really like it.
This whole graduation business is quite stressful. I got my tickets yesterday. I didn't order a sweater or a cap or a gown, but I did order a DVD. I'd like to have the footage. I think I'll be quite anxious on the day itself. I kind of wish it was over already. It will be, in due time... Haha, I wonder what the Dean will say afterwards, if he will say anything.
My parents are coming today. As in, mom and Béla bácsi. It would certainly be less stressful without them, but I'll be fine. I hope they come with good intentions. This is going to be my day. I still have to find a restaurant to eat at after the ceremony.
And then we're going to party and be hungover for a whole day. It should be nice :)
Oh, and BarCo is going to reunite at the Balaton Sound festival!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
