Walking far from home

Consciousness: "Child wake up and check your phone."
Me: "AAA %&#¤#:@!"

Flesh and blood is arriving in an hour and still stuck in bed and have the hoover waiting in the kitchen. Rush rush rush, but remember to also check Facebook!

So I was greeted with a suffocating hug by a character resembling Santa Claus;

1. She defied gravity.
2. She brought me lots of presents.

Enough reasons already to compare Mama to Father Christmas.

Oliebollen and a short sunny walk home. Chocolate enough for the rest of the decade. And The Holy Balls. Touching them after a long time felt like reaching out to heaven and being able to grab a piece of it. I thought my mother would be tired after a long travel, but she insisted we go out for a walk. So the beauty of our neighborhood was shown and the famous "cheap store", which all cottage residents show to their guests. Exploring by foot was really difficult, since it's hard to stay out of the bike road, but a pharmacy and pizzeria were found! Loempia in the city and dazzling Christmas lights and the landmark of whole Breda, which is every exchange student's light back home.

good friends since the age of 5

eskimos do come from finland

cheap store

we'd all be lost without you

Day 2 and what else than Sweden's pride IKEA! Yes, it is the place where I would like to play hide and seek and go to when I miss Finland. Later in the evening we had dinner in the gezellig Borenstompatt. Like I promised in one of my entries that I would bring people from Finland there, so I had to keep my promise. Such a nice place, but this time it was impossible to finish the food. The day ended with a post-Christmas tradition of mine; watching The Breakfast Club. It was for the third time now and I realized that each time it's been in a different place with different people. This time it was great to see it with someone, who loves that movie too and someone, who needs to watch more good movies. And yes I also took the public bus for the first time in Breda.

heja sverige!

grote markt

one of the best!

Day 3 and home made food after a long time! First time Mama trusted me to cook the rice, which ended looking like porridge. I only cook for three people; Me, Myself and I, so no wonder it was a bit hard to put the right amount of ingredients. No one died, that's the most important fact.

Day 4 we're proud to be NHTV. We took the longer way there, because I wanted to visit an old friend. Kjehehehe. Hanging out in the Asian stores took more time than I expected, after which we went bowling.

mama and orko do not get along

kidz kidz stay away!

New Year's Eve. Last day of the year. Chillaxing at home, preparing for 2011. First time I'm scared of the upcoming year. 2010 you treated me well. In the beginning you were a nightmare, which will be haunting me forever, but towards the end you became to be the pal to look up to.

2011, what better way to start you with probably my first proper Dutch tradition. Hanging out at the beach with 10 000 people and taking a dip into the "warmer than I thought" sea was something definitely needed. The Unox hat and gloves were really warm, I didn't really think them to be made of good quality, since you just paid 2€ of which half went to the seals. And the world is saved. Then it was time to walk around Den Haag centre and Rotterdam after that. I hate walking around Rotterdam, due to the tall buildings blocking your sight and therefore not finding places that easily. It always feels good to to be arriving to Breda's trainstation. It somehow feels like arriving home, wonder how the feeling will be in half a year then in Finland.

the most expensive hotel in the netherlands

always the outsider

the first king

erasmus

good times with you <3

Last day of the week and to mass after a while. The sun was shining it was warm, but the church was not. Grrr. Only way to warm up was a trip to McDonald's like in good old days. Perfect breakfast. On TV they showed an Abba documentary, which I had seen before already, but now it had Dutch subtitles and it really messed up your brains when they talked in Swedish every now and then. Weird that I understood Dutch more, however I've never been good in listening excercises with foreign languages. Later in the evening it was time to say goodbye to Troy. It's sad to first say goodbye to my beer tasting buddy and now to my museum buddy. Friends come and go, but museum cards what they leave behind is something to cherish! Kjehehe, thanks Troy! Thanks for all the good trips we've done and for introducing Crystal Castles to me! X

pictures in mama's purse

art from niki, britt & pepijn X

goodbye, hello troy <3

Already a week had passed and it was time to say goodbye to Mama. It was very early at the train station in the morning. Haven't had fun experiences spending time at train stations, but that is a story to tell later on. Thank you Mama for putting food in my fridge for the next 4 days and make sure not to have the stroopwafels in the micro longer than 20 seconds!

And the big cottage was empty again.

the new and improved

One more thing. Thanks to all who have been part of my life the past year, I hope you will be there this coming year too. <3