Today it all ended. That is to say my journey with the worldwide phenomenon Harry Potter. I was 11 when the first movie came, and now 21 when the second part of the last movie. My generation has grown up with Harry and his friends; from elementary to university.
With the books you had people lining up in front of the book stores in costumes hours before the stores opened in the morning. And Finns ordering them in English, because they couldn't wait for them to be translated. At first I didn't even care for the books, due to the ugly book covers, but the buzz became bigger around me. I actually won the first book in our local library's competition.
I went to see the first movie with my brother, so it was a must for him to come see the last one with me today. It's also become a tradition for him to buy me the DVD as a birthday or Christmas gift for the past decade. I wonder what will he think of now.
After seeing the movie I felt sad, but yet haven't understood completely that it has ended. One girl stayed in the theatre crying with her shades on, that's how I wanted to be. There's no new movie to wait for anymore. No opening tune to hear. And I'm sure that I won't get to say that I've spent half of my life with something again.
At a video production course during this spring we had to make a documentary. We pitched topics from life of a deaf person to the end of the world. Due to a reason or another they didn't work out. Then David came up with the idea of marijuana. It felt like something that was possible to work with, so we found our talents and locations (even went to Eindhoven to film).
It was a long rocky pre-production and production phase, and naturally there were some hairy moments with exporting the final product on tape. But as always we managed to pull out a good grade in the end.
catering; david
vox pop
pictures by sound person amalie
The 5- minute documentary has almost a 100 views on YouTube and we're surprised and glad for all the good feedback we've gotten. There are also comments of it being idiocracy and propaganda, which is great since now we know that it has provoked some kind of feelings, even though negative ones, than nothing at all.
The documentary does not reach a conclusion, because if there had been one, it would be either for marijuana or against it. And we are not the people to define it. We wanted to show the general point of view of the subject and opinions of different people. Our goal is to have people think about it from many angles and form opinion of their own.
A big thanks to everyone who helped us. Enjoy and skip to 27seconds if you don't want to see and listen to the color bars.
I started my day with a Compass Brunch at the Inspire, which was absolutely lekker! Surprise surprise that I was the one who ate the most I guess. Even Martin was explaining to others how unbelievable it is for a tiny person to devour so much and not have it show (what can I say my brains consume a lot of energy). Well, once my Finnish school mate said; "I know I shouldn't ask this from a girl, but do you feel like you've gain weight here in Holland?" Yes, but I'm not the only one; all exchange students go through this process. Horrible, but it's been a delicious ride.
where's jallu?
After that we met Jolien and the others in the park to hang out with her before she left for an internship to Arizona. Sleeping, playing cards with Maria and her friends and not listening to a thing what others say was a good way to relax. Just kidding. Naah, but seriously Jolien you were a great buddy tutor to me, Janne and Troy. Thanks for those fun trips around your tiny country, and for helping out with everything especially giving feedback for my assignments, cooking yummy Dutch food and making me watch the Superbowl for the first time ever, which was awesome!
someone has good cards
awesome idea jolien
It was quite funny for her to ask me how I was doing, and I just thought haven't we been talking everyday now for the past week. But aah yes, we were only talking about my writing assignments :D I perhaps do regret a bit that I didn't go see an Ajax game with you when I had the chance, especially when Suarez was still playing there. Also, that me and Maria never visited your home village and live the Dutch life. I hope though that you and Anneke would really travel around the Nordic countries next year, and I'd see you guys again! Gonna miss you, and wish you all the best. And remember to send an invitation for yours and Jari's wedding.
don't let that smile ever fade, eh!
Later in the evening we went to play some pool, and clearly I hadn't played for a long time. I think I was hitting the air more often than the balls. I relied a lot on Felix to win for us, but that plan didn't work either.
The night wasn't over yet, since we still had to check out Dependance for live music. That was fun.
What I noticed during the day is that we've started to ask people who come for a visit what they think about Holland, like it was our home country. And then we make them eat fries with mayo. Also quite often Spanish people talk in their own language, even though there are non-Spanish around, but when their friends from Spain come they say; "No no you have to speak English. You can improve your English now."
Judit, my dear fat mate went back home yesterday, so it's time to catch up with the happenings of the last couple of days.
On Thursday we finally climbed the church tower (Jazz thought that we'd litereally climb it). Breda's Grote Kerk has been a landmark for us since the beginning of our stay; always when you see the church you're not lost anymore. Felt a bit strange to go inside this "map" of ours. It was tough to go up the stairs, but the view of seeing whole Breda was worth it.
I never realized how beautiful Breda can look from up there; the houses were just amazing. It was a good idea to leave this experience for the end of our exchange period. Now I'll always remember Breda as one of the pretty gezellig cities there are to be. Those who haven't visited the tower yet, do it!
After that we grabbed some Italian food and witnessed like four civil weddings during our lunch.
As it got dark, we were ready to go party for the last time with Judit. We first met all in the park; Judit told everyone that she'd be there around 11, but she thought that no one would come there since no one replied her Facebook message. But half an hour later someone called to ask where she was. OF COURSE PEOPLE WANT TO SAY GOODBYE TO YOU! aih stupido.
But of course everyone naturally thought that she was Spanishly late.
Thursday is the party day over here, and that usually includes De Boulevard and then the Speeltuin. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't hear more of dubstep in Boule, but the Speel had pretty good music now. I saw so many familiar faces that it felt like autumn again.
When I left the Speel, my fear came true; Judit crying on the street. It was deja vu, because same thing happened in December. I was certain that it wouldn't happen again, but there she was just outside the Speel crying AGAIN! They were crying with Jara, and when they started hugging me, I had no choice but to cry too. And then laugh. But they cried for 1½ hour, and I'm not exaggerating at all. Sometimes it was hard to see whether Judit was really drunk or crying, she kind of looks the same in both cases.
It took over an hour to say goodbye to everyone, so it was past five when we got to Jara's place, where we stayed for the night. We talked about how the people here are more than friends; they're family. And we felt that this is not the end, only the beginning of something really awesome. Living with Judit for almost 11 months has created a special bond with her. The year was full of laughters, fights, pranks, silent treatments and so on. She even said "Sometimes I hated you, but I had to think it's Jaleh". Awww! Sometimes I wanted to kill you
too.
In the morning Judit tried to teach Jara some Finnish, which was kind of funny; a Spanish to another Spanish. Three of us and Maria went to Jumbo to get something for lunch, and well the chocolate cake was goed! This time it was hard to see whether Judit was sad or just hungoverd. She kind of looks the same in both cases.
bolita jalita
Then the dreaded moment came; saying goodbye at the train station. It seriously felt like only yesterday that I sent Judit a message saying that hopefully we'd get along, because one year is a long period! And now it felt as if the year hasn't even started and already we had to see her train leave. Also me not crying for ages the previous night showed itself now. Well that's what happens when you concentrate on eating your fries, and looking at the drama queens cry their hearts out, you do it yourself later. lol X
But en serio!! Who's gonna clean our kitchen now, who's gonna be in the living room with her laptop and eating a glass full of cereals in the morning when I wake up, who's gonna say we should clean, who's gonna help me with technical stuff, who's gonna be the clumsy one? WHOO?!
Jazz said that as if we had broken up or something, because I was listening to sad James Blunt songs and looking at pictures. Hahahaha :D Well, what do you expect from 11 months of being fat mates, school mates, and almost team and work mates.
What I'm trying to say is that Judit I love you, you're a sister to me, miss you, gonna see you again, don't know where, but soon for sure! And don't worry I will eat your food. EEEEGSS?! Dankjewel. Alsjeblieft. Adeu bitch you!
