I missed the Netherlands

Good morning Utrecht!

I have just returned to the Netherlands after a five-week break. I ate a lot of festive foods and caught up with friends but spent a disturbingly large amount of time hanging around my cat Daisy telling her my secrets and imagining her replies.

I live in the South of France. It was fifteen degrees when I was there, I was sauntering about in a t-shirt and I loved it. I don’t, however, love the French. It continuously baffles me how they can be so miserable when they live in such a ridiculously beautiful part of the world. But I’m used to them, they’ve been pissing me off for years.

What surprised me was how much I wanted to be back in Utrecht. I missed feeling short next to other humans. The French are so petite that they could fit in a Dutchman’s pocket. I craved the thrill of adventure that comes with exploring a new city and its hidden gems. I even missed riding my bike amongst a herd of Dutch commuters. But above all I could not wait to be reunited with my friends and rejoice in their foreign banter.

Before returning to Dutch turf I spent a week in the French Alps on my university’s ski trip. Ninety of us packed into one bus for a fourteen-hour journey all the way down to a land where gods and goddesses effortlessly glide down the slopes under the beaming sun. It was a fantastic week of eating overpriced Panini’s on the slopes, slipping on black ice, après-ski with Swedish men and light bonding with the Dutch (yay it’s happening!).

At high altitudes in Val Thorens

I’m now back on campus and ready to take the new semester by storm. By that I mean making the absolute most of the time I have left in this country and ignoring most of my work commitments (bar my Dutch language homework, of course). I feel well and truly integrated into Dutch-land and will probably refuse to leave by padlocking myself to a bike rack. But I’ll cross that tragic bridge when I get to it.

It’s pouring with rain outside, I can hear the familiar Dutch twang in my friends’ chatter and I’m once again faced with revolting canteen food. This place is just how I left it and it’s wonderful to be back.

Happy bunny back by the canals