Hello everyone!
Here I am: writing from the Netherlands. This past week in the Netherlands has been 'truly gezellig' (like Obama would say).
I spent the week enjoying the Netherlands. Being away this year has definitely made me appreciate my homecountry more and more. The first few days I was running around the Netherlands to see as many friends and family as possible. On wednesday night, it was time to pick up Rachel and Christabel from the busstation. My Canadian friends that I met in Swansea spent a few days with me in Holland to visit me and the country. We did quite a lot of sightseeing, and it was fun to see my country through a tourist's eyes. We went to the Zaanse Schans, had stroopwafels and stroopsoldaatjes, had a picknick in the park, went to the Anne Frank House, did a canal cruise, went to the flower market, etc, etc.
We had the perfect ending to their visit: King's day! Yesterday, we went to Utrecht, my University city, to pre-drink at my old house with my friends from Uni. Then we went into the city centre and enjoyed all of the orange madness! After a few hours dancing in the sun, we ended up at a house party, and in the end: on a boat. We are still very proud that we managed not to fall into the Canal.
Today, I will pack my suitcase to return to the UK for the last time this year. I still have two more months at my internship, and to enjoy living in London with my lovely housemates, friends and colleagues. I will have to say my final goodbyes to everyone in Swansea as well. It's quite weird to think that the next time I will be coming back to the Netherlands, it will be to actually move back here. After this week, I have to say I am also quite excited to move back to Utrecht and to live in the Netherlands again, even though saying goodbye to the UK will be very difficult...
Love,
Yolanda
zondag 27 april 2014
maandag 21 april 2014
With love, from the Netherlands
Hallo allemaal!
Yes, I am back in the wonderful country of cheese, tulips and freedom again!
Last week, after a few days at the office, I got on the bus on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, my journey didn't go as well as I'd hoped... Due to an electronic problem with one of the train in the Eurotunnel, we had to wait 8,5 hours at the Terminal before we could get om the train to France, which only takes half an hour. As you can understand, I was NOT amused. Neither was my mom, when she had to pick me up in Amsterdam at half past 4 in the morning...
But, I was back in Holland! These last few days have been filled with seeing family and friends, and eating and drinken; just as Easter should be! This week, I will basically keep doing this. On Wednesday, my friends Rachel and Christabel that I met during my time in Swansea will arrive in Amsterdam to visit me! So I'll spend a few days being a tourist in my own country :) We'll end the week with, of course: King's Day! A day where you can wear orange, drink beer and dance on the streets, without feeling embarrassed. And morst of all: celebrate the beautiful country that is the Netherlands :)
Love,
Yolanda
Yes, I am back in the wonderful country of cheese, tulips and freedom again!
Last week, after a few days at the office, I got on the bus on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, my journey didn't go as well as I'd hoped... Due to an electronic problem with one of the train in the Eurotunnel, we had to wait 8,5 hours at the Terminal before we could get om the train to France, which only takes half an hour. As you can understand, I was NOT amused. Neither was my mom, when she had to pick me up in Amsterdam at half past 4 in the morning...
But, I was back in Holland! These last few days have been filled with seeing family and friends, and eating and drinken; just as Easter should be! This week, I will basically keep doing this. On Wednesday, my friends Rachel and Christabel that I met during my time in Swansea will arrive in Amsterdam to visit me! So I'll spend a few days being a tourist in my own country :) We'll end the week with, of course: King's Day! A day where you can wear orange, drink beer and dance on the streets, without feeling embarrassed. And morst of all: celebrate the beautiful country that is the Netherlands :)
Love,
Yolanda
zondag 13 april 2014
The end of Lent and the first half of my London-life
Wow. It is seriously Sunday night again? When did that happen? Time is going by so quickly, it's scary.
This week was again an exiting week at Netberg. We have started planning our official launch event, and I get to help out with the preparations. It's still is a month away, but I'm sure that month is gonna fly by, so we need to focus and work hard!
This weekend was pretty amazing to be honest. A good weekend of a lot of London-fun. Friday night, it was time to catch up with Kirsten and cook and eat some lovely food. On Saturday we went to Victoria & Albert museum together, and afterwards we enjoyed some of the most beautiful places of London: The Borough of Chelsea and Kensington. We even ended up in Harrods and we were almost crying because all of the beautiful night gowns. Mostly because they were expensive and we will probably never be able to afford them...
Saturday night, I had a social with work. We went to this place near Westminster Bridge (where I got to enjoy the sunset over the Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, while I was waiting for my colleagues who were late, so it was a blessing in disguise). We played table tennis and pool all night, while enjoying each other company and of course: had a few beers.
This morning I went to Palm Sunday at St Paul's Cathedral. I had never been inside, and I thought: ha, why not go to a service, without having to pay the entrance fee. As it is the Holy Week, I thought: there must be something special going on at St. Paul's this week. And I was right: this morning, there was a re-enactment of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, with a procession of palms led by a donkey from Paternoster Square, which is right next to the Cathedral. After that, there was a Eucharist service. I am so happy that I went this morning. It was very special to be able to see St. Pauls like that, while listening to the amazing choir and the Bible stories. The procession before the service was also really special, with in fact not one but two donkeys!
As this is the Holy Week, it is also the last week of Lent, so of me not eating meat. I was surprised that I didn't struggle that much with not eating meat. I saw it as a test for myself. I have always been talking about how I just want to eat organic meat, as it is better for the animals and the environment. But it is quite hard to get(especially in restaurant and pubs) and expensive. Therefor I thought: ah it's to hard to just eat organic meat, I'll just eat any meat. That's why I stopped eating meat during Lent: to see how much I would really miss it. Turns out: I'm ok without it. Therefor I have decided, if I want to eat meat, I have to be sure it's organic.
This week is not just the countdown to Easter, but also for me to go home for a bit! As much as I love London, I can't WAIT to be home on Thursday night. I can't wait to see everyone!
Love,
Yolanda
This week was again an exiting week at Netberg. We have started planning our official launch event, and I get to help out with the preparations. It's still is a month away, but I'm sure that month is gonna fly by, so we need to focus and work hard!
This weekend was pretty amazing to be honest. A good weekend of a lot of London-fun. Friday night, it was time to catch up with Kirsten and cook and eat some lovely food. On Saturday we went to Victoria & Albert museum together, and afterwards we enjoyed some of the most beautiful places of London: The Borough of Chelsea and Kensington. We even ended up in Harrods and we were almost crying because all of the beautiful night gowns. Mostly because they were expensive and we will probably never be able to afford them...
Saturday night, I had a social with work. We went to this place near Westminster Bridge (where I got to enjoy the sunset over the Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, while I was waiting for my colleagues who were late, so it was a blessing in disguise). We played table tennis and pool all night, while enjoying each other company and of course: had a few beers.
This morning I went to Palm Sunday at St Paul's Cathedral. I had never been inside, and I thought: ha, why not go to a service, without having to pay the entrance fee. As it is the Holy Week, I thought: there must be something special going on at St. Paul's this week. And I was right: this morning, there was a re-enactment of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, with a procession of palms led by a donkey from Paternoster Square, which is right next to the Cathedral. After that, there was a Eucharist service. I am so happy that I went this morning. It was very special to be able to see St. Pauls like that, while listening to the amazing choir and the Bible stories. The procession before the service was also really special, with in fact not one but two donkeys!
As this is the Holy Week, it is also the last week of Lent, so of me not eating meat. I was surprised that I didn't struggle that much with not eating meat. I saw it as a test for myself. I have always been talking about how I just want to eat organic meat, as it is better for the animals and the environment. But it is quite hard to get(especially in restaurant and pubs) and expensive. Therefor I thought: ah it's to hard to just eat organic meat, I'll just eat any meat. That's why I stopped eating meat during Lent: to see how much I would really miss it. Turns out: I'm ok without it. Therefor I have decided, if I want to eat meat, I have to be sure it's organic.
This week is not just the countdown to Easter, but also for me to go home for a bit! As much as I love London, I can't WAIT to be home on Thursday night. I can't wait to see everyone!
Love,
Yolanda
maandag 7 april 2014
Whoops!
Oh dear, it was been more than two weeks since my last blogpost. So this blogpost now is wrong in two ways: it's a week late, and it's on a monday.
Ok, so I'll try to put these past two weeks in one Sunday Story, here we go:
I can hardly remember what happened the first week of the two, which probably means that it wasn't too interesting. I guess I just worked and spent my free time hanging out with friends. Oh, and I wrote my Work Placement Progress Report and handed it in. I had to hand this in 8 weeks after the start up my internship. And then I realised: I've been here for that long already? WHAT?
It's safe to say that these two months have gone by so quickly. I guess it's because I just got used to London, and the people, and made it my home. So I'm just really enjoying my time here, and you know what they say: time flies when you're having fun!
The second week was a little bit more eventful. First of all, things are starting to get more and more busy at my internship, which is really good because that means Netberg is doing well! Last week, I even got to represent Netberg with on of my bosses at Google Campus, at an event for start-ups. (see photo)
Other than that, I saw a lot of lovely people that I hadn't seen in a long time. First of all, my sister and her boyfriend came to visit London! I had a lot of fun showing them around, catching up, and spoiling my sister for her birthday. I also had Sunday-afternoon beers with two friends I met during my time in Swansea, which was also lovely.
And of course, there was a crazy night out in Shoreditch. Again.
So now it's April 7th already. Which means I'm going back home for a bit in 10 days! Although I will definitely miss London and my people here, I also can't wait to go back to Holland for 1,5 weeks. I really need some fresh air, a better shower-head and especially: cuddles from all of my lovely friends and family :)
Have a lovely week everyone!
Yolanda
Ok, so I'll try to put these past two weeks in one Sunday Story, here we go:
I can hardly remember what happened the first week of the two, which probably means that it wasn't too interesting. I guess I just worked and spent my free time hanging out with friends. Oh, and I wrote my Work Placement Progress Report and handed it in. I had to hand this in 8 weeks after the start up my internship. And then I realised: I've been here for that long already? WHAT?
It's safe to say that these two months have gone by so quickly. I guess it's because I just got used to London, and the people, and made it my home. So I'm just really enjoying my time here, and you know what they say: time flies when you're having fun!
The second week was a little bit more eventful. First of all, things are starting to get more and more busy at my internship, which is really good because that means Netberg is doing well! Last week, I even got to represent Netberg with on of my bosses at Google Campus, at an event for start-ups. (see photo)
Other than that, I saw a lot of lovely people that I hadn't seen in a long time. First of all, my sister and her boyfriend came to visit London! I had a lot of fun showing them around, catching up, and spoiling my sister for her birthday. I also had Sunday-afternoon beers with two friends I met during my time in Swansea, which was also lovely.
And of course, there was a crazy night out in Shoreditch. Again.
So now it's April 7th already. Which means I'm going back home for a bit in 10 days! Although I will definitely miss London and my people here, I also can't wait to go back to Holland for 1,5 weeks. I really need some fresh air, a better shower-head and especially: cuddles from all of my lovely friends and family :)
Have a lovely week everyone!
Yolanda
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