In the Netherlands: friends

Time is always limited with an I am in the Netherlands, so I always only see a limited number of friends. The usual suspects are Roelof and Monique. And this year I would see them early on. I arrived at Roelof and Micha’s place in the afternoon, after I had travelled in the previous night. And we had some good time to catch up! And later, two more friends would join, also from the cohort of ‘93: Erik and Viking. Erik joined us for dinner, and Viking showed up a bit later. It was great to see them! And we also took the opportunity for starting to plan a hike together.

The coming August, we will all have known each other for 30 years. We will also have to celebrate that!

Late night group selfie

What was a bit hard in this company was look after my health. It really is great to see them! And I don't get that opportunity very often. But I had gone to bed too late the night before, and I had a cold, and towards the end of the night I could feel my voice faltering. I made sure not to drink too much, and when it really got late I just said I really wanted to go to bed. I sleep in the living room when I am at Roelof's place, so I can't go to bed unless everybody leaves or goes to bed themselves!

I tried to sleep, but it is hard if you struggle to breathe through your nose. And the next morning I had no voice. Shit! I was here to connect with people, and talking is an important part of that. But I had failed.

There was another disappointment; my next port of call would be Monique, but she texted me her dog had died and she couldn't really cope with visitors. The dog was really old, but I understand it can still hit one hard! I hoped she would be ok. But that meant I had no immediate place to go. I did a lot more drinking coffee with Roelof. And I decided that this would give me a bit more time with my father and stepmother. Sometimes I just see them over the Christmas dinner and don't visit them at home. This time I actually wanted to see their new house. They already had the key, and it was still almost completely empty, but the next time I will be in the country they will be leaving in it.

I couldn't phone them to ask if that was convenient as I didn't have a voice, but Roelof was willing to do the honours. And it was OK with my dad! So Roelof and I had one more coffee and then he walked me to the railway station. I hope I'll see him during our proposed hike!

And with that, the part of my visit that involved people I have no family relationship with was over. It was good to see several friends! Even though I would be paying the price…