Where have you been?
Well I have been kind of busy and I have left London and moved back to the Netherlands.
What? Why?
Good question. Because four years 24 hours a day in the hustle and bustle of central London was enough for me.
London is a very exciting and fantastic city and there is a lot on offer. But living there 24 hours
a day is different from visiting it as a tourist. There are great jobs in London, and a lot of people
come to London to work and get great working experience. This also means that everybody is always in
a hurry and building up a social life is hard. And I was incredibly tired of flat sharing too.
So after four years I decided that it had been enough. I packed my stuff, called a man in a van, and
voila I left.
When and where to?
I am back in the Netherlands – back to my roots. After 14 and a bit years abroad I felt that it was time to
move back to my home country.
When?
I have been here since the last week of June 2010.
Do I miss London?
Sometimes. I miss that life never stops in London and that there is always something to do. That the shops
are always open and that there are so many theatres, cafes and cinemas. That you can attend events with interesting
people like Bill Nighy or Kevin Spacey. And the English sense of humour. And the charity shops with
cheap English pockets. The red busses. And ok then, the tube outside rush hour hours.
I better stop now otherwise I might want to move back.
I will definitely be back in London as a tourist though and I am still waiting for Bill to get his act (literally)
together and take on a play in London.
What now, then?
That is something I am asking myself too. I have found a job and am currently working in
Amsterdam. I am back on my bicycle which makes me happy. And I am looking at potential nice places to live.
I am not sure if I want to live in a house with a little garden a bit away from a city or in a flat a bit
closer to a city. Decisions, decisions!
And seeing as I have been away for such a long time, I need to start from scratch building up a social life too.
In other words – there is enough to keep me busy for a while (besides filling out a million forms – which
you have to when you change country)
So that’s the story, morning glory. How have you all been?
I will also try to post more regularly but posts might be shorter and sometimes just contain cool things I find on the net. But it is better
than nothing at all right? And as a new thing you can Facebook “Like” posts here on this weblog.
Welcome Home !!
It’s really weird that you’re now living nearby. But I get it too and I hope you will be very happy where ever you will live o))
Thanks for the post, wonderful to hear from you again! Twitter just isn’t as good.
I think you’ve made a wise decision. It’s like you said: London is great to visit, but I guess it’s hard to live in if you don’t have family and friends around.
Hope you’ll find a nice house or apartment for yourself soon. But don’t rush it. Rome wasn’t build in a day either.
Welcome back (here & The Netherlands!)
I’ve done very little since last speaking to you apart from three days in Yorkshire a fortnight ago which was nice although I had a stinking summer cold. Have developed more of a crush on Mark Rylance! Saw him last month in La Bete, here’s some pictures I took:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26286848@N02/sets/72157624340807129/show/
Hope you find a good job and somewhere great to live.
I can understand that – I did 8 years in London adn the glacially slow pace at which you got to know people (well, *I* got to know people) was very frustrating. I come from a smaller town and am used to everyone knowing everyone and if you meet a stranger you talk about them to third parties, trying to work out a connection. That’s impossible in a city of 8 million. I loved it for a while, didn’t mind it for a bit, then started feeling a bit lonely.
Hope the Netherlands is better. Adn how lovely to hear the name of your country written correctly rather than that other H-word.