mini-mona

3 months ago you could find my last report here. Why nothing in between? Well, I had some difficulties in uploading texts and a lot of you had troubles in leaving comments or messages, therefore I gave it up for a while. Now I will give it another try ... if it does not satisfy me, I will change to another blog provider. Let's see.

There has not been to much happening in the last three months to be honest. I did have a great time, but nothing spectacular. Oh, that's not true, Mona! There is one really outstanding news:
I got accepted into the exchange programme and will be moving to Bournemouth, UK, in summer to continue my studies there for one year. I am so looking forward to it, but also enjoy my time here until then.

Last week I flew to Bournemouth to see what my new 'hometown' looks like and to visit my host university. It was really amazing! I love this city, pretty made up for tourists though.
But the hilly British atmosphere, the beach with palms (yes indeed!!), a lot more churches to choose from than here in NL, the nice nightlife, the friendly people ... what else could I want? :)
During these few days I stayed at my friend's workplace and enjoyed it so much. Thanks, Enie, for this great time with you!

Besides the daily life here, studying, successful exams, reports and presentations, hanging out with friends, relaxing in the sun (yes, we had perfect summer weather for weeks), some nights out and so on I spontaneously went to Germany a couple of weeks ago to surprise my mum and a lot of friends. I had such a great time there, so thank you guys for meeting me and for keeping in touch, even though I am jumping around the world. This really means a lot to me to know that we are still part of each other's lifes. I carry you in my heart and thoughts, friends!

To leave this as a general overview and quick inside into the current situation I want to end with saying how important the real friendships are to me and thanking you once more for these.

'Nothing is more precious than a true friend.'

'Those who make you happy deserve your thanks.' 

‘There once was a man. A man of much wisdom. One day this man met a young kid by the name of Greg. Greg walked up to the man and said "I bet you four dollars that I can swallow this whole apple". Well the man being wise and all said "that’s an easy four dollars" so he agreed.

As soon as he had agreed the kid pulled out a knife and started cutting the apple and swallowing each piece. Five minutes later the kid was done and said "ok four dollars please". The man replied "you didn’t swallow the apple whole you cut it up and swallowed the pieces". The kid replied "Sir I never said I would swallow the apple whole. I said I would swallow the whole apple". The man hung his head and gave the kid four dollars.

First of all I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR and all the best for 2007!! I hope you had a great eve/ night ending last year and welcoming the new one. Any New Year’s resolutions? Broken them already? I have to admit that I missed the whole part about retracing the last year with all its adventures and changes, and about preparing for the new one. But as I already said on Christmas, when I was first asked to take a breath and think things through, I will have to postpone this to a later moment. And then I can probably come up with some interesting thoughts and perceptions. To be curious … 

But one thing I want to tell you already, because I am sure about that, is: I am doing the right thing. After recovering and calming down since my moving a month ago I know it was right to come to The Netherlands to follow this study. I receive great feedback all way long that it is good what I am doing and how I am working. Finally I found what looks like my way to go. In my current project which has to be finished within a week we are really standing in front of a huge amount of work that needs to be structured and carried out. So I am working nearly 24/7 (yesterday 10 hours plus breaks) to get it done and I can only say that I still like it. It is such a great feeling to enjoy working that hard, to put that much effort in something for a good reason and to see success right away. Though I have to realise that I am kind of a perfectionist (yes, some of you might have always known that – I did not!) and therefore spend a lot of time on creating a professional marketing plan. If it all works out, I will report after handing it in next Monday.

Besides this example of one reflection on my studies I found my strengths back in working for Studio 4Hoefen (the event agency in Germany I still work for) on New Year’s eve. It was so much fun and it was so easy handling and organising the show and process there that it showed me again “that is something your are good at”.

                            having fun with the WEATHER GIRLS

Why do I tell you those things? Because I had my doubts about everything I was doing in my first months here in Holland, it really pulled me down.  

And now I am screaming out that I am happy, because I am doing the right thing.  

„christmas is the time with your family“? “for your family”? for reflection? To make you come home and be happy?I don’t know. Is that what it’s all about? Is that what we are all looking forward to/ being afraid of a few weeks before Christmas? Why do we stress about buying or even creating the right presents? Why do we care about how it will be? Is all that important? 

My Christmas this year makes me think about what is really important and what makes me happy. Going ice-skating in Hamburg tonight with two friends made me happy. Laughing with my sister for an hour about one stupid picture made me happy. Listening to my mom telling us about former Christmas days made me happy. Surprising friends at the Christmas Eve service at church made me happy. Seeing my little brother’s look when he unpacked his new mobile made me happy. So, is it about looking forward to meet for Christmas with all the things that we – the children – need to have there (tree, nice dinner, presents at last, church etc)? Is it about being together with your family? I rather think it’s about the personal value you see in certain situations or relationships. Because for some it is not necessary to have a nice Christmas atmosphere with their family and for others they need to follow special traditions.

For me it is about the people around me and the connection we have. I do need some factors to create a Christmas Eve atmosphere, but only because then it brings us in a known memory and feeling, that helps us to enjoy the come together. Too complicated? Too old-fashioned? Too boring? Too limited? Not for me. I wanted to meet the people who matter to me and spend valurable time with them. Because that is what makes me happy. And Christmas still offers this possibility quite well.

My sister and I offered to cook this year … duck … well, it went pretty good if you look at the duck and the veggies, but we really ruined the sauce J.

So, once again: MERRY CHRISTMAS! Prettige Kerstdagen (Dutch)! Fröhliche Weihnachten (German)! Feliz Navidad (Spanish) and so on …