Eeek! we are really becoming grown ups.

I cant deny it anymore. While I am still hiding in student life without ever having had a "real" job or even a place for myself, everyone else seems to be becoming a real grown up. This morning, I found out that an old classmate from high school can have a baby any moment. She's just one year older than me. A couple of hours later I discovered that a girl from my bachelor degree is getting married. and she is even younger than me. Before that it was the odd person here or there that was of my age and was getting married/ having kids/ buying or renting a house/ starting a proper career. But now they seem to be everywhere!

I like to think that I am so very young, but all these people make me a bit nervous. People my age are becoming grown ups. It is scary. It is about time that I fix my own life. The problem is, I cannot even find an internship at the moment. so that means no money for getting my own place (I'm happy I can even pay the rent of my one room). I also lack the perfect man (and again the money) to make any marrying happening. And babies are simple not happening anytime soon. Playing with other peoples baby will do for now. 

So, I think the growing up will have to wait for a while..

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NYE: overrated or not?

I'm not gonna lie. The preparation for New Years Eve have DEFINITELY been more fun than the actual party for the last couple of years. Somehow there is always something that spoils the fun. This gives me the feeling that having a fun new years party is not possible in the Netherlands. So this year I decided to celebrate it elsewhere and try my luck in Luxembourg. I will definitely avoid the mistakes I made before.

- 3 years ago (or was it 4?): We had a car available and we did have one of us who could actually drive it. That is always a good start. We paid a ridiculous amount of money to get tickets to a big party which was supposedly really great. So, what could go wrong? Well, the trend of techno/ hard style music had just reached our country and everyone seemed to love it big time. Except for us. After several hours of music without lyrics and missing out on the fireworks (we were inside before midnight), we decided we could not handle it anymore and we left. When we came outside we saw that most people where only arriving and we clearly had chosen our time wrong. FAIL.

- 2 years ago: For some reason we decided to a similar party to the one I mentioned before. But in our minds it was going to be much better now. It was indeed a bit better but I clearly had not suddenly become a fan of this music style (to be honest, I still kind of hate it). So this year was no success either.

- Last year: This year we did not have a car available, which really is a problem during New Year's Eve in the Netherlands. First of all, there were no buses back home until 10am the next day so we arranged a last minute sleep-over at the house of the sister of my friend (who was not amused by the last-minute aspect). When we were waiting for the bus to the city (and the two buses after) we discovered that all public transport had stopped at 8pm that day. Luckily my parents were nice enough to drive us so we were not stuck in our little village. Unfortunately it turned out that most places in the city would only open after midnight, so we ended up hanging out at the house of a friend of my friends sister with all of her friends(tots sups awks!) until it was time to go to the party. The party itself was okay, but after it we were forced to tag along with my friends sister before going to her home and we ended up visiting all sorts of people we did not know whatsoever. This would have been more fun if it had not been 5am...

So, this year I choose the comfort of my own residence for the midnight moment. I will celebrate with my friend Samra (who will be visiting me) and a bunch of my housemates. After that we will be able to walk to town, so no lack of public transport can stop us. Take that, NYE!

 

Let it snow

It has been snowing in Luxembourg. And not just a little. Last Friday it was so bad that I wondered if my bus would even turn up at all. Then after 10 cold and snowy minutes at the bus stop, I got a text that made my day. The flight of our professor for that day was cancelled so we were free (the advantage of having your whole day taught by the same professor). I have never had snow free before in my life so I was pretty excited. I turned around and went back into the house quickly to warm up and call some others to spread the good news. I spent the morning watching the snow fall down while drinking tea and watching a Christmas movie (my new favorite pastime). A free day definitely feels even better if you were actually supposed to have class all day.
The day after the snow was still there, but the snow storm was over. Marina invited me to come along with her and some of her housemates to go to the Christmas market in Trier. It was great fun to go on a little road trip to Germany and to visit this cute little market. There was lots of amazing foods and of course glühwein. I tasted my first gernknüdel and must say I was really excited about this. Definitely a keeper! Unfortunately I am a lot less of a cold weather fan than a Christmas food fan. After an hour or two all of us had frozen toes and faces. Even the glühwein and hot chocolate did not help anymore. So, unfortunately it was time to go home again. I love road trip, I love food and I love going out at nights so it was a great evening for me. Can't wait to do more of it!

XOXO

Snowy view

The train station

This car seller has a hard time showcasing his cars now. But at least this is a happy car!

My resi in the snow

At the market

Lovely Trier

Glühwein!

Very tasty gernknudel

Yum!

Cremant and macaroons

In Luxembourg everyone knows everyone. It's all about your network. Knowing the right people can open doors and provide great business opportunities. For all these people to meet each other, many network events are created. After every masterclass, open lecture or business seminar, there is a so called "network cocktail". No matter when this takes place, there will be food and alcohol. The Cremant (typically Luxembourgish version of champagne) is flowing richly and you seem to never finish your glass. Next to that you are given a whole dinner worth of food if you are lucky.
So no leaving quickly after the official part ends for me. I love the combination of cremant and macaroons while chatting with some fellow students. These evenings are also a great way to practise your networking skills. Approaching any randomer and have a sometimes even more random conversation in order to perhaps find a good connection. Personally, I am still a bit of a sissy. I do not dare to go alone and always need a wing man/woman. But I'm learning.
Till now, the results are mainly a lot of free drinks and food and a hand full of business cards. But one of these cards is from someone who has some research internship places. Win! Not my fave type of internship, but it shows that all these glasses of cremant actually get me somewhere. How cool is that?

XOXO