Like I Never Left

I woke up around 5, got out of bed and got back in. Both my parents were already awake. My dad was still in the bathroom to get ready and when he was done I was called to get ready as well. My toothbrush and my little cup for water were the only last things I had to put in my little suitcase. When I had also taken a shower and was fully dressed, wearing the clothes my mum washed for me at night, I ate some bread. Around 6.30 my brother woke up to tell me goodbye and then we left. My mother parked her car in front of the door so we would not have to walk all the way to the car with both bags. We then parked the car at a parking lot at the shopping mall and took the Zuidtangent (a bus line which is quite well known in my city) to the airport. At first my mum thought we were going to miss the bus from 7 o'clock, saying it was my dad's fault, because we had to wait for him while he went to the bathroom before goign out, but she was wrong when that bus did still arrive and it turned out we were actually just in time to catch it. It was still completely dark outside so there wasn't much for me to see, but I tried to realize these were the last couple of minutes I would be in The Netherlands. The day before I went to Amsterdam with my mum to buy me a new jacket and to see 4 Luni, 3 Saptamani Si 2 Zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days) which won the Palme D'Or at last years Cannes film festival, which is also really famous outside France Marion, it really is. :) It's cool that in these two weeks I did still manage to go to Amsterdam three times. I kind of missed Amsterdam, but seeing that everything was still the same I know it will still be the same when I come back again. It's nice to know that things will stay the same like I remembered them. At the airport it went all pretty fast. We didn't had to wait for a long time when we went to hand in my luggage. And also when having to show my passport I didn't had to wait for a long time. Saying goodbye to my parents went pretty fast as well. I don;t know, but it kind of feels strange to say goodbye to them. On the one hand you're like, maybe I really need some time to really hug them tightly etc., because it will be quite a long time before I will see them again, but on the other, I know I'll come back so why make it all dramatic. After they checked my passport I waved at my parents for the last time and then walked to my gate. This is when it all went very quickly. All of a sudden i'm on my own again and it's like I turn this switch on in my head, which makes that I'm fully aware it's just all about me again, having to do everything by myself, noone around to help me out. And it goes so fast and easy. I just move on from everything that went on before and immediately it felt like those two weeks did not happen. That is also how I feel right now and especially after last night having a long, long chat with Marion and Alice in Alice's big kitchen. It's like I've never left. It's so nice to just meet up again and then just talk , drink a cup of coffee with a biscuit and later some vegetables and crackers (all very healthy :)). Everything feels right again from the beginning you're there, which is a really cool feeling. Fortunately enough I did not have any delays and mhy flight was completely on schedule. I also did not have to wait for to long on my little suitcase and sports bag. I have to say that at first I did not recognize my sports bag. If it wasn't for some silver coloured tape my mother taped around it, I would not have recognized it as my bag, at least not at first sight. Because really, when it went by on the belt at first I was like, hmm, I think that one kind of looks like my bag, but it isn't mine. So I already fully convinced myself it was not my bag. Luckily for me I took another brief look when checking out the rest fot he bags that were coming my way and then noticed the tape which rang an alarm bell in my head. I checked the label, which had my name written on it, so indeed, it was my bag after all. So no, that was not very clever. But i already had a feeling I would not immediately recognize my back as i already kind of forgot what it looked like. I never use that one so I have no clear picture in my head of what it looks like. I kind of knew the colours and stuff, but was not completely sure. But at least I did not forgot I brought two bags, because that's a thing I realized on the plane I could easily forget. So taking the underground and standing in the train with that sports bag put on the floor beside me, I tried to make myself not forget at times to take thsat bag with me as well when getting out of the train. Especially because from Heathrow it takes quite a long time before reaching Green Park, so I could easily forget my second bag. but I didn't. A I had written before yesterday the Victoria line did not stop at Victoria station so I had to walk up and down many stairs with my two bags trying to take a different train that would get me to Victoria. All of this didn't take too long, at least not thatI missed my coach, so it wasn't that much of a problem. But it would have been nice if I had known this before, because then I would have tried to take the central line immediately. The trip with the coach went by fast as well. I sometimes dozed off, but when reaching Canterbury I made sure I did not fall asleep again and got out on time. A bus to university was already standing at the station waiting, so I could immediately get in. Then I walked the path to Park Wood, looking around me, havign the feeling of being home again. It's good to know that you Alice feel the same way and understand me when I told you it must be different for us two, our whole relationship with Park Wood, as both of us still live with out parents. We don't have our own created home in the country we come from, so for us Park Wood really has come to stand for that feeling of independence and that place where you can do whatever you want and have to take care of everything yourself. For you Marion it must be different, because you already had a 'second home' before coming to Canterbury, though that does not mean that you could not miss Park Wood as much as Alice and I did when we left for two weeks. But like I said, maybe our relationship with Park Wood is different. Same for you Clement, as you also have your own created home in France beside the home your parents created for you. So I guess that's where the difference lies and I can't wait for you to also come back and tell us all about your experiences in France. So yeah, it was nice to be back and see everything again. It's not a dream it's all real, even though it seemed unreal at times when being in The Netherlands, the same as those two weeks kind of seem unreal right now, like if they never really happened. But it's just so strange. One moment you're with your parents in Haarlem and next your in Park Wood. And thought the trip is pretty long, it's still pretty short and kind of a strange diea that in just that little amount of time you can move to this whole different world. Feeling tired I did not dug into my bed and take a nap, but instead cleaned my room, which really needed to be cleaned. And right now it looks very nice. Not at all a chaos. Even my wardrobe looks nice and ordered right now. And I put pictures up on my wall. I just cut out some pictures from the Gulbenkian cinema booklet which has some pictures in it from the movies they will be showing these upcoming two months. So finally my walls don't look empty anymore. After also taking a shower and had some dinner, calling with my parents and talking to Farhad who told me everything about his time in London on new year's eve and meeting up with a cousin, I went to Alice's place at 9 to have cup of coffee. I arrived around 9 and Marion and I did not leave until 4 in the morning. So yes, i'm still a bit tired, but I had a great time. We eneded up eating some vegetables and crackers as well, so I guess we already had some kind of breakfast. But we had such a good time, which enhanced the feeling of never having left even more. Today i'm going to try and work on my essay, as well as doing some grocery shopping. Tomorrow it's my birthday! Today's yours Indira. So happy birthday to you! But from tomorrow I will also be 21. I don't think I really realize it will be my birthday tomorrow. It's weird that it's already that time. Well, I'm going to take a shower right now. Have a nice Sunday everyone!