Semester 17 Chapter III: Drip

Okay, greetings from Amsterdam. I’m writing this one from the Sloterdijk bus station sitting outside in front of a café, waiting for my connection to Prague. Sun is setting, planes are touching down in the distance, clouds have those orange tones, it’s not a bad view. My three-week adventure is approaching its end and I feel good.

 

Let me start by Never Let Me Go. I’ve finished the book and it’s so fucking beautiful, it nearly made me cry couple of times. So far I’ve read two books by Kazuo Ishiguro and it’s two for two. Klara And The Sun was spectacular, too. See, when I read things like that, it feels like magic to me. The fact someone can put words together like that, create all these moments, say just the right amount… Keeping it simple, yet so complex. Create something fictional to touch something so real. Granted, this guy is a superstar but I’m happy I finally got to him and I’m pretty fucking excited about proceeding to the rest of his work.

 

The week itself flew by fast. I was back to my work routine, I got back to my workouts (both indoors and outdoors), I ran. We went out couple times, too. We grabbed dinned in this Xian Chinese restaurant in Central Hague. It was my second time and they are still awesome. Yesterday, we went to this dome projection of a trippy South-American music and stories, followed by some fractal work. The venue is called Omniversum and it vaguely resembles the planetarium in Brno. It is bigger tho (and bigger dome means bigger screens) and since you can’t recline seats, it’s all oriented a bit more forwards. In Brno, you can almost lie down and you look upwards. It was nearly empty, it was super cool and since we micro-dosed some shrooms (bought in a store, paid for by a credit car, delivered in some proper branded packaging with a bar code, taxes paid – you gotta love The Netherlands), it was extra enjoyable.

 

Today has been a bit slow. We did breakfast at my favorite café in the neighborhood, Quench, hung out on bikes and then took it to the station. I got a little over an hour before my next bus goes, then it’s going to be Prague for one day, Brno for two and then fucking Japan for two weeks. Which means that for the first time in like 5 years, I’m gonna go dark for a bit. For the fist time since I started teaching online, I’m taking an actual break. No traveling with laptop, no classes, no nothing (which also means no blog). So yeah, the next one is coming at the beginning of October. Thanks all of you for following; it’s cool that you still give a fuck for some reason. Sending love to everybody out there, shout out to all my vegans and everybody fighting the good fight. And some extra love to the Czech Republic which is now facing some of heaviest rains in a really long time. People being evacuated, floods coming to different regions… Stay safe and keep your head up. One!

Highlights:

• The Hague.
• Had another conversation on whether fish is meat or not. That was fun. Btw, fish is most definitely meat. Because they’re animals.
• Pretty much everything over these past weeks.

Semester 17 Chapter II: Tax Brackets

Okay, before I get to this, let me comment on couple of things things. First, Switzerland’s prices of things are nuts. They are not nuts if you live and work there, but if you visit, they are just “whatever you say, bro” kind of thing. And this is not a complaint, I had an awesome time and it was all very low budget (on local standards), but in general, shit is pretty wild over there. And I would like to note that I consider myself an individual that is not poor and that makes reasonable money for what I do and where I operate. Switzerland is just a different beast. What surprised me, tho, is that you can get your hands on relatively reasonable housing (way less crazy than I would have expected and somewhat comparable to rents in Prague) and their social system, which seems pretty fucking amazing to me. Apparently, people who either can’t find a job for some time or choose to take a while off for whatever reason (soul searching, traveling, making fucking music) can easily spend months on very generous state support. I had encountered this before and this trip only confirmed it. Like, being a person in their 20s or 30s, not working for extended periods of time and being perfectly fine is the closest thing I’ve seen to universal basic income so far. And it actually does happen. It is totally unthinkable in vast majority of countries and I’m genuinely happy for the Swiss. That’s how things should be. And then there’s train. Swiss train system is praised all over the world and rightfully so. Trains are modern, silent and punctual. And also expensive as fuck. You wanna spend 10 minutes on a train going to this little village? That would be 10 EUR. Bus tickets from Brno to the Prague Airport (about 3 hour journey) are often cheaper than that. They have this thing when if you book your tickets slightly in advance, you can get them cheaper (we did a lot of that) and they also favor residents who can obtain a yearly 50% discount card and some additional passes that make it a bit more human. However, if you’re not Swiss, you don’t deal with it in advance and you just show up at the station with an intention of traveling longer distance, get ready for some crazy numbers. And the fucked up part it, they rarely check. I spent hours of train, invested substantial amount of money in tickets and wasn’t checked once. It makes not getting tickets at all pretty tempting. However, I’ve also been told that when they actually do catch you, they don’t fuck around. And then you got the Murphy’s Law and shit. But I often felt like screaming: “Somebody better check my fucking ticket this time!” Just out of principle.

But yeah, everything about the trip was great and I’m super happy I got to do that. I met loads and loads of new amazing people and I’m grateful for all their hospitality. I’m grateful for them adjusting to my veganism, for welcoming me to theirs homes and circles, for showing me around, talking shit with me… All that. I did couple of days in Lausanne and then we did Fribourg for the last two days. It’s been some city exploring, some lake swimming, some nature hiking, some partying and a whole lot of socializing. At points, it felt a bit overwhelming but in the most positive way. Resumed social drinking for couple of days but I’m happy to jump back into my long-term sobriety mode. And again, major shout out to everybody out there. It’s all love.

We caught a flight back to The Netherlands Sunday early morning, had some lunch, took a nap and after I finalize this chapter, I might go out. Possibly to immerse myself in the sea. Hope you guys are well, hope y’all safe and sound and all is going just the way you want it to. Keep you head head up, keep it positive and don’t entertain bullshit. Shout out to all my vegans and all my readers. One!

 

Highlights:

• Switzerland
• Lakes
• This Friday club visit. No DJ, just some idiots playing random songs and people in the crowd guessing their names. Pretty weird activity for a pub quiz, absolutely insane activity for a club. Never seen anything like that before.

Semester 17 Chapter I: Skipping

Okay, let’s kick off another semester. It’s been 8 years since I wrote a first entry and it does feel like ages. I was fresh in Shanghai, I was yet to become an uncle, I had no idea I would end up diving in Tenerife for a couple of years. Plus like million other things that have happened since. All the places, all the faces that came and went… And some that have stuck around. 8 years is a lot. And yeah, here I am still not knowing much. But fucking trying. So without further ado, let’s start this shit off right. Checking in from a lovely town of Lausanne in Switzerland, just got back from a swim in their massive lake, got a class coming up in about half an hour, all is well.

 

I’m gonna keep this one relatively short. Last week was mostly Hague which was pretty awesome as weather over there is still pretty summery. So you get to take advantage of the sea. I already got all of my running routes set, I got my outdoor workout park figured, so it was all really enjoyable. Plus all the catching up and all.

 

We left The Hague Saturday early morning and shortly after 7am, we were on an Easyjet flight to Geneva. From there, we to it to Lausanne and that’s where I’ve been since. I had a chance to meet a whole lot of cool people, I got to see a bit of the city and some surrounding villages, I got to do some swimming, it’s been eventful. And Switzerland is beautiful. Prices are a fucking trip here tho. It’s not news to me but this place is another planet. Wherever you look.. Trains, drinks, food… Your Czech money means nothing here. I’m happy I get to do this. Got several more days so we’ll see how the rest goes.

 

I hope you guys are well, too. Seen some of y’all checking out some older posts which inspired me to do the same. Reading some of that shit is sometimes like reading a complete stranger’s life. It’s so far gone. Anyways, keep it positive, don’t entertain bullshit and don’t ever let anybody tell you that small shit doesn’t matter. It all matters. One!

 Highlights:

• The Netherlands.
• Switzerland.
• People.