Semester 18 Chapter III: Races

Okay, here we go again. I feel I’ve taken up so much work recently, it is really difficult to keep up with things. In a way, it’s a good thing. Doing what I do, you got times when things go better and times when things go worse. Sometimes there’s more to do, sometimes there’s less. Guess we’re at the “more” stage. And yeah, in the ideal world, we would all work like 2 hours a day on something meaningful and spend the rest of our days caring about one another and creating, but given the world we actually live in, my situation is not that bad. I’m sure it’s all gonna come crashing down at some point but until I get there, I might as well enjoy the ride.

 

So what has happened since the last time. After the glimpse of spring about 10 days ago, we got back to winter. For a week. Turned out that putting my winter jacket deep inside a wardrobe was a premature move. Weather has been nice tho. Mostly sunny and generally pleasant. Last weekend, we did a bike trip to Leiden a let me tell you… These rides here are simply beautiful. So happy I got that bike. It’s like unlocking a completely new dimension around here. On Sunday, we checked the Photo Museum in The Hague, stopped by for some brunch and mostly took it easy. Monday, we did the Kuuma sauna by the beach after some time, too. That does not get old. Sea is still quite cold but we managed to hit to sunset so the whole experience was very picturesque. Shit looked a painting.

 

And there there was Wednesday. I got a memo that there’s this Lola Café and that they do community bike rides. Two during the week, two on weekends. Open to everybody. Now, I have done one of those some time ago in Brno. Back then, I showed up wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt with a vintage heavy bike and ended up riding in a group of people on some next-level high-end shit. Felt really out of pocket. Now, there was no reason to assume this would be any different but I was kinda hoping that there might be another guy like me. Well, there wasn’t. This time I was a bit better prepared, tho. Got myself some cycling shorts, brought some lights, extra tubes and all… I was still the only one riding in Chucks and with an Adidas jumper. We did 40km to the town of Nordwijk, keeping the average speed at around 32km/h. I ended up joining for a beer downtown after. And I really got a whole lotta respect from pretty much everybody. Most of those people really didn’t expect me to keep up and many of them seemed to be pretty impressed. I mean… It does makes sense… I overheard people mentioning that their new bike was nearly 9000 EUR which is about 8820 EUR more than mine. So yeah… That’s what I was dealing with. But it was super cool, it was super fun, I got added into some of their groups and I’m sure I’ll show up for another ride soon. Bicycle is definitely one of the best inventions humans have ever come up with. And that’s on everything.

 

So yeah… It’s been that, some hangouts, some dinners, lot of work… And I’m also back on my outdoor workouts. Everything gets better with good weather. It’s Friday evening, gonna try a veggie bistro I haven’t tried before, all is well. And I’m so ready for the weekend. This time it feels pretty well deserved. Shout to out to all my people, all the cyclists and vegans out there. Don’t let anybody fuck with your inner light. One!

Highlights:

• Cycling.
• Hot yoga. Still love that shit.
• White Lotus. That shit gets too funny sometimes.

Semester 18 Chapter II: New Bicycles

Okay, here we go again. The weather has been fucking awesome these past couple days. I try to spend some time outdoors even when the weather is shit but we are entering that time of the year when being out there is just a treat. So yeah.. It’s been sunny, it’s been warm, it’s been positive. Crazy how big of an impact this has on one’s mood. Everything’s lighter and better.

 

The rest of the last week was quite usual. On Friday, I got out to grab dinner at this Vegan Pizza spot and spent some time downtown while at it. The Hague does not have my type of vibe but it’s still pretty cool to get out there once in a while. And now you can see many people chilling outside, it all looks much more lively and bubbly…

 

On Saturday, I ended up doing a trip to Rotterdam (a place that does have my type of vibe). The first stop was their Kuuma Sauna. It’s the same franchise we use in The Hague and that we have tried in Leiden before. Simple container with sauna, drinking water and ice old buckets outside. The Rotterdam joint is located in front of this old industrial building turned into a cultural place and is also right by water. With no access to it. Which makes sense as you can only assume that these city canals are not very clean. But the experience was lovely as usual. We did pretty fucking amazing lunch in Vegan Backstage Kitchen (sending some love to them!) and then proceeded to meet up with a guy selling bikes. And I got myself one. Vintage road bike, a Dutch make, everything totally in order, came with this old-school computer, light as fuck… Not even that expensive. Very happy with the purchase. We then went for some dinner at this Eritrean place and eventually hopped on a train back home. The whole day over there felt nice. The city has cool energy, it’s cute and I hope to spend some more time there this year.

Sunday was mostly chilled but I did took the new bike for a ride down to Hoek. That thing flies. Again, super happy I figured that out. Good bicycle is usually the first thing I get when I move to a new place because it does improve my life by a lot. Took a bit longer here but here we go. And you gotta understand that over here everything is bike friendly. The whole ride I was surrounded either by trees, dunes or beaches. With no cars around. Definitely wanna do much more of that.

Today it was back to work, back to yoga, but also back to outdoor workout. And some running. And some coffee in a park. Because outside is nice now. Hope you guys are doing well, hope thing go exactly as you want them to go, hope you keep it positive. Don’t let anybody fuck with your inner light. One!

 

Highlights:

• New bike.
• Rotterdam.
• Vegan Pizza Bar | Backstage Vegan Kitchen. Love.

Semester 18 Chapter I: Hague – Brno – Hague

Okay, here we ago again. A bit delayed but better late than never. Since my last entry, I spent some quality time in Brno, I did two days in Prague and I have also made it back to The Netherlands. Feels like things have been pretty hectic and intense. To the point where simply finding time to write these couple of paragraphs felt like mission impossible. But here we are so let’s get to it. Kicking off semester 18…

 

After I finished my last chapter, I hopped on a bus to Brno, immediately met up with my dad at his pub and drove to a house just outside of Brno where his partner held a celebration of her birthday. Since I was the only guy with no intentions of drinking anything alcoholic, I naturally turned into a designated driver. It was a fun afternoon and evening with some good food, good talks and eventually with some singing too, as karaoke machine happened to be one of the gifts. Pretty much just a Bluetooth speaker with some wireless mics but it does the job.

 

The whole week in the Czech Republic was intense in the most positive sense. I did have a lot of work but I also had a chance to catch up with everybody. All my favorite people. Picked up my nephew from the kindergarten once, built some legos with him one evening, went to my dad’s trivia night, stopped by at my favorite sauna spot, covered all the bases. Friday evening, I arrived to Prague, and till my departure Saturday night, it was nothing but good vibes and hangouts with my peers. I’ll be back mid-April and I will stay a bit longer so things are a bit less rushed. Still super grateful for everything and everybody back home. Oh, and shout out to Gin the dog. Felt good walking the little buddy again.

 

I got back to The Hague Sunday afternoon and it’s been back to the usual since. I’m back on yoga, I have quite a lot of work… Weather has been getting better. Haven’t had a chance to go for a run yet but I intend to fix that soon. Oh, and I’m actively looking for a road bike for the summer. I really want to explore a bit more of this country on a bike. It’s flat, there’s cycle lanes everywhere… It seems pretty exciting. I also got in touch with a local dive center and apparently, there is some diving around here. I have never dived with a dry suit and I’m not really a fan of the idea but I do want to stop by and learn what can be done. Because if I find a way to dive in this motherfucker… We’re looking at a game changer.

 

And then you got the world. Then you got Trump and that bitch-ass sucker Vance ambushing Zelenskyy in the oval office. You got Musk plundering everything he touches, you got white supremacy being normalized, you got hate being celebrated. Musk recently said that “empathy is a weakness”. And I really think he should stop talking. And doing things. And breathing. All that shit has been so wild lately, it’s really difficult to predict what happens next. And we should probably brace ourselves. And never give up. Empathy is strength, connection is key, everyday actions are important. We cannot get compromised, we cannot get cynical. Not now, not never. Shout out to Bernie, shout out to Ukraine, shout out to Gaza, shout out to people who care, shout out to love, shout to compassion, shout out to feminism, shout out to veganism, shout out to acceptance and dialogue. Shit is accelerating, shit is escalating, shit looks unreal. But this does not mean it’s over. Because it can’t. No way. Sending love to everybody out there. One!

 

Highlights:

• Empathy.
• Love.
• Compassion.