Five Years Ago

What were you doing five years ago?

Five years ago I moved to The Netherlands. Five years! It’s hard to believe that it’s been 5 years already. It feels like a lot less. It’s been a little bit of a bumpy ride so far, but it’s getting better. I expected the bumps though. I knew that it was going to be quite a transition and guessed it would take five years to get into my Dutch groove. I called it a Five Year Plan. I thought surely in that time I could learn the language, get a decent job and make a good life here. Last year (or maybe even sooner?) somewhere along the line I revised that Five Year Plan into a 10 Year Plan. I made some great headway into The Plan in the first five years, but still need a couple more to make it to the finish line.

While living in another country has presented more challenges than I expected, it’s also allowed me to do things that I would probably never had the chance to do if I still lived in the States. If I hadn’t moved here, I might not have

-become semi-bilingual! I took French in school for 5 years, but studying a language in a classroom is a whole different ballgame from learning it while living there.

-seen upclose the horrors of the haulocaust. Visiting the site of a concentration camp in Germany was very eye opening.

-traveled to Prague, Czech Republic. Very special! Not only because of it being near to where Dad’s family is from, but because it’s such an awesome old city. If you ever get the chance to go there, I’d take it!

-taken up knitting. If I hadn’t moved here and had so much free time on my hands, I might not have started crocheting. If I hadn’t started crocheting, would I have learned to knit? That would be a shame, since I love knitting.

-learned that I love brussels sprouts. It’s all been worth it to find the love of my vegetable life.

-started a blog! I am pretty sure that if I didn’t live thousands of miles from family and friends and want to come up with a way to show them a slice of my Dutch life, I would never have started this blog.

As difficult as the transition might have felt sometimes, it’s still brought about many good things (many more than I’ve written here, I’m sure). I wonder what the next five years will bring?


xxx