Killed with Kindness.

I fear that at this point I simply lack the skills to make my thoughts and experiences materialize into words. Often experiences spark feelings which are simply not done justice by the written language. At least, in my case, I certainly am not capable of captivating the full extent of the realms of  my racing consciousness and transforming it into a written memoir - something which I believe important to be kept in mind.
If there is one concrete hard fact that I have learnt in the past three and a half months of living in Amsterdam, is that experience is shaped by your surrounding people. I feel incomprehensibly blessed to have developed lifelong connections that are simply unjustifiable by reason. Three months of acquaintanceship's have developed into what feels like relationships that have simply always existed. Perhaps I possess above-average levels of sentiment - but in my young and inexperienced youth, what I do know is that in cases of true connections which simply don't require effort, it is not the place which defines the elevation of an experience, it is the company. That said, this weekend I was blessed to experience the above along with a captivating and unfamiliar place. The Netherlands continues, despite the ever-increasing decline in Celsius, to have me stunned and lost for comprehension.

This weekend I partook in a Hitchhiking Contest across the Netherlands. With Michelle as my partner, we set out, along with 19 other International couples to a destination which only became known to us on Friday morning before departure, with the objective of being the first to arrive at the destination. Having had extremely limited experience in hitchhiking, it is safe to say that attached to the experience came an altered and humbled mindset. It is remarkable that in hitchhiking, you encounter people performing an act of kindness which in no way besides for potential company, holds much benefit for them. It restores one's faith in humanity. The destination at which we arrived and stayed at for the rest of the weekend was a horse stable and accommodation called 'De Tutenburg' located just outside of Giesbeek, a small Dutch town. Over dinner tables, games, games, and more games, go-carting, swinging, dancing, beer, wine, countryside fields and conversations about everything and anything between multifaceted, multicultural, and multidimensional characters, friendships blossomed and unforgettable memories were made.

Pre-Hitch

Along the road we had certain 'tasks' we could complete to win time  - sleeping in a truck was one of them. 

Gothic Cathedral at our first destination in Den Bosch.

Found some competition. This photo completed the task  of taking a photo with people from three different continents . Australia, American and Africa.

Dutch Treats - just completing tasks. 

Captain James and his minions. 

First time experience for a countryside bus driver.

Esto chica es muy bonita, esta es mi amiga de espana. 

Wishing well. Money goes to impoverished children in Brazil. 

Tutenburgs' pet wallaby. 

Fresh

Speel tyd. 

We created our own 30 seconds.

It couldn't have been a more unexpectedly perfect, liberating and enjoyable weekend.


And here's some recent Amsterdam memoirs:

From ontop of the NEMO building in Amsterdam. 

Sintaklas arrived. The Dutch version of Santa Clause. Zwarte Piet controversy is worth reading about. But traditions die hard. 

All the kids eagerly awaiting the arrival. 

'Turn on The Lights Amsterdam' An annual celebration on Dam Square where they open the doors of a high fashion department store called 'De Bijkenhof' to the public in the evening and light up 300 000 LED lights on the outside of the building to commemorate the start of the festive season. Blown up creatures were part of the equation. 

De Bijkenhof. 

A bustling Dam Square. 

With free champagne, naturally. 

Totziens!