My journey through 2016.

Dear 2016,

Our time together is nearly over. Just a couple more hours before we have to say goodbye, a final goodbye as 2017 slowly steps in your place. But for now, we're still together so let us cherish these final moments by reflecting on all the things we did together.

2016, you were a mess, a bittersweet disaster. Globally you shook the entire planet and everyone on it. You had us say goodbye to so many influential people and to so many lesser known people as well. Then there were politics, to make politics a more popular item you decided to spice it up. Let me say you succeeded, more people are into politics now then ever. To say I agree with your choices in politics would be a step to far so let's get over our political differences and say goodbye to this subject already. 

Personally, 2016, you were a roller coaster. You've given me a lot of opportunities, a lot of chances and I took most of them gratefully. Some ended better than others but all of them led to incredible adventures. 2016, you expanded my interests and taught me a long list of new things. I found more time for all the amazing books you had for me and discovered some more literary gems of my own. There are a few adventures I would like to go into more detail about. 

First of all there was Elfia, a massive cosplay event on the grounds of a beautiful castle in Utrecht. I went here with an internet friend of mine and it was one of the best days ever. Elfia has this atmosphere that makes you feel accepted, included and not at all strange. Everyone is dressed differently and able to be someone else for a day whilst at the same time being themselves completely. At this event I met some incredible people and I learned that it is okay to like science fiction and fantasy, and that it's okay to be a bit weird. As long as you like what you do what's the problem? Correct, there is none.

Then there was Domaine de Puylagorge, a Dutch campsite in France for families with disabled kids. A wonderful place where I went for the second time to organise the animation program for the kids. This year I was lucky enough to guide to incredibly interesting and wonderful kids with special needs, and I had an amazing time working with them and getting to know them and their families. One of the most amazing things about that campsite is the bond between families and the animation team and families. On this campsite it's okay to sit down and chat with families, to share stories, concerns and happy memories. The campsite is a safe haven for families with disabled kids, parents can let go of some of the care around their disabled child and the siblings can play without having to worry about their disabled brother or sister for a change. Everyone can be themselves which is a pretty rare feeling when you are a parent or sibling of a disabled child. 

To continue my list of adventures I saw André Kuipers live and visited the space expo and the ESA ESTEC terrain in Noordwijk. For a long time now I've been strangely interested in space and hearing André Kuipers talk about his time in space and running around in the space expo surrounded by spaceships, a recreated module of the International Space Station it blew me away. I was like an overexcited child in there, which I still am when I think back at how amazing that day was, including the four hour road trip my friend and I went on to get there.

Furthermore I went to see Twenty One Pilots and Panic! at the Disco live in November. Two incredible performances with two incredible crowds. Crowds in which I didn't feel claustrophobic or anxious for a change but crowds that felt welcoming and accepting. I sang along, jumped and cried without shame, I utterly loved those concerts.

Oh and how could I forget my visit to the Cat Café and the Vincent van Gogh museum. Yet another amazing day in an incredible year with incredible adventures. Another museum to cross of my long lists of museums I want to visit. It's kind of becoming an annual thing now, going to a museum with a friend of mine to indulge ourselves in the artistic believes of various great painters. It's just lovely.

Yes 2016, when it comes to adventures you were amazing I did a lot of amazing things and met a lot of amazing new people in the process. Also those things allowed me to develop myself as a person. The best example, regarding my personal development, may be my current internship. The internship in the hospital. Another adventure, yet this one isn't over yet. This internship might be the hardest one I've had so far, be the most challenging both personally and professionally. As a nurse I learned a lot, I've become a much better nurse already however there is still a long way to go before I feel qualified as an independent nurse on a ward. Personally I learned to deal with my mental and physical limitations in the work field, how it's better to talk about them and make them known at the start of my internship instead of blocking my learning process with them. 

Something everyone I know knows about me is that I'm diabetic, it's a physical issue that is pretty obvious when people go out for lunch with me or when my insulin pump decides to be a bit dramatic in the evening. Still haven't found an off button for the alarm sounds. The things that only a few people know about me are my mental issues. It's just something that you don't bring up that easily and that I don't really have to bring up as it's not something as visible and obvious as my diabetes is. 2016, however, has taught me that it's important to talk about those issues as well. Ignoring them will only lead to the inevitable breakdown and it will limit you're personal and professional development. 

So to cut things short, 2016, you were amazing. The last couple of years have been full of me learning stuff about myself and me developing myself more and more but this year I honestly thought that process was finished. That I was able to deal with my 'problems' and that they wouldn't trouble me anymore. Well 2016, thank you for showing me otherwise and telling me that there is no shame in being different or having a few more diagnoses. My problems are a part of me and there's no reason to act as if they're not. 

2016 you were an incredible tutor and you helped me plan out the first steps of some amazing adventures I will have in 2017. 2016 you will be missed but 2017 the world and I, are so ready for you. A new beginning, a new year, new chances, new opportunities and most important of all new adventures!

Lots of love,

ThatDutchGirl96

Secret Santa Struggles.

What's up guys?

So as Christmas is starting to peek around the corner, my family decided it was time to start our own secret Santa quests again. Yayyy..... This year, like many other years I pulled my youngest sisters name from the hat. It's only the third year I pulled her name from the hat.... No changing the structure for me again. 

Anyway, when we do secret Santa we write down some things we would like to get, with our name. Now normally I don't have a lot of struggles with the secret Santa shopping. I do put a lot of effort in writing a poem, another family tradition we added, and the wrapping. For me it's all about the wrapping. Don't confuse that with rapping as I do not have any rapping skills what so ever. It's all about the WRAPPING. The wrapping paper was the easiest part this year, and don't worry, I will include a picture of the wrapped  secret Santa package. 

Back to shopping. Mind you, my youngest sister just turned 14 in October and is now in full on difficult teenager mode. This also means she's starting to get into a lot of that teenage girl stuff, teenage girls are into. Personally, I skipped most of this phase and never got further than putting on some mascara and occasionally having a cheeky photo shoot with a friend using my mums camera which I borrowed without her permission. Things like front cameras and selfies weren't really a thing back than, sorry for the culture shock. Anyway back to my sisters present list. Most of the stuff she put on there was pretty easy, she wanted a necklace, fairy lights, and a new charger for her phone. This was the easy part, now let me tell you where I started struggling with her list. It was at the point where I read: make-up brushes. Now as I mentioned before all the make-up I know, and use, is mascara for which you don't necessarily need a separate brush. My little sister however is all over the make-up and is actually quite good with it all too. Too bad for her I had to do the shopping. 

The budget didn't really allow a complete set so I had to prioritise now. So I walked into the pharmacy, walked towards the place they put the make-up brushes, thinking I would get this job finished rather easily. However when the make-up brushes caught my eye  there was an entire isle filled with them. All the different brands, sizes and sorts made me feel dizzy and lose hope slightly. As a 20 year old, I didn't feel like asking an employee just in case it's stupid for 20-year-olds to know nothing about make-up and the necessary tools. So I did the next best thing and asked a 12 year old with all the courage I had gathered and traded for my dignity. Thankfully she was very kind and ended up lecturing me on make-up brushes for at least 15 minutes. Her information was very useful if not mind blowing. The complexity of make-up brushes really blew me away. But I succeeded!!!!!!!!!! Hallelujah!

So yeah, that happened. Now all I can do is sit and wait until Christmas. Then my sister will open the presents and I will know if I choose the right make-up brushes. Or not.... So that 12 year old either saved my Secret Santa or ruined it completely, anyway I learned a hell of a lot about make-up and make-up brushes. Some valuable knowledge I've gained due to Santa. Fingers crossed!

Please let me know how you celebrate Christmas, or whether you celebrate something completely different in the comments!! Lets talk about Christmas!

Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96

(The end result)

My dearest crush.

Dear crush,

You've been stuck in my mind for two months now. Occasionally we catch each others eye, maintain the eye contact just long enough for it to become awkward, before saying 'Hi' to each other. And now, two months later, saying 'Hi' is still as far as our communication goes.

It all started early September, when all interns came together for a couple of instructional meetings. This internship was the one I had been looking forward to ever since I started my course, so I was already buzzing with excitement. The buzzing with excitement however, never went away. Because everyday I know I might run into you. Back to the first meeting now. It all started with everyone introducing themselves within one minute. Everything you shared that day has stuck with me. It's basically all I know about you. At the end it was my turn and within thirty seconds I was finished so if you even cared you know even less about me. Then there were the parts where the group had to be divided in smaller groups. Lucky as I was, we never were in the same group. On one hand I was relieved as this meant there was no way I could embarrass myself in front of you, on the other hand, how were I going to catch your attention when I wasn't around. Thankfully there were times that we had to do stuff together. You helped me print my documents, told me the wrong answers to one of the tests we had to do (thanks for that) before helping me pass it. Not to forget how you laughed at me when we had to try out the electronic files for the first time because my ways of explaining were a bit extravagant. 

Now here we are, two months later, no further than the occasional 'Hi' and the eye contact. Every time before my shift, when I'm heading to my locker, I check yours. Just to see if you're there, to check if there's a change of running into each other before heading upstairs of after my shift. A storm of butterflies in my stomach every time I see you actually standing by your locker, or even when I see you walking in the hallway. Knowing we're on the same shift, cheers me up enough to get through the day. Knowing that there's only eight weeks left of my internship makes me less cheerful. The fact that after that I might never see you again makes me sadder than it should. My friends actually shipping us as I got a bit overexcited over this (stupid) crush of mine makes t even worse.

However it also gives me some hope. I know myself and that also makes me aware of the fact that I happen to preform better there's some pressure on me. Then again, my vocabulary seems to involve only the word 'Hi' when you're around, so I'm not too sure about the preforming under pressure. But where ever we end up after my internship ends, I'm glad I got to, sort of, know you. You made my internship a lot better and on days where I felt like giving up on it, the thought of you made me get up and work that shift because I might run into you and that day might have been the day for things to happen. They never were, but hey it was a way of coping for me and I'm thankful for that. 

This leaves me apologising to you for writing this extremely embarrassing and kind of sad blogpost about my pathetic crush. So if you ever happen to read this, I'm sorry for writing about you in this way. Just know that I wish you all the best with the rest of your course and career! And who knows, maybe we'll say 'Hi' to each other again tomorrow!

Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96 

Renée reviews: P!aTD and TØP.

Hey guys!!

Soooo guess who I saw live recently???? (clue is totally not in the title)
Yes, all of you are right. I went to see Panic! at The Disco and Twenty One Pilots in concert!!!!! And the best thing about going to see them was being able to spend a day in Amsterdam and purchasing some new books at Waterstones. So keep your eyes open for a lot of new book reviews in the near future!

Whilst waiting in line we met up with some other friends of ours and like that we waited for the doors to open, in the pouring rain. I've never been happier with bringing an umbrella than I was that night, even though I could barely unwrap my fingers as they had turned to icicles. When the doors opened, the madness began. Everyone obviously wanted to get indoors so they wouldn't get soaked more. For standing in line pretty late we still found some amazing spots in the audience. A classmate of mine had seen Panic! live before and told me that it's a band you just need to have seen live and she wasn't bragging. 

Jesus Christ, Brendon Urie you are amazing. The way he performed, the lightning, the entire show, how good he sounds live. It was perfect. Halfway through the concert I looked at my friends and we decided that Brendon Urie is god on earth. He's literally perfect AND he can do anything. He played piano, sang beautifully, outplayed the drummer. What can't he do?!?! The Panic! concert is one of the best ones I've gone to so far. He sang all the songs I needed him to sing and barely missed a note. I have no words for the amazingness of this concert. Brendon you are God and you did not dissapoint! Panic! at The Disco shows you how a live concert should be and there are lot's of artists who could use panic! as an example to up their own concert game. Besides the amazing show Panic! delivered, the opening act was pretty amazing as well. 
A band called Tigertown, it's like a cheerful version of Halsey. I truly recommend you look them up and give them a listen! You'll hear Tigertown more often in the future, I promise you that! A perfect opening for a perfect show. Panic! at The Disco and Tigertown, thanks for the amazing evening!

Around 17.00 we went to stand in line for the Twenty One Pilots concert. The first fans, the real die-hard fans, were already waiting in line before Panic! at The Disco had finished the night before. Just like yesterday we went in line pretty late, and I also had to go out of the queue again to change my insulin pump. Just as last year at the Twenty One Pilots concert, I had to change my insulin pump, oh the diabetes memories. The friend I went to TØP with last year couldn't stop laughing when I told her, mostly because for some reason every time I plan to do something with her my insulin pump gets jealous and decides it needs attention. 
Anyway, even though getting in line pretty late, we still found some really good spots. In all honesty I did prefer the small venue they played last year, but even in a bigger venue like the Heineken Music Hall, they did not disappoint. Where last year it was still quite small and cosy, as far as it can get cosy at a TØP concert, this year they had a massive light show and just a show around it. The songs were mostly the same as last years as there hadn't been a new album in the main time but that made it very sing-a-longable. 

 This concert was the first where I felt like I could completely let go of whatever was holding me back. I jumped to the music, sang a long as loud as I could, and I even cried when they started playing the Pantaloon. My favourite TØP song ever!!!! Let's be a little more honest, I just cried throughout the mashup they played of their first album.

To make the night just perfect, their opening show was Bry, a pretty well known youtuber. His jokes, sense of humour and amazing music was a great opener. And maybe he doesn't fit the TØP perfectly, who cares. His music is amazing, he's a great person and I loved every song he played. So to me he was the best opening for TØP I could have whished for! During the show, their USA opening act came on stage as well. And it was flipping CHEFSPECIAL one of my favourite Dutch bands. Although they didn't preform, I cried then too. Josh from the Cheffies went into the hamsterball and went crowdsurfing. It was amazing.

TØP what a show, amazing guys, amazing songs, amazing show. I definitely don't regret going to see them a second time and when they come back next year I might even go for a third time!

Yes these two concerts absolutely made my year, they made up for a lot of the bad things that happened in 2016 and gave me new energy to survive the rest of 2016 as well. Panic! at the Disco, and Twenty One Pilots, thank you for coming to Holland and giving such amazing shows! You made my year and allowed me to make some new amazing memories with some of my friends! Bry and Tigertown, thank you for being to amazing opening acts and I wish you all the best in the future, may they be very bright!

That's it for now.
Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96
  

Space Expo.

Hello, fellow inhabitants of spaceship earth.

To give you some more information on space, my obsession with it, and some random anecdotes on one of the best days of 2016, I decided to take you along on my day at the Space Expo and ESA ESTEC terrain in Noordwijk.

A very quick review of how I walked around there, and these are the exact words my friend used: "You literally jumped around the expo, there wasn't even one moment where you were just walking normally, like a properly functioning human being." To help all the non-visual thinkers out there, this is what I was like that day:

But who cares, I just get really excited about space and space travelling. So we arrived there pretty early, which meant we were there before there were a shiston of people to judge our behaviour. Besides the exposition you can also go to the ESA Estec terrain, which is basically where astronauts learn how to practise the experiments they have to do in space and where a lot of developments and tests are ran. This tour was what we decided to do first, and we had a really awesome tour guide who functioned on the same meme-level as my friend and I. Which is a very high level of meme. On this tour we saw a lot of super interesting things, anddddd we got to touch an actual rocket! Now because I went to the lecture on space travel by André Kuipers I knew a lot of the things our tour guide told us, but that just made me feel smart. Plus it allowed me to walk and look around me more as I didn't have to pay that much attention to what our guide was telling us. However it was very interesting and I would go on that tour again any day. Plussss we got badges, like official guest on the ESA Estec terrain badges, how awesome is that?!!!!!

After the tour we attended every presentation, and experiment there was at the expo. These were all given by the same woman and all of them were very very interesting. The last one we attended was by and about the Soyuz capsule with which André Kuipers went to actual space and landed back on earth. At one point the woman asked at what speed the ISS (international space station) moves through space, it got very silent and no one answered so I did (28000 km/h). The woman looked at me and went like: "Very good! I've seen you at other demonstrations and presentations as well haven't I?! You're completely ready to become an astronaut." This obviously made me blush as I'm not too good with compliments and as the entire crowd turned to look at me. My friend just laughed. Thanks bro!

Then the exposition in general, it contained a lot of information on space travel, especially focused on the space travel and times André Kuipers went to space. At the ceiling hung real life satellites, a small model of the ISS and we got to take a look at a (real life size) replica of a part of the ISS including the glass cabin from which the amazing pictures of space are taken!!! I also skidded around the Soyuz capsule of André Kuipers, we saw a space capsule that looked like BB8 from Star Wars andddd the LEM capsule. At the LEM capsule I got into astronaut mode and felt the gravity fall away from underneath me, leaving me flying around weightless (in my mind of course). In reality it looked more like: 

In the end, we went back home. A two hour trip ahead of us, filled with discussing our day at space expo, our common interest in space and how it had only grown today, some new facts we learned that day and a lot of karaoke to our favourite songs! Yeah the day at the space expo was super awesome! Despite knowing some things already thanks to the astronaut André Kuipers, I still learned a lot of things and the entire expo and how it was set up just blew me away. I was in total awe and I still am. 

And since I'm not quite able to describe my day at the spac expo in words, I'll leave a little photo impression because nothing says it like a picture!

Lots of love,

ThatDutchGirl96

(AHHHH)

(This is one futuristic touring train)

(My actual moonjump)

(science b*atch)

(We are hot af)

(We met André Kuipers, well board of)

(Replica of Rosetta.
And not replica of my friend)

(in the look out pod)

  

(Inside the Soyuz capsule)

  

Intergalactic adventures.

Hey everyone1!

Sometimes the world lets you down, it makes you feel  terrible, closed in, and you feel like there is no way out. Slowly, the sun starts setting, the moon comes out and as the clouds start fading a mesmerising view appears. Little dots of light, millions of them, some in recognisable structures appear in the dark, lighting the world up together with the moon. As you lie there, looking up at the universe, the dots of lights that are somewhere a thousand light years away or just outside our atmosphere, you notice one that's moving. Maybe it's an airplane, however the lights of an airplane normally flicker. With your eyes you keep following the moving star until it disappears out of your sight. After it's gone you decide to google 'moving star' and somewhere in the thousand results it tells you that it might have been ISS (the International Space Station) with a link to a website that shows you the route of the ISS, and guess what....

This is kind of what happened to me not too long ago, although not quite in that order. First I went to a lecture on space and astronautics by André Kuipers (famous Dutch astronaut), where I learned that on Wednesday the 2nd of November ISS could bee seen flying over Holland. Then on the 29th of October I visited the SpaceExpo and ESA ESTEC in Noordwijk where I learned a lot more about the history of space travel, the latest developments, the part Holland plays in international space travel and a lot of interesting general facts on space and the life of an astronaut. The lecture, SpaceExpo and ESA ESTEC were all very interesting but my intergalactic adventure reached it's climax when on the 2nd of November I looked up to the sky and noticed this moving star. At that point I realised how tiny yet powerful we humans are as a species and how big, vast, and complicated the universe actually is. It left me breathless, to know that we are busy conquering the universe and that I could sort of see six humans working on all sorts of experiments at a height of approximately 350 km, from were I was standing, bound to the earth by gravity. For me that experience gave me the cosmic feeling André Kuipers told us a lot about in his lecture. 

He told us a lot about how he managed to become an astronaut, including all his previous professions and the job application he replied to that eventually led to him going to space. A journey that took much longer than I originally expected, for some reason I still believed there was a college course called "how to become an astronaut" instead of gaining a masters or PhD degree and so many years of experience in certain fields of work before you can even apply for the job. Then there are the physical and mental tests you need to pass and then, when you've been selected as an astronaut to be, you're still not certain of going to space anytime soon, or anytime at all. André Kuipers was lucky enough to be sent to space TWICE! In his lecture he showed us some short videos he shot regarding showering in the ISS, sleeping, doing sports, the experiments he did there, the different areas of ISS and, and how you function and move without gravity. He also showed us the impact of energy on certain objects and how little energy you need to use when moving stuff around when there is no gravity to push them down. 

Oh and then there was the most beautiful thing of all, we were shown videos and pictures of the view from ISS. From outer space we truly are Spaceship Earth as André called it. A tiny planet on which we build our existence and how we are slowly destroying our little spaceship when we don't have anywhere else to go yet. But we are improving, we are learning, we are evolving and we are doing better for our planet. This might have been one of the most moving parts of the lecture. André was telling us some stuff about climate change and how we were destroying our own planet, but also how we were fixing what we had done. He showed us the gap in the atmosphere we created and how it had shrunk over the last couple of years. This restored my faith in humanity as the predator species on this planet when I was starting to lose it. Because even though we are can be very very stupid sometimes, we keep learning, we keep evolving in ways that help us fix the problems we created and I think that that is the most important lesson I learned that day. That even though we make mistakes, we learn from them and we also learn how to fix the things we broke and that that makes us human and it shows how we keep evolving.

André Kuijpers, thank you so so much for one of the most inspiring nights of my live! I will not forget any bit of it, you are an inspiration for so many and I hope that somewhere in the future my own great grand children will still be able to live on Spaceship Earth in a natural and safe way!

Lots of love,
ThatDutchgirl96

By the way for those of you who want to know what earth looks like from outerspace NASA is streaming live from ISS: https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ESRS/HDEV/
Also a little video about André Kuipers and the road that took him to becoming an astronaut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkOY6EzuMP8

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!!!

It's time for the spookiest day of the year, besides exam days and dentist appointments. Today is the day we are actually allowed to dress up, without getting weird looks, go trick or treating, have a ghostly rave party, or whatever people do on Halloween. As a Dutch person I'm only just getting the hang of Halloween. It's not a very big happening here yet, although it's going to be in the future, mark my words! Just look at the generation of my youngest sister for example, she's 14 now and for years she's been interesting in the concept of Halloween, together with her friends she even introduced trick or treat in our neighbourhood and they also throw this fun Halloween party every year. Besides my sisters interest in Halloween there's also the commercial interest in Halloween, for example by theme parks. Throughout Holland theme parks have special Halloween nights where they have longer opening hours, have spooks roaming their grounds creeping out whomever walks past.  

Last year I got the ultimate Halloween experience, at home I carved some pumpkins, but on the 31st of October, the real Halloween night, I was in Brighton. There Halloween is a much bigger thing than over here so it was an amazing experience, although I was slightly afraid of being outside with all the people with their fake blood and axes. And..... that day I also went to see The Amazing Tour Is Not On Fire, also known as TATINOF, in Halloween style. I'll never forget Dan as Shrek and Phil as Thor, it truly was an unique TATINOF experience and I loved every bit about it , oh and I cried. Yes that also happened. 

TATINOF

This year however, there was no Brighton, nor a TATINOF show to attend (besides the one now available for purchase on Youtube) (totally not sponsored by the way, just fangirling). No, this year I had to stick to the pumpkin carving and attending a Halloween night at a local theme park. The pumpkin carving was the fun part, well the theme park was not a complete waist either but it was worse than the dressed up people in Brighton as the spooks in the theme park just loved going after me......

Let me explain this a bit more. My friend and I were already in the theme park in the afternoon to, you know, just enjoy the rides and the peacefulness of wandering around the park without constantly being chased by clowns, Romans or horror brides. But then.... dun dun dun, darkness fell upon the park and suddenly it was swarming with spooks. Now I thought I was being smart and prepared here. My strategy was to look the spooks straight in the eye to show them how confident I was and so they hopefully wouldn't start chasing me. But I was wrong, oh so wrong. It didn't work at all, my strategy just backfired right at me. All the spooks were chasing me, not even one of them wanted to chase my friend. Maybe it's a compliment?! Not too confident about that though. Anyway this resulted in a horror bride screaming in my ear, zombie Romans entering my personal space and pointing their spears at mY FLIPPING FACE, clowns beeping their horns in my face and just the general being chased by men with chainsaws. How lovely. I definitely prefer Rory the Roman, when it comes to the Romans that is. (Doctor who reference intended).

Now I did like that day but man the spooks were against me there and for next year I really have to up my confidence and anti spook strategy. So just so you know making eye-contact does NOT WORK.....

So yeah, basically that was my Halloween experience for this year. Yeah 2016 what a blast. For tonight I'm going to meet up with the friend I went to see TATINOF with last year and we're going to watch TATINOF the movie! A much better way of spending Halloween in my opinion, and yes I'm taking tissues!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!! Just five more hours until Christmas though......

ThatDutchGirl96

With the bae, my only friend that day. 

Seasonal drinks.

Hey people!

(Cheeky picture of my own neighbourhood,
taken with a canon EOS1000)

IT'S AUTUMN AGAIN!!!! Temperatures are dropping, nature is becoming a beautifully warm colour pallet, and sweaters are legal again. Slowly humanity is climbing out of their autumn depression and starts appreciating the seasonal changes. Even though I'm very much a summer child, I absolutely adore autumn. I love the colours, sweaters, long walks through a beautiful forest and of course the hot drinks.

It's been almost 6 months since these drinks left my everyday life. Well beside coffee, coffee is my every-season-hot-drink. It just never leaves my side, and I very much appreciate that. However it is time to break apart with coffee for a bit, not completely, hell no. With morning shifts that start at 7 I wouldn't survive without my trusted friend coffee. No, during the next months I will invite more hot-drink-friends over again. Tea is welcome again, not the iced tea, just the hot tea that caused a 
2nd grade burn on my chin last year, kind of tea. Hot chocolate is making an incredible entrance again, and yes I did purchase some mini marshmallows already. 

Because what better way to keep your body and soul warm when the temperature drops and your fingertips feel like little ice buckets after a bicycle ride, than with a lovely hot beverage. Autumn and winter bring it on! I am ready for you. 

Now I already mentioned how coffee is my hot drink best friend throughout the year.  And with coffee, I don't just mean the black gold that charges my mental energy bar every morning. NO I mean a lot of types of coffee like, (flavoured) latte macchiatos,and  cappuccinos (a new hot drink friend). Then there are all the different kinds of tea. Star-mint, green tea, chamomile, caramelised pear, apple cinnamon, autumn storm, winter glow, earl grey. Let's just say I'm not very picky when it comes to tea flavours, but don't you dare approach me with a fruity flavoured tea. I will destroy those. Worst teas ever! (In my opinion though, I don't want to offend and get chased by all you fruity tea lovers out there!) 

(Source: www.russianfoods.com,
this one looks so good!!!)

Then, last but not least, the hot chocolate. A hot drink my physical state, well more like my diabetes, doesn't really like. You know with the big amount of carbs in there and all. God forbid me putting any mini marshmallows in, thankfully I'm not religious because I love my mini marshmallows. Oh and don't forget the whipped creme. (I'm starting to drool all over my keyboard). Yes hot chocolate, together with just normal, not drinkable chocolate one of my favourite sweet things in the entire universe. Well, earth. But then again, diabetes, and struggles so I have to restrain myself to one cup of hot chocolate per time. I can't go all crazy, drinking 4 hot chocolates in a row, well actually I could but I don't want to spent that much insulin just on hot chocolates. So yeah, diabetes struggles. 

However that does leave me with my teas and coffees, so I'm still a happy person. Autumn bring it on! I am ready! Also I'm kind of convincing my mum to buy me and my sister some nice pumpkins to carve :). Perks of still living at home...... 
Oh almost forgot, I'm also going to the Halloween nights at a local amusement park for which I'm pretty excited! Lot's of amazing days out coming up the next months! Be ready for them!

Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96

Donders Open Door Day 2016.

Hey guys!

So a couple of weeks back, I visited the Donders Institute on their open door day. The Donders Institute is an institute that focuses on the cognitive neurosciences and investigates a 
lot around the cognitive neurosciences and new neurological developments. On the open door day they invited Victor Mids a medical specialist and illusionist, which I found a rather peculiar combination, to host the day.There was so much to see and do and we didn't really get to do everything we wanted to due to lack of time and it just was a bit too crowded sometimes. But overall, it was an amazingly interesting day. The science nerd inside of me was very pleased at the end.

Before that day I had never even heard of the Donders Institute. Two friends asked if I wanted to come and as soon as I heard the word neuroscience I was hooked. Just a fun fact about me: my favourite bit of the human body is the brain due to its complexity and the endless amount of options and functions it has. We have so much left to discover about it and we can do so many things with neuro-rehabilitation which we've only just scratched the surface. So yeah, I really like the brain. 

During the open door day there were a lot of demos, but also some live MRI-scan experiments and some really interesting lectures. The demos varied from getting an up-close look of the brain (which was one of my personal favourites), to the connections between food and the brain, to the NOA-robot (a robot that helps kids with autism develop social skills), and just a close-up look at the MRI-scan machine. They even had a special children's corner, and free poffertjes which was a big plus!

The lectures, were in my opinion, the best bits of the day. The first lecture we attended was about reading minds and if it's possible to read minds off an MRI-scan. This experiment failed a bit due to lack of time and the early stages of reading minds via an MRI we are still in. So in this experiment the illusionist, Victor Mids, turned out to be better at reading minds. But in the future, I honestly we believe could read minds via an MRI in the future, just you wait! 

Then there was the lecture on neuro-myths which was very educational and hilarious. This lecture was easier to follow for non-anatomically educated people as it didn't contain too many anatomical terms which were thrown around in the other lectures. 
There was also a lecture on gaming with your brain but we decided not to go there. Last but not least there were the lectures on optical illusions, which showed some really cool virtual and augmented reality 
developments in the treatments of Parkinson's disease, and another MRI experiment to watch the effects of fear on the brain which did work out and was sooooo interesting. 


The demo's were really interesting as well, although it was so busy at certain demo's that we didn't have a chance to ask questions or even enter the room which was a bit of a bummer. Although that didn't keep me from having an amazing day. Like I actually held a brain, nothing can beat that right?! So if you're from Holland or happen to be in or around Nijmegen next year at the next Donders Institute open door day, I truly recommend you go there! It's free and really worth going! I'll leave a link to the website of the Donders Institute here! Oh wait, the Donders Institute also has a blog called Donders Wonders blog, you should check it out! Here's also a link to Victor Mids' TV-show MindF*ck, it's pretty cool! 

Lots of love! (also brain related)
ThatDutchGirl96

Internship #3.

Hey Guys!

For two weeks now I've started my third internship, and it's in the place I've been waiting to have an internship in for two years now! My current internship is, you might have guessed it already, in the HOSPITAL! Yes, I am enthusiastic about hospitals, well at least about having my internship there. Ever since I was a little girl the hospital has been one of the most intriguing and fascinating places I've ever been to. Yes, this does sound a bit weird, I know. Anyway, I won't bore you with the story why I'm so fascinated by the hospital, if you want to know more about that click here for a jump back in time to the blogpost I explain it all.

Let's get this party started. In my opinion internships are a fantastic way to learn more about your profession and learn new skills, especially in a practical profession like nursing. However, there are some cons as well, like not giving yourself any time to get used to your internship, or being tired all the time, and of course the crazy (amount of) assignments school thinks you can manage beside your 32 hour internship. But besides the con I think there are a lot more pros to having an internship so, go internships! 

As I mentioned before my internship is in a hospital, an internship I've been waiting for ever since I started my nursing course. Now I secretly wished for an internship on the child-department, however the lung-department, the department I'm on now, is pretty interesting as well. And who knows, maybe in the future I will end up on the child-department after all. But back to the lung-department. It's a rather interesting department to work on with a dismissal / death rate of about 70 / 30% which I personally think is pretty high.  This also kind of crushes my original idea of the hospital and what I liked about it so much, the idea of people entering being ill and leaving when they're better. The death part, is something I never really gave much thought to, especially as a child. But that so many people would die, I never would have thought. 

Now it's kind of logical once you start looking into it. A lot of people that are in the hospital are very,  very ill and most of them are pretty old as well. On the lung-department, I see a lot of cases of pneumonia, which some call: "the stairway to heaven for old people", and I guess this is kind of true. But on the lung-department I work on we also have our own cancer centre, so a lot of the patients we have on our ward are cancer patients as well. But still, the pretty high death rate hit me pretty hard, and I'm going to work very hard on my skills to deal with deaths as well this internship.

However, we also have a lot of patients that do meet my original hospital standard of coming in ill and leaving when they're better. And this makes me really happy and proud of my job. When people leave and are ready to go back home again, then I know why I wanted to become a nurse in the first place. Healing people, making people better and maybe even leave a lasting impression on the people with your positive spirit and good nursing skills. Yes the profession of a nurse is very diverse but it's, in my opinion, one of the most interesting, honourable and appreciated jobs in the world. From both a nurse and a patients perspective.

So yeah, this internship will give me a lot of opportunities to develop a lot of new skills in different areas of the nursing profession. Tomorrow is another day of my internship and even though I don't really like the waking up early (like 5.45 am) I do really like my internship, the department I'm on and the people I get to work with. The lung-department has a great team and I have a great deal of respect for my fellow nurses. So to every nurse in the world: Keep up the good work, you are doing great!

Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96

(source: pinterest) 

20 things I've done before turning 20.

Hello inhabitants of the world!

Today is the day I've turned 20. No big party planned (that was yesterday), so just a nice day to spend with my family, the sun and to hang by the pool. As turning 20 isn't something to take lightly, you're suddenly not a teen anymore!!!!! So hereby, I would like to share with you, 20 things I've done before turning 20.  

1. Teaching myself to read. 
Before turning four and starting kindergarten I had already taught myself to read. probably where my love for books started. 

2. Graduating from high school.
Since I know a few 20 year-olds who haven't graduated high school yet I think this kind of counts as an achievement so yeah here it is.  

3. Taking Anglia as an extra class.
Oh how I've complained about this extra class during the five years I took it. Now, looking back on it, however I'm pretty glad I took that class as it helped me improve my English even further and it made my high school time a bit more challenging, study-wise. 

4. MSN.
When you're around my age you will know this as the most amazing early forms of social media there was and ever will be. MSN was our way of messaging friends, to stay in touch. Together with MySpace this was the start of social media and where we started to get lost in the digital world.

5. Attending my first actual festival.
This happened only recently when I visited PinkPop, a pretty cool festival in the South of Holland. I really recommend you go there once if you're able to, that is. 

6. Getting my drivers license. 
Quite a milestone in every persons life. I failed twice before finally passing my drivers test and I was in tears when I finally passed. It was amazing and being able to drive by myself has given me a new form of freedom.

7. Started university.
Two years ago I officially started university. Now I'm two years in my nursing course and after summer I'll proceed to the third year of this course. My next internship will be in the same hospital I'm being treated for my diabetes so that will be fun!

8. Getting my first kiss.
Not really a very great one but hey, it's something that should be on here right?! Let's not go into this any deeper.

9. Went on a vacation without my parents.
My first vacation without my parents was when I went to South Africa for two weeks to volunteer. This was with Worldmapping, whom I would 100% recommend if you're under 18 and want to volunteer abroad! The year after South Africa I went to Brasil, also with Worldmapping.

10. Go outside of Europe.
My parents never took us outside of Europe, they're not much for travelling far and wide so if I wanted to explore the world I would have to do it myself. This I did together with 20 other people aged between 14 and 18 years old. The two trips I've taken outside of Europe, both with Worldmapping, changed my life for the better and I am so grateful I got to take these chances. 

Okay halfway there. Let me think of some more amazing things I've done before turning 20.

11. Getting diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes.
Not a very happy or amazing thing but still a very important one. My diabetes changed my life for ever. I now have to truly take care of my own body. To get diagnosed with something like Diabetes when you're 15 is one of the worst things that can happen to you. It basically cuts of the rest of your childhood as you have to become completely responsible for yourself, your behaviour and your health. Pretty insane but I'm also pretty grateful for my Diabetes as it changed me as a person and without my Diabetes I wouldn't have done the amazing things I have done now. So as a wise Dutchman once said: "Every disadvantage has it's advantage."

12. Going on holidays with my friends.
Something I started doing since my gap year. That year I visited London with a good friend of mine, then came my trip to Brighton with a different friend and during New years I visited Disneyland Paris with yet another friend of mine. I treasure all these trips, they all were amazing in their own way and they made me fall in love with city-tripping and visiting new places that aren't too far away as well. 

13. Having a great imagination.
Ever since I was a child I could get lost in my own imagination, in the worlds I created for myself. World so much better and happier than the world we live in. In these worlds I convinced myself I was Chinese, able to play Galactic Football (amazing series from my childhood), one of the Totally Spies (another TV-show), living in a cloud castle, and so much more. As I grew up, a lot of my imaginary worlds faded and eventually disappeared. However not all of my imagination is gone and I'm going to keep it that way for the rest of my life. Life is way too boring without a good bit of imagination. 

14. Beating depression.
For over 6 years I went from psychologist to hypnotherapist, back to a psychologist and on to a psychiatrist. After those six years I had gotten the diagnosis depression and learned to deal with it. This long process was one of the biggest challenges of my life but also one of the biggest victories as my last visit to the psychiatrist ended. It meant I was done and officially able to manage myself. Looking back on it I've come very far and nobody can take one bit of that progress away from me. 

15. Turning 18.
The age I officially, theoretically, became an adult. Reaching the age of 18 in Holland means you can drive by yourself, are legally allowed to consume alcohol and you get to vote. FunFunFun.

16. Voted for the first time.
After turning 18, the local elections came around. Being 18 it meant I was allowed to vote and my vote is one I find very important and I personally think that once you're allowed to vote you should vote. As you vote you vote for your future which I think, is pretty amazing and you want to shape your own future don't you?!

17. Being alive during the change of the millenniums.
Yes I am one of those annoying millennials people are always talking about. I was born in 1996 so I don't remember much from New years eve 1999/ 2000. What I do know of it are mostly things that I got told afterwards, when I got older but yeah hey I was there when it happened!!!

18. Auditioned for a movie.
This didn't really work out and it was a bit of an impulsive move. When I was 14 I decided it was a good idea to audition for a movie. The audition was on the other side of Holland and it was this pretty big event. It was an amazing day and I had a lot of fun though. Maybe in the future???? I did have a small part in a Swedish children's series though, by the way. Recording that series was a lot of fun even though I don't speak a word Swedish.

19. Taking a gap-year. 
After graduating from High School I took a gap year. This mostly due to my depression but it became an amazing year. I worked in a toy shop, pretty cool eh, got my drivers license, went to London (twice) and beat my depression. So yeah an amazing year with a lot of cool stuff. 

20. Making fun of other people turning 20.
I'm one of the youngest among my friends so most of them have already turned 20. This led teasing them about being old and so adult. Now the jokes on me as my time to turn 20 has come. I'm a bit scared for the payback some friends have prepared for me but I'll give another update on that after my birthday party!

So that's it. 20 things I've done before turning 20. I hope you liked this very very long blogpost! If you've made it all the way down, congratulations! If you haven't, very understandable!

Anyway I hope you all passed your exams, proceeded to your next year of school and will have an amazing holiday!
ThatDutchGirl96

My dearest Vincent.

Dear Vincent,

Last saturday I visited your legacy. A museum, named after and devoted to you, founded by your nephew. It was a four floor building and your work was everywhere. Your work, your life, everything about you hung on those walls, visible for whoever walked past. It was incredible and it only made me love you and that incredibly complex mind of you even more. 

I've always admired your work but even more the story of your life. Your life is one of the more inspiring life stories I've heard so far. It holds happines, sadness, madness, magnificent friendships, and more importantly one of the strongest bonds between brothers I know of. Your brother Theo was a magnificent man, just like you were and the bond the two of you shared is one many siblings can look up to. You were, brothers, friends, and business partners, where most siblings have a relationship that goes no further than the brother part. Sad, if I may say so. 

Let me compliment your work, Vincent. I've grown up with your work, you are one of Hollands, of the worlds, finest painters. Your artwork changed the future of art but still, you my Vincent, are one of a kind. Ever since I was a little girl I loved your artwork, the circular shapes, the endless little dots, they made your artwork come to live. Your artwork was and still is the most magical artwork I know. To see your work from up close for once, it gave me so much more insight in the way you worked, the colours you used and how you made the artwork come to life. Something that has been a mystery to me for the biggest part of my life. Oh Vincent, I love your work, like so many others in this world. A few of my favourites are Sunflowers and Starry night. Oh how I love those. The contrasts, the use of colour, the different dimensions and emotions you managed to put in the 'simple' 2d canvasses. 

Vincent, the day in your museum, it thaught me a lot about you. Not only about your artwork and the way you paint, how you saw the world, and how you used your pain and managed to put it in your artwork. No that day I learned so much more, about you as a person, your relationships with other artists and of course your family and Theo, your brother. It thaught me your life story as I never heard it before. I read letters, saw some photographs of you, found out more about the institute you went to when life got bad. Vincent, you have no idea how much respect I have for you. I wish I had known you in real life, I wish you were still alive. The way you saw the world was a way I wanted to know more about and now I do. Now I know how you saw the world and how it reflects in your paintings. I know about it now and can't wait to start seeing the world the same way. You Vincent, you and your paintings and your intruiging life story, you brought back some of the magic I had lost. 

Vincent, if you were still alive, I would probably shake your hand, give you a hug and wish you all the best. But Vincent, you're not alive anymore, all there is left of you is your artwork, the letters you wrote, your drawings and your life story. So now I'm left with thanking you, and being forever grateful for the fact you once were alive and the magic and meaning your life has brought me!

Yours faithfully,
ThatDutchGirl96