Hello!
On the 4th of December, the day had come. My time had run out and it was time to go back to the rainy country of Holland. As I am writing this snowflakes fall down in my already white garden and the sunshine and warmth of South-Africa seem nothing but a faint memory.
Do I want to go back? Yes, definitely. I really miss being surrounded by other students all the time, to be socially connected to more people than my family whilst I'm at home. I miss the friendliness of South-Africans. I miss having the shops close to my house so all I had to do was walk for 10 minutes instead of drive for 20. I miss the children I used to teach and play with at Inkululeko, the teachers I got to work with. Being an inspiration to others but also being inspired by other all the time. South-Africa was absolutely incredible and if I could go back right now, I wouldn't be sitting here writing this blog, I would be packing my suitcase and racing to the airport.
Everyday South-Africa is on my mind, I see my friends who are still there posting pictures on Facebook or Instagram. I look back through my own pictures as I'm putting together an album or as I'm showing the pictures to my friends and family. They smile and say I did some incredible work there but they never fully seem to understand. They weren't there so most pictures are meaningless to them. For me this has become a familiar struggle but that doesn't make it any easier on the South-Africa pictures. I'm showing them pieces of how my life was for the last four months and all they do is nod and smile. If I could only make them understand how great those four months have been.
I wonder everyday, how are the children at school? Do they still ask where I am or when I'm coming back? Have they already forgotten me? Do they still know when and how to brush their teeth or wash their hands? How are my housemates doing? Are they still getting along? Is pizza Monday still a thing? Do they still hang out together or have dinner nights? At the moment I feel like I'm living two different lives at once. On the one hand I still feel like I'm the South-African me, teacher me that got to work with the best kids every single day and hang out with the most amazing housemates after work. On the other hand I'm Holland me, feeling cold all the time, surrounded by people who haven't left their normal lives for four months. Everything here is still the same even though it seems completely new to me. There are many things I don't seem to recognise and it kind of freaks me out.
Have I really changed that much? Have I really become so different? Have others not left their place, did they not change at all? I thought time changes everybody no matter if you move to the other side of the world or not. I thought we should all be changing not just me because I had a different experience but it seems that way. It doesn't make me less proud of the changes I've gone through.
During my time in South-Africa I became even more aware of cultural and social issues like racism, sexism and inequality. I also became more aware of how utterly ridiculous they are and how my and the following generations need to stand up and fight against them. We are the only ones that can change the world the way it is now and it is our duty to do so. We can and have to make the world a better place, starting with ourselves.
South-Africa was challenging but it was the best time of my life. It made me more aware of the world around me and allowed me to enjoy every single second I spend there. I got to work with the best colleagues and kids and live with the most interesting students. Let's not even start on the amazing sights and adventurers I got to go on whilst I was road-tripping through the country I used to call home. Yes South-Africa is amazing.
As the snow keeps falling down all I take comfort in are my cosy Christmas sweater and damping cup of tea whilst I keep looking at all the pictures of my time in South-Africa and remember the good times that used to be.
Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96
Hey guys!
Get some tea, a few snacks, wrap a blanket around yourself and prepare for the last part of my Brighton adventure.
On the second day of our Brighton adventure I woke up early, not because I couldn't sleep but because a clan of pigeons was fighting a clan of seagulls right outside our window! So much for a good start of the day. Looking at the date however made me forget all about the bird war going on outside our window. Today was October 31st. Halloween but maybe even more important, the day we were going to see Dan and Phil on their amazing tour is not on fire!!!!
Ever since the day we ordered the tickets it felt kind of unreal. Like a deja vu of some sorts. Even on the day it was actually going to happen I still couldn't comprehend the fact that it was actually going to happen. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
After breakfast we went out for a walk on the beach, explored a bit more of Brighton and did our first proper bit of shopping before returning to the hotel again. Time was running out, TATINOF was coming closer and closer and for some reason I wasn't nervous at all. Neither was I realising that I was actually going to see them today but I already told you that. We queued up about an hour and a half before the doors would open. It wasn't busy yet which was kind of nice. As 18 and 19-year-olds we felt a bit out of place, I think approximately 80% of the people there were 16 and younger. NOT JUDGING THO, JUST AN OBSERVATION! A guy started walking past taking in the phan-art, reason why I was a weird kid stories, internet support group problems and 7 second challenges. Everyone in the queue was really enthusiastic and kind towards one another which was really great. As the only two Dutch people there we did feel a bit out of place though. Indoors we met a nice girl who joined us until we went into the actual theatre and took our seats. The pre-show music was the best ever and the entire theatre was singing along which made me so so happy.
TATINOF itself was just amazing. It was completely and utterly amazing. The show was perfect, Shrek Dan and Thor Phil were just as I had imagined them to be and in the end I even cried a little. Seeing them live was one of the best moments of my entire life and up to today TATINOF crosses my mind every day. I won't put any spoilers in here but if you get the chance to go and see them on tour please do so! The same goes for when the DVD will be released (they are filming the tour) and you are able to buy it please please do! You will not regret it and might understand why I cried afterwards.
After TATINOF we were still full of adrenaline and decided to go to the beach again to calm down a bit. We had bought a box of maltesers before the show which got eaten really quickly. The sun set and we still sat on the beach as the skies got darker and time kept ticking away. The Halloween vibes started filling the city and as two Dutch girls from a country where Halloween isn't much of a thing we were kind of excited about Halloween and also really curious to what would be going on tonight. The award for best Halloween costume that night definitely went to the girl that was dressed as trash! You looked awesome and it was like the best thing ever so yeah you go girl! Also the people spending their evening drawing hearts on the side walk you made our day even better and you made the city look super cute and lovely. Shout-out to whoever drew those hearts!
Eventually we missed out on most of the night as we were like super tired and unable to function properly due to all that happened that day. This day was one of the best of my entire life and ended way too quickly.
And like that the last day of our Brighton adventure came lurking around the corner much too soon.
So here we are, the last day of our Brighton adventure. The last day of the best time of my life. The last day in a beautiful city with so many things left unexplored.
The day started with another pigeon vs. seagull war followed by the longest stroll on the beach ever. We decided to turn around once we had passed the colourful beach huts. Some more shopping was done and by 2 pm. it was time to head back to the train station and go back to Holland.
Brighton you have been so good to us! You were and are absolutely lovely and I'm 100% sure you will see me again one day in the near future! Those three days were the best days of my life and I will never ever forget them. Everyday they cross my mind and every time they do they make me smile. So many memories were made so many pictures were taken and so many unforgettable moments were lived.
Thank you Charlotte for being in my life and getting me into Youtube in the first place! We've known each other for almost four years now and in those years we have done some crazy things and many more crazy things are to come! Thank you for being my companion on this trip! It was the best thing ever and don't you dare to go back without me!
So yeah, that was it. That's the end of my Brighton adventure which took way too long to write and upload and I'm sorry for all the cheesy bits. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading these posts as much as I enjoyed writing them. I highly recommend you visit Brighton one day if you get the chance.
Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96
Hey!!!
As the title already kind of gives away, I HAVE BEEN TO BRIGHTON!!!! Yes, the caps are necessary. Last week my friend Charlotte and I left Holland to explore Brighton for a weekend. A city the both of us had never been to before but always wanted to visit one day.
The idea of this trip was born a couple of years ago and the idea started coming to life in April this year. Hmmm Renée what a coincidence, your favourite youtubers announced their book and tour that month too. Yeah skip the coincidence part that announcement was totally how the coming to life part started.
So in April this year our favourite youtubers (AmazingPhil and Danisnotonfire) announced they were going to publish a book AND go on tour this year. This news of course excited us enormously but there was just this tiny bit of a problem. The tour would be a UK tour and both Charlotte and I happen to live in Holland which is not in the UK at all (sad fact). WHAT SHOULD WE DO???????
After a lot of discussing, thinking and contemplating with each other and our inner fangirl we decided we were going to do it. We were going to buy tickets for the Amazing Tour Is Not On Fire and no not for the London performances no, the both of us had been to London multiple times already. We decided to combine the Amazing Tour Is Not On Fire with another dream of ours, visiting Brighton. With a lot of excitement the tickets were bought and us going to Brighton became a fact. WE WERE GOING TO BRIGHTON AND SEE OUR FAVE YOUTUBERS! It felt so unrealistic and I personally thought it was a dream for a long time. Well for a couple of months at least.
Summer holiday came and ended, October started coming closer and I was still convinced I dreamt it all. Then the day finally arrived, not the day we were leaving for Brighton, no the day where all the adult, responsible and planning stuff would be done. Finding a hotel, booking our flight, deciding what more we would and could do in Brighton, printing all the routes from the airport to Brighton, from Brighton station to our hotel, from our hotel to the Pier, the Brighton Dome and all the other things we wanted to visits. It was an intense day on Google Maps.
After the planning came the packing. We decided to make a list with all the things we would need which turned out to be pretty useful actually and since we are both 24/7 users of medicine these lists are a bit more complicated than your average 'to pack' lists.
Then, after months of waiting, thinking it was a dreaming and slowly feeling my stress levels rise to a new limit, the time had come. The day we would wake up way too early to catch a flight to a hopefully unforgettable, absolutely amazing time in Brighton. Way too awake for this time of the day I got in the car trying my hardest not to burst from excitement. After we both got through border control nice and easy we headed to the gate, ready to board the plane. This nice and easy was kind of a new thing for me as either my insulin, insulin pump or blood sugar measuring device mostly catch the attention of border control and lead to me explaining I'm not trying to get drugs out of the country just a medicine that keeps me alive and I would die without. Oh the joys of being diabetic.
We were called to the gate and the boarding began. After the safety instructions were given it was time to take off. Charlotte started to become kind of nervous now as this was her first time flying. The view was incredible, the cities, villages, forests, endless fields of grass, rivers, North Sea, the clouds and the sun. All these things made the view from our flight amazing. Slowly but surely the plane started to prepare for landing and the city of London came closer and closer. The city that seemed to be made out of Lego from up high slowly got back to it's normal size as the plane came closer to the ground. Charlotte thought we had already landed and was kind of surprised you didn't feel the moment the wheels of the plane touch the ground but at that moment the wheels of the plane touched the ground. For me this was the most fun part because I knew this was coming and the look on her face was so funny I couldn't stop laughing for a long time. Besides this she handled her first time flying really well though.
We had arrived, we were in the UK, in London. It was real and it was now. In a couple of hours we would be in Brighton, a city we had heard so much about and were so eager to discover ourselves. In just a day we would be seeing our favourite youtubers, two awkward young man who had played such a massive part in us becoming friends, live on their tour. The next three days were going to be amazing, full of feels and new things to see, do and enjoy.
Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96
ps. The second and also last part of our Brighton adventure will go up on Thursday!
