I went to Brighton!!!!!!! (final part)

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

I went to Brighton!!!!!!! (part 1)

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!

The refugee crisis.

Hey there,

For the last couple of months a crisis has been developing. When it just started people didn't think too much of it. 'It happens all the time' they said. A lot of bad comments were made on the subject and even the media tried to ignore it whenever they could because hey, there is more news to talk about like the economy which is still bad but has been bad for years. However over the last couple of weeks more and more attention has been given to this problem that has become an European crisis and now a worldwide crisis. Governments are starting to see and acknowledge the problem and are taking action on solving it. Slowly but surely the world is opening their eyes and hearts. No more turning off the TV, no more 'it's so far away it won't bother us', no more let other countries handle this we have enough problems of our own. Just no more of the ignorant attitude.

The worst eye opener came a little over a week ago. A little Syrian boy, no more than three years old, lying on the beach. The waves slowly caressing the little boys face as if they held his mothers soul trying to tell her child it would all be okay. Telling him they are in a better place now. Telling him they made it, the whole family made it only daddy went to a different better place. A place that should have been the better place to go to but a place that has now become his prison. His entire family lost in the sea, the heartbreaking picture of his youngest son lying dead on the beach. The last thing he got to see of his family.

Now try to tell me we are not in a crisis. Try to convince me this isn't a serious problem and they are all just looking for an economically better country. Tell me they are all here for the money, to stay at home doing nothing whilst getting more money from the government then some of the people from our own country. Tell me one of these things and I will punch you in the face because no, they are not all heading for Europe, some try to go to family in America, Canada, Asia or Australia. There is one thing they have in common, all those life risking refugees, they are running, running to safety. To a country where suicide bombings aren't a daily activity. All they want is safety, a place for their children to grow up safe and sound. A place where children can play on the beach instead of lying there lifeless. 

For a moment I just want you to take a look around you. Look how safe it is, how we take going to school and having a part time job for granted. Now take a look in the mirror, you are clean, maybe you've just taken a shower, your clothes are yours, you bought them with your own money and wow you are wearing shoes and even make up. All those little things we have gotten so used to that we take them for granted. Those people that are on the run from their home, who have left everything behind and probably won't ever see their home again. Most don't even have shoes and now they are coming to us, running to us for safety for help. All they want is peace in their own country so that one day they might return there, to their home. But winter is coming and they have nothing and what are we doing, complaining about how crowded our countries already are and how bad our economy already is. Not looking at all the boxes stacked up in the attic, filled with old shoes, clothes, toys and coats. 

Thankfully, now the crisis is more known and people talk about it everyday, things are getting better. We are starting to accept what is happening. The governments are arranging places to stay for the refugees. Closed refugee centres are opened up again. Bags with old clothes, shoes and toys are being collected and sent to those refugee centres. People are coming together to help these poor refugees in every way possible. There are charities that sent tents and other camping gear to refugee camps in France. People are willing to take in refugees in their own homes. We are all becoming one and that is the only way we can help others. So if you are able to do something no matter how small the act, please do so. Help those who lost their family, home and everything they once had.

Oh and yes, I'm not just blogging about this hoping to inspire others. Of course I hope some people will start collecting clothes or helping refugees speak the language of the country they are now living in. To achieve something like that would be great! Last week my mum and I went up the attic and collected some of those boxes filled with old clothes, shoes and coats and delivered these to one of the refugee centres. For me personally, I'm also still waiting on a reply if I can start volunteering at a local refugee centre. So if you can help please help!

www.rescue.org/crisis-syria

Lots of love,

ThatDutchGirl96

School has started.

Hey guys!

So it's September, summer is officially a memory, Halloween is almost there, the year is coming to an end and of course worst of all, school has started again. 

Schools all over the world have started again which means that new memories, friends and maybe enemies are about to be made but it also means a lot of new knowledge will be taught to and studied by the students. For most people the start of a new year of school equals the start of a period full of stress, crying, being bullied, having to sit alone during lunchtime and being afraid to fail. I hate it that school has become so known for all the negative things that happen there. You might not believe it and call me a hopeless optimist for still believing this but you have no idea how many great things happen at schools. Yes, I do know that the good things don't make up for the bad and that the educational system that most countries have has the original idea of what education should be about. Education should be available to EVERY SINGLE PERSON on earth whether they live in the USA, the Netherlands or the town ships in South-Africa. We should all be able to go to school, to learn, to go to college and finally get a job. Education should be about teaching kids knowledge they can use in their further lives not about a men who buys 60 watermelons because god knows why? Education should teach kids how to function in nowadays society and not having students work their ass of and still be unable to pay for their students loans and go to school at the same time. 

However, despite all the bad things happening in school and how incredibly stupid our educational system and most governments are for still using it there are some good sides to going to school. Yes, there are so many amazing things that happen only in school. Maybe one day you'll even learn how right your parents were when they said high school or college would be the best part of your life. 

But look around and put on those pink glasses for once. Be that hopeless optimist you never allow yourself to be and look at all the amazing things happening in the halls of your school. Friends are reuniting. People are becoming friends. Even though the weather may say so, summer isn't over yet, everyone is reliving the summer over and over every time they get to talk about it to their friends or in class.

A new year has started which allows you to start over as well. Get yourself some stationary you like, wear your favourite clothes, hug your friends, put all those judgemental thoughts aside and meet new people with an open mind. This new year has so many possibilities, you just have to look around you and sometimes when things seem to go bad again put on those pink glasses. The world has so much to offer all you need to do are the things that make you feel good and make you feel happy. When you are feeling happy make sure to show that to the rest of the world so the world can enjoy your happiness with you.

So, how is your first week of school going? Do you have any back to school advice? If you like it please leave your experiences and/or survival tips in the comments below! Like that we can help each other get through this year together.

Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96

Source: http://www.lifehack.org/