Fresh Starts

In the beginning, there was sun. I moved here two Sundays ago, on a sunny day. Settling in proved to be forgiving: the very next day I signed a contract on a great apartment, started working, and went out for dinner. A few big fights and some rainy days later, and here I am - a new girl in the city, living alone for the first time in my life, very far from my parents, my friends, and my relationship which facebook would probably do best to describe as "it's complicated".

This is the part where I introduce myself: Emma. 20 years old. Israeli girl, fresh out of the two-year mandatory service in the IDF. Even fresher out of an absolutely awesome 3 month backpacking trip around China and Japan. And now - living & working all alone in The Hague, Netherlands.

After two weeks of very intensive settling in, this is what I have:

1. A pretty great apartment.

2. An even greater upstairs-neighbor, who helps me with absolutely everything I need.

3. A bike (ok, it's not actually mine, I'm only keeping it for three months, but still!).

4. A morning-gym membership for 40 euros a month, a movie membership for 20, a bank account, an OV Chipcard for which I paid way too much.

5. Internet access at home (only got it the day before yesterday; before that, I connected through a cable my upstairs neighbor threw me down through the window...)

Things I still need to get and do:

1. Curtains, curtains, curtains.

2. Learn how to weave into the Dutch bicycle traffic more, uh, fluently. Left turns keep me baffled.

3. Learn Dutch!

4. Find some friends.

5. Get an actual SIM card deal instead of the Albert-Hijn pay-card I'm using now...

6. Start traveling around like I told myself I would.

So what's behind this blog?

First of all, I like blogs. I like reading them, I like writing them, I like the fact that years later, I can still read everything I went through and the way I looked at things. And I think that this entire saga of living in a different country for a while, all the good and bad things in this time and place of my life, will be worth re-reading in a few years time. And maybe, just maybe, other people will also find this interesting.

Lekker!