The countdown

Somehow the last month has more been about the countdown and organising stuff than anything else, at least in my mind. Time flies and I have only 2 more weeks to go at work, which is really weird and a bit disturbing as well (is everything going to be ok when I leave, did I leave everything in good order etc) and another chapter in my life will be closed. No more Amsterdam & Haarlem, no more work at the university, no more Netherlands for a while. Most things have been organised, especially the boring things like insurance, visas etc. A few things can only be done in the last few days when I'm in Friesland and some will have to be done when I'm already overseas, so time to do some practical stuff: pack stuff in boxes, throw stuff away etc. All the things I wanted to sell have been sold, so it feels like I'm camping in my own home. At least there are lots of visitors to share the fun! My dad turned 60 on the 18th of September, so that weekend was spent in Friesland. The weekend after was a quiet one in Haarlem, since Gwendy was sick and so a visitorless weekend. During that next week there were lots of ups and a big down. Mondayevening I had dinner with Jojanneke at her place in Amsterdam and Tuesday evening Monique came to Haarlem with me and we had a lovely evening here. On Wednesday however, I left for Friesland to go to the farewell service of Marjan, who lost the battle against cancer and left behind two little kids (2 and 4 years old) and her husband. A beautiful service, but obviously a very sad and emotional day.
Last weekend Karlijn and Woodan visited and since the weather was amazing we went to the beach on Saturday and Sunday for long walks and tea with poffertjes (Ductch specialty, they look like mini pancakes). We also watched a documentary about Auschwitz, which was very intense. We both want to visit the camp one day and even more so after seeing this. Unbelievable what indoctrination can do to people and how they turn into cruel killing machines.
This week my successor started, so I have been entertaining him all week, which is quite tiring actually. Socially it was a quiet week and so is this weekend since Thea couldn't make it to Haarlem (she is almost 7 months pregnant and the last thing you need is a 3,5 hour train ride). Next week will be different with 2 dinnerdates with colleagues and my mom coming over for the weekend!