Friendly Faces

After everybody left me to go back to America, I had a trip booked to go see my friend Kate. Her husband had recently been stationed in the Netherlands, and they had moved out there about two months after I’d gotten here. I was desperately in need of friendly faces, and I think she might have been too. So I headed out to Brunssum to stay with Kate and Chris for the weekend (I unfortunately needed to be back by Monday, because my classes at Anglia Ruskin weren’t done yet). Luckily, my friends are the actual best, and picked me up at the airport. This is a luxury you don’t really appreciate until you travel a bunch of places without anybody waiting for you on the other end, and let me tell you, I seriously appreciated this. Even being in a car is somewhat novel to me at this point, because I’m so used to walking or trains or planes or buses. We stopped at a Christmas market before heading over to their house. This particular Christmas market was pretty cool because it was being held on base, and each country represented on the base was given a stall to make traditional Christmas dishes from their country. America had pie and apple cider, and I heartily approved.

The next day, I took full advantage of the fact that Kate has access to American foodstuffs by chowing down on some Eggo waffles and real bacon. We lazed around for a bit, because we’re mature 20 year olds who love not being told to do things. We did, eventually, decide to leave the house, after watching The Wolverine and talking to our mutual friends back in the States. We went for a walk around downtown Brunssum, called the ‘centrum’ there, kind of like downtown Cambridge is called the ‘city centre.’ We window shopped, laughed at how warm it was in December, and generally had a lot of fun being two American high school friends in Europe together. We walked up and down the main street, explored little stores that were kind of hidden away, and found a park to walk around. The park was actually pretty gorgeous, there was a lovely calm pond right in the middle and the day was so clear, it looked like glass. It was nice and sunny, and there were these weird duck-type things, and a little island we momentarily considered wading to. We, thankfully, thought better of that and just went back to her house instead.

That night, we went to a military ball. In a castle. I know, it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Kate and Chris had pulled a few strings and wrangled me an invite, so I got to steal an old prom dress of Kate’s and have a bunch of fun doing my hair and make up and dressing up with her. It felt kinda like the old days of getting ready for dances in high school. Except our final destination was a castle, with a real life moat and courtyard and stone walls. We got our picture taken by the photographer as we walked in, and got to mingle with important looking people in military dress and fancy dresses while drinking flutes of white wine and champagne (well, Chris and I did. Kate’s not allowed). I met a few of Chris’s work friends and their significant others, and had the joy of explaining to everybody that I was just Kate’s tag-along friend, there for the fun. I did have a lot of fun though, and the food was fabulous. There was music and laughter and happiness, and I had a really great time.

The day after that was Amsterdam Day. We took a three hour train ride (that got kind of complicated because of train repair work going on outside of Ustrecht) to get to Amsterdam. We wandered through the streets, in awe of the canals and the buildings. We walked past the Anne Frank House, although we didn’t go in because the line was down-the-block long and Kate had to get to the Apple Store to get a new charger. I even went into a coffeeshop, just to see what it was like. I can’t impress upon you all the amazing beauty of this city. I guess I was even luckier than I knew, because the weather was fabulous and all the pictures I snapped turned out wonderfully. The canals in the middle of the streets were so strange and whimsical to me, but the nonchalance with which they were treated by the locals made them seem perfectly in place. Despite the lack of oddity that caused, I couldn’t help but be fascinated by the fairy-tale atmosphere that came from the cognitive dissonance. I wasn’t expecting these canals to be everywhere, and I certainly wasn’t expecting them to be absolutely gorgeous in such an urban setting, but they were and it kept taking me by surprise.

 

Getting back was a bit of an adventure, because it was much darker out and I was relying completely on Kate and Chris because I didn’t have a map or internet or anything. Also, I was so exhausted I fell asleep on the bus between train stations (the repairs weren’t done yet). But we did make it back eventually, and I can say with conviction that I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The next day was Sunday, and we had a nice leisurely breakfast before they took me back to the airport. This was honestly one of my favorite trips, because I got to be in a home again, with one of my absolute best friends of all time. There was an element of comfort that I wasn’t expecting, a sense of belonging that I hadn’t realized was missing. So basically, Kate and Chris, you guys are the actual best and I love you so much.

 

With happiness, contentment, and much love,

Bryn