Dutch in Translation

Empress Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great, once said, “ I beg you take courage; the brave soul can mend even disaster. ” This is what Kristina did after moving to the Netherlands: take courage, find her lost self, and begin again. From Saint Petersburg, a city in Russia of more than five million people, our young expat fell in love, packed her bags, moved from Russia to the Netherlands, and began an unexpected journey with a heartening ending. Here’s her story. If we’d like to comprehend what’s behind Kristina’s radical career change, from graduating as a medical engineer and completing a master’s degree in Entrepreneurial Information Technologies to being a resolute and committed physiotherapist student in Eindhoven, it’s fundamental to revisit the culture she comes from and the electrifying life she’d led. It’s only then that perhaps you’ll agree with me: she was meant to pursue a healthcare career and, unexpectedly, she did.   LIFE IN SAINT PETERSBURG  H...

           Friendship is an art.   Through life, one hopes to learn, practice, and honor it. It is like any other trade: You understand the skills, put them into practice, ruin hopefully not too many friendships, and then, one day, you look around and realize how friends are stars that illuminate your sky. That is something worth living for to see. OLD AND NEW FRIENDS      When I decided to move abroad for love, I knew that some friendships back home would continue as strong as they could be, other would weaken, and some forgotten. Also, I was aware new ones needed to be built, worked on, sculptured. To have a real friend is a serious private matter. This new person will meet you in a vulnerable state because you are trying to adapt to your new world. You are needy, too many areas to work on. Of course it can be scary! It is too intimate. But you know what? Like my new friends have told me, we are all in the same boat. Ca...

Next week it will be three months since I started working at PostNL. I have gone from this will never happen and this is killing me to feeling proud and having fun while at it.  What is there to be proud of? Having a job in a new country (You know what it was like !) Working in a respectable organization Improving my performance Speaking Dutch with my colleagues Saving money for the first time ever Being a candidate for pension What is fun about it? Exercising and losing weight (Just ask my darling about it!) Being part of "the gang" (This totally deserves its own post!) Riding the bike 500 m to get to work (I know, nothing to miss from Mexico there...) Chatting with colleagues (especially when we need to wait for the mail) Seeing people thankful for delivering their mail or package (Yes, I speak with people, but sometimes I just smile and nod because I don't get what they say! No time to stop to chat either!) How does it all look like? ...

      When deciding to move abroad , one topic to consider is family. Different situations can influence your position. I can think of some but do please help me with your comments because I am probably leaving many more unmentioned.       Closeness, attachment, and health are some of the elements I consider to be important when making the decision. In my case, it wasn't difficult. I had lived abroad for more than 15 years, I am very independent and sometimes too detached, and everyone in my family was healthy.       Until today.      Today is Friday. I am home. My father is  in the hospital,  u nder observation. My family is taking turns to be with him at all times, day and night. He seems fine, but this morning the doctors have said his heart has not been doing well.      Thanks to WhatsApp , I can hear and see him, I can send recordings of music I know he loves. I ...

     I have been thinking about how I can show you who I was before moving to The Netherlands for love. I think that if I can accomplish that, then you can better understand the challenges that starting over imply.       A typical day for me was: 5:20 a.m.                            Get up and go swimming or running 7:15 a.m.                            Drive to school 7:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.         Enjoy the love and attention of my more than 200 hundred students      7:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.         Work on inspiring my students to learn, think, and understand 3:00 p.m.                            Drive to a friend or student's house for lunch 4:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ...

I say hey, let's make a rainbow Look for a pot of gold I'll show you how to keep it nice and easy And even if a cloud comes forming on my love today There's nothing (nothing), no, nothing that could stand in my way It don't matter if it's raining Nothing can phase me I make my own sunshine And if … Have you listened to the song " I Make My Own Sunshine "? Let me help you. Watch and listen:      When one moves abroad, and for love, there are days when it is difficult to keep it all together. I wish I could say, " It's been easy, like a holiday!" Or maybe, "It's as wonderful as a dream come true!"  Truth to be told, my friends, is that some days you have to make your own sunshine.      Now, there are days when someone comes and brightens it. For me, Monday was that day. Why? Because on Monday, Olga Koltsova's article about me was published! And you know what? It was a gift, a much-needed one. The reason being? O...