In the middle of the afternoon, I find myself needing what is known in Dutch as a “frisse neus” or a fresh nose. It means that I need to shift gears from what I am doing and distract myself a little. It seems to be a perfect time to write a small post and drink tea.

Today I booked myself in for another week with the nuns. I am excited to be able to go again and dig deep into learning Dutch. I do know I will be crying again by the middle of the week in frustration. As they told me last time “we see crying as a breakthrough point. You are ahead of the week, usually this happens on Fridays”. Perhaps you could say I am an advanced student in frustration! They didn’t have room until early May so I have some time ahead of me to try to improve before I get there. Last year I met Eliza there and we turned out to be friends. I am curious to know if I will meet an Eliza 2.0.

I have also been on a bit of a concert ticket spree over the past few weeks. This morning I bought my tickets to Dotan and Within Temptation concerts. Tomorrow morning when they go on pre-sale, I will be buying my Madonna tickets. Whoop whoop! I am not really into the idea of going to great big festivals so I give those a miss. However, there are so many great old venues to see music here. For Within Temptation – which is like this crazy European rock orchestra spectacle – I am going to see them in a beautiful old building in Haarlem. Sort of like Sarah Brightman meets a thrash metal band and decides to go on tour. I owe my exposure to them due to Pieter and his infinite Spotify library.

Dotan I just like. He’s Dutch. Years ago I would have shuddered at the thought of seeing Madonna. However, as I have grown older, I have begun to appreciate her for her power and her determination. Long before the Britneys, the Christinas, the Mileys, there she was and I respect that.

I also like the experience of seeing music here. You can usually get there via transport or bike. You can always have a drink, whatever that is and you have a place to check in your coat. Ticket prices are not crazy. The best thing is that you can talk with the strangers around you without anyone thinking that you are hoping to hook up or whatever. Of course, if that’s your goal, you can have those conversations too! My point being that here, people talk across differences in age/class/ethnicity/etc without a problem. The conversation is the benefit not the means to the benefit.

Okay, one more conference call before the workday is finished. I hope my nose is now fresh!