Hola,
This monthly letter comes out a bit later than usual.
I’m happy though that it isn’t the end of January yet or I would have to skip December altogether! 😬 If I weren’t a potato glued to the couch ,watching television, I might have finished writing this piece a lot sooner. Holidays have made me lazy. (or is it winter?)
Anyhow, New year ain’t about regrets. It is about new resolutions.
So, I’ll conquer my drafts very soon.
If you are wondering how was my December. Here’s a quick recap.
Returning home
December unfolded my plan to return to the Netherlands (after spending close to eight months in India). It really took me that long to recover from a sports injury! 😌
After eight months, I was super excited to be back home.
Netherlands felt like a new country all over again.
However, within two days of my arrival to the Netherlands, a nation wide lock down was announced (owing to surging corona cases). All non essentials shops and restaurants were barred from operation. An advisory against foreign travel was issued. Borders were closed for tourism. My timing couldn’t have been more depressing.
Celebrating Christmas
I’ve not spent Christmas at home for last five years. It used to be a perfect time for vacation, explore new countries, celebrate, watch fireworks with herds of people on the street. Needless to say, that changed this year. We stayed back home for Christmas.
That brought upon a new struggle.
You see, we’ve never bought a “real” Christmas tree before.
So, I was struggling with just the basics – Where do I find a tree? (in lock down). Should we buy a tree that is twice my size? Would we need a tree stand? How much is too much for decorations ? (pricewise) What do we do with that tree afterwards? Who is gonna carry it? Where are we gonna dispose it? On the streets?
While I was spinning this bundle of worries, trees were running out of stock. Most Keerstwinkel( Christmas shops) were closed due lock down. A week before Christmas, the fear of missing out pushed me to order a large tree. It was home delivered, just on time (grateful, we didn’t have to carry it ourselves). We finally had our first real tree for Christmas. 🤩
I was quick to order decorations too. To my surprise, they costed twice the price of tree. Christmas was a costly affair!
Time to open Presents!
On the day of Christmas, I became my own Santa.
I gifted myself an iPhone 12. 😀 Quite an upgrade to my previous phone – Iphone 7, that was once washed with Laundry and had audio issues ever since. (Strangely, it survived a full wash cycle so I was stuck with it for two years.)
I am delighted with my new iPhone now. It has perfect bright display. The camera makes you look better and I’m still marveling at its audio quality.
I’ve finally finished this book
Last month, I also finished the book that I’ve been reading for over a month – the biography of cancer – Emperor of all Maladies. I was always intrigued by Cancer, its silent and deadly nature. This book personifies cancer. It talks about history, the origin of cancer, how we came to understand its patterns, how we discovered chemotherapy and other remedies. Is that really a remedy? Can we cure Cancer? These were some interesting questions, the author tries to answer in this book. You don’t need to have an inclination towards biology to understand it. The author breaks down this information in layman style. chronologically, explaining the gravity of this disease. It was one voluminous read, but I’m glad I’ve finished it. Definitely recommend it. My Goodreads rating (4.5/5)
Currently reading
My current read is titled “The Gifts of Imperfection” by Brene Brown. I found this on my kindle suggestions and really liked its gist. It basically draws on things that get in the way of wholehearted living. The author has been a researcher of shame, fear and vulnerability for decades. She uses her research to illustrate how our shame (of imperfection) holds us back in life. How this affects love and belongingness.
What I liked about her writing style is that she does not drag on with examples from her research but rather uses her personal stories & struggles to explain the fundamentals of her research. I’ll rate this book in my next monthly letter, when I’d be finished with it. (definitely)
Discovering Dutch movies
In the holiday week of Christmas, I ran a movie marathon (this time also including some Dutch titles). I was pleasantly surprised to discover my language skills. (I understood most of them without English subtitles) 🙃
I loved weg van jouw (comedy). It was a story of young, ambitious women who was relocated for work to a rural hamlet instead of an exotic country. The rural hamlet is Zeeland. (the southern province of the Netherlands). Not sure if that’s how they think of Zeeland really?
Alles voor elkaar was another movie about four girl pals turning 30 realizing they missed out a lot in life. So they decide to pursue their wildest dreams. It was light and fun.
Huisvrouwen bestaan niet was also on my list. It literally translates to no such thing as house wife. It was a story of two sisters and mother trying to find balance between private and professional life. I really enjoyed watching it.
Apart from these, I watched dozen other trending series on Netflix. (& classics of 90’s). Explains the break in my blogging schedule.
It’s either Netflix or blogging, I suppose.
I wonder how we can do both?!🙄
© Copyright 2020. Megha Gupta. All rights reserved.