The end

I'm almost there, and so is the time. My AIESEC traineeship will end in a couple of days. The feeling of ending this period of my life grows stronger and stronger with each day passing by.

To look back I see smiles, way so many smiles ... I see hard times that I've done to myself with my own mind ... I smell happiness, pure and innocent one ... I see goals that have been reached and those that only have been started to move ... I see dreams coming reality and things that weren't even dream off getting shape in unexpected moments. It was good.

Now another time is coming around: to pack, look back once more and go.

Update

As my words looked too fluffy to me and expressing way too less from what I have felt and experienced, I've switched to posting a kind of photo blog. The stories behind them and the moments not captured in a picture are alive somewhere and there will be a time for them to be told.

Dijkgraaf, Wageningen, the Netherlands

I was thinking for a long time to write about the place where I live: Wageningen and the corridor in Dijkgraaf and the previous Psychotel. In short words I like them: friendly dutch and internationals, lots of nature around, nice pubs.

My second house was on Kapelstraat 1 ... a house named Psychotel (don't ask me why :). If is it to look back there ... a "neata" with dutch accent in every morning, barbecue, dinners ...

The first and also the third place that became my house is Dijkgraaf, an 18 floors high hostel. Some of the things that crosses my mind about the corridor where I'm living: a Christmas dinner, watching movies, barbecue, walks on the Veluwe Park, dinners, smiles and jokes, long talks, lazy sunny days, trying my mouth in Dutch, people that became familiar faces to me. It's a good spot that kitchen and I really enjoy having you around.

new color

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors. You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius. Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way. While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme. Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Neata

A 2 minutes thing done in the morning ... as the good mood was sticking to me.

After a smiley goedemorgen/good morning round through the office, I thought why not spread the good mood further more (geographically speaking). I've chosen more or less randomly some people from my lists in instant messengers and send a happy, smiley "'neata" (that's Romanian for "'morning"), and a :) (for a good couple of days). No further discussion or reply was expected by me.

And ... you know ... what goes around, comes around ... I was even more happier to see some of them (I don't care that there were only a very small few of them) enjoyed it.

Neata :)

Le Tour de France 2007

It has been another edition of Le tour de France; this time starting from London, going through Belgium on the way to Champs Elysees.
I've been watching it since long time ago. In fact it's a funny story: at the beginning, when I was hearing radio and TV reports, I was immediately switching to something else, as it looked like lose of time. And I became addicted in the past years :), as a rule for summers when I had TV or internet it was Le tour pour cete appres-midi. It's relaxing stuff for holiday, sometimes taking me to sleep; other times energetic, making me to go outside in search for some sports activities (as I hadn't got a bike until this year). The views, the TV commentaries, the fight at the end of each stage, the break-outs, the joy brought to the audience on the places it passes by ... it's impressive, it's different that other sports.

This year I was really amazed to see the white jersey (the best young cyclist), Contador, fighting and playing "cat and mouse" with the yellow jersey. Despite all the doping argues and disqualifications, I kept the wonderful image of Le tour, due to the places it passed by (Col du Galibier, Col d'Aubisque, Col de la Colombiere, Val d'Isere, etc), the fights and speed on climbing and time trials, the team work and strategies.

Unfortunately, the arrival on Champs Elysees caught me on the couch, and not in Paris as I wanted. I had in plan a trip by car, but now I was smiling when I saw the traffic jams around there. I was really happy to recognize almost all the places in Paris that le peloton passed by and the images from this spring came back to my memory; it was really great week-end back then with Madalina (I hope you still have the todo list for next trip :) ), Mihaela and Luci.
No worries, it's time to get a finish in the incoming years. Until then, Ula we have a tour of the Netherlands to see.

Is there more?

As I was enjoying my yummy red gooseberries after another biking in the dark night, a thought cross my chaotic mind: is there more?

I've done some great stuff (at least for me they are), I felt really fantastic, people congratulated me, showed their friendliness towards me. Also I've done some huge mistakes, I've been incredibly stupid, felt like a looser, people were angry with me, disappointed or begun ignoring me. I've been given friendship, love, hate.
Besides all of these there was the feeling that something is missing.
Be it good or bad, I had feelings, I've done things, they had feelings towards me, we've done things, they shared living with me.
There is something more to be done or felt. It looked like all of them weren't so real for me. Even if I was completely into one way or another, something was missing for me. A piece of the puzzle wasn't at it's place and I could saw the table behind it.

Now I was asking myself: is there more? That something is real, is it achievable?

Say what?

rain in Wageningen

From it happens in...

L.E.: A rain passed by Wageningen. Nothing special from where I work: water going down, a few thunders ... relaxing rain. On the other corner of Wageningen ... you can see what a thunder can make. Luckly there were no wounded.

Addicted

Hy! My name is Mircea and I'm a bike addicted (also). :)

sand in my shoes
It was last Sunday around noon. I build up some courage, picked up my pin card and went to the shop ... and I wake up on the dike, the Rijn dijk in Wageningen :). I was planning for some biking but there were some unfinished work on my desk ... so back to Dijkgraaf.
In the afternoon, after I chased the clouds away, I gathered the few needed stuff and went away ... ok ... now were ... hmm, the open flat fields that I first tried on long trips, a while ago weren't so attractive ... than be it all the way to the forest. From Bennekom to Ede and then entering the national park ... only on the bike's road ... boring. So I couldn't help myself and I entered directly into the forest, I mean through narrow ground paths, as almost all my route that day was through the woods. In a few words: merveilleux, fantastic, no comment ... perfect fresh air, no one around, woods like in my hometown, almost 20km/h on on trees' roots at 1cm near the water ... Oh ... about the sand, I really had sand in my shoes from the wadlopen (I hadn't got time or ... I was too lazy to clean then up).

further, a little bit further
As an awful head ache was threatening my sleep I went down planning to take a tour on the dike ... only on the part from Wageningen. As my mood was going upper and upper, the landscape was gorgeous (the sun was way down, all the valley was bit by bit sinked in mist, from Arnhem heavy clouds and thunders were coming), I pushed myself a little bit and a little bit more all the way to Rhenen. To be honest, I don't know if it's far or very close; for me was a real adventure and a ticket to a good night sleep.

forest ahead
And I've just got the taste of it. Yesterday I went again, this time with Cipri. Hmmm...where should we go ... on the Rhine valley all the way to Renkum and back on the other side of the Wageningen's "mountain":). And guess where we end up ... into the forest, to be more precise a fir wood (that I truly madly deeply love).
As the number 3 is a winning one ... it took me 3 attempts to find the good way without any canals or fences at the end :)

good night kangaroos
Today, my feet weren't happy to sit on the couch, so I took them ... to the Rhine dike, all the way from Wageningen to Rhenen. I think someone has shorten the road, it went so quick, all the way, but I earned my good sleep for tonight. And they told me "slaap lekker"... them ... the small kangaroos at the end of the dike.

And the lucky thing ... a pair of birds have made their nest in my garage ... and the birds' poop brings luck :)

Words about a traineeship...

AIESEC Iasi newsletter

Once upon in May

My backpack and a bunch of AIESEC-ers or only myself or just people, rain over the mountains, sunset over the sea, forests and roads, strange languages, new people, ordinary persons that are shining through only one spot, good bye endings with "see you somewhere in Europe", first time ever, step after step ... it begun in the late April and ended with the first days of June. This is my May, a piece of dream becoming reality, tempering my thirst of stepping, growing my hunger of living.
There are images sticking to my eyes, strength arousing in my joy, dreaming, fighting, smiling, trying, tasting, life kicking out, further and further.
Life happens now.

smells like teen spirit

.............Oerol .........................................Parkpop ....................................Lowlands
............. 15th - 24th June ..........................24th June ........................17th - 19th August

What's up, doc?

As I decided once again that being angry and complaining will end up like before, I took my lovely pinky to a hard walk into the sunset. Way up to Rhenen I manage to relax a little bit watching the fields under the cloudy sky going darker into the night.

Then, the moment of truth came. There I was firing up my feet up on the dike. A sudden smile aroused when I remembered the fluffy lambs and the very fast running sheep that I saw there on Sunday, or the small rabbits crossing my way a few months ago, or the ducks on a dark alley that scarred me in the middle of the night
And there it was, only a few meters in front of me, looking towards me. It can't be, my eyes are seeing things again. Hmm, it's really moving ... faster ... faster ... it was running the same speed as me. For a couple of minutes I was chasing a rabbit.

Be vely vely quiet. Sssst! I'm chasing wabbits!

To do list: biking gloves and a helmet.

collecting footsteps

I am guilty. I cannot stop doing it: either I start it myself or just someone arises from nowhere and grabs me there.

I’ve collected footsteps of capitals and unknown cities, under my bike or a car, under trains or airplanes, under my own foot. There were hundreds and thousands of kilometers. There were tens of new people met. It's completely nothing compared to others; it's what others will never even dare to dream about.

Besides all is what remains inside. The water flows continuously. Within myself I’m challenged to new feelings, to build slowly, to were a new pair of eyes linked to the past views. I am hungry of more.