Surviving the Last Four Months
It’s exactly five weeks since we moved into our home, and in 3 days, it’ll be four months in the Netherlands.
Hello Stranger!
I hope that you’ve been well. If you were wondering, I am doing alright. I’ve had grey days, but what am I without grey days?
I am writing this piece and hoping that it’ll get published. I have tried several things to get me into the writing mode. I tried reading novels, watching movies, and even reading other people’s work, but nothing has worked until now. Between my last article and now, I have started five drafts but never finished them.
At first, I attributed the block to being stressed because of all the moving. I know I didn’t share the story of my first three months in the Netherlands, but if you are wondering, it’s been brutal. I was homeless for the first ten weeks, and that meant that I had to stay between hostels and the homes of people travelling out of town and needed someone to stay for a couple of days.
I was lucky at the start, to be honest. I stayed at Zee's when I arrived in Amsterdam on the 18th of August. She also found me my first host, and I moved to the apartment just by the red light district on the 21st of August and spent my first three weeks living in the beautiful centre of Amsterdam.
Lots of things became uncertain when I left the first apartment. Eventually, I ended up in a hostel. Those were terrible days. I cried a lot. I ate the crappiest things too. I majorly just starved, anyway, and that’s how I lost an insane amount of fat — (which is a good thing). I cried a lot because I felt lonely. I like to have conversations with myself, but during these days, things were terrible. I had days when I didn’t talk to anyone at all.
While all of these went on, I had to keep house hunting, learning new things at work and contributing to the company's growth.
I finally got an apartment, and we moved in on the eighth of November with my darling, David. You’d think that getting an apartment would relax me, but furnishing it took another toll on me. I couldn’t have my weekends because I had to shop with David. Every minute we got, we went straight to shopping for household items. I am super grateful to my colleagues at work who sent links and shared ideas on how to furnish.
At this moment, we have all the basics we need to live. We haven’t figured out the decorative parts — frames, flower pots, and plants. However, I will take a not-so-decorated apartment over a decorated hostel. This feels like home.
The apartment has a touch of David and I. We were intentional about not having lots of black or dark colours in the apartment, but as you can see, we can’t help ourselves (Most things are black). The apartment is still a work in progress. As you can see, even the lamp is yet to be tightened properly, and we have a lot of work to do, but this feels great to come back to.
Aside from the apartment, I turned 27 on the 9th of October, and my friends came from Berlin to surprise me. I wrote a reflective letter to myself for my birthday but have yet to publish it. I may or may not post it, but we’ll see.
This piece attempts to break my brain from the creative block, so it is not my best foot but a tiny insight into how I am doing in my new environment.
Footnote
I want to write a year-in-review, but knowing myself, I might lazy around and not do anything, mainly because I have a compulsory two-week holiday and plan to spend Christmas with my friends in Germany. So, if you are curious about something, let me know.
I am excited about the holidays and can’t wait to share more pieces with you.
Till I write to you again.
Ciao
Obiagu.
