Here we go

Time rushes by dizzily like a Carparachne Aureoflava escaping from a wasp and suddenly there is just over two weeks to go before I exchange Dutch pipe stems for British cats and dogs. Some people are curious about what this all entails and what will come out of it, not in the least I myself, so therefore I decided to share this story through this blog. This is something I have undertaken a few other times before, but at those attempts I was more interested in the technical and aesthetic aspects of creating my own blog system. When I was convinced enough about my own ability to finish the work I was content and forgot that such a system's actual purpose is to bridge the gap between privacy and exhibitionist tendencies. So this time I take another approach: I dismissed my vanity and chose a ready to use system. Also, this time I might actually have something to tell.

Some of you may have noticed by now that my writings are in English. Even though the major part of my audience probably has no problem with this, let me justify this choice. I don't like restrictions. I want every option to be open. First of all I wouldn't want to restrict my foreign friends by excluding them from the extra dimension understanding brings to reading. But moreover, I don't want to restrict myself in the possible expressions I could use. Of course, I have to live with the fact that I can't express 'gezelligheid', but since this word is so intrinsically Dutch, I doubt I will miss it in England. Besides, in return I get for instance 'bliss' and 'suave'. How could you restrict yourself by rejecting those! I am aware that for the latter I could also have gone for French, but I think a blog filled with nothing but 'Je m'appelle Sander et je suis suave' wouldn't make for good reading.

Now, on to the subject at hand, what do you do when you move to England for 3 years? You pack. Of course. The basic steps of packing are not that complex: get a box, get stuff, put it in box. The difficulty lies in selecting what stuff goes in which box and which stuff gets put in a box at all. I for one am not somebody who throws things out. If there is any possibility that it might come in handy in the future or if there is any hint of sentimental value, it stays. And if there is not, but there is space for it, it stays anyway. Therefor, having had the luck of occupying a generously sized accommodation, a lot has stayed over the last few years. And now is the day of selection, the final judgment, the horsemen have come and the trumpets have been sounded. Three garbage bags of clothes, a pile of electronics and a collection of glass that contained memories long forgotten have already made way, but stricter elimination still seems necessary.

Besides getting rid of junk, another aspect of the move is shedding valuables. Firstly, there are the personal items of others that are uncovered and are returned during a nice dinner or sent out to different corners of the world. Secondly, there are the vouchers, coupons and other pieces of paper that were presents at parties throughout the years and confront the recipient with the problem of deciding what he wants himself. After a long search today my bookshelves will be decorated by Nietzsche, Aurelius, Darwin and Paulos. A second attempt will still be needed to fully empty the envelope. And finally there is the stuff I no longer need or want but may be useful for others. Who would have guessed that the demand for a Christmas tree isn't overwhelming this time of year..

So far for the first peek into the emigration process, time to have a peek into organic material processing.