Just For Now

Before I leave town, I have the urge to tell you things that are still in my mind but I haven’t found the appropriate way or time to write them down lately. This might be also the way I want to rememer the past months I have spent here in Amsterdam. It was a really nice period in my life, I have to tell you. Careless, mostly. Maybe a bit passive, if I think of the books around my bed. I couldn’t finish any of them. My greatest reading experience was The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, that I found on Manyi’s bookshelf. Although I had read it years ago, I was reading it again as if it had been the first time. A book I could connect to so many people and things here. The importance of repetition in life etc…

I also discovered the experience of reading poems in Dutch and understanding them as well. Allow me to share with you one of my favourites from this beautifully illustrated children book by Hans and Monique Hagen - Thank you, Manyi again!

IK DROOM

als de nacht nog niet zo oud is
en mijn bed niet meer zo koud is
droom ik
dat ik alles mag
en alles kan
en alles heb
maar één ding wil ik niet
een potje om te huilen
een potje voor verdriet

They say that Dutch language was invented by a drunk English sailor who tried to speak German. The truth is when I came here, suddenly I had found German a very beautiful language. I never believed I was going to say that one day. I’m sure there is a language compared to which Dutch sounds like the language of angels, too. In general, I consider that all languages are equal and therefore all of them are beautiful. If you think it is a pervert thing to say Dutch is a beautiful language, just wait and remember what I said when the most handsome guy in the queue at Albert Heijn is asking you if you have a bonus card. Gosh, Dutch is a beautiful language! Especially the way they express the little extra weight around your lower back…

Talking about Amsterdam, you might guess that linguistic discoveries don’t stop with Dutch language. „Nachos” for example means „Don’t fart” in pharsi - which is a very tricky one I think - and finally I have learnt why the Hungarians in Transsylvania use different word for running (szaladni) instead of what we use (futni) in Hungary. (Because it’s very close to a Romanian word that means to make love… in a simpler way). It is a real privilege to listen to that archaic and amazing version of Hungarian what they speak in Transsylvania here in Amsterdam. Not to mention the humour that is attached to székely people. I think laughing is as important as breathing in life. And although I was missing the endless laughters in the beginning in the Netherlands, I have to admit that for now I could reach the average level (one of the top of which was during the infamous vacation in Tropea, where we entered an outlet to buy „one kilo Gucci”. Man, I could hardly come out of that shop…) Thank you, my friends, for all those plays on words. Next time we gonna record it, as we agreed!

Actually, I’m already at home. (The biggest difference I have recognized so far is the comment on football matches. Hungarian commentators are the best. They make even the most boring match enjoyable and unforgettable.) I feel exhausted and wanna rest before I get lost in Hungarian reality, but at the same time there are some notes waiting for me here to share with you now. Otherwise they get lost, too. I will try to finish it fast.

While I’m here, I’m going to miss Vondelpark a lot. The running, the picnics, the morning and evening biking there, and I’m really pissed off because of the ugly fences they put around the park. I’m going to miss Mondays when we usually play the funniest sport I ever tried: the ultimate frisbee; the boating on the canals with strawberries and engines switched off; the best Argentinian wine from Dirk called Pampas – Del Sur, our usual visits to Bad Cuyp, the coloured windows of Paradiso. And I think I will miss Atlantis, as well. But most of all, I’m going to miss your letters and comments that sometimes make me cry. So let's have fun!