In between jobs

I've been back for more than two weeks now and I figured it's time to do something. So I created a to-do list. The first item was running; I want to work on my condition so I can come back to Malaysia looking like dynamite. I used to run before and last Sunday I decided to run the same route that I'd always done. The sun was shining and it was really a gorgeous day; I put on my jogging outfit and hit the road while Black Eyed Peas were hiphopping on my MP3. I insisted that I should finish the entire route (5 kms), although it might most probably take me longer than "usual". It really did me well, I love the freedom of the mind wandering away while the heart is racing and the body temperature rises. I was in sync with the nature. For that overenthusiasm I had to pay: I couldn't bend my knees that same night and I had muscle ache in my entire body the next day.

Next was finding a temporary job to bridge the gap between paychecks. At least I would earn some income until I find a job in KL. Today I went to two temporary job agencies with my CV and tried my luck. Apparently it's going great with the Dutch economy; vacancies everywhere and I instantly had three job offers within the time span of one hour. OK, they might not be my dream job, but for now I just need to have one to make ends meet. I could start next Monday if I want. But first I need to look more into the job profile and of course find out how much money they are offering.

Utrecht has not changed much, if at all. The Dom Tower has always been magnificent (at 112.5 metres the highest tower in the country). However, I started noticing things that have always been there, as if I see them with a different light and from a different perspective now. Like that windmill close to the city centre, where there's a cute bakery at the bottom. Or the canals going all the way through the city centre, where paddles of ducks swim. Or the thousands and thousands of bicycles everywhere you look. Walking Utrecht's streets is sheer delight: the city centre is actually a maze of unlevelled gray brick roads, the buildings a mix of old architecture and modern inventions. And that's just about enough promotion talk that I'm doing here. The pictures hopefully show why I love my city so much.

Most trees are still leaveless, revealing the shape of their branches and preserving energy, as if gaining momentum for the next season. However, some trees have blossomed, with pink or white flowers in bloom. I can smell that Spring is coming. Whereas last week the weather was thoroughly depressing and all I did was hibernating, this week started with sunshine that lasted for a couple of days. People's moods are always better when the sun is out. And so I found out that I've been unmalaysianised by now: it's 17 degrees and I can walk in a t-shirt. I want to sit outside in the sun drinking beer, never mind the goose bumps from the still chilly Winter wind. I'm back to being Dutch: we don't get too many sun hours per year, if any, so we attempt to optimise the enjoyment of ultraviolet rays warming up our skin.

I totally dropped the "la" in the end of my sentences. Somehow it doesn't sound cool in Dutch. I eat bread for lunch; the bakeries here are awesome. I have wine with dinner and it only costs two euros per bottle. There is always hot water from the tap, gas and electricity come out of the wall and you can settle almost everything on the internet (from paying your bills to applying for tax returns). The Dutch are very efficient and practical people. We strive to be straightforward and open-minded as well: live and let live. Prostitution is organised; even workers in that industry have a social security number. You don't go to a coffee shop to drink coffee. Gays can freely parade around and can even get married.

And long live the supermarkets: here you actually have to go to a separate section if you want to get halal stuff. Imagine the muslims in KL freaking out if they had to do that. In Carrefour MidValley pork and pork-related stuff are "hidden" in a glass room, where the cashier packs your purchase wearing plastic gloves! Go figure.

I am not saying that I eat heaps of meat everyday, but being a Chinese makes me crave for pork products once in a while. It's in the genes. So I bought pork for an entire orphanage - bacon is the best - and I couldn't ride my bike back home as it was too much loaded with food (plastic bags on the steering bars and my backpack on the backseat, full with food).

That's two weeks worth of observation. Life here is good but there's still so much more out there in the world that I'd like to discover. So far I'm still in between jobs (or in other words, I have no job in KL). :( I have a month left. After that period it would be very hard to find something I guess. But one step at the time...