Dicken Festijn

Hey Oliver Twist... What a pleasure to meet you, in your hometown.... 
Pandora Box... Thanks to a warm welcome!

Charles Dicken,  a brilliant writer.. is alive!
I do not know who is the lucky one, Dicken who has Deventer, the city full of imagination, or Deventer that has Dicken, a writer... with thousand crazy idea....

I arrived at the train station, when a group of choir singing a Christmas song! I became damn excited when after that a lady gave me a cookie... :)

I had to wait in the very long queue. Almost 60 minutes waiting to enter the festival, and I found it was worth it really,,, small parade of Dicken characters... passed me by....

another group of music... well... I was excited already before entering the festival.... 

Finally... the festival... :) 

Every year on the Christmas holiday, Deventer always reminds Dicken fans of his fantasy.. always,, it is like a dream come true.. fairy tale... that comes alive! I am more than lucky to experience Dicken Festijn this year..  in my first year of PhD..

I am waiting... waiting for another experience to come.....!

Hey Pandora Box, surprise me more please!

Home is never 100% home anymore after....

Living in Pandora Box

I feel alive, and Home is never 100% home anymore....

Well, in Pandora Box, I found really different world. Different perspective, different thing, or simply different people. This post is about things that make me feel I step into the new world, and do not want to find a way back!

No... please....

on the first picture you will see a lot of bikes! yess, they (people in Pandora Box) are cycling a lot. There is no wonder here, 50 year-old-woman still goes everywhere by herself, cycling around the city....  I myself enjoy the cycling time. sometimes, I look at the sky, the cotton candy sky, take a deep breathe and whisper, "I hope it is not a dream" 

Second picture, sometimes, when it rains, I take a bus to the campus. The bus is always on time (yeah lately it is late for a minute or two, but in my home it is still "punctual"), All the drivers in the Pandora Box are so friendly that I cannot come into the bus without saying hello with the big smile on my face.

I took the next picture on my way taking the bus to the city centre. It is clear, that Pandora Box is full of 'green' joy!! sometimes they have a small lake or river crossed the park.. when the sun shines, the birds fly........ the Pandora Box for me is like a fairy tale... really..... 

and in the winter, I love how the tree has no leaves at all. it gives me a sexy feeling of Halloween and Christmas plus New Year combination! In the past, I watched Tim Burton's movie a lot and always imagined that one day, I will experience the "no-leaf" tree by myself! and I did!

Well, albert H***n is my favorite shop to do grocery.. I go there a lot, checking the bonus card, the orange hamster sign.... AND what is important is... sometimes, I look at handsome employees also at this shop ahhahahaa

My life in Pandora Box is always about "traveling" get my ov-chipkaart filled and yeah I am more than ready....

The train station,, is one of my favorite place in Pandora Box. I like seeing people walking down the hall, checking their next train schedule, saying goodbye to their couple and getting busy with their coffee as well as running catching the next train. I love the feeling of how train station becomes so alive, feeling some sense of belonging there....

In Pandora Box, I eat chocolate a lot! I can eat a big bar of chocolate in one go! hahahhaha.. yes it is definitely because the chocolate here is damn good! A sweet treat for myself, enjoying living the dream.... is a must!!

The next picture, smullers...

this place is ....... hiding a lot of memories, I used to eat smuller friets with friends of mine. My travel mates, girls/! I miss you so much........ I do not want to tell you about the taste of the friets, because, I just realized that the taste is not the same as the last time I ate them with the girls!!!!!!!!!

sigh.. cry cry cry....

Concluding remarks : Please don't wake me up!

I want to stay in this Pandora Box forever! 

please....

lari ke hutan belok ke pantai

Well, for  Indonesian, the quote from AADC movie "kulari ke hutan belok ke pantai" must be the most popular romance quote ever... anyway...

Yesterday, 13 December, I literally, run to the forest and turn to the beach...! literally, for the very first time in my life. and it happened in Pandora Box! Perfect!! 

It is kinda funny, in fact I am a tropical student.. and never in my life did I experience a journey to a forest by accidental moment ,,, (except the scouting camping activities).like suddenly the idea pops up in your mind and you said,,, just go/....

The journey began somewhere in Baarn.. little small cute city, where they have forest in the city....

Oh my God, the tree without leaves is definitely sexy... anyway....

After taking 30 minutes cycling, we arrived at the castle in the middle of the city..

I love how Pandora Box gives me thousands of castle experiences... it always feels like cinderella story is real,,, (or even Frozen) ......

After spending couple hour in Baarn, We went to Zaandvort aan Zee.. I literally had no idea, where is it... hahahaha.. as long as it is something good lets go then!

another haring... I cannot even imagine 7000miles away without haring.... the most delicious food ever... simply because, it is Pandora Box... :)

Well, basically, the beach in Pandora Box is not as special as they have in Indonesia, but...

I am the one enjoying a windy, cold beach, instead of hot tropical one, so........

my supervisor JAAAANG!!!!!

it has been more than a week I become a PhD student in Pandora Box.
I found it is more interesting than I have ever imagined before.
I got a nice handsome one as my supervisor... well, he is super duper nice person...
So far, during my life time I have at least 7 academic supervisors in total. And he is the youngest one...
He really helps me a lot.
He even wrote a nice personal comment on his disertation book.. which somehow put some pressure on me...
it goes like this...

Dear Delphine,
Thank you for taking an interest in my topics of large-scale infrastructure development and multilevel governance. I feel honoured that you trust me in supervising your PhD. Hopefully in a few years you will also have a Book like this and write a personal word in my copy :-)
I'm looking forward to our collaboration!!
Best of luck,
xxxxxxx

Utrecht, 8-12-15

see... some pressure...
He said that he is honoured, maaaaan.... I should be the one saying that thing.... How I feel such an honoured being supervised by a talented young scholar like you really!
I still remember the first day I met him, he was so kind guiding me go around the campus, (sst.. my colleague some PhD students are jealous that I have a short tour with my supervisor).
I still also remember the day he gave me tons of book, while laughing he said do not read all of them otherwise you will be dizzy... and he left the room with a smile.
I still (again) remember how he told many story about his family... , that gives me impression that he is a nice good family man, which is good.... I hope he will be patient having me as his student! as patient as taking care of his baby hahahahaha....
I am a baby scholar wanna be.... ahhahhahaaha

Well, sir! I hope I can learn a lot of thing from you. Not only about all academic things, but also, how to be so humble that a dumb like me could feel comfortable.
Anyway...

I am looking forward to the next 4years.... lets living the dream!

gloomy Friday

nothing special happened only going to bike shop and buy pump.
Pandora Box is so cold as always that freezes my mind...
brrr...

it is funny how I want to experience snow this year, on the other hand, I always get cold all the time. Contrast....
During my last stay in Pandora Box, I love winter a lot. it is more than romantic. and all the trees teach me how to survive.

my campus... I love it

the building on the left will be my campus... the place I will spend most of time here in this city. it is now under construction, but yeah overall I love the campus area...
My favorite place so far is.. the university campus... it is amazing! really amazing. I already told you that it is all black with red furniture...


well,
after meeting the HR department, I went to winkelcentrum to buy some detergent and toilet paper.... and I have 2stucks holland haring uuuuuuw... yummy.... also.. back to the old days of eating hema soft ijs mmmm.......




do not ask me how does it taste! it tastes damn good! I love haring so much... I can eat the whole bakje if you wish ahahahaha...