Grill Me!

Sunday I was over at ‘Petty Pieces’ by ‘Bitter Chocolate’, to read her latest post. I rarely accept ‘memes’ or ‘tags’ or anything similar but this one seems different and I actually really like it. I think because you have to come up with questions for the person who’s interested in being interviewed, so if you want to you can really grill someone *kidding*.

Bitter Chocolate has been kind to me though, you can find her questions and my answers below. Please read the rules if you would like ‘a challenge’ as well.

Rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”

2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.

3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

1) What was the most awkward date you’ve ever been on?

*LOL* I guess that must have been the one where I went to this famous Dutch place called ‘de Keukenhof’ with a Moroccan guy who was nine years older, I must have been seventeen. I wanted to show him Dutch culture. He wasn’t interested, I could tell by how quickly he walked through the park in search for the exit *hehe*. He couldn’t wait to get back to his car…

We sat in the car for a while talking, deciding what to do next while I, in a subtle way, tried to reject his unwelcome advances. He took me to The Hague where he owned a business that he wanted to show me but I wasn’t allowed to go in. Culture clash supreme. Obviously he’d had other plans on his mind but I wasn’t thát ignorant. Most boring and cringing date.

2) What personal accomplishment in your life are you most proud of?

Passing for my driver license exam on my first try. I’d been taking lessons on and off for a while and had to stop several times unexpectedly for different reasons: I had surgery which took six months to recover, I had a back injury etc. In the Lowlands lessons are extremely expensive and the exams seem to be the toughest ones. Less than 40% pass their exams annually and each year the tests seem to get more and more difficult.

Also, you’re not allowed to rent a car in the Lowlands in the first two years, they want you to get experience first. So two weeks after my exam, I was at Gatwick Airport and the other person had forgotten the second part of the UK driver’s license and guess what… I had to drive for an hour and half while it was pitch black, in pissing down rain, on bendy narrow country roads and on the left side of the road [who invented that?]. That was a very deep end.

3) Can music make you cry?

It most certainly can. I have a few CDs that I used to listen to when I went through some rough periods in my life and even today when I listen to them again they can evoke strong emotions.

4) Do you have a pretty handwriting?

If I try my best and don’t rush I think it is [see picture below], I have been writing in capitals ever since I can remember because my dad used to write in capitals and I thought that was pretty cool. I was once told by a graphologist that my handwriting clearly shows my creativity.

5) Do you prefer trains or buses?

That depends on the country… in London I’d prefer buses because of the obvious: most are double-deckers and you have an amazing view from the front seats on the top level! It was something I really enjoyed when I first got here and I still enjoy the view from the bus these days, it’s relaxing in a way [though not in rush hour!].

In the Lowlands I’d prefer buses outside Amsterdam, the staff of the public transport in Amsterdam are the grumpiest lot I’ve ever had to deal with. Only a few really enjoy their job but they’re rare, you can recognise them by the friendly smile on their face when you get on the bus, tram etc.

It’s readable… if I’m not in a rush ;)

Past Ghost

I used to have a friend, a close friend, my best friend. We used to drive to the Belgian Ardennes to spend a week there in a log cabin or an abandoned hotel over wintertime to have a typical Belgian culinary week and some kayaking, to be away from Amsterdam city life for a few. We lived three minutes apart, we would crash at each other’s place, we used to perform in bands together and go to the usual hangouts for the jam sessions.

We were best friends for twelve years until my father ended up in hospital seven years ago. I was depending on people to drive me there because of the emotional turmoil: a 40 minutes trip by car but a 1.5 hour trip by train and bus. So I’d asked her help but she refused. She got pissed off with me over something unknown and made it clear that what she decided for me would be best for me. She’d more important things to deal with than taking me to the hospital.

A week later my father past away after being hospitalised for cancer for three months. My mum sent this best friend a ‘thank you’ card after the funeral because I asked her to. Two months later I sent her an email request to talk things out but got one line back saying: ‘not interested’. I wrote her it was okay and wished her well. Till this day, I’ve no idea what pissed her off at the time, I do know it wasn’t the first time she got all worked up about nothing.

Ever since I live in the UK she has been digging for info on me. She has checked my business website, googled me and asked a mutual friend to add her to her contacts list on this social networking website probably because she can then see non-hidden parts of my profile and what messages I’ve left for others, pictures etc. This issue has been on my mind again and I’ve been speculating about her reasons and what she’s trying to accomplish.

I’m curious to see what her next move will be and if she ‘dares’ to come even closer… Did I forgive her? Yes: I meant those ‘thank you’ words on that card and I wished her well. Would I listen to what she has to say? Yes, because telling her: ‘not interested’ would be too easy and I don’t do easy. Do I want her back in my life? Probably not… So for now, I’ll just let her have that glimpse of my life through that social website, I don’t really care.

Smooth rides are boring and I’ve run out of free ones, says the Capricorn in me… ;)

…