Dear Diary

September

Tuesday, September 1st, Berdein calls. "Are you going to the big kringloop with me tomorrow? It opens at 1pm, only Wednesdays and Saturdays." She tells me she has found many good antiques there, that the prices are cheap.
On Wednesday, we arrive outside the shop at 12:55pm and stand in the long line that has formed. I see an artsy looking girl around my age - crocheted accessory on her headphones, an embroidered pouch hanging from her belt, a handmade skirt - and know we're in the right place for some good thrift finds.
The doors open at 1 on the dot and we pour in, Berdein heading to the antique room while I wander around. Overhead, Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" is blasting.
She finishes much quicker than I but tells me to keep looking, and eventually we leave with one item each - her a mug, me a large bolt of purple fabric. As we head back to the car, she asks "Do you want ice cream?" she points to a building. "There is an ijssalon, my treat." I read the word "Ijssalon" on the building and realize the "j" sounding like a "y" here makes it "ice salon". Ah.
We both choose a scoop of raspberry and sit outside with our cones, enjoying the nice 70* weather.

Jasmin is the German exchange student my parents hosted in 2017-2018, and after graduating, she's been going to college in Vienna, Austria. We've kept in touch over the years, and let her know when we moved over to "her" part of the globe. She was just beginning a long recovery from a torn ACL and subsequent surgery, and said we should plan something once Christopher and I got settled. September was finally it. Honestly, I don't even have much to talk about regarding her visit, because a lot of it was just hanging out and talking. It was so good to reconnect with her, get to know her as an adult, and also get in on a bit of her favorite hobby - sports. The FIBA Woman's Basketball World Cup was in it's finals, and we got to cheer on Germany's team (they ultimately took 4th place, and her favorite team, USA, won). The only funny thing I have to add is that I introduced her to someone as "Jasmin", hard "J" sound, looked at her, then went "Oh... your name is Yasmine" and had to recalibrate. Lol.

I'm sure that most of you could tell me how bizarre it's been to go in such a relatively short time from no internet, to internet but don't trust anyone there, to now internet and that's where you find someone to date. Well, turns out, you can also make friends there. And that's what I've been doing. From an Eindhoven-specific online space, we've now flourished into a group of 10+ women in our mid 20s to 30s with the shared interests of reading, art, crafts, and coziness. So far, with varying members, we've met up for coffee, had a virtual movie night, planned an upcoming dinner, and I've also met up with several individually to just hang out and become friends.

It's a Friday evening, Christopher's just home from work, I'm getting dinner ready, and the windows are open. There's a distant drumming noise, and then... horns? Not car horns, it sounds musical... a marching band? We both look at each other, then run to the balcony. There it is, a marching band and parade, headed down our street. We watch as one band goes by, followed by people on foot, bikes, military vehicles, and finally another band. I take a video and send to my mom. She asks what it's for and I have no clue. We enjoy the music and cheer them on, then go in to eat dinner. Afterward, my mom has sent me information on the event - de bevrijding van Eindhoven, Liberation Day, when the city was freed from Nazi occupation in 1944. Good job, Mom, I don't know how you found that so fast!
We'd previously experienced the national Liberation Day on May 4th, but learn that Eindhoven still celebrates being the first city freed of occupation before the rest of the country. There is also the lichtjesroute, light route, that spawned from the candles citizens lit in their windows to welcome in British and American troops, and now you can follow the 22km route of light installments. Lastly, a large flame has been lit outside the City Hall, and it will be extinguished on Oct. 8th.

Christopher has been working at Axelera for nearly four months now. On his first day, they asked him how soon he could be ready to go on a work trip to Italy, what about in two weeks? Well, "in two weeks" became "next month", became "early fall".... And now finally, here we are. It's 6pm as I wave goodbye Sunday evening, the 27th, and he busses off to the airport. I spend the night alone for the first time in my life.
It's a very quiet 24 hours, so I have a friend over for dinner Monday night. She brings me a pint of Ben & Jerry's, we make onigiri, and she coos over Liara, wanting a cat herself. She tells me she wants a Maine Coon, or secondarily a Ragdoll, and she thinks Liara looks a bit like both. During dinner, she gets a notification that a scientific paper she wrote and submitted several years ago is finally getting published, and we celebrate.
After she leaves, I dig into the ice cream and watch my third Batman movie since Christopher left. Gotta do something to fill the time.
Thankfully he is back Wednesday evening, bringing gifts of biscotti, olive oil, and a fresh pastry. Liara is very happy to see him, but not as happy as I am.

Next up.... rainy weather for ?? months. Happy Autumn!