In ever decreasing circles

Trip Start Sep 14, 2005

Trip End Oct 01, 2005

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Flag of Netherlands Utrecht, Netherlands
Thursday, September 29, 2005

I'm sure I'm not going to be pulling up any trees with the observation that as you cross the Eurasian continent, the people and the things around you change. Neither for better, nor worse, in my opinion. As I move further West stopping only in the urban conurbations the railway journey shows me, the most impressive things are the relative calm and pockets of silence, the increasing numbers of public recreation facilities, the increase in graffiti (does this have something to do with freedom of expression?), and most noticeable of all, the obvious increase in material wealth, although Moscow is a blip in an otherwise smooth trend. Then there are the people. The further West you go, the more expensive clothes are hung on bigger frames, and all the wealth is going to their waistlines. When you live in Western Europe, you get used to it, but I find it slightly disorientating to find myself surrounded by lumps of lard hanging from people's bodies like bizarre fashion appendages.

Meeting Master Ward 1

And then you get to Holland, and the people go up, and up, and up. It seems like a nation of giants, and they say it's all down to the volume of consumption of dairy products by children, or so the theory runs. I'm sure the majority of people in Holland are tall enough to see over most hills in this flattest of countries! The flatness of the land is accentuated by the elevated view from the top level of a fast moving double decker train, from which it feels as if you're swooping across the ground flying at low altitude.

With every kilometre of this journey, the society and culture becomes more familiar, I'm surprised by fewer places and more by myself, and my surroundings are easier to navigate. That was, until I tried to get out of Utrecht railway station. Maybe, I was being daft, or complacent, but I blame it on the huge shopping mall attached to the station which needed navigating with my now relaxing brain only half in gear. I was going around in circles at one point, put finally I escaped, but then there were Utrecht's concentric canals to navigate. I could see where I wanted to go, but couldn't quite get there without zigzagging across a bridge or two. Bizarrely, this was the hardest time I'd had navigating in ages - with the exception of the circular metro line in Moscow. Is there a circle theme here?

After this bout of light entertainment and a restorative coffee, it's a delight to be reacquainted with old friends in Steve and Tess and to meet Hugo, who last time I saw him was about 3 weeks old, but is now just learning to walk, and is delighted to show me all of his toys

Meeting Master Ward 2

! It's good fun, and I don't need a second invitation to have and excuse to play with that stuff after all. Having decide to up sticks and live in Holland Steve's Dutch is very impressive and reminds me not only how poor my Chinese was after living there, but more importantly how important a clear focus to provide a strong motivation in language learning. The difference between being thinking it nice to speak a bit of a language and needing to speak the language - because of economic or other imperatives - is huge.

I stay in Utrecht for a day and half, but I can hoensetly say I don't know much about the place. I went to the supermarket, enjoyed meeting more old friends, Peter and Petra for dinner and stayed in the flat out of the rain. I'm overtaken by a weird sensation of having lost track of time. It doesn't really matter and I'm not moving on and I can sit around and chat lazily. This is also a flat full of English language books. It's hard to explain the effect of not being able to pick up a book to read or even to find a bookshop to browse. The depravation is huge, and I'm quite happy to sit all day on the sofa and read. 400 pages gone in a day. I even put off dinner to finish the book. Bad form I know!