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Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Tuesday, November 24, 2005
But somehow the movie stayed in my head and in the past days and I did search the internet
for more about it. I found some pictures and also came across a stream for the short
movie Boy Meets Girl Stories #3: Tederheid
on website of the Dutch public broadcasting organisation,
in which she plays a girl that lays naked in bed besides her boyfriend. The movie is just
about the boyfriend tenderly covering her, whenever she becomes naked.
When I went outside, it was snowing. Many road had a layed of snow slush, and several times, my legs became wet when a car drove by. It kept on snowing, but around twelve o'clock it looked like the snow melted faster than it was falling. I was complaining to my colleagues that it is always like this in the Netherlands, that it is always above zero when it is snowing and that most of the times the snow is gone before the day is over. We read on news websites that there was much more snow just 50 kilometer South of us.
In the afternoon, it started to snow stronger and it started to stay on the street. And in a few hours it grew to something like ten centimeter. We also became aware of the fact that there were a lot of traffic-jams in the region. Around 16:20, Li-Xia phoned me to tell that Andy was not home yet. Usually, he arrives a quarter past three, and not later than half past three. I remarked that the taxi might have got stuck. Then around a quarter to five, Li-Xia phoned me to tell that he was staying with some family around us. I phoned there, and heard that taxi had got stuck and that the lady, who also had a child on the same school as Andy, had taken Andy inside, because she felt sorry for him having to wait in the bus. I phoned Li-Xia to explain how she could get there.
Then we became aware that things were much worse than we thought. One colleague phoned to tell that she got stuck on the road home and had been in a traffic-jam for half an hour and that it looked it was still going to take a long time. Another colleague came back to tell us that he was going to leave his bike and walk home. When I tried to phone Li-Xia, to tell that I was going to leave and keep my mobile phone on, she did not answer the phone, and I conclude that she must have left with Annabel to catch Andy. Annabel was still playing with a friend when I talked with her for the last time. When I switched my phone on, it said there was a problem with the SIM card. I ended up taking the phone apart and tape the SIM card in the telephone. Then it was around a quarter to six when I was ready to leave. I decided to make a last phone call to the family where Andy was staying. Then while I was talking over the phone, Li-Xia and Annabel arrived, and I shortly talked with Li-Xia. I also heard that my colleague after one and half hour only had got halfway home.
When I came outside, I noticed that the snow was much deeper than I had thought, and that there was really a strong wind blowing. I got my bike and tried to ride it, but it was hopeless. I walked to the street and met some of my colleagues who were going to leave with two cars and were having some trouble getting to the street. On the street, I found that it was difficult to bike. Everywhere there was frozen slush and my wheel kept on slipping to the side. I felt down. I started to walk a little, but then I tried to bike again. Soon, I met the first cars standing still on the road. It turned out that many of the main roads were filled with cars waiting for each other, often getting stuck. I continued walking, biking, falling down, and sweating. I became wet on the outside and the inside. I did not mind, I just went on some times driving on the right side of the road, sometimes on the wrong (left) side of the road. The funny thing was that I greeted almost everyone that I met on the streets, and I stopped several times to talk a little with some people that I met, asking how they were doing and how far they still had to go.
When I came closer to home around seven o'clock, I heard that cars had got stuck in the streets near our home as well. When I wanted to go into the back of our garden, I discovered that the bush that used to be attached to the wall, had fallen down and was blocking the road. I parked my bike in the front garden and I rang the bell. It was a big mess inside. Li-Xia, Annabel, and Andy had just arrived home about half an hour ago. It had taken them more than half a hour to get home. Li-Xia had taken a buggy with her to carry Andy. When they were halfway, he started to complain and she though he was cold. So she carried him the rest of the way and let Annabel pull the buggy with his bags on top of it. When Li-Xia arrived, she put Andy inside and went back to get Annabel who was half a street behind.
Once I had locked my bike and had gone inside, I took of all my clothes because they were all wet. Li-Xia helped me to get some clean clothes. We heated some food and started to eat. I phoned several people to inform that we were safely home, and tried to contact with some of my colleagues, but failed to do so, because could not get their home telephone address.
The eight o'clock news talked about people being stuck on the highway, but I
felt it did not really touch on the kind of problems people were facing in our area,
let alone with the areas South of us which must have been much worse even.
After the news, I went outside to put the bush aside, so I could move my bike
in our shed.
In the middle of our backgarden I measured 22 cm of snow. That is more than I
have seen in many years. When I came inside, Li-Xia told me that our neighbour
had trouble getting his car in the parking lot. I went outside to give him a
hand. Some other came out as well. Then he pointed at a tree on the otherside
of the street that had broken down under the weight of the snow. Also some plants
in the front gardens had bended over through the weight of the snow. When he
managed to get his car in the parking place, I went inside and started to clean
the wet floor in the hall.
This morning, it was snowing again. While we got up and
went downstairs we saw a young couple trying to drive their car through our
street. The weels kept on slipping and slipping and everytime they had to go
outside and dug away the snow.
After I had taken a shower, Annabel and I walked to the shopping center, where I bought a red rose. I also checked the condition of the main road. The main road looked okay. Getting out of our street would be the biggest problem. I cleaned away some snow from the pavement in front of our house and also around the garden. Then I spend about half an hour fixing the plant that had fell down yesterday to the wall. Next, I put on my suit and around half past eleven, I got into the car. When I tried to drive away, I did not get very far. I used a scoop to clear away the snow in front of the wheels and tried again. I progressed atmost one meter. Luckily, my neighbour from the opposite side of the street gave me a hand. About twenty minutes later, I had left the street.
Around a quarter past twelve, I arrived at the Crematoria Twente for the funeral of Suzanne. I met several of my (ex-)colleagues on the parking place, and the rest when I went inside. All had arrived home safely, but for some it had taken them three hours.
Around half past twelve we saw how the family of Suzanne entered the audiotorium through the monitors along the wall. Not much later we were invited to enter the audiotorium as well, while to song "Suzanne" from V.O.F. de kunst was playing. Other songs that were being played were "Over the rainbow/Wonderful world" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, "Nine Million Bicycles" by Katie Malua, and "Time of your life" by Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley. Both her father and mother gave a speech. Then two (ex-)colleagues of her gave a speech, and finally, Joost, her husband and our colleague, gave a very open and emotional speech, without becoming sentimental. They only got married earlier this year. I found it a very impressive and personal service. We were all asked to bring a red flower, because Suzanne loved the colour red. Starting from the back, people were asked to come forward and pay their last tribute to her and leaving their flowers in the two vases that were placed on both sides of the coffin. Coffee and buns were served afterwards, and finally we were given the opportunity to express our condolances to her family.
Outside on the parking lot, I had to dug my car out. Luckily, I had brought the scoop with me, as one of the few people who did. It took me about ten minutes to get out. I arrived safely at home, but needed another five minutes to get into our parking lot. The snow is melting slowly, but there is still a considerable layer. I wonder how long it is going to take before all the snow is gone.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005