M. M.

"I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."
— Marilyn Monroe

Friends. Draugi. Друзья.

Mani mīļie! Es pēc jums ļoti ilgojos! Neticami priecāšos redzēt pie manis ciemos!
Дорогие мои! Я по вам очень скучаю! Буду невероятно рада видеть у себя в гостях!
My dears! I miss you very much! I would be incredible happy to see you!

Sleep

Tell me how it is possible to go to sleep at 19:30 at to get up at noon next day??
At least I was dreaming which happens very seldom. :)

Izvēlies par galamērķi Mēnesi. Pat tad, ja netrāpīsi, tu atradīsies starp zvaigznēm. (c)

Neviens nevar mani aizvainot bez manas atļaujas. /Mahatma Gandijs./

Dzīvi nevajadzētu vienīgi dzīvot. Dzīvi vajadzētu svinēt! /Ošo./

Keep walkin'

That happened. The most popular phrase "that would never happen to me" did not work. My bike was stolen in 5 minutes while I was at the post office. My newly bought locker was cut like a string. I will keep it as a souvenir. :D
Now I have to find a new bike. Good that I'm going to Maastricht for Carnival, I will not need it for few days.

Dažkārt pat no mieta, kas stādīts mīlas pilnā augsnē, mēdz izdīgt dzīvelīgi asniņi.

Viss, kas tāls, ir tuvs.

About scholarships and policies

I was quite irritated by the policy of the Erasmus program in Latvia. The policy is that students can go abroad only for one semester. But this policy has very good substantiation: high scholarships. They give good scholarships and want more people to go, so they send everyone just for one semester. The guy from Poland who is staying one year here gets 2 hundred something, girl from Czech Republic - around five hundred euros per month. And it is for staying in the Netherlands where you have to pay for your room almost 400 euros. So I do not complain about my scholarship anymore. :)

Career Expo

Today there was a Caree Expo at TU/e main building and Auditorium. More than 100 companies presented. It was amazing. I could compare it with our Skola expo in Kipsala but the scale of the companies is impressive. Such names as Shell, BP, Unilever, AkzoNobel, Toyota, ExxonMobil, Heineken, Siemens, Schering-Plough etc, etc. willing to hire all different kinds of engineers.
When you come from the small country all this seems incredible. You can simply come and talk with the people from all these companies and see what they offer and what they are looking for. That is why i came to the Netherlands. I could only dream about this in Latvia. Of course it does not mean the same as work for that companies but even the thought about it inspires. :)

Vēlmē es tiecos priekšmetu pievilkt klāt, mīlestībā – pats tieku pievilkts.

I hope my experiments will learn me to be patient. That's what I need.

Laiks tāpat visu saliek savās vietās, bet, vai tu varēsi pēc tam to visu atrast, tas ir tikai laika jautājums. (c)

I got accepted to TU/e. My way was through Riga and Amsterdam airport. My ex-course mate and ex-colleague was seeing out her sister for Eramus in Slovenia. Good sign. Arrived in Amsterdam I was lucky to have a picture with me to get a reduction card. Still I was staying there for half an hour trying to find out my full staying address. The solution was very simple in the end: my laptop with all the information was with me (which is unusual situation in my travels). At the station I met a Dutch girl who was going home after meeting her Portugal boyfriend in Norway (sounds familiar, huh?) and we talked all the way to den Bosch where she lives.
Eindhoven met me with invincible stairs for me with my 45 kg of luggage. There the story with helping out Dutch people starts. Dutch men can be also gentlemen sometimes. And as I heard from my friend later they can be also sometimes romantic.
In fact I had to review my seeing of Dutch people. They are really very different and not always what I heard about them was true or applicable. However I do not know many originally Dutch people good yet.

Why Netherlands?

It started about a year ago when I was checking international companies employing Chemical Engineers. Some big companies were based in the Netherlands. I thought why not to try to go to the Netherlands and not to get to know this country and try to work in one of this companies because the level would be definitely higher than in Latvia. So I had to get to the Netherlands and the university who wanted to accept me for my Erasmus year was TU/e. I was almost sure I am going even before applying. I had a lot of time to prepare, to meet Dutch people and to know some language. First thing I learned will help me a lot in my further life: neuken in de keuken is what every Dutch person does. ;)
So if I would have to answer the question why Netherlands, it would be the good level of Chemical Engineering, cooperative and nice people and studies can be hold in English. Very simple.

The Russian party was great, big thanks to Lida, Anton, Vova and the others.
Meeting 3 Latvian people here was great. I have not talked so much for a long time. I guess lack of talking native language and Latvian gives some effect. But speaking Latvian for me is quite hard now. :)) A lot of fun though.
The end of the evening. No comments.
Total: great night, a lot of vodka and Russian food, new people who seem closer because they come from the same country, Tatjana de gekste...

I seem crazy to myself. And too straight. And talking too much. And drinking too much. And being afraid too much. Maybe that is fear which makes me go crazy? Or hormones. Or something else...

Shopping in Eindhoven

One hour of shopping before all the shops are closed at 5 pm on Saturday was enough to make some comparisons to Latvia.
First of all shops close early. And they all are closed on Sunday. Only supermarkets work. It's quite a change after shopping malls in Riga open 10 - 22 daily and some supermarkets working til midnight. The shop assistants are nice and friendly here and I fit in one size less then usually. Not because I have lost some weight but I guess girls in Riga are a bit skinnier usually or they just make sizes to seem nicer. :) The prices without sales are quite high but maybe it is in Heuvelgalerie, still have to check some more shops.
One more thing. I was looking at pink clothes today. Something definitely is wrong with me, I hate pink!

Пронырливая. Хорошее дополнение к любвеобильной. Правда? :)))

Everyone makes fun of me here. Even me. So feel comfortable.
Just do not overdo, I might be very sensitive sometimes. :)

Yesterday I made the first soup in my life. It was dietary and green... but eatable. :)
Yesterday I got drunk from beer for the first time in my life.
This morning I crossed Eindhoven.

Amazing. Unbelievable. Unbearable sometimes. Yes, I am.