July 2, 2017
Three days of cleaning and packing and tossing things out led to checking out of my student dorm. The infamous Van Houtenlaan 27.
I may not be able to count how many tears were shed or bags were sat on to ensure they zipped up or how many memories we have each made, but I can say every person I formed a friendship with in that building has forever marked my heart.
Traveling to 13 different countries in the past five months did get between me and being in that building most weekends.
I do wish I could have more time on the third floor, eating Sunday brunch and singing Disney songs together.
Girlfriends in Den Haag: Alice, Veronica, Sana, Judith, Laura, Sam and Stevie
More than anything I wish I had just one more day with everyone. Or one more week. Or an infinite amount of time.
Laura and Sana in Den Haag
What I have learned is that you can never have too much time with people who add joy to your life. So instead of dwelling on the fact that I will never live on the same bright orange floor with the same 26 people, I will focus on cherishing the connections and insight I have gained through each and every one of them.
My Portuguese friends, Ana and Marta.
I look back on the very first day I spent in that building and giggle to myself.
After walking through an empty hall to a shoebox sized room with piercing white walls, I sat and cried for nearly an hour. To me missing introduction week meant the end of the world. I let myself accept the lie that there were no more chances at making friends.
Me in my shoebox room.
That very same day I picked myself up, bought a bike, opened my bank account, got IKEA meatballs and ran into a fellow NAU student, Sam.
Samantha Bayer
She invited me to celebrate her friend Sana’s 21st birthday.
It was like God himself had sent her to the rescue. Someone was inviting me to eat cake and go sing karaoke?! She was an angel in disguise.
After that night, every worry from the first few hours escaped me. Nearly everyone I encountered made themselves easy to approach and make friends with.
The only way to be lonely in that building is if you set yourself up on a mission to make yourself unavailable and lock yourself in your room everyday. I promise. Even if you wanted to be a loner no one would let you. They’d all either knock on your door repeatedly to come join in the hallway for dinner or blast music until you got dancing feet and couldn’t refuse joining in on the party.
Van Houtenlaan was a dungeon transformed into a piece of heaven.
P.S. I am on a Flixbus to Paris thanks to the hospitality of my sweet (aforementioned) friend, Sana Elf. Will post about the city of love soon. x
