It's Been A Year

 More than a year ago, I stepped foot once again in Europe. Aside from my first trip to the UK (that also consisted of a few days in Czech Republic) in 2017, I've never been the Europe. This time last year was going to be the first of many days that I would spend studying, living, travelling, and growing in Europe. Today was not the exact day I had reached The Netherlands, but I know at this time last year, I still had my parents with me; they haven't left the country yet. I wasn't alone yet. 

It's crazy to see just how fast time has passed. With the pandemic this year, it seems like the first half of 2020 has been a blur. January came on pretty decent, February too. In March, things started to get more serious. Then where did April, May, June, and July all go? The next thing I knew, I was done with intern and it was time to start school again. 

How did time pass so fast? How did the months I spent trying to figure out this whole "living alone" situation, the time I spent learning and growing, travelling around the world, making mistakes and paying for them, how did all this just pass me by like that? 

A few days ago, I was answered my question for the day in my Q&A A Day: Five Year Journal. I have the habit of making a note if I hadn't answered the question on the day itself (i.e. if I missed answering 1 September's question because on 1 September I forgot, I would not it down when I answered it on 2 September). On that day last year, I wrote in brackets something along the lines of "Spent the day at Efteling and crashed! Oops!" to excuse myself for having not answered the question on it specified day.

Efteling.

It's a theme park in The Netherlands. An amazing one, might I add. I thoroughly enjoyed myself there.

But Efteling. 

It's already been a year? It's already been a year since I blindly followed Daddy from Rotterdam Centraal Station to Tilburg and took a bus to Efteling? 

It's crazy how I still remember how everything looks like. Everything in Rotterdam is still etched into my memory. I wonder how my bike's doing now? After selling it off to an exchanger from the next batch (who might I add has yet to pay me for it but now I feel bad to ask for my money) who were then forced to come back because of COVID-19. 

I still remember how to cycle from EUR to Markthaal, I can picture the route if I think hard enough. I remember how to cycle from my place of residence to Albert Heijn. These used to be my most frequented routes. There was a farmer's market every Tuesday and I would cycle from school to Markthaal after my Tuesday class ended at 12 to buy my groceries for the week. Sometimes, I didn't buy much. Other times, the bags at the back of my bike couldn't hold it all and I had to hang a bag or two by the handle bars. On the occasion where I needed things that couldn't be bought from the farmer's market (or it was cheaper at a supermarket), like getting cereal, milk, or eggs, I'd cycle the short distance to Albert Heijn. Although it had been wildly confusing - with the handheld scanners and all - the first time I shopped at a supermarket, getting my groceries with little to no human interaction became second nature to me. 

Three Sundays in Netherlands, the only three Sundays where I wasn't out gallivanting about Europe, I cycled to church. Twice to Fire Church somewhere near my place and once to Hillsong Church that was so far away - I had to cycle up and down a bridge to get there! I made friends in both churches and I'm thankful for that time of fellowship that I had with them. 

There're so many more things that happened when I was in Europe. Each day was a new and amazing day. I may not be able to remember every day clearly (mad regrets of not doing a daily diary back then but oh wells), but as the days go by, little memories of each day in Europe start popping up in my head. Be it a day when I bought a radish the size of my arm, or the time I bought nearly 30 mandarin oranges, or that period of time where I kept watching movies. They were all minute details of each day that have melted together into the lake that I call my exchange. But that doesn't mean that they're forgotten. I believe that I can always revisit these memories through photos that I've taken. 

Anyway, my point here is that, it's been a year. It's been so long. As the years go by, the magnitude of a year seems to grow less and less to me. "One Year" no longer looks like a never-ending mountain, maybe just an irritating hill. Yet, each time a year passes, I'm hit with that amazement and fear that a year has already gone by just like that. 

What have I done in this one year? 

I can't believe that even 2020 is going to come to an end soon. 

What will I be writing at this time next year? 

We'll see. 

Hope™

Edit: Omg, I literally just posted this and went to look back at my previous posts. Check this out. Literally. One. Year. Ago. I was wrong when I said in my introduction that I still had my parents with me. This time last year, I had seen my parents walk through the gates to board their plane to go back home. This time last year was officially the day that I was left alone to fend for myself in a foreign country I had to call home for the next four months. Literally. One year ago. I just said it. I can't believe this coincidence. But hey, maybe it's fate that I was so compelled to stop reading and start recording my thoughts in this moment.