ħaikus

You gotta go there to come back

Posted in Life, Travels by Pino on March 10th, 2008

During the weekend I’ve been busy with packing all my stuff, sort what I want to take with me to Berlin and what I don’t need anymore: I think I’m at a really good point but I realized I still didn’t explain very well why I’m moving.

Everything you always wanted to know about my relocation to Berlin*
It was hard to find a song to name this post after. I first thought about Jump by Madonna, because of these lyrics

There’s only so much you can learn in one place
The more that I wait, the more time that I waste
I haven’t got much time to waste, it’s time to make my way
I’m not afraid of what I’ll face, but I’m afraid to stay
I’m going down my own road and I can make it alone
I’ll work and I’ll fight, till I find a place of my own

But it wouldn’t have been fair to Amsterdam: although many people think I didn’t enjoy myself here (and I guess it’s my fault, ’cause I apparently gave them this impression), I’ve been really happy to work and live in the Netherlands. I really loved every single moment of my experience here: if I could turn back time, I still would choose to move here, I don’t regret absolutely anything, rather the contrary, I’ve been able to dig into my personality a bit further. A couple of weeks ago I was chatting with Desi who was realizing how positively Amsterdam changed me. But somehow I still didn’t close my Berlin chapter…
For one moment I even considered You’re the Reason I’m Leaving by Franz Ferdinand because I was listening to it a couple of days ago, but there’s no particular reason why I’m leaving, there are only reasons why I’m going to Berlin… Yes, I know the difference is subtle… Of course I’ve been missing in Amsterdam the mix of anarchy and order of Berlin or I was sometimes considering Amsterdam as fake as Legoland for it’s utterly beautiful, tiny and cute. A kawaii-city :mrgreen: But those are not really reasons to leave. The main reason why I’m moving to Berlin is that I found a very good and challenging job in a business I really love, social networking, I can’t wait to start. Actually, I’m really going to miss (in random order):

  • Kipsate
  • Schudde Buikjes
  • Vla
  • AllerHande
  • Hema
  • Amsterdam Centraal
  • Prins Hendrikkade
  • Nederlandse Spoorwegen Logo
  • Westerpark
  • My bike Paula’s fiets
  • Begijnhof
  • The American Bookstore
  • Plantage
  • Nemo
  • Het IJ
  • Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam
  • Maastricht
  • Leiden
  • Dutch landscapes
  • Dutch mountains :mrgreen:
  • Of course all my friends who live here

Eventually I chose my favorite Stereophonics album to name this post after, the meaning of which I lately truly understood: sometimes you really gotta go there to come back.

So maybe tomorrow
I’ll find my way home

*But were afraid to ask