NETHERLANDS!

8th Stop: Eindhoven, Thorn, Amsterdam, Netherlands
-to visit LAURA!

Laura and I

so the country's name is Netherlands for all those that think it's Holland, famous for its cheese, cows, windmills, wooden shoes, and for the GREEN. i enjoined Amsterdam quite a bit yes, but it gave me a headache. but that's definitely not why I went to Netherlands or Amsterdam, I always try to immerse myself in knowing the culture, people and PEOPLE. All the tourist attractions, beautiful churches, museums will always remain, will continue to stand for decades and centuries, but PEOPLE they are really what makes the place what it is.

As always my journey begins by meeting someone, and this time it happened to be another traveler just like me, but American. Also lately people have been questioning me of what I want to do in the future, and this question also came up in our conversation. A professional basketball player in the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) is the answer I gave to my mother when I was 12 years old, I believed it from the bottom of my heart. When we were young, our dreams were so grand, so high, so immense, but what happens? what happens to this innocence? We sometimes lose hope, lose belief, lose faith, lose that innocence of a child. Sometimes it doesn't hurt to live like a child, to BE like a child where nothing seems impossible, where each person despite colour, religion, background, education are treated as EQUAL. If you ever watch a child, all that matters in their world is to play with that doll, or drive around that toy car, only what they are doing at  THAT MOMENT. They never worry about the future, neither care about the past, nor live in any other time but the "PRESENT."

Venice of the North

Obviously, being a professional basketball player was not my answer to what I want to do in the future, and surely I don't exactly know because I'll never be fixed in my plans for the future. However, I do aim for the future, but I try to live in the present. 

Before I give this answer away I want to just give an insight to my experience in Amsterdam. A city-jaw-dropping beautiful- with canals at every corner, named as the "Venice of the North." I loved the expression and flavour this city has with its diversity of people, restaurants, and coffeeshops. Coffeeshops where marijuana is smoked, and literally at the end of the day it gave me a headache. Not that I have anything against it, but you see how our society has changed in the European-Western world. A society where freedom is shown in acting in the way YOU want, wherever YOU want, and with whomever YOU want.

definitely ENJOINED amsterdam. 

So this freedom is definitely expressed in a city like Amsterdam, where you can do all and be all, the sky is the limit, and boundaries have disappeared. This freedom is a very good thing, but it is HOW we use it. We have the freedom to choose between right and wrong, to respect or to disrespect, to love or to hurt, to argue or to listen, to share or to consume,  to forgive or to revenge, to be pessimistic or optimistic, to be selfish or selfLESS.

selfish or selfLESS. 

What do YOU CHOOSE?

This leads me to my answer and the conversation I had with this American girl. My answer is an idea based on what seems to be a silent killer in the Western society. In a society where the desires are an endless wishlist, where appearance is more valued than the interior, where the term family has been torn apart into pieces. Capitalism, consumerism, egoism are the motivations of advertisements, subjects of daily news, and fuels of everyday living. And you wonder why depression, anxiety, body-image disorders, alcoholism, drug addictions are an ever-growing problem in a society where money can seem to buy happiness. But obviously the facts show otherwise. These are the silent killers I was talking about, that infests the population of the Western society even us- the YOUNG. So we are suppose to be the future of the generation, who discover what is yet unknown, try to build on from history's mistakes, and bring ahead the globalized world. So another problem is- how can we, young people even learn at schools when we are struggling with these problems that are kept silent from the world and educators are in a lack of better terms uneducated to deal with these growing problems of the youth today. And I believe education of the us, youth, or the "future" is fundamental to a better society because that's where we form our values, construct new ideas, and contribute to a better world. 

But how? for many of the US, alcohol and drugs are solutions to help find temporary freedom to be oneself and live moments of happiness that pasts before you know it. So that's where my answer lies- I would like to work in this field to improve the education system, or to educate the generations to come- perhaps involve myself in politics haha. But like I said, that's the future, now I'm in the present and I believe it starts from ME. Being an example that doesn't find freedom in drugs or alcohol, doesn't find happiness in buying and having more material possessions, and realizing the inner self is much more important than the appearance on the outside. Actions speak 1000 times louder than words.

So, What example do YOU want to GIVE?

WHO are YOU?
iAM nothing.
[on a side note, I only spent 4 hours in Amsterdam, so definitely want to go back,
up until now it's actually my favourite CITY so far! ironic EH?]