being back on my turf

i have been one week in the netherlands at this moment, i enjoy being back. had some time with my family and friends, and it was just like in the old days. not being about the whole year doesn't really make a difference, we just pick up where we have left off. for me it is so relaxing being on my turf in some kind of way. i had a very nice encounter yesterday. i was doing some shopping therapy and there was this girl(okay, lady) getting on the mobile staircase and i just had to call her "l.......". she turned around and she just said"hi, l......"(meeting someone in a city of 117.000 isn't very obvious and she lives elsewhere). i have been seeing this old friend on photos of my rowing career in the haque whenever i open my album. i had been thinking of her once in a while. and there she was. exchanging a few words and we were so familiar again. and for sure we'll meet up on my next trip to holland, in october. yes, i am already planning and just a weekend won't be enough. i feel i do not see my mother often enough and i think for me it's important to keep up friendships for when i am older and do not have any close family left. tomorrow we go up north to my cousins house for a couple of days and then we will head back south. and that'll be fine also. then i will spend many evenings talking and thinking about what i did in my home country. and probably someone dutch will drop by on their vacation. i feel whole again.