Chapter 5: Prettige Kerstdagen!!

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Ho ho ho!

Fijne Kerstdagen!

Merry Christmas to all of my lovable readers~

First of all,

I would like to apologise for not updating my story for a looooooonnnnnngggggg time.

3 months, I guess?

I bet you are wondering where I was, what I was doing on that time, and so on.

Well, I was quite busy with my life in Enschede, struggling the first quartile in university and it was really something for me. Doing projects from morning to the next morning, having lack of sleeping time, and I still had to do some houseworks like cleaning the room, preparing the dish, etc. So, I am really sorry for that and I promise I will post more often. Fingercrossed!
(Perhaps this will be the last time I do the finger-crossed. Perhaps.)




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Okay, as you can see, yesterday was a CHRISTMAS DAY!

Well, I felt totally happy and sad at the same time.

Happy, because it's my first time celebrating and experiencing the real Christmas Celebration in European culture (that's my dream for a long time!). Winter season, cold weather, wind, late sunrise and early sunset (dude!), warm and lovely gathering with friends, delicious foods, etc. The dream I could only see from TV or books for years has finally come true!

Sad, because it's also my first time celebrating Christmas far away from home. I only greeted them through messenger and it was quite sad for me.

What did I do during the Christmas Day?

On December 24th, we had a Christmas Eve service, held by ICF Enschede (it's my church in Enschede). Took a place in Rehoboth, we had a very good time! There were performances by the people from different countries (I performed too!), bible readings about the birth of Jesus, a Christmas Story, prayers, and we ended the evening with a cup of warm drink and sweet snacks.

On December 25th, we had a Christmas Day's Service at church. I took a part to play the piano on the service. Although there were only few people who came (well, it's holiday and people are going back to or and having a vacation), the service was going very well. Rev. Josine van der Horst (if I'm not mistaken) was the preacher for today's service (she is my favorite preacher, anyway!) and she shared to us about the Christmas gift that Jesus has given to us as His children.

After the service, some of the students and I had a Christmas Lunch at Ann and Caleb's house. Their parents arranged it and we had a good Indian and Korean dishes. We also shared some stories, played with the kids, and had fun together. When Linda (my Indonesian friend) asked to Ann's mom why she arranged this event, she said,

"On 2013, we found that there were a lot of students who celebrated Christmas alone and we didn't want to see that anymore. So that's why we decided to arrange this lunch so the students can celebrate the Christmas Day together with others and feel at home. This year is the second time we arrange the lunch."

HOW SWEET IS THAT!

When I heard what she said, I was like, "Oh my God, please bless this family."

//cries

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I'm grateful that I can feel Christmas differently. Having a great time with those people made me realise that I'm no longer lonely. I'm thankful for them, for people who taking care of me until now although we still know each other for a short time. I'm truly blessed.

Once again, PRETTIGE KERSTDAGEN!

Merry Christmas from the Netherlands!!! -^^-

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Ah one more thing! Starts next week (perhaps), I will share my holiday trip from Paris, Milan, and Germany, so please stay tune! :)

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06:42 pm.
//LV
(yep, I changed my sign from now on.)