Rabobank Een huis moet rust geven

Out of Shape

Today was a historical day yet again. I had a reunion with my younger brother. We hadn't seen each other for over a year! To make the reunion even more special, he is to come and stay with me as he has come down from Zambia to study. I can tell you that as I met up with him today, lots of emotions came loose when I saw him. All emotions though, were those of joy.

The whole day I had been looking forward to seeing him. It's funny how much joy you get from meeting up with your own flesh and blood. There is so much you want to say and so much you want to express that often it just turns into a clumsy hug and you say to each other a simple; hey, how's it going? Your eyes don't let the other go for one second. Sizing each other up, immediately noting whether the other is healthy, happy and comfortable.

So what did this do to me exactly? I always thought about the situation and how it would change the life that I had been leading just a few seconds before I met up with my bro. Heck, my life still looked different as I was on the bus getting to the stop by my house. What is inevitable though, is that like the bus, I was in motion; coming closer to my home and the reunion.

So as I took my brother in clumsy caress, I took in how his body had grown and matured. In almost the same instance I also realised that the load of responsibility on my shoulders had matured in that same embrace I was entangled in with my brother. My parents had entrusted me to now keep an eye out for my brother and help him find his path in life.... Guide him where I can and prevent any mishaps if possible.

I believe my parents made a wise choice. Not because I am such a smart, responsible guy. But mainly due to the fact that I have messed up so much in life, my bro can use that as an example and learn from my mistakes so that he does not have to do it. In order to size my brother up more, I started testing him here and there.

I always say that I don't live large and that I struggle to survive. Although not completely blown out of proportion, I guess I do tend to exaggerate at times. My brother was impessed with the house. He was even more surprised to find a bed just for him. Ok, so he had to set it up himself due to a little error, but it was there!

Then I checked his view on money. My Gosh! This boy definitely has not had much struggles when it comes to cash. Hehe, it made me shrug and laugh at the way he thought certain things were cheap, of which I was convinced they were expensive! I hope to God that he doesn't have to go through the lesson I learned with cash management.

After that it was my turn to learn from my brother. He was easily accepted by my housemates, and he readily felt at home. I was impressed because the lighty is a little younger than us, yet he immediately sensed how to act and respond, leaving everyone in their value. I at once noticed that my little brother is a true cosmopolite, and I'd like to state; just like myself.

In the past few months I knew I had been preparing myself to him joining me. Come to think of it, in a way I have been preparing for this for quite a long time of my life with all the lessons that my parents have been teaching me. It's hilarious though for in the past my brother and I were not even allowed to sit at the same table. We used to mess around too much. This young boy used to look up to me so much, and I was foolish and did things to push him away. I was very selfish as a young boy.

And now, I have been saving up for months to be able to buy my brother a bed and a mattrass and welcome him into this home. I am glad to give up my own comfort to make sure that he has a lot of his own. However,the big lesson for me today was that eventhough I am the older brother and that it's up to me to take care of most things. My little brother also showed me that he is mature and ready to face the world.... I too must be open to his point of view, and in future I will at times lean on his shoulder. For now, it was a joy to watch him eat food provided for by me, and later see and hear him fall asleep on the couch..... Just like the good old days of then......

So why is my title of this story called out of shape? because now more than ever I realise it is time to pull up my socks, write a plan schedule of approach/attack and to head off to the nearest gym to get in shape and get ready for the challenges ahead!

Buying a bed african style

It seems the month of August is to be one of my most expensive months till date. In this month my phone has been broken, my bike has been stolen (sigh, yes you read it right) and my laptop of five years has finally let its light dim, blink and die never to shine again. It certainly is as dramatic as it sounds! To add salt to the wound, I had to get prepared to buy my brother a bed. This has been something that I have been postponing to do. However, since he's going to be living with me I have to be prepared.

Michael decided to go with me and help me out. It was a saturday and I was getting a litle anxious to buy a bed as I had been waiting for the last moment as usual. I guess there simply will be some things that I will never learn. We went to this store called Leen Bakker. It was funny we went here because I have been trying to find a place where I can find affordable beds that still had some quality. Mike told me quite early on that Leen Bakker was the store to go to but I refused to listen. In the end we went there anyway. This was on a day that I had had to go work for three hours (it was saturday mind you) and the night before I had not slept well. Mike and I had agreed to meet up in the centre of Haaarlem.

From the centre of Haarlem, Mike and I decided to walk to Leen Bakker. Upon arrival, our eye immediately fell upon te best deal there was. It was a bed with another bed that was stored under it: perfect for trying to maintain some space. We went to the lady in charge and told her we wanted the bed. Of course it was not meant to be so easy. The bed was not in storage..... YABA (SHIT)! Why would something like this always be bestowed upon me? I was ready to walk away and be prepared to have dissapointed my brother.

It was then that God felt pity on me once more, for the lady stopped me in my tracks and said a magical sentence, namely: I could call for you to our partner store in Amsterdam Zuid Oost and ask them if they have it on storage for they are open on sunday. And as soon as my heart soared, it dropped again too. Why? Well I asked her if they delivered the next day and the answer was no.... It was to be on Thursday. Oh man! I needed to have the bed at my house by sunday or monday latest! What to do? Mike told me not to worry, go to the store tomorrow and see what would enfold. So that's what we did....

Sunday came and before I could get ready to go to the store, I had to clean the house and get ready for the photoshoot for the commercial. My timing was a bit off, because the guy that was to take pictures of me came a little early. Nonetheless, we took pictures of seven outfits and got done. After that Mike and I immediately rushed to Amsterdam Zuid Oost with the plan of finding some food first.

We did quickly check on the internet on how to reach the store. Upon arrival of the dsignated policestop however, we found we were not as close as we thought. We asked two fellow africans for the way first. Remarkably, we noticed two things that both had in common. One was that neither spoke dutch, and that they didn't know about the store. These points have nothing to do with the main story, but it kind of threw us off because we proudly advocate Africa and somehow we felt these two fellows let us down. The latter however, relifted my spirits because of his sign of faith. Unlike my clothing, his dressing immediately let me know where he was rushing too; he was rushing to church! As he left, he gave me one bit of advise. In the distance behind me, he pointed at one girl and said with a grin on his face: ask her!

Why did he grin? Well, that is obvious! She was not a bad looking lady (what the guy didn't know though of course is that my lady is a lot prettier)and that definitely made it easy for me to approach and ask her for the way. Her answer is what shocked me. It was like God had appeared in this man's body and pointed the way himself, for this lady was looking for the same store as us. The funny thing though ,was that she didn't know how to get there herself.

A busdriver came in his bus and we approached him. Much to our glee, he knew where it was and agreed to take us there and said he'd do it for free since there was no official busstop where we were going. He dropped us off illegaly, by the side of a busy road and the very strict police of Holland saw it and let it happen. I guess it was meant to be!

We finally found the place, but there were a lot more other stores right next to it also selling beds. So we went and looked at each one of them. The searching and the thought of not having eaten made us hungry and so we stopped and went for a meal. Eventually, we decided to stick to our original plan and look for our bed that we had chosen at Leen Bakker because that was the bed that was sold on action. Once more it felt like we were following the direction at which God pointed in with his finger.

All this way, it was funny that people either directed us to the store as if we owned a car. It became rather apparent that people that don't own a car, usually don't drive down to these stores. Perhaps a reason why the fellow africans we met didn't really know wher the store was? In any case, it was also a sign that perhaps it's time to start thinking of investing in a car.

For the time being, we were without a car and by now we needed to carry two packeages all the way back to a trainstation of which we don't know is direct location.... We decided to grit our teeth, grab the packages and start walking in the general direction. Along the way, just like how we were lead to the store, people guided us back to the station.

We started carrying off the bed with one guy (Michael) in front carrying the bed with his hands behind his back, and another (me) following and holding the bed in front. We went along quite well with a few stops in between. It was gruelling! However, what made it rather fun was the looks we were getting from people that were driving by in their car. They could not believe what they were seeing! Then to make things more interesting, Mike and I decided to carry the bed differently. We decided to go african style, like the true advocates that we are and carried the bed on our heads. To our surprise; this was the best way to carry the bed! With way less stops, this was how we managed to get to the station!

Once more, our timing was a bit off for it had started to rain. As soon as we got on the platform, it started to pour. Inside the waiting lot (like one you would find at a busstop) we had to hide behind the bed because the wind was pushing the rain that close! The train came, and along with it came the mission of getting the bed inside of the train! People couldn'tstop looking amusedly at us and passing on silly comments like good night! and rest well! They were simply very shocked to find that we were carrying not one, but in actual fact two beds with public transportation and made it look rather easy.

Our last stretch was rather hilarious. We had to rush the bed to the bus and get on it. The driver immediately let us into the last door... I guess he felt our pain. Upon reaching our stop to get off. I lifted the bed and let Michael carry the other package as I started running for our house with my last remaining powers. Upon reaching the door I had to gather my reserve strenghts, lift the bed once more and heave it up the stairs into our livingroom.

As I put the bed down, a couple of thoughts flashed through my head. It was amazing thad once more I left things to the last minute, even more astonishing that a source bigger than mike and myself lead us to find the store and back, and it was most bewildering that we did it due to our belief it would work out.... The icing on the cake was that we did it with sheer african strength and thought! Then Mike broke my line of thought as he said: ok we seriously need a car man!

Ok peeps, think about all what I have written. For now I have to leave you, for today I have finally bought the screwdrivers to put the beds I bought together! Take care and I hope to hear from you soon!

Camera, lights.... ACTION!

As you might have read in my earlier post, today was a big day for me.... The day started really weird. Since my phone still is not fixed, I had to borrow my friend's phone. I didn't realise that the time on his phone was wrong, so when I set u the alarm for the morning... It woke me hours before it was supposed to! Timing... Something I have not been too great at in this life of mine! Was this to be a bad omen for the day to come?

I still managed to awake on time, although now I had to rush to be sure to reach the bus on time. In the bus I failed to charge up my travelling card, and at the trainstation too. I had to draw 20 euro's from the ATM just to make sure that I would be able to travel to work and further. Thank God I managed because I was sure that somehow my card got blocked!

Let me not forget to mention that as soon as I woke up, the skies broke open and washed the streets, me inclusive with its tears. I was drenched and soaked to the bone! Till I got home late in the day, I had not been able to dry myself off. I had taken some pre-emtive precautions... In fact I had gone to eat some really spicy soup to try and ward off fever. I had to rush though to get the right bus to arrive on time. The bus came late, which caused me to end up later than planned at my destination for the acting gig. Was this all part of wrong timing once more?

No it was not. My fellow actress (the one I am doing this project with) arrived at the same time as I did. We even ended up coming before they were actually ready for us. This enabled us to have some much needed character bonding time. Here I was, trying to connect with my friend on a level to make it believable that we were a married couple with a one and a half year old son. We bonded so well, even he accepted me and trusted me to be in his close environment.

After that, we were so, so ready! In my mind I sat back and remembered my promise, which was to charge at the door and barge through it. To my pleasant surprise, my friend had the same attitude; we were to go for this and take no prisoners! We had fooled these people so well, that they believed all the way that we were married and that her son was our boy! We played the camera, we played with each other and we surprised each other. In short, this acting preparation for the real thing was a world we had created to be true, it was spontaneous... And in a way that I cannot explain; it was done so well, that it was indeed existing... In front of the camera at least!

This is where I re-discovered something about acting. What I discovered basically laid out that an actor is a true cosmopolite and the main reason why they are good at charity (if they want to be that is). The simple reason being; because of their profession they have to be open to the world and people's beliefs. Most important though, acting is about finding a part of yourself, that can relate to another person. So by playing a role, you are actually playing a part of yourself that relates to that role... In essence, the role you play, although not your entire real character, is still a part of yourself. I wasn't merely just acting infront of the camera, I was also really, displaying a part of myself and being open to/about it. I focussed on the light, ignored the camera and shot into action! I certainly believe that what I did blew people's minds!

hazard to my own succes

Tonight I stand at the threshold of something that could mean something totally new for me. It's funny for me to say this, because if you think about it, any given moment at any given point in time could actually mean the beginning of a new era. I guess there are just more specific times that make you realise that you've reached a pivotal point; a determinal factor.

All my life, I have been stubborn. And all my life I have failed to listen to one sentence that has been a thread throughout that life. My parents, teachers and friends alike have all said: Kees is an intelligent and gifted guy, however he is lazy and the only thing standing in the way of his succes is himself. Now as I grow older, I have not realised once, twice or even a dozen times that they were (and still are right), for I have stumbled across that fact a million times.

I was lazy to try out for a scholarship for football (english football that is) that was simply thrown in my laps. I wasted that talent. Then there was my chance to develop my acting and singing on broadway.... Wasted that away too. Let me not even mention all the chances I keep being shown in education. Or how I simply screwed up job interviews for great careers only because I was too lazy to really put my heart into it.

Now I try to look back with honesty and I start doubting whether it was laziness per se. I mean, sure that is an element of it. But maybe it was just me being afraid. Maybe it was fear that made me prevent myself from excelling and giving my all. As much as I portray myself as a tough guy that can handle most anything, I guess the real true reason is that I have shown angst towards a lot of battles and tasks, yet masked it with indifference and laziness.

As a young lad, you get thrown all these possibilities and for while you believe yourself to be immortal and that you get chances like these every day. Surely enough, I have seen many a window closing, only to open up another door to walk through or vice versa. But as I grow older I become less agile to dive into a crevice or have grown too fat to fit through certain doors. I owe it to myself more and more, to try out the opportunities presented at me. If I don't give a shot at the chances that offer themselves to me, there sure as hell won't be someone that does them for me!

I've been offered another shot at one of my old passions.... Let's call it a mistress that I have treated badly.... That passion is acting. Oh how I love to creep into character. Yet because of a certain incident in the past, I became cowardly and stopped exploring that part of me. And now, thanks to a person that is dear to my heart, I am opening myself up towards that old flirt; the art of acting.

So here is my promise, as of now I will charge at the door that has opened up for me. I will embrace acting once more in my arms, and with this new found determination I will overcome my laziness; which is actually cowardice, and I will prove that thread right! Well, only prove it partially right. That I trully am an intelligent and gifted person, and I am going to blow your mind.

Broken

So, it's been months and I have completely abondoned my blog. For the three mere followers that I have; I am sorry. The only reason I can state for not writing anything in the last couple of months is due to my lack of inspiration. Of course I could find lots of excuses to defend myself. However, this would mean that I am not man enough to see my inadequacies. Firstly though, I will apologise for not posting my friends' contributions. Reason for that is that till now, they have simply not had anything to contribute haha.

So now to inspire my few followers and to gain some ground on what little I have lost. I will share with you a story. Off late lots of things have been getting broken in my life. Things that I clearly need to be able to function in todays world. This story has started a while ago, but I will begin it with last sunday.

I started a new job a couple of months ago. Last sunday I was choosen to represent the company at a fair which was two and a half hours drive away from where I stay. The public transportation system in Holland, although better than most, makes traveling a living hell, and on sundays especially! I had to wake up at five am in the morning just to get the journey started! My colleagues and I had decided to meet up in Uithoorn, which is close to where they stay, and move on from there to Hardenberg where the fair was.

Now I woke up quite alright. I was on time and on schedule and despite the time of the day, I was in a cheerful mood and rode my bike to the station to catch the bus. This is where my drama started. The bus was late and I hate waiting! In any case, it arrived just as I was giving up that it would come. As I sat down and looked at my phone, I realised something was up. The damn phone was simply not responding! My phone somehow broke, and this shattered my world....

I save all my information on my phone, this ranges from the contact details of my colleagues to my traveling schedule of that day. This meant that I only had a vague idea of which bus stop I had to get off. As you already can see where this is heading, I forgot which bus stop I had to get off and got off two stops later. Upon arrival, I simply hoped that my colleagues would find me there. After a while I got aggitated of waiting and decided I needed to come up with some action.

So I looked at the people around me at the bus station and scrutinized each and every one. Trying to find a friendly face that would trust me enough to let me put my simcard in their phone so that I could call because by now I was sure that my colleagues had called. Just the look of them put lead in my feet and froze my mouth; they looked frightening.

After praying fervently to God and trying to get my phone to work to no avail, I finally conceded to my fait and approached my first target, a bus driver. I told him of my ordeal and after I was done with my story, he said I will never let anyone put their simcard in my phone. And then he was friendly enough to point me to some flats in the wrong direction as I had been trying to guess the appartment of one of my colleagues (this later led to them not finding me at the busstop).

I came back to the busstop, frustrated.... I found my second victim. It was another bus driver, this time a female. She too had to listen to my ordeal. In her I had found a real rare commodity. This lady is one of the few in this world that doesn't have a cellphone! Eish, was I shocked! Even in my country of birth, almost everyone has a damn cellphone! She was however friendly enough to give me a fisherman's friend and wish me the best of luck!

My third and last try was a mother and son. The mother too, refused to lend me her phone for the same reason as the bus driver. The son however, felt pity on me and fixed my broken spirits by lending me his phone. Finally! I managed to call my colleagues who broke my heart by telling me that they had left me. I asked them what our next plan was and their simple answer was go home. For me, that was not an option. At last I decided to undertake some affirmative action and move quick on my feet.

I got in the next bus to schiphol aiport to catch a train in the right direction. In the bus I got into friendly banter with the bus driver, who like me was dark skinned. We got along fabulous from the beginning. He decided to help me more and he too borrowed me his phone to call my colleagues. I told them that I was coming by train much to their surprise.

An hour and a half later than expected, I arrived at the fair. It made my manager and colleagues appreciate me. How funny that something that is broken, could strengthen my relationship with my work mates! My broken cellphone cut off my communication, yet it strengthened my ability to come up with solutions.

This story decided to make me sit back behind my five year old laptop (of which something is breaking within it every day) and write this story.... I hope this broken story, fixed something in you!

A race against time

I have a weakness and that weakness is working under pressure. I start off a project with ample time to finnish and what do I do? I wait for the last minute to get it all done. I'm doing exactly that right now. Why do I always get myself into this?

I'm trying to find accomodation for people in South Africa for the world cup. I'm a little worried that people will not easily find accomodation and thus I'd like to help as many out as possible. I stil need to find more people that own property and I'm looking for companies that rent out cars. There is also a need to contact a couple of travelling agencies in case these people need to travel longer distances by plane.

Through the internet I can find a lot of information but it's not enough! If any of you can help me out with more info I'd gladly like to hear it! Oh well, let me get back on track. You'll hear how it goes.