...I decorated. Check out my new 'Will Ferrell, as Buddy the Elf, Getting Attacked by a Raccoon He Tried to Hug' desktop:
Doesn't that just make your day? Mine, too. Another thing that makes my day is sitting just beyond those beige cubicle walls you see in today's December Daily photo. Well, perhaps I shouldn't refer to her as a "thing." She is a human being, after all. Nonetheless, she is my "good thing" to be thankful for today. She is a co-worker. And she is Dutch.
She moved into that neighboring cubicle a few weeks ago. I don't really know her, beyond the "good morning" pleasantries we occasionally exchange. So why am I thankful for her presence? Because she often makes personal phone calls. In Dutch!
I love the Dutch language. Sure, it has a lot of gutteral sounds and doesn't exactly flow like French, no fire like Italian. But hearing it reminds me of my year spent in Amsterdam, which was months of magic and adventure. And it reminds me of my Dutch friends, my feeble attempts to speak their language, canals and bridges, brown-walled cafes and stroopwafels.
She moved into that neighboring cubicle a few weeks ago. I don't really know her, beyond the "good morning" pleasantries we occasionally exchange. So why am I thankful for her presence? Because she often makes personal phone calls. In Dutch!
I love the Dutch language. Sure, it has a lot of gutteral sounds and doesn't exactly flow like French, no fire like Italian. But hearing it reminds me of my year spent in Amsterdam, which was months of magic and adventure. And it reminds me of my Dutch friends, my feeble attempts to speak their language, canals and bridges, brown-walled cafes and stroopwafels.
And now, at least once a day, these pleasant associations are conjured up in the midst of my beige & boring work-week existence, whenever I hear this co-worker start speaking those familiar "naturlijk," "dat is leuk" and "wat seg je?" phrases. I love it. For a moment, alles goed.
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