Recently in January '24

January was a very busy month, which I did not really expect. More importantly, it’s already gone. One twelfth of the year has already passed. How crazy is that? Let’s quickly dive into the latest events.

✍️ Website

January was somewhat of a prolific month when it came to writing articles, especially the first half. I wrote a whopping record of 13 articles in such a short amount of time. I don’t think I’ve ever published so many articles in such short amount of time. Nevertheless, that seems to have stopped. My favorite post to write this past month was “When Does Abroad Stop Feeling Like Abroad?”.

During January I’ve also created a digital shoebox, where I also added new content that I didn’t use to have online. I am happy I did it. It’s a nice place to throw some things that I want to publish, but have no clear place of where they should go. In other news, I also added an “archive” view to my photos and graphics pages.

🍄 Life

I started my new Dutch course, for level B1-. I have classes twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 12:00 and 14:00. The timing is far from ideal, as it kind of cuts through the middle of the day. I’m lucky I can take this classes, but for the next course I will try the 9:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I will likely write more about classes and my “Dutch-learning” plan in another post.

I have met with quite a few people during different occasions during this month. I have also joined a Homebrew Website Club Europe call for the first time. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to join any other events, as I’m either too tired or I have something else already planned.

I also had to visit Den Haag in order to visit the Portuguese consulate to renew my ID card. It expired in the middle of January, but I didn’t want to schedule an appointment too soon since the government kept saying the new standardized (EU law) ID cards would be launched until the end of 2023. Nothing has happened, and we’re still issuing non-standardized ID cards.

In the middle of December I then decided to make an appointment, which is usually fine: issuing a new ID-card usually takes 5 working days abroad if I pay the urgent fee. Unfortunately, the earliest appointment was a week after my ID card expired. It seems to already be available to pick up from today, but they’re only open for pick-ups between 14:00 and 16:00 and I really can’t go today as I have important meetings.

💪 Health

I started going to the gym three times a week in January: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s been great so far. There’s not a lot I want to say here, but I’m now doing more cardio-related exercises and functional strength training too. Before it was mostly traditional strength training with weights and stuff.

📚 Reading

I finally finished reading Harry Potter en de Steen der Wijzen. It took longer than I wanted, but that’s my fault as I’m not giving it enough time to read the book. I also started Harry Potter en de Geheime Kamer, which I already have over 50% read.

🍿 Entertainment

When it comes to movies, I went to the cinema two times this month. I watched both Wonka and the new Mean Girls movie in the cinema. Both were good, in their own ways. I had to also watch the older Mean Girls movie at home, since I had never watched it before.

In the series department, I want to give a shout out to The OA, which was one of the first Netflix original series. I had never watched it before, but it captivated my interest. I think it’s very nicely made, and it’s sad it ended up being canceled after the second season. Also watched the second season of New Heights, which I recommend.

The most unexpected event this month was going to a theater, in Dutch. I went yesterday to Breda to see the production of COCK by Theater Oostpool. I certainly did not understand all the jokes and everything that was said. However, I followed the main story line - and also understood some jokes. I think it was a great experience.

Looking forward for February. There are quite a few things I have planned.