Romance?

As I type these words, some of you are gorging on delicious chocolates, some are pondering over a name for a teddy bear they just got; some are getting naughty and some are disappointed; some just don't care. However, let me tell you my favourite romantic story.

It was not me who was the protagonist, it was not even St. Valentine's day. Instead, it happened on the 25 bus in Brighton.

One late night, I was headed home after what must have been a night of partying. It is about 3 in the morning. I am tired and tipsy, perhaps wondering what I have in the fridge at home that I could quickly make, to satisfy my alcoholic hunger. To be honest, I don't remember. What I remember is that, in the middle of that, I overhear, amongst the other University of Sussex students, a couple talking, a boy and a girl. They have clearly just met that evening. Unlike many others, they were not drunk, wearing Flintstones outfits or masks on their faces. They are not hooking up for one night. They are just talking but intensely so. They like each other, one can tell just from hearing them converse, it feels almost an intrusion to listen, but overhearing is almost inevitable and, franjly, at this point, I was intrigued. The boy's stop was coming up but talk is sweet. He then missed his stop, knowingly, just to get the phone number of the girl he'd had such a lovely night with. THey exchanged numbers and he got off. I saw him walking off, and despite the cold, he was chirpy. Never mind that he had to walk, never mind he wasn't going to get laid with this girl tonight (though I suspect that he would  have wanted to, much more so than those freshers on the upper deck sucking each other's faces off). He simply wanted to see the girl again.

I tell this story often, it makes me smile. It was stories like these that I had in mind when I first created this space.. This story also goes to those who celebrate St. Valentine's day. I don't. Though, this year I showed that I was willing to be proven wrong.  The story also goes to all the cynics who think that men are from Mars and women are from Venus... no, we're all human, we all want companionship. It also goes to those who believe in love but are struggling at this moment. Romance can catch you off-guard and it usually does not come in a red bow and a chocolate box, more often than not, real romance comes with a fart. Yes, you read it right. A fart.

Snow!

Finally, there is snow in Rotterdam! It took us a while to catch up with the rest of Europe, but now it seems the skies have decided that if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing. It snowed yesterday for hours until every last inch of the city was covered under a white fluffy duvet, a very think duvet! We watched i snow from our windows, and onto the street, where people slipped, giggled and rushed in the cold to get home.

This is the Erasmus bridge in snowy Rotterdam. Photo, courtesy of the Internet.  (Reinier)

I took a walk in the snowy city, it was as cold as it was magical. Even more so than when we watched the snow from outside the comfort of our apartment.

It was already dark, people had vanished from the streets and into their cosy houses after a long week's work, and on my way home I saw a man pulling his kid in a sled, in the center of the city. Somehow, for all our civilisation and modernisation, it was the shiny window displays that stood out, not the father with the sled. It was beautiful to share the same space as them- they were happy and they didn't care about anything else. I wish I had taken a photo, but then again, I probably wouldn't have captured the atmosphere of the moment. Just imagine the happiest dad teaching his little girl one of the valuable lessons in life: you shouldn't be afraid to get a little wet because snow will instantly make you smile. Engage with life, and it will engage back with you.