This Is Your Home
13th of June. It’s late at night and something amazing is happening. It’s the second day of the FIFA World Cup and The Netherlands is playing against Spain.
Now you might be asking why this is important. The story goes back to 2010. It’s the World Cup Finals and its Spain vs The Netherlands, whoever wins will get their first ever World Cup and the score is 0-0 until Andrés Iniesta scores four minutes from the end of extra time, getting Spain the Cup.
Fast forward four years, we are back to the 13th of June. There isn’t much to say because the score speaks for itself, Spain 1-5 The Netherlands. It was an amazing win and you cannot imagine how happy the Dutch were. Everyone was shouting how sweet revenge was, everyone was dressed in orange from head to toe, and everyone was on the streets.
It’s what happens in that exact moment, that makes me realize something.
When Holland won, I could feel the excitement from miles away. My Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp… They were all filled with happy, excited, proud posts from my friends, Dutch and non-Dutch, all my friends were celebrating. There is only one thing on my mind.
I wish I was there. I wish I was there with my friends, watching the game at a pub, singing in the streets with bottles in our hands, becoming a part of that Orange Sea of Excitement because that’s where I belong.
This is your home.
The first day I got the keys to my place, I handed my old pair to my mom. She was shocked by how it took me only a few seconds to declare them “the old keys” but I was so excited to be creating a new life, a new home for myself.
This is your home.
It’s when you switch from asking for directions to giving them. You realize that you’ve become a local and that you know your way around this town, this town that used to be a strange, foreign land for you.
This is your home.
It’s moments like this when you realize, this country that you once stepped foot on for the first time without knowing what to expect, has become your home. It’s where you are, where your friends are, where your favorite cafes and pubs are. It’s where you are happy, it’s the place you belong in.
This is your home.
Photo Credits: How to Dutch
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