Adventures of Mr.Behi

When I was one, we moved to an Island

I was only one when Iran revolted in hope for change. Now I look back and wonder about those who made it happen. I can't put myself in their shoes though as my world is very different from theirs. Chanting "No East, No West" is no longer valid for me. I am neither ready to change my life for an ideology. If they wanted Iran to change the world with revolution, I now want it to embrace the world with open arms.

I was one when my people had a dream and went for it fiercely. They paddled hard in hope for a better place but reached an island of isolation. It was a land after all but they always threw messages in bottles and cried to get out and never to actually live there. It came out to be very different from the dream, yet after thirty years, people still dream about change. Some dream about making this a better Island, some about leaving or even sinking it and no one seem to really know why and how. We are Iranians and we dream. We write poetry, sing sad songs and dream, each in our own individual island.

The Enduring Dutch

One of the inspiring things about people in the Netherlands is observing their spirit. This is indeed the nation of hard workers with many individuals so desperate to do things on time that sometimes they go as far as being unnecessarily nervous about time. In Dutch, you ask "Hoe laat is het?"(How late is it?) when you want to ask for time!! and that speaks for itself.

I was amazed that morning of January 1st by the beach, watching hundreds of people doing the traditional "swim in freezing water"  or perhaps the politically correct version "Start the year fresh". Back in the office after the holidays, I heard a Dutch friend quoting his expat wife: "You Dutch people always like to do things the hard way as you are so committed to endure pain".

That might be true. Everyday when the freezing breeze convinces me to change my way from the bike storage to the bus stop, I see people cycling with red noses, frozen ears and tearing eyes, enduring the cold and cycling fast and even the rain won't deter some of them.

That was my share of positive thinking under the gray sky of the Netherlands. I have my share of frustrations though: Why do you have to say "Het is vijf voor half een" (meaning it is five minutes before half of one o'clock) instead of simply saying 12:25??!!