Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

On the one hand, it seems to have been the most scanty year within the last decade… Even the emptiness of this blog page will confirm the same. If I look back to this year it appears to be a grey field with some flashes of great memories. It’s probably still due to the beginning of a new life and getting used to a new situation, land, people, circumstances. Maybe the change has been too striking – from “far too much” to “almost nothing”, from “non-stop activities” to “rather routine”. But I’m not complaining and I’m not disappointed about this year – every journey begins with one small step.

On the other hand, there were still many events to remember and to be thankful  for. First of all, my best friends got married and luckily I managed to be present at both weddings. We spent another three wonderful days on the water with our great salsa-floating team and we had a great time celebrating Arthur’s birthday on the beach in Jurmala. There were plenty of salsa-merengue-bachata steps made and we had lots of fun during Amsterdam and Berlin Salsa Festivals. And, the most important, I spent precious time with my family and I’m extremely grateful I have my sister right next to me now.  

I am letting this year go and I am looking forward to what the next year brings. Let the next decade begin great!

Happy New Year! Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! Laimīgu Jauno gadu! С Новым годом!

Don’t be afraid to be yourself.

Life is too short to be someone else.

I ‘m also fond of creative ideas what concerns photography. I mentioned one in my blog last year and came across another one this week thanks to numerous posts of my friends on Facebook via the new group called “Я люблю ФОТО” (I love photo) (The fact that it’s in Russian isn’t a problem – the only thing you need is to enjoy the art of photography).

The idea behind this photoset  is both simple and genius – to show everyone that there are talented people around us. The photographer Jordan Matter took pictures of professional dancers doing complicated movements in everyday situations around New York city. More information and, of course, photos can be seen here. Enjoy!

- Get ready on time. After the Queen’s Day in April safe all the orange staff bought for that event. Be aware that it’s never enough so as soon as the sales for the World Cup begin, get orange boa scarves, t-shirts,  skirts, trousers, shorts, shoes, hats, caps, etc. Buy all sizes, just in case any of your family members forgets to get one.

- Get ready for loud weeks – buy orange (that’s out of question) rattles, horns, vuvuzelas. The last ones should be tried at home during the matches as well as at other time. Just to let everyone know you are absolutely ready for the World Cup. Be sure the neighbours in the last house of your street hear them too.  And so does the following street. 

- Use all offered sale promotions to get various cups, bracelets, buttons, belts, coats, hats etc. given for free with some purchases. Ignore the fact that you end up with a pile of goods and products you’ll probably never use. Calm yourself down with an idea that your neighbours have the same pile at home. Maybe two.

- Buy special flag street pack. Several. Put them on your house. If you are still able to see the walls, buy some more. Check the houses of your neighbours. If there are more flags for any reasons, return to the shop and buy some more. Check the streets nearby. If there are more flags for any reasons, negotiate with your neighbours, discuss expenses, return to the shop and buy several street packs more. It’s just not allowed for your street to be less orange then theirs…

- Don’t forget to make your house interior as orange as possible. All over. You should not get upset by the fact that finding your keys/telephone/remote control becomes almost impossible in all that mess. That’s a part of the deal.

- Change your profile picture in all social networks to a picture of the World Cup, Dutch football t-shirt, Dutch flag or at least something orange. You can also repeat this action time after time. Let everyone know you are for the NL. Indeed.

- Take days off for all days when the Netherlands are playing. If possible, take a day off after a match too: if they win, you need to party hard; if they lose, you are so much disappointed that you can’t work…

- Cancel all appointments and refuse to attend all special events during the matches. Those include all birthday parties, weddings, anniversaries, diploma awarding etc. Ignore relatives and friends beseeching you to come. Send congratulations via text message during the break after the first half but only if you have enough time for it. 

- Wear orange whenever the Dutch team is playing. Feel like in an incubator in all public places. Don’t be surprised to see businessmen with orange ties and business ladies wearing orange blouses.  Etiquette experiences rapid changes for a month – live with it.

- Blow Twitter up during the matches. Get all the trending worldwide topics speak only about the NL and get Twitter over capacity within minutes. After that you can turn to Facebook with updates, comments and links. There is no way you will get it over capacity too, but at least your network will continuously see your new profile picture. You have changed it today too, right?

- If you are absolutely nuts, spend all your savings on the flight and entrance ticket to the World Cup matches. Get a loan if needed. After all, your planned vacation to the Canary Islands is not even close as cool as the World Cup.

- After negative prediction for the Netherlands, Promise to go to Germany, steal Paul Octopus the Oracle and grill it on bbq. Send invitations to your family and friends.

- Go to Amsterdam to participate in crazy orange celebration (doesn’t matter what the place is): out ALL orange staff you have by this time, make posters, scream, dance, jump (also into the channels), get pictures of all team players, party till you drop. You’ve taken a day off for tomorrow, right?

- When it’s indeed over, finally find your house behind the flags, clean everything up and store the orange staff in your closet/attic/garage. Never throw it away. There are only 2 years to wait

Yet, it appeared that something was strange that night as the cars driving in front of me started to break down instead of speeding up as it usually happens on any bridge. And Erasmus bridge was never an exception. When approaching the end of the bridge, I first noticed numerous blinking road signs changing the direction of the road and pushing all the drivers to turn right instead of continuing their way straight as it was supposed to be.

“Road works,” I thought. “Nothing special – still better at night than during rush-hours.”

But soon flickering figures of police officers and several police cars standing along the road made me change my mind.

“Ok, here we go,” my thoughts continued rushing. “My first police control in the Netherlands.”

It felt already different, actually. The number of police officers (read: a lot) made me remember the movies – seemed like they were chasing a criminal; you know: one calls, then a whole division appears, they block the road, check all cars, documents, compare photos and faces…

Anyway, that wasn’t the case. Though, I did think about my documents.

“Ok, what did J. tell about the papers? Somewhere there – right. Found them. No idea what they all mean but I hope police know. Driving licence? In my handbag. Got it. Luckily with EU stars and some words in English. Should be fine. It’s still an old one: with a photo which should not be shown to anyone and glasses mentioned as a must. The question: “Where are your glasses?” does not surprise me anymore. “Left at the surgery room” – that’s my answer. Ok, I’m ready for interrogation.”

My brainstorm and search action in the car were interrupted by the fact that I already reached the point of control.

“Goedenacht, mevrouw,” said a police-lady offering me a well-known breath-in tube.

“That’s it?! Nothing more? No explanations? No documents? Nothing?!?” all my excitement disappeared in one second. I was ready to answer 100 & 1 question and spend hours by this police control point but they… alcotest… I don’t even drink! The lady took the tube back with zero results, said “Dank u” and turned to the next car. Ha, felt like on the conveyor! Blinking road signs showed the way to help drivers return to their initial direction. And that was it.

Similar experience in Latvia would rather look as follows: one police car is standing in the most unnoticeable and hidden place and a police officer is jumping out on the road trying to stop a car. The key word here is “unexpectedly”. While one car is being checked, the others are normally safe. Otherwise LV police would go bankrupt – we can’t afford spending that many tubes during one night… The unlucky driver is given a tube to check the alcohol… and then also asked to show his driving licence, then technical passport, then insurance papers, then the boot is checked, then maybe something else – as much as possible, just in case. Meanwhile, all the other cars which passed by have already notified/informed all the traffic participants about the police car standing in a certain place – and the road becomes strangely empty… After several unsuccessful attempts to stop a “drunk unit”, the police car moves to another location in search of peace of luck. And that is it.

I guess the length of this period differs from person to person and there are also people who would never call another country “home” and, when booking tickets to their country, would always say “I’m going back home” even after living abroad for a couple of years. For some people (me including), it does seem incredible how fast we sometimes call a new place “home”. I’ve been living in the Netherlands for 9 months so far but the feeling of “living here for ages” appeared within the first month. Well, I can also be a reason. I mean, it’s already the 3rd country (apart from Latvia) where I’ve lived at least for a couple of months and I have never had that painful (as people describe it) feeling-wish-desire to return back. Yep, I missed my friends and family, that’s natural, but never to the extent to pack & leave.

What is also funny – you continue calling all those places “home”. They never lose that status even though their amount increases with years. And this time: I visited my mum, went to the town I was born and grew up in, went to Riga where I was living for the last 8 years before moving abroad, and then easily returned to the NL. And every time I felt like being “at home”. Seems like I’ll never be “home”-less