Weekly diary #39: a visit at FC Twente

Hi! Welcome to this new weekly diary on my blog. I share these weekly diary to share my journey to a more sustainable lifestyle. I hope to inspire you and share tips and tricks. The past week I spend the weekend in Harderwijk, went to a soccer game from my local soccer club FC Twente and my holiday started. Want to read along? Here’s weekly diary #39.

Thursday

I woke up at noon and checked the schedule from the gym for any fun classes but there weren’t any scheduled this morning, maybe tonight. And so, I went for a walk with my dad, also quite fun. I like working out in the morning most, I like to be free at night. After the walk with dad we also went into the city center to buy a gift for his birthday. I try to always gift experiences but sometimes somebody really wants stuff. My dad wanted a new jacket and so we went to buy it together. We tried to pick something of good quality so that it’ll last long. I spend some time blogging and doing homework and then I did go to the gym after all. After that we went out to dinner for dad’s birthday at a Argentinian restaurant. I called a few days ahead because those kitchens usually only serve meat. I called and they said it was no problem that I eat vegan and that it was noted. When I came to the restaurant the waiter asked me what vegan meant in the first place. I was a little worried. But in the end it turned out great! They made me a lovely dish with rice, mushrooms, beans, onions, zucchini and more vegetables. I also got a fresh salad served on the side. I only had a main dish and that was more than enough, what a portion! It took 1,5 hours for the food to be served (it was very busy), but it was good and we had fun!

Friday

After a few days of sleeping long I had to get up at 6:15AM again. Once at school is was again some sort of private class since only 5 people showed up again. It is quite good for me because this way I get really specific and useful feedback. I do worry for my classmates which don’t show up. Anyhow, today was the last school day before the holiday! I am free for two weeks now! But I do have a deadline on Tuesday and an exam on Wednesday. I took the weekend off from work and went to my boyfriend in Harderwijk. That night we went bowling with some friends and I won the first game with 162 points! Once at home we played some boardgames and a music quiz. That’s really fun. One person plays music and the other have to guess the songs and artists. I went to bed at 3AM and was happy that I don’t had to get up at 6AM like I normally do.

Saturday

Sleeping long, yess! Again till noon. After breakfast my boyfriend and I went shopping. I fitted some Toms shoes. I like these a lot and it’s a quite sustainable and fair brand I think. For every pair they sell one pair goes to a person in need too and they’re made out of good materials. However, my feet are too wide for any of the Toms shoes. I did buy a bag of corn to be popped in a popcorn machine. I have one, got it for Christmas once. You don’t need such a machine if you want to make popcorn, you can also make it in a pan. But since I’ve ruined some pans in our house already by doing this my stepdad bought me a machine haha. At night we went to eat sushi and grill at Japas!! Yessss, I love sushi so much. We went there with 7 people and for me they made a special vegan menu so that I could see which options I had. It was all so delicious! I also ordered a cocktail and ordered it without a straw. And I succeeded! My dream is that there will be a vegan sushi and grill restaurant in The Netherlands one day. Right now there isn’t one. It would be amazing! I would also like for all the ingredients to be local, seasonal and organic. And then you have it, the perfect restaurant. After dinner we also went out in the city center (with my favorite vegan drink, Amaretto, hmmmm). It was such a fun Saturday! It’s almost a shame that I usually work all day.

Sunday

My mother in law celebrated her birthday today. We got up quite early to be part of the celebration. We did buy her stuff, but it was something she wanted. A rake and a mushroom brush (quite random haha). Sometimes it’s okay to give stuff, as long as someone really needs and wants it. We played some boardgames, Yenga, and I ate some good vegan paella.

Monday

Wiehoee, the first official day of the holiday. I spend the entire day at home working on my exams. I finished one! Feels so good. I also got back a mark from school and I didn’t pass it. It was said that 90% didn’t pass it. I think that’s strange. Maybe there’s something wrong with the classes and not with us. I don’t know. Well, that’s a resit. I wanted to hand in the exam I finished today but it didn’t work. I will have to go to school tomorrow to ask since tomorrow is the deadline. My mother in law also bought some tofu at the local toko. Normally I don’t really like tofu since I don’t know how to prepare it well. But this was heaven! I will go to the toko in Enschede myself soon.

Tuesday

I went to school to hand in my exam today together with my boyfriend. I didn’t bring enough food and forgot my reusable bag. Luckily my boyfriend did have a plastic bag in his bag and so I used that one to buy some sandwiches. After school we went to Enschede because we were going to a soccer game with my dad, to FC Twente. I had gifted him tickets for a game for his birthda last year and now was the time, I rather gift experiences than stuff. In between we went to buy some ice-cream (vegan for me of course). The soccer game in the stadium was a lot of fun and they won the game 2-0. I didn’t drink anything because it all was served in plastic and I also didn’t bring my own reusable bottle since they don’t allow that. I get it, people throw these things when they get mad. But why not use reusable light weight cups? Put a deposit on it. And they don’t serve any vegetarian or vegan food either. I don’t like it. I did go stand in line to buy drinks for my dad (it was for his birthday after all) and my boyfriend and it got me thinking about all the facilities. As a facility management student I think it could all be a lot better, sustainable. After the game I was hungry and thirsty and so we went to the New York Pizza. I had seen some great news, they now had a vegan pizza (it’s called Sea Shepherd)! And so, I ordered it today with a can of coke (which is 100% recyclable). I got the pizza in cardboard. When they served my pizza they said they were running out of vegan cheese and so I didn’t have that much on mine. But that’s a good sign! People are demanding vegan options. The owner hadn’t seen it coming, but he’ll order more. This pizza was amazing, a 9.5/10! And for every pizza they sell they donate 1 euro to the Sea Shepherd Foundation. My boyfriend didn’t want a pizza at New York Pizza and so we also went to Happy Italy afterwards where he ate a pizza. I like hopping around like this. I took most of our trash home to recycle it. It was a good day!

Wednesday

The moment of truth. Another exam. But this one not a report, an actual exam of 2 hours. You immediately see if you passed it or not after you’re done since it’s multiple choice and we take it on a computer. It can affect my mood starting this holiday. The test was hard, but I got a score of 65,3%! Yeeeessss! I am so happy. It was lovely weather and so once home I quickly went to sit in the garden, writing this weekly diary and sunbathing a bit. I wish every day could be this weather (no not really, I hate climate change haha). I have to work from 4PM till 8PM and then my dad and I are barbecuing. Tomorrow is the first day of the holiday without exams or deadlines. Bring it on!

My favorite song of this week: