donderdag 30 december 2021

2021 you were gentle, 2022 you will be wonderful!

And just like that it's almost the last day of 2021, traditionally I write a blog about the past year. It has been a hell of a ride. A year of ups, but also some downs. Work wise things have changed. From long layovers in the Caribbean to short overnights in Europe. From flights of 10/12 hours to flights of 20 minutes, and yes people those flights exist. I did a flight the other day from Amsterdam to Brussels and it took us only 20 minutes to get there. During those 20 minutes you still have to do service, but with Emirates in the back of my mind, doing a service in 20 minutes for a maximum of 88 people is a piece of cake for an allrounder stewardess like me. Doing a service in 40 minutes in a full economy class on the A380 (427 passengers), that was a challenge. 

I am now flying for around 3.5 months with KLM Cityhopper, and as explained in my previous blog this was due to the Coronavirus. Not going to lie, it is hard, harder than I thought. You can do a maximum of 4 flights a day and sometimes your day starts 6am and sometimes your day starts at 3pm. So you can imagine when you start at 3pm and then have to do 4 flights, you reach the hotel around 11/12ish at night. For me, personally, I prefer the early morning flights. Passengers are still a bit tired, only want tea or coffee and sleep. Whereas in the night, passengers think they are in the bar and all they want is to drink alcohol and eat. Of course, keep in mind that with the whole face mask world nowadays it is also more of an issue at night. The amount of times passengers are trying to go in discussion with me why they cannot wear a face mask is ridiculous. I have seen it all, from grown up man licking a lolly, to people saying they can't breathe, well, welcome to my life, was my reaction, haha. 

On my first day at Cityhopper we already had to arrest somebody for not wearing his face mask and then going off at my colleague shouting her to f*ck off. As soon as we landed into Amsterdam the marechaussee was waiting for him to take him off the plane, and hopefully he will be put on the No Fly- list for the next 5 years with KLM and partners. I understand we are in a difficult situation but that is no reason to act like a child on the plane. Even for myself, and I am sure I speak for everybody who has to work with a face mask, we do not like it either. But if that's the way for us to be able to travel, you sit down, put your face mask on and don't give the crew a hard time. If you don't want to be on the plane, rent a car and drive to your destination. No mercy for no face mask people for me on the plane anymore. What you do at home I don't care but when you pay for your ticket you agree to comply with the cabin crew rules, and if you don't follow them you are not flying, easy as that.  On the other hand I have seen passenger whom gave us chocolates because they respect our hard job we have to do these days, and they are so extremely happy to be able to see friends and family again after 2/3 years. The next 8.5 months are going to be tough, but I will manage, try to go to the gym more en route, eat healthier on the plane and have a holiday after every 2/3 months. That's the game plan. Because I fly so much now, I hardly see Pieter and that I don't like. Good thing it is only temporarily. 

At the beginning of 2021 I managed to have a little getaway to Bonaire to visit my friend Valerie who was working there at the time. It was so nice to feel the warmth on my body, read some books and study some Spanish. I even passed my KLM Spanish exam, and I am so proud of myself. With only 2/2.5 months of lessons, I studied hard for my oral exam, and pff you can get a lot of questions in 45 minutes! It took forever, but I did it! 

My birthday bash this year was AMAZING! Got to spend it with my lovely friends and family. The day after was probably the hardest day of 2021 as well. The hangover was insane and all I could do was watch a Disney movie. 

Pieter and I also went to Marbella again this year and it was beautiful, some days together and then some days filled with friends. We even played golf (yes I got my VGB this year too), went to Rhonda, the beach, Puerto Banos and many more. 

But the biggest change in 2021 was me moving in with Pieter! We changed the whole house and even painted the walls. It looks so cosy and homey now, I love it. And the best part is, Pieter is here too! It feels so natural to be living together, and of course sometimes we don't agree (mostly who gets to most food xD) but in the end he is the love of my life and I can't wait what the future holds for us. I hope more fun, joy and laughter and of course that we also stay healthy, we (he is) going on a diet on the 2nd of January. Many exciting things ahead for us in 2022. And if I learned one thing during this whole pandemic, don't look at the things you can't do, but look at the things you can do. Joy is in the little things in life, seeing my nephew grow up is one of those priceless things, soon he will get a little brother or sister, so excited! Keep you posted! 

I wish everybody an amazing New Years Eve with loads of champagne, music and laughter. May all of your dreams come true in 2022. <3          





vrijdag 2 juli 2021

My love story

How time flies when you're having fun! And no, I wasn't living under a rock the past year. I experienced the pandemic like everybody else. Feeling unsure about my job, my loved ones, it the world going to be a normal place again, when will this be over? Overall, it was a busy year. But it was also a year that I fell in love, head over heels. I have been on many dates, trust me, always putting myself out there, getting the perfect wine for a picknick in the park, outfit-stress for somebody that wasn't even worth it, and not to forget all the guys that ghosted me, yes people that's a thing. It means that guys pretend to like you and message you and then all of a sudden POEF gone with the wind. Leaving you behind not knowing why they did that. And what was I looking for? To be honest, I probably didn't even know it at that time. Until, for some reason, I met Pieter. There were so many reason why we shouldn't have met, but we did. I have to give some credits here to my friend Sara, she pushed me to download this dating app, again. When you're in one of those phases that you download it, on it for 2/3 weeks and then delete it again. She said, come on, just download it, there are some nice guys on it. After 1 hour she asked me again, and did you download it?! So I basically had no reason not to do it. And there he was, this guy with a big smile on his face, he gave me one as well. So, I did what I had to do, I swipped right, and we were a match the next day. However, with this app (Bumble) it is the woman who need to send the first message within 24 hours of the match, if not, match is gone. If the guy doesn't reply within 24 hours of your message, the match is gone. We matched on a Tuesday, just by saying: Hi Pieter, how are you doing? Where he responded: Hi Merel, how cool we are a match, how are we going to celebrate? I thought, nice one, 10 points for this guy. And so it happened that we met the next day in this bar in Amsterdam, close to my place (a good thing when you set your radar maximum 5 km away). I had zero expectations and I thought, there's probably something about this one as well, or he doesn't even look like his photo. Wrong, he turned out to be exactly everything I was looking for, charming, amazing smile, humor, handsome, seen the world, but most of all, he looks at me as if I'am the most beautiful girl in this world. I feel blessed to be raised by that example, and that's all I wanted in a guy and he gives me that. I am head over heels, even my Louboutins don't even come close. Since I never had a boyfriend I didn't know what I was missing, and it's great. He's my go-to for everything, we laugh, we cry, we make an effort for each other and just like to spend time together. He makes me a very happy woman, and hopefully I will make him a very happy man. And yes peeps, I have some news as well. We are going to live together, I'am moving in!!!! So excited for this new phase in our lives, and more news to come as well. Going to KLM Cityhopper for the next year. They need people and KLM have too many, so it's a logic choice, even-though it wasn't mine to choose, but it's going to be an adventure and now I'am very excited what this new year is going to bring. I can't believe it's been 3 years since I left Emirates. Sometimes I think about my time in Dubai and I think, did this really happen? Did I really just left home at 21 and live in Dubai for 4.5 years. What were my parents thinking? So much respect for them, just to let me go. Not to forget, I left for a reason as well, and I'am happy I did. Look at me now, 3 years later, moving in with the man I love, heading for new adventures at Cityhopper, and most of all, going to enjoy my last year in my twenties, believe it or not, I turned 29 a few weeks ago!! All I can say, the hangovers are not getting easier! 


Here's to love, because what would we do without it! <3