with hatred and did not look miserable and unfortunate as in her country. Genuine warm smiles were everywhere. Annika stood in the middle of the hall and looked around for a while. She still had no plan, still had only $100 in her pocket and did not understand Dutch, but something inexplicable made her feel calm and certain that everything was going to be all right.
She walked to the small coffee corner and sat at a tiny table. Although she was starving, she knew she could not afford a decent lunch. All she took was a cup of coffee and a chocolate croissant. She breathed in the smell of the coffee and closed her eyes. No matter how crazy it might sound, she really felt happy. Intuition told her that she had done the right thing. She’d found the courage to take the risk and something inside told her that that risk would definitely be rewarded in the long run. She just needed to be brave and strong for a while. And since Annika was already in Amsterdam she knew there was no other choice.
Annika sat there for an hour. She did not know what to do or where to go, but she knew one thing for sure, she had not enough money for either a hotel or a room. So all she could do was stay at the station till she found out what to do next.
Late in the evening Annika discovered that she was not the only one planning to sleep in the station. There were at least eleven people who had been living there for a week or more. There were five Chinese, four black guys, three Arab guys from Morocco and three from the former Soviet Union. All of them had come to chase their dreams, to escape their problematic countries and try and find happiness. All of them were jobless, homeless and without money. So there was nothing they could steal from each other, which was maybe why all of them slept calmly on the benches of the waiting room. The phenomenal fact was that they all understood each other despite sharing practically no common language. Their body language and gestures, as well as the almost identical situation they were all in contributed to their understanding. They all tried to help each other and shared what they had. When Annika woke up early in the morning someone had thrown an old blanket over her.
Governments try so hard to make nations live at peace with each other and yet it never works. Here, on the other hand, no one did anything specific to that end and yet neither skin colour, nor language barriers or cultural differences mattered in the slightest. Misfortune united them all and awoke the best human qualities inside. Amazing!
23
Annika spent about a week in the station. In company with the Chinese she attended free English classes at the church in the afternoon. They all ate in a public canteen. Annika regularly monitored the various job offers on the notice board hanging there. She was realistic and knew that she had to accept more less anything in order to survive. But each day she clung to the hope of seeing some new notice on the board. She still believed she would find a job soon and even a good one at that. Annika decided to stick it out for ten days at most. Something inside told her that living two weeks in the station would be enough. On the sixth day the announcement she was waiting for appeared. A clinic was looking for a specialist like her. Someone with experience of rehabilitation massages, working with children and with a medical degree. Annika's eyes sparkled. She knew that this job had her name written on it.
The interview took a mere 15 minutes. Annika was hired immediately. This was a completely new beginning. For a girl her age she’d already begun to have too many beginnings.
This new stage of her life was full of challenges, but at the same time it was full of opportunities to prove that she was much stronger and more resilient than she thought.
From the same notice board where Annika had found
She walked to the small coffee corner and sat at a tiny table. Although she was starving, she knew she could not afford a decent lunch. All she took was a cup of coffee and a chocolate croissant. She breathed in the smell of the coffee and closed her eyes. No matter how crazy it might sound, she really felt happy. Intuition told her that she had done the right thing. She’d found the courage to take the risk and something inside told her that that risk would definitely be rewarded in the long run. She just needed to be brave and strong for a while. And since Annika was already in Amsterdam she knew there was no other choice.
Annika sat there for an hour. She did not know what to do or where to go, but she knew one thing for sure, she had not enough money for either a hotel or a room. So all she could do was stay at the station till she found out what to do next.
Late in the evening Annika discovered that she was not the only one planning to sleep in the station. There were at least eleven people who had been living there for a week or more. There were five Chinese, four black guys, three Arab guys from Morocco and three from the former Soviet Union. All of them had come to chase their dreams, to escape their problematic countries and try and find happiness. All of them were jobless, homeless and without money. So there was nothing they could steal from each other, which was maybe why all of them slept calmly on the benches of the waiting room. The phenomenal fact was that they all understood each other despite sharing practically no common language. Their body language and gestures, as well as the almost identical situation they were all in contributed to their understanding. They all tried to help each other and shared what they had. When Annika woke up early in the morning someone had thrown an old blanket over her.
Governments try so hard to make nations live at peace with each other and yet it never works. Here, on the other hand, no one did anything specific to that end and yet neither skin colour, nor language barriers or cultural differences mattered in the slightest. Misfortune united them all and awoke the best human qualities inside. Amazing!
23
Annika spent about a week in the station. In company with the Chinese she attended free English classes at the church in the afternoon. They all ate in a public canteen. Annika regularly monitored the various job offers on the notice board hanging there. She was realistic and knew that she had to accept more less anything in order to survive. But each day she clung to the hope of seeing some new notice on the board. She still believed she would find a job soon and even a good one at that. Annika decided to stick it out for ten days at most. Something inside told her that living two weeks in the station would be enough. On the sixth day the announcement she was waiting for appeared. A clinic was looking for a specialist like her. Someone with experience of rehabilitation massages, working with children and with a medical degree. Annika's eyes sparkled. She knew that this job had her name written on it.
The interview took a mere 15 minutes. Annika was hired immediately. This was a completely new beginning. For a girl her age she’d already begun to have too many beginnings.
This new stage of her life was full of challenges, but at the same time it was full of opportunities to prove that she was much stronger and more resilient than she thought.
From the same notice board where Annika had found
Similar Books
