{"id":71282,"date":"2017-05-17T10:49:52","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T08:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/2017\/05\/17\/de-paden-op-de-steden-uit\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:47","slug":"de-paden-op-de-steden-uit-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/05\/17\/de-paden-op-de-steden-uit-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Country roads, take me\u2026 out of the city"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

For 18 years, my world didn\u2019t extend far beyond Deurne, a large village in eastern Noord-Brabant.<\/p>\n

Whenever I needed new clothes, we went shopping in the nearby town of Helmond, and occasionally in the \u2018big city\u2019, Eindhoven. Sure, we holidayed abroad now and then: four children in the back of the car, a boot full of bags and a caravan in tow \u2013 all the way to Greece if need be. Choosing my study after secondary school, I stuck to options in Nijmegen, because Leiden, Amsterdam and Groningen were too far off; too much city. What did I know.<\/p>\n

Today, I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to live in a variety of places \u2013 including some world cities \u2013 for some time: the suburbs of Cleveland, San Francisco city centre, a working-class neighbourhood in Nijmegen, North and<\/em> East Amsterdam, a Hong Kong campus, Winterswijk and, this past academic year, the concrete but colourful maze of Spangen in Rotterdam.<\/p>\n

City walls<\/h3>

And while I know that the future belongs to the cities, I am happy to trade my downtown pad for a country abode. Literally. Because since last week, I have temporarily \u2018settled\u2019 in a caravan on a farmer\u2019s campground, halfway between Rotterdam and Delft.<\/p>\n

Although genetically speaking, green acres ain\u2019t the place to be. I\u2019m allergic to hay, grass and virtually every furry animal on Earth. But then I\u2019m even more allergic to city-folk who think that there\u2019s nothing to do beyond the city walls of their own, over-sized village.<\/p>\n

Your own cows<\/h3>

Don\u2019t get me wrong: I\u2019m a big fan of the city and all its conveniences: my night shop on the corner when I\u2019m feeling peckish after 10 p.m.; visiting a museum for free with my \u2018Rotterdampas\u2019 after lectures.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018You can take the girl out of the village, but you can\u2019t take the village out of the girl\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

But such delights can\u2019t compare to waking to the sound of birds singing \u2013 or sheep bleating, in my case. Or the feeling of wide-open space you get cycling through the polder to university. Or fresh ice cream, made from milk from \u2018your own\u2019 cows. Here, vintage still means second-hand, and you know exactly who the son of the sister of the baker down the street is married to.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve become increasingly aware that you can take the girl out of the village, but you can\u2019t take the village out of the girl. So I\u2019m sure to enjoy myself these next few months!<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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