Trine Blogs: Football and farewells

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little smug right now.

Okay, I’m totally smug. No one expected it. It technically shouldn’t have been possible. But it happened anyway.

I’m of course referring to Denmark’s miserable epic win over Holland in Saturday’s football match. I didn’t think we could actually do it, but both teams played so horribly that it was only a matter of time before someone just closed their eyes and lopped at it with all the strength they could muster, praying it would go in. And it went in. I’m not sure we’ll be as lucky this week unless the team has seriously pulled itself together. That last match was laughable – but especially so for the Dutch. You won the silver two years ago! What happened?

Anyway. Now that I’ve got my smugness out of the way (hee hee hee…), I’ll turn my attention to some other things that took place last week. My time in the student association I’ve been working with was over. It wasn’t until I stood outside after our general member’s meeting (and ye gods, the Dutch like their democracy… there’s no “because I say so!” here!) that I realized half a year was far too little time. There’s a learning curve with everything, and as soon as you feel you’ve got things under control, it’s time to go. I’m going to miss the activities we did, and I’m especially going to miss volunteering. I suppose I could join some youth association or other charity once I’m done being a student, but it’s not quite the same…

Speaking of not being a student anymore. It’s like two weeks until my final deadline. I’ve finally found an apartment with my lovely boyfriend, who is currently tolerating my obsession with sage greens and decorative throw pillows, which means that I’ll be moving away from Tilburg in only a month. And then I have to get, like, a job. A job! And be all responsible and stuff. There’s so many options too. Traineeships, post-graduate positions, minimum-wage jobs (yay), and the elusive “perfect job”. I’m practicing my Dutch so that I’ll be able to tell potential employers more than “Hello, I come from Denmark and I’m wearing purple pants and I like fish”. While certainly a catchy phrase, I doubt that it is the kind of sales speech they are looking for.

Making one self stand out from the crowd of thousands of other recently graduated students is a difficult task. Everyone is special, everyone is just perfect for this position, everyone has something unique to offer. Yeah right. We’re all desperate graduate students with a hunger for a position that pays enough to afford more than oatmeal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Perhaps standing out by being a Danish, purple-pants-wearing fish-lover isn’t a bad way to start out.

There’s another game on tonight, for Denmark and for Holland. I have a German friend coming over to stay, and we’ll be watching the last game together in the city. I’m not sure I’ll be able to pull off obvious smugness though – being the only Dane surrounded by Dutch people was a precarious position to be in last Saturday! But I have a feeling that tonight I’ll be in a better position than my German friend – and I don’t think that needs any explanation. If she starts looking smug… I think we’ll have to leave the establishment. Danish AND German smugness? Too much for the Dutch.

Trine Larsen (23) from Denmark studies Management of Cultural Diversity at Tilburg University and blogs for Univers.