The Community.

Annie

I had redone my make up three times when the first showed up. Going off people’s habits this would most likely be Arthur. I am yet to see that boy show up anything less than fifteen minutes early. The cuckoo doorbell went off several times before I felt the urgency to answer the door. I was holding back, I didn’t want this to be the last time these people would step into my house and the last time I would greet them knowing we have a whole evening of gezellig time ahead of us.

   How do I explain that word? In the time I have lived in the Netherlands, I have picked up a selection of words as you do abroad. I can’t say I understand the language but one word that has come to represent how I feel about the people I’ve met is gezellig. I find that the Dutch say it too often, but if you just keep this word for those special moments then its real meaning really holds true. There is no direct translation of this word to English, but just imagine; there’s a quiet river, the grass is cold as the evening sun starts to wither, you’ve got lots of empty plates, vast amounts of food eaten, but the wine glasses are still getting filled and the occasional strawberry greets someone’s lips. Best of all you have a group of people where the conversation flows and when it does stop, the silence is warm and everyone draws together to share blankets and scarves. Got all that? Then you’ve just about arrived at gezellig.

   That’s exactly what we have done most Thursday evenings to greet the weekend since the weather got better. As soon as that evening chill evaporated from the days we were out there to appreciate the winter gone by. But today isn’t Thursday, it is Sunday, and most people are leaving tomorrow. The diminished feeling I have, needs to leave me alone so I can savour this last time. It takes no genie to guarantee that after several bottles of red, some tears will also meet the bottom of my glass.

As the cuckoo sounds about to crack, I head for the door to finally greet my first guest.