Some trivial info on me

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My weblog

What did I do last...

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@ home

Hi, I'm Ron. I'm Dutch and for that reason alone probably a bit weird. But I'm not dangerous, hehehe..... I made this page while planning on going abroad, trying to work there as a doctor. Yep, that's my job. Proof of being a bit mad is the fact that currently I've been working in Malaysia since Summer 2004 without a wage... Ah, bureaucracy huh huh huh... I hope you enjoy reading my little small talk nonsense. Don't get scared or offended by the pictures; I'm in some of them, can't help it. Here's one of me in the hospital.

Scary, isn't it ? Well, let me give you some more info. 

A man has got to know his roots. Well, my roots are in a “small-town” city… With 19,000 souls it wasn’t much of a city, but it wasn’t a town either.

Having finished high school I took the first chance to escape to the bigger city of Maastricht, with a population of about 122,000 still not a bustling big city, but enough to keep me going for the next 10 years. I started med school at the Maastricht University and tried to make the most of this time. Looking back at those “good old days” I might say I succeeded in that; I met a lot of interesting people, some of which became best friends. A lot of experiences as well, although some not so pleasant, still always very worthwhile.

In the meantime while studying I kept on working in a pub every weekend. Besides my parents this was the only bond I had with the little village. It was kind of fun to discover how you can influence the atmosphere in the course of five years. Being the bartender, DJ, waiter and all other things at the same time was a nice challenge.

During the week though, back in Maastricht my life was totally different. I joined the more alternative minded student organization and became an active member of the "editor board" of the 6-weekly magazine. besides doing some minor writing and column stuff, I mainly occupied myself with the photography. Heaps of pictures of all kinds of activities were produced. This was especially very profitable for the editor board of the yearbook, since for some reason in those 3 succeeding years they managed to structurally screwing up all of their own pictures.

After my 3rd year I decided to spend the summer in the States, working as a youths counselor in New York State, in a summer camp in the middle of nowhere. What I (and most other counselors) hadn't realized was that we were to work with kids form the poor black areas of New York City... We are talking Harlem and the Bronx here ! In the end it turned out not to be so bad after all. Despite the hard working and all the stress, in retrospect we all had an awesome time.

Since I was growing my hair long, the NYC-kids decided I should have it "braided". Hehe... I've been walking around like that for a couple of weeks.

Coming back I had to finish my last year and prepare for internships. Starting my first one in internal medicine was a real culture shock... So this is what it's like ? Quick enough though I got the hang of it and preparations started for my next far trip. Summer 1998, right after Soeharto took a political fall, I traveled to Bandung, Indonesia, to do an internship over there. Meant as a field internship, once there I took the opportunity to elaborate on my experiences from the "official" Ob-Gyn training I had completed just before I left. During those 15 weeks I had the best time of my life, both in and out of the hospital. This set out the basis for 6 more trips in the years thereafter. 

Having finally graduated in 1999 called for a celebration in style....

style...

So that is why Esther and I got into our own MASH-outfits ;o)

Well, that good old Korean war...  At least something good came out of it and I'm talking of course about the TV-series... ;o)

This is my best buddy Paul and my two friends Adi & Jeane

So that meant I had to start working... Finding a job was not difficult, but finding a place with a nice atmosphere turned out to be the most difficult thing. Been here, worked there and in some places had a really good time. Nothing lasts forever though.

Well, in my private life I guess you might say I did some pretty stupid things last couple of years. The way I like to put is in saying I must have done some pretty bad things in my former life. Of course, as all my close friends know, only one good thing came out of it. Literally I guess… it’s not a part of the present anymore, although I could never ever forget it.

Anyway, no signs of progress lately, so in the end I picked up my plan again of moving to Asia, pursuing a dream, an illusion or something else ? We might know in a couple of years. And that is the point where you just ended up; on my page, the portal to a new chapter in my life. What happens after that you can find in my Blog. Don’t get confused though :o)

Books of note

Shantaram * Gregory D. Roberts

The city of the beasts * Isabel Allende

The glass palace * Amitav Ghosh

The ground beneath her feet * Salman Rushdie

When I whistle * Shusaku Endo

Raj * Gita Mehta

The god of small things * Arundhati Roy

Like water for chocolate * Laura Esquival

The bonesetter’s daughter * Amy Tan

The Satanic Verses * Salman Rushdie

Some of my favo movies

Taxi France 1998 Tim Story

Upswing Finland 2003 Johanna Vuoksenmaa

In the mood for love Hong Kong 2000 Wong Kar Wei

Arisan! Indonesia 2003 Nia Di Nata

Igby goes down USA 2002 Burr Steers

The discovery of heaven UK/Netherlands 2001 Jeroen Krabbe

The quiet American USA/Germany/Australia 2002 Phillip Noyce

Kill Bill 1 USA 2003 Quentin Tarantino

Zatoichi Japan 2003 Takeshi Kitano

The pillow book 1996 Peter Greenaway

Hero Hong Kong 2003 Yimou Zhang

Ressurection of the little match girl Korea 2002 Jang Sun-Woo

Jeux d’enfants

Monsoon wedding

Whale rider New Zealand 2003 Niki Caro

Rabbit proof fence Australia 2002 Phillip Noice

Lagaan

Le fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain (The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain) France 2001 Jeane-Pierre Jeunet

Mon rak transistor Thailand 2000 Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

Chicken rice war

Crouching tiger hidden dragon

L'auberge Espagnole

Como agua para chocolate (Like water for chocolate)Mexico1992 Alfonso Arau

Bedwin hacker

Muriels wedding

Priscilla the desert queen

Better than chocolate

Mango chutney

Jenseits der Stille (the sounds of silence)

Leon

Seven years in Tibet