This summer is coming to an end… (a little throwback)

August slipped away.

Perhaps you heard (or read) the line above quite often lately, because the month of August indeed just slipped away from us, or just because you are a fan of Taylor Swift, just like me 😉

It felt just a few moments ago that I was so anxious about catching my flight back to Indonesia, due to the chaos at Schiphol Airport. I spent almost 4 hours in total waiting in line to reach my boarding gate, but it all paid off when I finally landed in my lovely city Surabaya, Indonesia. I stayed for 6 weeks in Indonesia, but whoosh, suddenly it’s September and I have to start working again. And the students, yes, you have to study again 🙂

I was not impacted by the heatwave in Europe this summer, but don’t get me wrong, Indonesia is not cold at all. I was partly grateful that I was not there to experience the heatwave in The Netherlands, because at least in Indonesia we have air conditioners in most buildings. On one hand, the extreme heatwave is a reminder for us that the climate is changing; and on the other hand excessive use of air conditioners also does not help to save the environment.

Despite the thoughts that pounded in my head, I tried my best to enjoy the vacation and “live my life”. I got the chance to eat all the food that I had missed for the past year. Again, this also left mixed feelings because I could not help not to eat meat dishes that I have been trying to avoid. I was also happy to see that life was getting more normal in Indonesia after 2 years of the covid pandemic. I was also relieved to see the progress in the reduction of single-use plastic in Indonesia. Ah, this last one is exciting – I am currently supervising 3 students that are doing their internships about the use of plastic in Indonesia. I will definitely post a blog about this in the coming months.

Enjoy some pictures below, the gallery of “a little throwback to my summer holiday” 😀 (P.S. Do not ask me about the carbon footprint of this vacation, please, but comments about how to make transatlantic trips more sustainable are welcome)