Category Archives: On the road

2017 was a special year for a lot of people. I know that there are lot of reasons to have mixed feelings. I do have to admit that for me it has been a year filled with incredible stuff. I want to summarize my year in a couple of tweets, but the best news I received wasn’t tweeted.

This is the second best thing that happened to me this year:

Yes, I became a Dr. June 9th, but the months before my PhD-defense my grandmother who in part raised me, was diagnosed with cancer – again –  and it was very uncertain if my grandmother could be present at my defense – or even worse. But my grandparents were able to attend and a few months ago the best news of 2017 came: the chemo had worked even better than the doctors had expected and my grandmother survived the cancer.

After these numbers 1 and 2, the next tweets tell 2 stories that shook my little world:

But there was much, much more. I’ve got the chance to meet great people in the UK, Sweden, the USA, Scandinavia,… I learned so much and still was able to spent a lot of time with my family.

2018 sounds promising… In January I’m starting with a new research project at the University of Leiden. I’ll also be visiting among other places: Haninge, Wellington, Pretoria, Toronto, DC and my solo debut will be published in English in March. Oh, and there will also be a new album by my band – I know, this sounds the least important thing on the list, but trust me: it isn’t.

I want to wish you all happy holidays and looking forward to meet you all on the road in 2018!

I have something to admit: I love being in America. I’ve been a couple of times in NY, I drove from Chicago to LA with my wife on our honeymoon with unforgettable detours via Memphis and Nashville. 2 years ago we drove on route 1 with our sons, 10 years after our honeymoon and I’m afraid they’ve fallen in love too.

When I started to think how much the United States have influenced my life, I found out very quickly that there is no end. From the classic movies I watched as a child with my grandfather, the Fender guitars that I use for my own music that is heavily influenced by the blues, jazz and country, heck my overweight is largely due to Coca Cola. Last year I was so honored to be able to have a first talk in DC, and you can’t imagine the big honor it was to be published by an American publisher and to have an article published in American Educator. I still have to make it in NY, because you if you can make it there… But it all goes much deeper. The first time I visited Ellis Island, the first I did check were the immigration-records for the brothers of my great grandfather Herman and my dear great uncle Clement who left Flanders to live in Detroit. They were a couple of the many, many immigrants leaving on the Red Star Line.

My wife knows that when my head is getting overcrowded, I only long for one thing: a wide open road, somewhere between the two coasts.

Now I don’t want to tell stupid things about politics and how wrong they are. Who am I to tell a country something? I don’t want to make comparisons as many do with the Thirties, it only reminds us how many mistakes we’ve made in Europe too.

The only thing I want to share, is this: damned, many news stories I read and hear today hurt.