Why I like writing

Whether spoken out or written down, I love words to a great deal. Put in form like the 1843’s tale The Ugly Duckling, the video-game Heavy Rain or the movie Zodiac, words tell us so much. And stories entice me. I love reading about the Black Dahlia murder, the life of Vasily Zaytsev or the inventions of Nikola Tesla. It seems a bit haphazardous, but I read Wikipedia articles for fun.

And it’s not some form of schizophrenia, but when I speak, I mumble, stumble and stutter. Say the wrong words. But when I’m writing, I can calmly select the right words in the right order and say what I want to say.

Now, I don’t have the pretention that I happen to be a great writer, but writing is something I enjoy and that’s enough for me. I love to analyze snippets of thoughts and unravel my itching curiosity. I try to put that down in words as best as I can and a small percentage of that finds place here. That’s why this website is my own archive in the first place, self-made, especially for me. Nonetheless, I’m really glad you’re reading and I hope you’ll find my articles as interesting as I thought writing them was.

Latest

Twenty-three years

Twenty-three years

In June we moved back to the Netherlands, six suitcases across 8000 kilometres, and after a brief spell at my parents’ place, we moved into our own home. This second move also involved putting down carpet, curtains, buying appliances and furniture — so that our new garage quickly filled with cardboard boxes and other packaging […]
August 29, 2026
Searching for meadows

Searching for meadows

Our new home in the Netherlands sits in a mundane residential area full of young families like ours. The street name comes from made (‘meadow’), still referring to a field that once lay here and now survives only in the name (just how the name Shanghai refers to a river that no longer exists). And […]
August 5, 2026
Degrees of wealth

Degrees of wealth

In eight years of living in China, taxi drivers or older colleagues loved to ask, “Which is better, the Netherlands or China?”, hoping for a single insightful answer that would explain everything. And now, back as a resident in the Netherlands, people ask the mirrored version: do I miss living in China? Neither question is […]
July 11, 2026
Goodbye to Guanyin

Goodbye to Guanyin

It’s a Saturday morning, and we’re in a taxi on the way to the airport. My clothes cling to my body and already reek of sweat, and that’s even before our 12-hour flight has started. Today I woke up at 5:30 to get up early and throw away the last furniture and items we used […]
June 30, 2026