For the A to Z challenge, Yurena challenged me with the letter
for Life Long Learning. Or Life Long making mistakes and Learning from it. I love to learn, especially by making mistakes. My family is still teasing me that I always wanted to do everything my way, by myself. Stubborn, but eager to learn.
I’m very bad with dates, but this list must be more or less correct 😀
I wish I had more pictures, but many of them are still in Holland.
1974 – I learned how to be the best Mother’s Day present ever.
1975 – I already learned horseback riding.
1976 – I…. learned something for sure.
1977 -I learned that la vita è bella in Italia.
1978 – I learned to always check if you’re wearing underwear under your dress before you go on the swing.
1979 – I learned that it is freaking cold outside when the kindergarten teacher puts you on time-out in the garden because of your temper.
1980 – I learned to always bring gloves on a summer holiday.
1981 – I learned how to oppose to Oilily dresses and braided hair.
1982 – I probably learned something with this:
1983 – I learned from my father not to put your fingers in a wood cutting machine.
1984 – I learned horseback riding on a real horse and being pretty good at it.
1985 – I learned that Christmas-tree salesmen grow a lot when eating Brinta.
1986 – I learned that my parents could easily persuade me into “choosing” a school with a horse skull and an embryo.
1987 – I learned that 20-year old sisters have a lot more “privileges” than teenagers.
1988 – I learned how to sing Eternal Flame and not to sleep for four nights in a row on long volleyball weekends.
1989 – I learned that partying and doing good at school do not go hand in hand.
1990 – I learned how not to change a cooking gas tank. Again:
1991 – I learned how to make a fool out of myself into an art.
1992 – I learned to appreciate good music and good concerts.
1993 – I learned that a seven-year older sister in much cooler when you’re 19 than when you’re 13.
1994 – I learned to choose something different.
1995 – I learned how to act cool, calm and collected being lost in the streets of Tossa de Mar in a bathing suit, air mattress under the arm.
1996 – I learned that Italian babies can speak Italian better than I do after two years of study.
1997 – I learned to play a team sport.
1998 – I learned to appreciate peeing in my wetsuit in winter time. At least I did not wear a drysuit.
1999 – I learned that translating a novel requires a lot of sitting on my ass.
2000 – I learned to lie for money (some call it working as a market researcher).
2001 – I learned I will never work at a call centre again.
2002 – I learned that snowboarding needs not to be done recklessly.
2003 – I learned to survive on my own in Turkey, Bali, the Dominican Republic, the Antilles, Greece, Portugal, Austria & many more and make money with it too.
2004 – I learned that working as a scuba diving instructor in Thailand is paradise, even if people puke on you.
2005 – I learned which bars on Curacao stay open the longest, while working my ass off.
2006 – I started to learn to be a mother out of the blue (ongoing process).
2007 – I learned that Jamaica is a very interesting place, in both good and bad ways.
2008 – I learned to start and run a dive shop.
2009 – I learned that I could finally teach my father something instead of the other way around.
2010 – I learned how to drive a truck and a bus and how to speak papiamentu fluently.
2011 – I learned that I created a supermodel.
2012 – I learned to use a rebreather.
2013 – I learned how to be a swimming coach.
And this year 2014 – So far I am learning a lot about the natural environment in my study at the Open University, I learned that freaky beats are good beats, I learned that pitbulls are sweethearts to people but play ‘too rough’ with doggy friends and much much more. Just follow my blog and you find out.
And for the future, here are 5 wanna-learns (just to start with), in random order:
#1 – How to run a marathon ( I guess the answer is “step by step”)
#2 – How to earn more and work less.
#3 – How to keep my princess out of trouble. I imagine that something like this. Me, myself and I protecting the last white rhino with machine guns.
#4 – How to make wildlife pictures like these:
#5 – How to surf (first lesson planned in Costa Rica)
What do you want to learn? What keeps you going?
![APRIL-CALENDAR [2014] - updated](https://lifeonthegoldenrock.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/april-calendar-2014-updated.jpg)
Life on a rock 