meeting daniel

some events are better written down before they are forgotten. like meeting daniel. daniel is hungarian, about my age. we studied together at the university college utrecht and after his graduation daniel took off to stanford to follow a phd program. maybe he got bored of stanford, he arranged a transfer to harvard. still within the ivy league range, i suppose it gives you a kick to have this all on your cv. anyway, every now and then daniel and his polish wife ania fly over to europe and make a short stop in the netherlands. compared to the united states, distances are so small daniel and ania fit several countries in their visits of differing lengths. sometimes i should ask why they always include the netherlands: for the nostalgic thought of having lived here, for the purpose of seeing old friends, or maybe the reason is less poetic and they simply use the cheapest airfare. leaving all this aside, it's always a pleasure to see them. one of those friendships that have a high lasting coefficient.

one week ago i got an email from daniel. the subject line read: what are you doing on thursday? i thought, what am i doing on thursday? since i decided to quit my current job, free time has taken on an air of indulgent luxury. it's not necessarily that i work less, it's more that i'm better able to enjoy every bit of it. i am also more efficient with using my time now that the burden of the job has been lifted off my shoulders. for some time i gave it some serious thought to continue the job while keeping the thought of quitting in the back of my mind, but finally i figured this was not a very healthy approach to life. so i'm quitting and for the time being i have all the time in the world to do things like meeting daniel on a thursday afternoon.

on thursday i took the train to utrecht. the weather wasn't too good, neither warm nor cold, a prototypical day in dutch spring. disregarding the fact that the train takes only 15 minutes to get from amersfoort to utrecht, i decided to enjoy the journey and treated myself on a bottle of coca cola. i also brought a book, another murakami's classic the norwegian wood. i wore my favourite dark green top and thought the setting was perfect.

as i walked from utrecht central station to the cafe we were supposed to meet, one of the nicest cafes in utrecht carrying one of the funniest but also most stylish names 'winkel van sinkel,' i got stopped by a guy with a cheerful looking face. he said: 'hi! my name is daniel! how are you?' i didn't really know what to say. 'do we know each other?' (hesitation on my side) 'yes, of course,' he replied. 'i used to work here and always told you about jesus!' thoughts were rushing through my head: jesus? here meaning on the street? is his name really daniel? but this guy never waited for me to say anything. he went on and on talking, and the more he said, the less it made sense. 'i got some money from my mother and bought this suit! a suit of a hundred euros, a real bargain, don't you think? now i work in a hotel, making up beds and so. you know, the one on the malielaan!' i thought: what the heck the suit and the maliehotel! i know the maliehotel, it has this posh atmosphere around it, and louk always says it's one of the best hotels in town. so i always look a little suspicious: why should i automatically like everything that louk likes? but he has a point, the maliehotel really is pretty. and this guy was in any case very proud to make their beds.

i didn't have a lot of time to spend on this unexpected encounter. after all, i was meeting daniel, the real daniel, in about five minutes at this winkel van sinkel. so i tell this guy: 'the suit looks really good on you. good for you to work in the maliehotel. nice to have seen you again, but i really have to go now.' he stopped talking and after a short pause went on: 'yes, i am very busy. i must go now, it was nice to see you. i am really so busy with the new job and all!' i added one last question: 'are you sure your name is daniel?' 'yes, my name is daniel!' he maintained. 'okay, bye!' when you don't know what to say, an okay always comes in handy.

i walked to the cafe and met my real friend daniel, his wife ania and a couple of other friends. i tried to sketch this story but nobody paid much attention to it, just a weird coincidence, stuff like this can happen. but it did leave some impression on me. maybe i read too much fiction these days.