“I am making good use of my week off class; I will travel to Greece tomorrow. Three of my best friends have their birthday in the same week, so we will celebrate. One friend is like my brother, and the other two I have known since primary school, so they are special to me. I haven’t been able to celebrate their birthdays with them for the last seven years, I always was abroad, either in Qatar or here in Amsterdam. But this year I’m lucky.

‘In Greece we fight over who pays the bill’

Actually, in Greece it is not customary to celebrate your birthday, you only do it as a kid. So, we won’t have a birthday party, but we will go out for drinks, and maybe we will go clubbing, if covid allows. Of course, my friends who are celebrating will pay for the drinks, because that is customary in Greece. There is a big difference between the Netherlands and Greece in terms of going out with friends. I had to get used to the Tikkie-culture here, because in Greece we fight over who pays the bill. At first, I felt so bad for sending Tikkies to friends here, it felt weird to me. In Greece there is not even an app like Tikkie, no one would use it. You just pay for everyone at the table, and next time someone else will pay. It’s just something you do for your friends.

I managed to get some tickets to two different K-pop concerts in the coming months. Those tickets sell out within minutes, so I’m glad I got tickets for me and two friends. We will go with the three of us, but we will probably also meet new people there. That’s what I like about K-pop, if you like the same artists, you immediately become friends. I also love how they promote nice messages, like ‘love yourself’ and ‘accept everyone’. I mean, I like the music as well, but I mostly like the K-pop fans and their culture.”

BY ROOS VAN LEERDAM, STUDENT-REPORTER