January 1998

A reader of this blog – and also a very dear friend of mine – asked me to write about who I was at five different points in my life: January 1998, May 2003, December 2005, 18.06.2008 and 09.09.2011. She specifically instructed to write five posts about this.

This is quite a challenge, considering that my memory goes completely blank when I try to remember the past. Currently I’m reading Katharine Graham’s autobiography (amazing lady she was!) and can’t help getting impressed how she remembers everything. How is that even possible? If I’d attempt such a thing now, I would hardly remember what I did last year.

Anyway. In January 1998 I had just entered my teens. On the outside I was a bit of a loner, with a few good friends. I lived in my bubble back then, reading a lot and spending time with those few friends. I had a crush on a bad boy called Johannes and very convinced that nobody would ever love me, let alone want to kiss me. Now, in retrospect I believe it’s a good thing none of the boys I had crushes on back then returned my feelings; I’d probably have four kids and be working in a supermarket if  anyone would have shown some interest.

Music was partly important. I have always been stuck on one or two artists at any one time, not being particularly informed about what’s going on in the music business. My favourites at the time were Kurt Cobain and Tupac Shakur. Great combination! In school I would write essays about social injustice while getting all excited about English and French. I knew back then – as I know now – that languages were my strength.

I cannot recall any specific event from January 1998. In fact, I googled it to see what happened and if anything affected me. The scandal around Bill Clinton started to unwrap itself, the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen was decapitated, the Pope went to Cuba and Mongolia introduced a 40 hour working week. Does any of this ring a bell? Well, maybe Bill Clinton, but none of the rest. What I bubble I must have been living in!