IN MALIBU EVERYTHING IS MORE FUN

Marie-Claire Witlox packed her bags and moved with her husband (yes, that is indeed Jeroen van Koningsbrugge) and their children to Malibu. To make us green with envy (that’s not her intention, but it is a serious side effect of reading these pieces) she keeps a diary especially and solely for Amayzine.

‘Hi, how are you?’ ‘I’m good and how are you?’ ‘I’m fine, thank you.’ And whether it’s sincere or not, I really don’t care. Americans are always friendly. Always. The waitress might be having a really bad day, everyone has those days when they wake up and everything goes wrong from the start. Like when you stub your toe hard against the bed leg when you get up, you only realize in the bathroom that the toilet paper is out, you quickly toast a sandwich before you have to leave, you spread some peanut butter on it in a hurry, you drop your sandwich while putting on your coat because you woke up too late since your alarm didn’t go off and your mother calls to ask if you remembered that your aunt, whom you dislike, has a birthday and if you could call her this afternoon during your break. A day like that. Well, you wouldn’t notice any of that in the restaurant where you are greeted most kindly by this same woman with a sing-song ‘Hi, I’m Cynthia. I’m your waitress for today. What can I get you to start with?’ What a breath of fresh air. Not that I’m going to complain about the fact that you often feel awkward and burdened in the Netherlands about expecting service in a restaurant, but I’m going to do it anyway. Written by Marie-Claire Witlox.

Marie-Claire Witlox packed her bags and moved with her husband (yes, that is indeed Jeroen van Koningsbrugge) and their children to Malibu. To make us green with envy…