Well this is going to be the last blog I would write.
For those who have followed and read all of my weblogs. I have to tell you.
This wasn't for regular fun or out off own free will. I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for my English teacher.

I study Commercial Economics at The HHS (College of The Hague) and our assignment was to write 10 blogs within 5 weeks, so 2 every week, about a subject related to our study.
I chose, as you may have noticed, the Economical Crisis.
It was a very inspiring subject. Now that I know more about it, I'm glad I have chosen this study, as I told in the last weblog.
I feel sorry for the people who are hit. I know now how hard it is for some people.
I'm just lucky that both my parents still have their jobs. I´m lucky they still can pay their bills and that they don´t have to take on jobs they hate or dislike and I´m lucky that they are still happy.

I wish I can say the same when I'm 30 to 40 years old. And I hope and pray for the people who are struggling to keep their family's together. I hope that they will find a good job with a good pay. And I wish them the best in the future.

My name is Maurits van Grinsven, I´m 19 years old and I live in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands. I now have a job at a clothing store that I hope I would be keeping for some time to come.

I wish you a happy, rich and lively 2010.

Thank you for reading my weblogs

Well, last week off blogging.

I wonder how everybody is doing, everybody who either where fired from their job or all those entrepreneurs who had a hard time with their own company or little business. I wonder how many people in the flower business had to close their shop because people are rather going for fake's than real one's. I wonder how many people are still waiting for their house to receive a new owner so that they can finally move to their new dream house.

All these wonders can still not be answered. Even now that unemployment levels are going down, how many of us are still without a job and have to live off the government to feed themselves or their children? How many of us are still looking for a job, without any success?

I know I haven't.

For the last couple of weeks I have been desperately looking for one without success.

But maybe I set my standards to high, maybe I should take on a job that isn't something I would even consider 2 years ago.

I wonder how many people are now forced to do something they don't want to do or doing a job that they didn't set out to do when they were in college.

I think that's is the same reason why I decided to take on this study. I want to do something creative, lead promotion-campaigns and help company's get their profit's back on track by doing a deep market research. But now I see that when if this isn't possible because there is a financial chaos, I could also take on other jobs easier, such as accountancy, because of my study.

To be honest, a month ago I wasn't sure if I would continue my current study, Commercial economics. I didn't want to do research all the time, I didn't want to look at laws to help a company from getting bankrupt. But no I think of it. If this study give's me more security on a regular income and than if it means that I have to take on classes that, sorry to say this, bore me to death, that so be it.

I wonder what life has in game for me. I wonder how it enrolls. I wonder what will happen.

Life's a big adventure, so prepare yourself well.

As I said in the previous blog, no economical crisis can change the warmth and the ambiance we feel when it's Christmas.

For example, on Christmas eve. After a very nice diner at my fathers house, me, my brother and my friends were kicking it in our local club (sorry for the incorrect language, just had no other word for it). The entire, and I mean the entire place (so including the bathroom, cloakroom and the smokers area) was decorated and transformed into Santa's personal showroom. Small trees, lights, snow-blowers. 1^st Day of Christmas, me and my family went to dinner in the same restaurant where we go every year. Every year they have the same Christmas-menu consisting of a amuse and 4 course's.

Now every course (except for the desert) has 4 different meals. So I did a little math and I found out that there are 1 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 1 = 68 different ways to celebrate christmas. No I've been to this restaurant 3 times now at Christmas. I'm 19 years old. So I only need 65 years to have done every ordering possibility. Than I would be 84.

This is what I do in my free time.

Anyhow, the most beautiful thing is that no matter how poor you are, wether you lost your job or not or your company went bankrupt. Christmas is a time of being together. En still when the going gets though, even when you feel as a bad as you can ever feel.

Christmas turns on the fire in the heart.

Merry Christmas,

and a happy new year!

There are 356 days in a year. Which are the same as 52 weeks and the same as 12 months.
Within these 356 days there are 3 days in particular that I want to talk about.
They are days of happiness. Days of love and days of togetherness. Days where people get a funny feeling from inside that binds everybody together.

During these 3 days, people from all over the world (except the Jews) have the same warm feeling in their hearts. During these 3 days, the world lights up in a bright flash of small but cozy lights and candle light.
Even if it is winter outside in the freezing December-month, billions of families gather around the fireplace to stuff themselves full with food and than drink so much that everything comes back out again. These 3 days, children are showered with presents and parents are happy just to see the smiles on their faces.
Obviously, I'm talking about Christmas.
It's when sons, daughters, cousins, uncles, aunts and grandmothers and fathers gather around the table to talk, laugh, cry and look back at another year that has passed. They sing songs around the Christmas tree, they put their nasty socks on the chimney waiting for a fat guy with a white beard coming down to destroying the brand new carpet to bring down a rain of presents and gifts.

Isn't this story beautiful?

At Christmas time, you sit with old friends, new friends, family but above everything else the people who you love and love you in return.

And no financial or economical crisis can change that.

No of course there is much more to tell about the situation that is going on in the USA.

So I did some research and this is what I found.

First I want to start at saying the following. Don't get me wrong, it has always been my dream to go to New York. Be the big guy. Work my ass of everyday of the week to party through the entire weekend. But that is not what this is about.

As I said I started researching this entire USA crisis and I found where it all started.

It started when the internet bubble blew up. Company's expected to much from this new invention but it turned out that it was all baked air. Because of this, banks had to keep their interest as low as possible. The Dollar hit rock bottom. It was worth nothing. People started taking lones because the interest was so low. They had to take mortgage's to pay of those lones but couldn't pay them back, resulting in the collapse of 2 of the biggest mortgage banks, Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. No ofcourse, more companies are getting bankrupt, more people put on the streets, and more warm house's are ripped apart.

I will wait for the time that the USA will also dig itself up.

But anyhow, Christmas is around the corner.

So expect a Christmas special next week!

20^th of December 2009

As you can see in the the image from next week, more than 3/4 of al the country's are colored red.

The most funny thing, is that al the country's that were supposed to be wealthy and rich, are now al in a depression.

The country's that are colored dark-red are the country's that are hit by a financial crisis.

This week I actually want to talk about America. The United States of America to be precise. It's a country that everyone looks upon. I know that when I talk to people about America, everyone responds with the same phrase.

OH MY GOD YEAH I LOVE AMERICA I WANT TO GO TO NEW YORK AND LIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM!

The American dream?

Are you serious? The country has been fighting against crime, poorness, financial problems and much more for over 4 years. Every 2 hours someone gets shot in the East part of the nation and over 35% of the American population is called “poor” and from that 35 percent, 80% has no job what's so ever. And even people who are considered more rich than average, are know on the verge of losing their job. Now with president Obama as ruler, things are finally starting to look up.

But still, how can you be so eager of going to America when you know that it's a country with a lot of problems.

I think that's why they call it land of opportunities. Now matter how hard it falls, it will always get right up.

16^th of December 2009