I’ve always imagined it to be a hot early summerday. The sun had just dawned in the east and the birds were singing in the trees in their full glory. But I can’t remember anything of the weather really, the curtains were closed when I first saw the world. Still, it was a beautiful place were I arrived at that day and I cried loud so everyone would be sure that I was there. It was exactly one minute past ten when I came upon the earth, but my parents ignored the minute: they thought I would always be too late. Thus the register says Niek van Uden, born the 7th of June 1984 at 10.00h.
 

Fortunately there was no Big Brother watching me that first year. I was happy and cried out to the world all the time how much I liked being around, though my parents somehow misjudged the crying as something annoying. They stayed on top of the stairs just outside my room until they thought I was asleep. I usually wasn't and cried out the moment I heard them trying to descend as quietly as possible on the old creaking ladder.

I grew up, as happens with all children. I had a little baby-sister just before we moved out of our first house. No longer the large garden I was used to, no longer the dampy rooms and corners full of spiderwebs. We said goodbye to everyone and went to a better place. I was to sit in the front of the truck that moved our stuff and felt like conquering the world. Our new house would be the scene of my further childhood. From elementary school to highschool I stayed there. There were many more children in the streets here, I played with them, stayed with them in the small playgarden and when I grew older we played football, or should I say soccer, at the field. It must have been in this house I had two important items that would change my life: my first accordion, and my first computer.

The first one was my accordion, a gift from my parents, who thought that music was part of the education. I was given the choice of one instrument, and I chose accordion. I still don’t know why actually, I suppose I liked the sound of it or I liked the teacher, a lovely young lady, so much. But I chose it, and since then there hasn’t been anything I’ve done so much everyday so regulary. No other fantasy project, computer game or imaginary play was able to rival with it. It will probably be my future or if you wish destiny to play, bring music to the stage.

There was of course that second item, a 286 green-black monitor featured computer. I had wonderful times playing simple games like Digger and Pacman, but the thing broke down in the end, and we had a new one from an uncle, this was with colours and more games and it cost me a lot of free time.

Highschool came, and being the best of my year with barely any faults in a major test which basically decided your next career step, I went to the Gymnasium, or Grammar School as some call it. It had seemed the most logic step, my parents had been there as well, and I didn’t like the atmosphere of the other school communities, consisting of thousands of pupils in classes with ugly furniture and weird teachers.
 

Now the Gymnasium seemed like a good choice, though I couldn’t find my way blindfolded at the beginning as I should be able later. To a 12 year old boy, the building was huge, with all kinds of different wings, different teachers and different pupils, though it was and still is one of the smallest schools in the city. Six years it was my second-most visited place and those six have have moulded the eager young brain into what it would become day: open-minded, hungry for knowledge, lover of classical culture and art in general.

I couldn't choose after highschool: my love was music and writing, but my courses were physics and math. Having visited all technical universities to no avail I chose the Conservatory (Music College), which I will finish this year (2006). At the same time I started at University, starting in Communication and Information Studies but quickly changing to Cultural Studies, which was much more to my liking after all. The combination of a practical professional education and academic courses on the side has proven to be very fruitful, but very busy as well, taking away some years from Santharia. But we're catching up...