Giving continuity to our lovely series 'Look Who is in Town', please allow me to, with lots of fondness and admiration, introduce you to Anne Reiher, a gracious member of our Amsterdam International Women Network and my dear friend, for tennis and beyond.
Here's a little bit of Anne in her own words.
I live in Amsterdam for a bit more than 2 years now. Despite the long winters, the horizontal rain, and outrageous rents, I am still in love with the city as on day one. Cycling along the canals, passing cafes, restaurants, and the many tiny shops give me a genuine feeling of happiness and that there still is a lot for me to explore. Shortly after I moved to Amsterdam, I found the AIW on the meetup website and I joined the ladies for a brunch at the tennis club. It was a very nice morning and watching people playing tennis brought me back memories of how much I had loved to play tennis as a kid and teeny back in Germany. Lack of money and commitment to studies had hold be back from starting to play tennis in the past years. Last spring, on my way for a run in Vondelpark, I saw that the club was looking for new members. That was my calling – I joined the club, signed up for lessons and now I am playing 3 times per week – not enough if you ask me ;). In August 2017, I quit my job in a law firm in Cologne and moved to Leiden for a one-year master in Law and Digital Technologies. Even if I only moved 260 km, in hindsight, that change constitutes a major shift in my life. I rediscovered my passion for the law and got new career aspirations. More importantly, I met very inspiring and kind people which I can call friends. I am very grateful for the experiences I have made so far and the (analogue) social network surrounding me. For me, that made Covid-19 pandemic much easier to cope with. Regardless of what the ‘new normal’ may look like, I am confident that for me Amsterdam is the right place to grow.