Last year on February 21, after partying with my girlfriends the night before, I was awakened in an unpleasant manner while sleeping off my hangover from the night before. I woke up in a full panic and saw a huge cloud of dust in my bedroom. 

Soon after a loud shock I heard my neighbor running down the stairs to check on me. At that moment I did not yet know what had happened but quickly looking around I noticed my clothes and shoes scattered around and covered in dust. The neighbor told me that our whole house had shaken, through a car hitting the front door. Soon after, we were outside and saw that the car had driven two poles out of the ground and came to a stop against our house. The whole neighborhood was already outside at that time and the police were immediately notified. The driver of the car stood stiffened in shock.  She could not believe what had just happened. 

A few meters away, another driver was looking at the damage of his car. After the arrival of the police, the situation was assessed. It quickly became clear that his speed was too fast, and he had not looked whilst coming out of the side road onto the main road. The other driver on the main road, who was overtaking two cyclists immediately pushed on the brake to avoid him. Unfortunately, she accelerated instead, attempting to avoid the cyclists and a horrible accident, she swerved into my house on the corner. 

The moment after the accident and in the hours that followed, my peacefully quiet bedroom became a tourist attraction of sorts. Three of my upstairs neighbors, their parents, the driver who hit my house, her mother, the driver who caused the accident, my landlord and five police officers were busy in and around the house. Neighbors and people who passed by were also curious. Everyone involved in the accident was very happy that there were no injuries, the situation could have ended much worse. It did not help my hangover at all. 

The following week, a structural damage expert came to take inventory of the damage. The damage to the house alone quickly ran into 10,000 euros. The wall under my window had to be rebuilt, the housing of my meter box had to be demolished, rebuilt, plastered and painted. Finally, it took almost a year to get everything back to normal.

As of now, with things back in order, I can happily look back on it with a sense of relief. After all, it's a good conversation starter!