I'm going to try to more pictures and less words so this isn't so long. Let see how that goes...
So I got here at the end of August. I'm staying in a dorm style building with 52 other international students. Most of them are early 20's or so and they like to go out EVERY night. That is OK because everyone (even the uptight librarian) told us to do more fun stuff then school.
[Edited: I had to change the picture because Sadie says my previous toasting picture made it look like all I do is party here. I tried to find a picture of me studying hard in the library but damn if I keep forgetting to bring my camera when I study... :-) ]
School in going to be fun. You get what you put into it kind of thing but school is school and that not very interesting for a blog. So here is all the other stuff that is going on...
Both my academic program and have had socials parties and dinners for our introduction week so we went out 7 out of the first 10 days here. The picture to the left is our international night where we had to dress up in our national colors.
They only drink lite beer here which is pretty annoying. They say there are some small breweries here that make dark beer but I haven't found them yet.
The first thing 8 out 10 people ask after I introduce myself is "who do you think is going to be the next president".
Aside from the social stuff Megan and I went on a trip to a great little island in the North called Schiermonnikoog. It is a Dutch vacation spot that is very quaint and quiet. It was amazing. Here is Megan drinking coffee at a little shop after a long Sunday bike ride and ice cream (how sappy is that?!?!) :-) Notice the perfect little houses in the background, bike, brick roads, etc... It was really great. The first night we went out to dinner at a restaurant on the ocean and I was literally served a 1.5 gallon pot of fresh mussels with bread and veggies and a nice salad bar for about $13. Then some Dutch people our age that live in the same city as us gave us their phone numbers and invited us out for drinks when we got back from our trip. We were just about to leave and Another Dutch family that live in the States but were out on vacation invited us to their table and bought desert. We ended up staying there for over 3 hours. Anyway, other stuff now.
They have free classes here for students at the school gym. I signed up for fencing lessons once a week. It has been fun so far. I'll have someone take a picture for me. I also started working out with the ultimate fighting club for exercise. It is a REALLY hard workout with lots of punching, kicking and practicing choke holds. I'm still sore 5 days since my last workout... Twice a week will be enough for me.
Megan and I volunteered to cook an "American Thanksgiving dinner" for some of the international students tomorrow (Sunday) but didn't know how many people were coming and that if it was only one or two they might cancel. They called today and we will be cooking for 48 people.... It should be interesting.
They difinately have some things figured out here better than we do in the States. It is a 20 minute bike commute from this neighborhood to the downtown. Some people here have cars but there are more bikes in the Netherlands than people. More later...
No comments:
Post a Comment