Books, Blogs, and Bicycles: My Adventures Around the World : August 27, 2015

Wednesday, August 27, 2015

Since I last wrote, much has transpired. I have gotten around to decorating my room some, and it feels more like my own space. When everything is closer to complete, I will post new “updated” pictures of my room. I neglected to detail most of the contents of my room. In terms of my “kitchen”, I received one knife, one spoon, one fork, one little spoon, one bowl, and one plate. As a result, I will be going to ikea tomorrow to update my inventory and hopefully get a few things to make my room feel like home.

On Saturday, I went to the alternative city tour, and then to SAIL. This is an event that occurs once every five years in Amsterdam, and people come with their boats from all over the world. The Erasmus Coaches decided that was a good way to spend our time between activities, and my group and I sat down to watch the boats in the canals at a more quiet point. After that, we went back to Uilenstede (the student housing) for a dinner, before going out for some drinks. Sunday was also an Erasmus Weekend day, and I joined them in Vondelpark in the afternoon for hanging out after finding a really great cafe on the way there. Later in Vondelpark, I met some of my future classmates from my program. They were really from all over the world, including one girl who was also Hungarian (but had moved to Holland earlier) which was nice for me.

Monday was our psychology orientation. We started with a coffee at a cafe near Spui, and were greeted by one of the professors in the program. Then we went on a city tour led by an art history student that was really wonderful. After that, we went back to VU for lunch, and then split into groups to get an introduction to our program. It started raining while we had our introduction and that was my first “real” rain in Amsterdam. I can tell you it rains the same exact way it rains in North Carolina (it pours, in other words). I think I will adjust alright to the weather here though, thanks to the training I’ve received from Southern thunderstorms. When the sky does come out it is a very strong Carolina blue, of course. After this introduction, we had a campus tour from two second year students and were given appetizers and drinks (always nice), and then we headed home.

Tuesday, I started my morning bright and early with a statistics assessment, which went surprisingly well. As a result, I don’t have to sit for the refresher course, which is being offered for about two hours each day over the next two weeks. This is good because it means I am free to do whatever I want, but it is also tough because it means- I am free to do whatever I want! Not a good set of habits to start with. I went to go buy a bicycle after my test, because I was so tired of paying for public transit (far too expensive here), and I really needed a way to get around. I went to a bicycle store, which is a little more expensive, but I mostly did that because A) there is a horrible bicycle-stealing market and I didn’t want to perpetuate the cycle, and B) the prices are written on bikes at stores so you know you are not being ripped off by the salesperson. I found “the one”, and you can see her in my pictures below. I also bought a bag for the back, and a seat cover, and two locks. In The Netherlands, people lock their bikes with two locks- one is on the back tire, and prevents it from moving, and the other is a big chain that allows you to tie your bike to things. I have both of these now, so hopefully my bike will not be stolen.

Finally, today: I took my time getting up. I had been getting sick over the past few days and wanted to make sure I got my rest, so slept in, and felt a lot better after a long night’s sleep. I left home and looked for a phone contract, but didn’t have much success (I have yet to find one that seems worth it so far). I did buy a water heater however. That I will not post a picture of, because it is not so interesting, but maybe when I post pictures of my “updated” room you will see it.