Books, Blogs, and Bicycles: My Adventures Around the World : October 15, 2015

Wednesday, October 15, 2015

The truth is, blogging is a lot less easy when you have a million things going on, particularly when you have a million things going on in your head. A lot of people create travel blogs to recount their adventures to whoever may read them, to post amazing pictures of the places they go to, to prove that they are “enriching themselves” and having fun… but truthfully, it would be a complete lie to say that being somewhere new is always chipper and cheerful. Whether that place is on the other side of the United States, or in another country, it is never easy to move somewhere new.

It isn’t really the bureaucracy of a new location or home that is difficult, I believe it is much more the new “everything". This is especially applicable after living someplace else for a long time. In North Carolina, I had a group of friends, my family was close by, I went to the same school for three years, I was comfortable with the culture… I could go on. Here, those things being “missing”, is perhaps the hardest adjustment. There is a notable difference between being homesick (which I am not too much of), and creating a personal mission to find the same familiarity and same companionship with the people, the school, the streets, the buildings, the weather here that I had at home. Being homesick and having that mission are both equally difficult. So if anyone were to ask me what I did (instead of blogging), I would tell them I was working on my mission. And if anyone were to ask me if I was done doing that, I would have to say no. I hope I will one day in the future have the clarity to mark precisely where in time I felt complete the things I am building right now, both in my head and in my life, but for now, it’s a work in progress.

We had an Indian Summer of sorts in Amsterdam- the weather was beautiful almost throughout September, save for a few rainy spots. After I last wrote, I ran a 5 mile night race called the Dam By Night in Zaandam, a small town north of Amsterdam, and I visited Matthieu in Lyon. Lyon was beautiful, and the weather was just a bit warmer than Amsterdam, a welcome change for me. It was the first time I had ever been to France, so that was an interesting experience. One thing must be said: they really do know how to make good bread.

Returning to Amsterdam came with a lot of surprises, namely an uncertainty about the direction I wanted my next few years to go. I have since realized that I can’t really know what my next few years will look like and I just need to take it one season at a time. It’s really amazing how I have that same exact revelation every year or two and somehow always forget it.

In addition, I began to get involved in extracurriculars and set a few goals for myself. I’m taking Dutch now, and I have had about six classes. I’m now able to order things in a bar or cafe and say good morning, if I’m not too terrified to say a word. I can also count very high (at least to 100). The lessons cost about 225 Euros per semester plus a 40 Euro textbook. I joined a swim team called SPONS here in Amsterdam, mainly because I thought it would be a great way to stay active and social while I’m here. It has been so far, and the group of students who coordinate it and participate are friendly, and mostly Dutch. This is very good for me because I can listen to them speak in a language I don’t understand (yet) all the time! I will be participating in a swim meet on the 24th, so that will be a good opportunity for me to see how far I’ve fallen from my original abilities to swim (and then improve throughout the year).

Another great thing about Amsterdam is markets. There are at least two different ones each weekend, all with different themes- food, clothes, local vegetables, art, small boutiques, etc. I have gone to a different one almost every weekend that I have been here and it is a constant source of entertaining, new, and eye-opening things. For example, at one of the ones I went to, I sat in the world's smallest cinema and watched a short film on crushes. I also met a man named Álmos Károly, who moved here to Holland as a small child, has since forgotten Hungarian, and has built his own camera with which he takes old pictures.

I’m also hanging out with a lot of different kinds of people, and learning about places all over the world. If nothing else, that is a very cool experience. For example, my “buddy" at VU (a girl who is supposed to help internationals acclimate to Amsterdam) invited all of her buddies over for dinner in which people made food from their home countries, and we had a long conversation about school systems all over the world from each of the places that her other buddies were from. The building I live in also has many students from different backgrounds, leaving plenty of opportunities to see a very diverse group of people.

Speaking of the building I live in, my housing is pretty great, but it has not been without mishaps. My cooker didn’t work for the first month and a half I lived here. I have been fortunate. Others have lost hot water, had no electricity, had dripping faucets for months. Now that a cold spell has set in, some people are finding they have no heating. I feel lucky that my room hasn’t had as many problems. One guy accidentally set his room on fire and we had to evacuate the building about a week ago. Anyway, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will post some photos for all of you, and hopefully write again soon!