The beginning!

After a crazy week, and many internet problems, I am finally back online. I promise to blog more frequently!

Let's start from the beginning...

I arrived in Amsterdam at about seven in the morning. The city was still dark which was strange only because (for some unknown reason) I expected it to be light. I took a train from the Amsterdam airport into Nijmegen and then took a taxi to a Bed and Breakfast. Although I slept briefly on the plane, I knew napping was crucial to making it through the day. I took about an hour long nap and forced myself out of bed to enroll in orientation.

Long story short -- orientation week consisted of a few activities, assistance with practical necessities (like getting a bike and a phone) and finally, parties. We were taken to different bars, organized pub crawls, and various other venues. If you're wondering, I still haven't been to a coffee shop. 

I don’t think I ate a good meal until about five days after I arrived in Europe. We had a few Dutch dinners during orientation but I didn’t enjoy the food and I was so overwhelmed by my surroundings that I really wasn’t hungry. This is not to say that I haven’t been enjoying myself or that I have been consumed by worry and negativity – but more so that I had prioritized a million other things before eating.

Along with most mental impositions, I believe that jet lag is almost entirely psychological. With the exception of the first day, I really had no roll-over effects from the plane ride. I refused to think about what time it was back home in NC, and I had no problem with the timing of my meals because of the problem above. I do believe with a significant time change the key is to deprive yourself of sleep so that the first day – wherever you are going – you can fall asleep at any time. I think most people expect jet lag to have such a strong effect, that it does.

I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast the first few nights because my room was not available. On Friday morning, I moved into my flat. I am living with a girl named Janii from the Czech Republic, Javier from Spain and Connor from England. Janii is finishing her last year of school and will have her masters in the spring. She is very welcoming and kind, a sort of mother-figure (unless she is going out). Connor makes himself available whenever I need anything and went out of his way the first few days to make me comfortable. The first night I moved in, Connor laughingly told me about his ignorance of personal space. Needless to say, we get along wonderfully. In a ridiculous string of luck, Connor has a car – in a complex of several hundred students, I think less than ten have a car. He rarely uses it because of fuel and parking costs, however, he graciously offered to take me shopping for my first round of groceries. 

More on Javi (who has insisted I call him Harry) later.... 

Almost all Dutch people speak English. I am entirely grateful for this, however, I wrongly assumed that most written directions (signs, menus etc.) would have an English translation. The most frustrating part of this is probably that I cannot understand instructions to cook food and nutrition information. To compensate, I am very cautious about the meat I eat.

An interesting note: Contrary to the US, where I can easily identify the sexual orientation of most men, it is difficult to do the same here. The men dress fashionably and carry themselves with a lighter, less meaty look that is often indicative of homosexual men in the states. As my friend Carter told me a few hours ago – he spent all night in the club playing the game “gay or European?”