Sorry that I am posting my blog late, but I have had a great time adjusting to my time here in The Netherlands. The past two weeks have really provided insight into me and who I am as a person as well as overcoming challenges that present themselves. Overall, it has been a great time and learning experience where I can say that I am truly excited to see how I turnout at the end of this trip.
The first week was an adventure. I landed at Amsterdam airport and met up with my friend Criofan where we took a two-hour train to Nijmegen, Netherlands. The whole time it was a sharp contrast to what I was used to in America. The first noticeable difference was the train and how smooth it was to hop on and go. However, it was still difficult to figure out where we got odd as it was our first time being here. Also, it was surprising to see how much they spoke Dutch in The Netherlands. Indeed, Dutch is their native tongue but everybody in America seemed to emphasize the fact how it was lucky that they spoke English here. After these thoughts came through, we arrived at our destination in Nijmegen where we quickly sprinted off the train and to the bus station. We figured out the bus we were supposed to take to our apartment and hopped on, but it turned interesting when we hopped off the wrong stop and ended up having to walk around thirty minutes to our apartment. That was indeed an experience. but it did not end there. After seeing the apartment and meeting my roommates, who were very nice, Criofan and I decided to take another trip to the town center.
We walked to the town center for around 40 mins where we saw much of the city and how cool it was. However, when we arrived we were starving and tried to go into one of the restaurants. This was one of the first experiences that differed from that in the U.S.A. We learned about the concept of a QR code that exists in the Netherlands in response to COVID-19. It is essentially similar to our vaccine cards but in QR form and we are required to show it in restaurants where you sit and eat at. That day we ended up eating at Burger King and eventually making it back home as we took the wrong bus again.
However, the rest of the week was a similar thing to figuring out how to navigate the city and campus on top of learning how to manage the COVID restrictions. It was definitely stressful but I was able to persevere through it and end up going to grab groceries and finding cool new bars and spots in the city. Overall, it was hard but it ended up being an enriching experience and turned out to be a great time.
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