Hear me roar!
SO. I'm here right now in my room, in my lovely land lane address (no kidding), in Utrecht. And the day (everything, in fact) has been so unbelievable. Well, where do I start?
I arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday morning and stayed with my dad's friend and his family, Nico Evelyn and Nuance, in Maasbree. Maasbree is at the borders of the Netherlands, down south. On Monday, I went to Venlo, the city centre. It's a pretty nice area, though small. And in the evening, I joined Evelyn and her friends for a movie screening. After the screening, they had a small group discussion in Dutch. Talk about being baffled...I spent an hour or so trying to grasp the meaning of the conversation...not exactly successful. On Tuesday, Evelyn and I drove down to Dusseldorf in Germany. Dusseldorf is a fashion city, although in my opinion, it's one of those overrated Orchard Road or Melrose Street. But it was interesting to check out the sights and the people. People in Netherlands are generally friendly and helpful, so it's not very difficult to mingle among them. (It's not too bad that Dutch guys have such bright and charming smiles...sigh...)
Today has been nothing short of craziness. I finally registered with my hostel and moved into my room. The placement of the furniture is really quite stupid, but will correct that later. I moved in about the same time as my neighbor did, so we went to Utrecht Centraal Station together. Her name's Bianca, and she's a master student from South Africa. Anyway, we parted at the station and I walked around alone. It was amazing. I was completely overwhelmed by, everything! There is a huge shopping mall Hoog Catherijne, but the outside market centre is much more fascinating. It was so nice to get lost amidst the pebbled pavements brick walls bicycles oudegracht the canal the lovely weather cathedrals...I would love, love, to post up pictures but I brought the wrong camera cable. Ja...and that's not the only thing I brought by mistake. I was so sure I packed a comforter in the luggage. It was nicely rolled up and all. So I bought pillows for my room. And they don't sell a pillow here...you have to buy a set of 2 pillows. I got 2 pillows and was satisfied. But upon opening my imagined "comforter", I realised that it was in fact a pillow! Now I have 3 pillows, and no blanket!!! How incredibly funny is that?!
Well, back to my neighbors because it is so interesting to have a mix of different cultures and people in this hostel. There is a guy from Luxemburg in the room opposite of mine, and another girl from Taiwan, also opposite my room. Because I am really such a nutshell, I mistook her room as mine and swung the door open, only to hear an "AH!" and a stranger sitting at where my desk would have been. Also, you definitely wouldn't believe how absurd this is. There is a Singaporean living above me! He's an exchange student from NUS Law fac! He's been living here since September. Despite the excitement and the chatting and the drinking, I honestly don't remember his name. Yes, everything is quite insane now...but I am lurving it here! Am I homesick? Definitely not! Not yet, at least. I'm just trying to absorb as much as I can...and everything seems to be settling down comfortably. It is afterall going to be a lifestyle for the next 6 months.
I arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday morning and stayed with my dad's friend and his family, Nico Evelyn and Nuance, in Maasbree. Maasbree is at the borders of the Netherlands, down south. On Monday, I went to Venlo, the city centre. It's a pretty nice area, though small. And in the evening, I joined Evelyn and her friends for a movie screening. After the screening, they had a small group discussion in Dutch. Talk about being baffled...I spent an hour or so trying to grasp the meaning of the conversation...not exactly successful. On Tuesday, Evelyn and I drove down to Dusseldorf in Germany. Dusseldorf is a fashion city, although in my opinion, it's one of those overrated Orchard Road or Melrose Street. But it was interesting to check out the sights and the people. People in Netherlands are generally friendly and helpful, so it's not very difficult to mingle among them. (It's not too bad that Dutch guys have such bright and charming smiles...sigh...)
Today has been nothing short of craziness. I finally registered with my hostel and moved into my room. The placement of the furniture is really quite stupid, but will correct that later. I moved in about the same time as my neighbor did, so we went to Utrecht Centraal Station together. Her name's Bianca, and she's a master student from South Africa. Anyway, we parted at the station and I walked around alone. It was amazing. I was completely overwhelmed by, everything! There is a huge shopping mall Hoog Catherijne, but the outside market centre is much more fascinating. It was so nice to get lost amidst the pebbled pavements brick walls bicycles oudegracht the canal the lovely weather cathedrals...I would love, love, to post up pictures but I brought the wrong camera cable. Ja...and that's not the only thing I brought by mistake. I was so sure I packed a comforter in the luggage. It was nicely rolled up and all. So I bought pillows for my room. And they don't sell a pillow here...you have to buy a set of 2 pillows. I got 2 pillows and was satisfied. But upon opening my imagined "comforter", I realised that it was in fact a pillow! Now I have 3 pillows, and no blanket!!! How incredibly funny is that?!
Well, back to my neighbors because it is so interesting to have a mix of different cultures and people in this hostel. There is a guy from Luxemburg in the room opposite of mine, and another girl from Taiwan, also opposite my room. Because I am really such a nutshell, I mistook her room as mine and swung the door open, only to hear an "AH!" and a stranger sitting at where my desk would have been. Also, you definitely wouldn't believe how absurd this is. There is a Singaporean living above me! He's an exchange student from NUS Law fac! He's been living here since September. Despite the excitement and the chatting and the drinking, I honestly don't remember his name. Yes, everything is quite insane now...but I am lurving it here! Am I homesick? Definitely not! Not yet, at least. I'm just trying to absorb as much as I can...and everything seems to be settling down comfortably. It is afterall going to be a lifestyle for the next 6 months.
Oh, and to add on...I just realized that I have to cook. For real. I assumed that like most youth hostels, this studenthouse would provide free meals or at least, free dinner meals. Nee! We have a kitchen that looks like the shithole because the residents had a party a few nights ago. I. Have. To. Cook. But before that, I had cup noodles and kiwi (my grocery shopping consists of kiwi and bread!) for dinner. I have to be at the orientation tomorrow and just think, I'm not sure how I'm going to find my way there! It's really hilarious, right? I can't even pronounce the street names correctly. But you know what? The law of attraction may work after all. Or rather, I would simply apply it when applicable. Stay positive and you attract good things. The cynic would scoff at this, but who cares?
Argh. Must remember to call dad to send the camera cables over because there is so much to show!
posted by angeline at 9:17 PM
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