Hello everyone!
Sorry I didn't post anything yesterday. I got back to my room very late and we had to be up for our first day of orientation at 8am so I needed to get to sleep.
Yesterday we went bar hopping at night. The first bar we went to was an English pub where we could actually read the menu! We were probably a little too excited about it, but wouldn't you want to actually know what you were ordering instead of just pointing and saying "uhhh...that one?".
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| English Pub North End |
After we had one quick drink we explored the downtown Leiden area which I walk through every day to get to campus. It's a pain being so far away when trying to hang out with people, but it's nice to walk through town every day. We found this bar called De Stadthouder (try pronouncing that one!).
They have a very relaxed atmosphere (I talked about it the other day I think). We had a great time again so I have a feeling we'll be heading back there again soon.
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| Such a calm and relaxing bar |
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| Kate, me, and Joe |
After a late night we had our first day of orientation bright and early at 8:30 am today. I actually woke up late. I finally got out of bed at 7:50 and needed to be downstairs by 8 to start our 15 minute walk there. Oops.
Even though it was a super long day and we have another full day of orientation tomorrow I feel like we learned some things. They had a police officer come in and talk about the laws in the Netherlands. Despite what most people think weed is actually illegal here. He also shared that the two biggest problems they have in Leiden is theft (mostly bikes not locked up) and vandalism. I'll take those!
They had a lot of down time built into the day. We would have random 15 minute or hour or 45 minute breaks throughout the day. Which turned out to be okay since we were able to discover different parts of Leiden like the market and a little bakery. Here's some pictures I took while exploring:
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| Notice ALL the bikes |
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| It was actually sunny for like 10 minutes! |
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| One of the many windmills in Leiden |
You know how stores have those baskets to put what you're buying in if you don't want to use a shopping cart? They have those at the grocery store by us. BUT they have an added bonus. Instead of just being able to carry it by the handles it has a long handle and wheels! Once it gets too heavy or if you're just weak in the first place then you can roll your basket through the store. I think it's a fantastic idea! Then you don't over buy but you're still able to have your hands free.
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| The most awesome shopping basket ever |
Funny story. In the grocery stores they put the cheese right next to the butter. They're both wrapped the same and have the same shape. So we have no idea which is which. We were standing in front of that section for about 5 minutes saying "doesn't think look like it?" "well that one's hard" "what about this one?" "no that's too yellow". Something they've told us about Dutch people is they are very private. Unless you ask them for help they won't offer it. In the US if you see someone on the street with a map who is obviously lost you'll go up and try to help them. They don't do that here. They feel like it is infringing on your personal space. So when we were confused we thought no one would help us. Luckily this very nice man came up and said "you look confused". We laughed and asked which one the butter was. He was very helpful and spoke perfect English. He even showed us the spray butter so we could use it for our grilled cheese.
Well we have another orientation tomorrow bright and early at 9am. Yay... So I leave you guys with the current view outside my window in my dorm.
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| A little brighter than it actually is thanks to my camera |
Love,
