Note to Self: Learn Dutch

Hello friends,

I just woke up in the middle of the night to finish packing for London, but I wanted to write a quick note to say that Chris and I have made it to beautiful Maastricht after about 14 hours of travel.

Here are a few quick observations about Maastricht and The Netherlands from my first few hours here:

1) The Dutch language really loves double letters. Chris spent the bus on the way to Maastricht counting the number of road signs without double letters. There weren't that many.

2) The Dutch idea of a "short walk" and the American idea of a "short walk" is very different. I love to walk places so it is not a problem, but the experience of walking 10 minutes with bags full of groceries will definitely be interesting.

3) Speaking of grocery stores, we went on a "practical shopping tour" this afternoon, and the place we went to was kinda like an HEB and the dollar store meets the mall. It was huge with two super markets and lots of random stores. My friends who had been to Maastricht told me that you have to bag your own groceries and bring your own bags, (you can pay 22 euro cents per bag if you want one there) but it was still an interesting experience. You have to bag them really quickly since they are already checking out someone else while you are bagging.

4) When they said that The Netherlands has more bikes per capita than any other country in the world, they weren't kidding. There are bikes EVERYWHERE. I will take a few pictures of their bike racks so that y'all can get a better idea. Apparently, the cars stop for you as a pedestrian, but the bikes don't. [sounds a lot like Baylor.]

5) Speaking of cars, all the cars here are tiny, which is interesting because Dutch people, in general, are tall. Chris told me that The Netherlands has the tallest average height in the world. Gas is really expensive though so I am guessing the tiny cars get more miles per gallon.

6) There are signs everywhere that says "100% Bop. 0% Op." I tried to google it, and it looks like an anti-drinking campaign, possibly? Everything was in Dutch so I am not entirely sure.

7) Our dorms are nice. Way bigger than I expected, and there is a stovetop.

Outline of our day:

We arrived in Amsterdam at 8 in the morning and got on a bus to Maastricht. On the way there, we stopped at the Dutch equivalent of a rest stop restaurant, but it was a slightly different experience. The food was all set out, and you could just grab whatever you wanted and head to the cashier. The problem was that everything was in Dutch, and none of the food looked familiar. Chris stuck with a sandwich because he knew what it was. I got what I thought was a pecan strudel but actually turned out to be a very good meat pie.

When we arrived to Maastricht, we validated our EurRail passes, and then it was on to Teikyo. Our dorm is interesting because it is a combination of an emergency clinic and a dorm. The bottom level has doctors offices and patient rooms, and a separate wing has dorm rooms. After we got our rooms, we went on the practical shopping tour. Chris and I bought a few essentials to hold us over until we return from London. After shopping, we unpacked and then went to dinner, where we had potatoes and chicken, which was delicious.

I passed out after dinner, but Chris went to go get our internet set up. Apparently, if you think AirBear is bad, UniMaas is way more difficult because even with help, it took an hour to get our internet set up.

I already love Maastricht. Dutch people are so nice (and I love their accents when they speak English!) I love the architecture, and the weather today was wonderful.

I will post some photos of our home for the next three months once we are back from London.

Love from The Netherlands,
Olga

In Six Days, Europe is My Playground.

Six days.

In less than a week from today, I will be on a plane to Amsterdam.

I still don’t have much packed. Pretty much wishing my suitcases would pack themselves.

For those who aren’t familiar with the Baylor in Maastricht program, Maastricht is a city in the southern tip of the Netherlands, about 30 minutes from Belgium to the west and close to Germany to the east. Our program includes a EurRail pass, which allows for train travel around Europe. We only go to school from Feb. 7 to Mar. 31, with a weeklong break for Carnival. We also don’t have classes on Fridays so we can travel during our three-day weekends.

The pink dot is Maastricht, my future home for three months!

I can’t wait to explore Europe. I have been yearning to go back to Europe since I moved to the United States. I love everything about it — the public transportation, the slower pace of life, the absolutely gorgeous cities.

Everyone keeps asking me for a detailed itinerary for my trip. Truth is, I don’t really care. I just want to explore. I want to complete immerse myself in the culture. I know I want to go back to Switzerland. It was my favorite country that I have visited, and I still remember it clearly, even though the last time I was there, I was only six.

I know I want to see Paris, visit my aunt in Poland, visit Kim in Belgium and explore Italy. Other than that, who knows? For once in my life, I am extremely excited about not having plans. I can’t wait to make Europe my playground.