My Thursday flight was also canceled, so I did not end up leaving until Friday. Fortunately, on Friday I did finally board a plane to Amsterdam. The plane made great time, the flight took only 6 hours (though we got started a little late), and we landed in Amsterdam at 7:30am this morning. Unfortunately, while attempting to take the train from Amsterdam to Groningen (which I have learned is actually pronounced "chroningen" with the "ch" being the sound at the end of "loch" and the "r" sounding rather similar to that used by the French, pronounced at the back of the throat with a bit of a trill), between construction on the tracks and various delays, what should have only involved taking one train and 2 hours, 30 minutes of travel instead required four trains and almost four hours of travel. After very little sleep, not enough water, and virtually nothing to eat, I finally arrived ready to pass out on my bed.
However, being the frequent traveler that I am, I knew that doing so would be the worst possible way to deal with jet lag. Therefore, in spite of having staving off out-of-body experiences for the entire afternoon, I now find myself still awake, unpacked, and slightly organized. Slightly.
Based on the room description, I had understood the furniture in my room to be somewhat different from what it actually is. When housing said "wardrobe" I did not expect to find two tall lockers screwed together as my closet. Fortunately, there is an Ikea 15 minutes away on foot. I have already made one trip in order to obtain an extra towel, hangers, and sheets, and I may have to go back one more time for a set of fold-up shelves or something. For now, my room is a bit of a mess.
But a spartan mess. In spite of its size, there are essentially only four pieces of furniture in the room. Here are some pics:
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| My new pillowcase and duvet cover, courtesy of Ikea. For whatever reason they don't seem to sell a normal set of sheets. I will be attempting to rectify the situation ASAP. |
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| My new "wardrobe" thing. Note: two red lockers next to each other. Also note: I have nowhere to hang my towels. Again, needs work. |
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All of the belongings that still don't fit into my bitty locker closet. |
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| My bookcase. Mostly covered in toiletries. Something interesting about this dorm: there are men's and women's toilets, but there is one great big bathing room at the end of the hall with a couple of sinks and two rows of shower stalls for everyone on this floor. I will definitely continue the tradition of wearing flip-flops into the shower. |
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My desk. I'm quite disappointed there are no drawers. Drawers make everything better. |
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| My room in general, from the doorway. I do have quite a nice view of the courtyard, and that entire back wall that you see is window. Alas it was night when I was taking pictures, so you won't get to see the courtyard yet. As you can see, minimalism is the theme here. |
I also learned a number of very useful things over the course of the day. I conclude my entry with these lessons:
1. Learn your train route very, very well. Better yet, learn every train on every route that will take you to your destination.
2. In case you didn't know, the Netherlands are FLAT. As in REALLY FLAT. I know everyone kind of recognizes they're not very hilly. But seriously. FLAT.
3. Be choosy about what weather conditions you use your umbrella for. The wind will break it.
4. Dutch trains are SO QUIET! And the seats are so comfortable.
5. DO NOT bother brushing your hair. By the end of the day there are only two styles everyone ends up with anyway. You are either sporting the stylish "windswept" look, or the not-so-flattering hat-head.
6. If at all possible, learn some Dutch before going to the Netherlands. Many people will tell you that learning Dutch is totally unnecessary. But if you want any form of independence (read: if you don't want to spend your entire trip dependent on complete strangers), trust me: it will make your life much easier.
