A TRIP NORTH after being in holland for almost a month it was time to take my first trip. my cousin, anne-krijn, lives in the north of holland in a town called groningen. so my friend hanna and i left thursday evening and headed there for a few nights. when i would tell people i was going to groningen, they thought it was very far away. and i guess it is by dutch standards. it's on the complete opposite side of the country from tilburg and it was a 3.5 hour tra...

epidemics everywhere... so there's an epidemic going around the exchange student body. i'm pretty sure the cause has something to do with staying up late every night! it's catching up with everyone around here. everyone is coughing up a storm and their voices are going, including mine. so much for never getting sick. however, i did cave and buy some cough medicine. rachel and i had to ask one of the clerks to translate the bottles for us since we realizes she's ...

introductions and frustrations... people. parties. those two words sum up the last week here in holland. in the last week i have introduced myself approximately 150 times to people from all over the globe: argentina, australia, italy, ireland etc. i'm definitely having a hard time remembering their names, but i'm told that by the time two months have passed i'll know everyone on exchange by name. the best way for a whole group of people to get to know each othe...

finding my way... i arrived in tilburg yesterday. as tante ria drove off into tilburg traffic, i realized i was on my own! it was exciting! i'm in a city that i've never been to, surrounded by people speaking a language i do not understand and trying to live on my own which is probably the most foreign thing to me. once i arrived in the university, they explained welcome week, i signed my housing contract (453 euro a month! yikes!) and they drove me to my new h...

A CONTENT LIFE... after only a week of observing my dutch family and the dutch people i have come into contact with, i have discovered what it is i admire and love so much about the dutch way of life: it's calm. it's simple. it's content. instead of waiting impatiently in line at starbucks for their venti extra hot no foam non-fat cinnamon dolce latte they sit at a restaurant with a cup of earl grey tea and a light cookie watching the passerbys and talking with...