Finally – here in Groningen!

Groningen.

I suppose that it is probably good that I waited a few weeks before I made this post, as I think if I tried to write it 1 week- 2 weeks ago then it probably would not have painted a very pretty picture of where I am staying for the next 5 months – Visa confusions, housing palavas and general what-the-fuck-this-culture-is-very-different-to-New-Zealand situations have all taken their toll on my psyche over the past few weeks, to a point where I didn’t even get out of bed one Sunday (alcohol definitely did not play a part in that whatsoever). But I think this week I’m now realising, as ignorant and naive as it sounds, what it is like to actually DEAL with shit that happens in life…. Instead of just telling my parents that something has broken or gone wrong etc. and then the situation would magically be fixed, over here I actually have to deal with things from start to finish, and MAN IS IT TIRING. And EXPENSIVE.

But anyway, enough of my privileged-white-girl complaints – I’m sure you are all wondering what this place is actually LIKE. Well, it kinda looks like a mini-Amsterdam, with slightly less canals, but a whole lot more bikes. As a large percentage of the city are students at one of the two universities in Groningen, bicycles are the easiest, cheapest way to get around (although I wouldn’t say safest – the frequency of bikes that clunk loudly is slightly alarming, and also people peddle at such a speed that I’m convinced they are all in training for some big bike race that I don’t know about yet). The whole city is basically flat as well, therefore only a very slight burning sensation occurs in the quads after a fifteen minute bike ride, as opposed to not being able to walk for a week after trying to bike anywhere in Auckland (for those that don’t know the place, there is a ridiculous amount of hills). I am also located quite centrally in Groningen, which has proved to be extremely convenient – there is a food market called the Vismarkt that occurs every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday around the corner from my flat, which provides a much larger and tastier range of fruits, veges, fish, pasta, bread and cheese (SO much cheese) than the local supermarket, and its not that much more expensive either.

I have also met some great Dutch and other International students here in Groningen, many of whom are shocked to hear that the temperatures here at the moment are only mildly warmer than the NZ winter, and as equally shocked that I ditched the large amount of beaches back home for the perpetually brown waters of Dutch canals (which I don’t plan on swimming in any time soon). I do however have a great mix of cultures in my class (which, as a communications class, is unsurprisingly 90% female), and I am in awe that most of them are learning and speaking in a language that is second to them – I think I have it pretty darn easy just being able to speak my native language. I am still however trying to ahh comprehend the contrast in Hanze University to my university back home, AUT. Instead of each subject being completely separate from the others and assignments being handed out in a linear, logical-like fashion, each class here at Hanze relates to the others and we have also been given all our assignments in one go, which has confused me quite a great deal. Therefore I am doing what any logical person would do in this situation and going to Berlin for the weekend to see Radiohead. YEYYYY!!!

Anyway, thanks for reading – photos below!! xx