I've got time tonight so figured I would write something longer than probably will be normal once school starts.


I woke up around one or two in the morning Charlotte time. After a few hours of sleep I found myself wide awake. I started reading, Lord of The Flies, until we landed around 6:40 this morning Groningen time. I went through a sort of customs and purchased a ticket to Groningen. After I figured out a map and schedule, something that has eluded me before, I toke the 7:49 am train with a transfer at Amersfoort station. Then I got a taxi from the station to the student houses. I checked in to a rather dilapidated building which remind me oddly of a college dorm, go figure. I love this building though, it has nooks and crannies to explore. I share a fridge with three other students and two students a week are on kitchen patrol. Cooking utensils are communal. There is a large garden in the center of our building which is in the shape of the outline of a square with bold lines. I knew that to fully recover from jet-lag they say to stay awake, but I was so tired and hungry I didn't care. I made my bed with the linens I rented and fell asleep. I woke up and at first thought that I must have slept all night, I was wrong and am now very glad of it. I got an Ethernet cable and a plug converter from Saturn (extremely similar to best buy) and found a shortcut back to the dorm...cough...cough...student house. When I returned I couldn't comprehend why my room had seven power outlets and 18 sockets for the internet. I assumed that at some point my room, which is the size of a typical college suite room, and with higher ceilings, had housed many students and the extra outlets were necessary. I couldn't understand why my computer was telling me that a network cable was unplugged. I left in search of food and made a few laps in the city center, which we lie just across the canal from. I walked passed a cafe on a two lane brick road with mostly bike traffic, and noticed plates of food that looked amazing to me. I asked the owner if she would make me a salad. She told me about a small salad then she told me she could make me a larger one. I motioned for the larger and then we agreed on a price. She then asked if I was a vegetarian which I said I was. The owner was a very kind woman and made me a sumptuous plate of greens, tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries, sesame seeds, and a slice of honey dew to top it off. It also came with two pieces of baguette and I got a glass of local, and heavier brew which was nice to sip while I waited for my food. Sitting on the street with my salad and observing the passing people on bicycles along with the cat that watched the same thing across the street from a window above, was very enjoyable. my meal and drink were just what I needed. It made me happy to see friends and couples riding side saddle on the backs of bicycles. I payed me bill and drank in the atmosphere,until the churchbells chimed eight. Incidentally I've had no way of keeping time except for my computer which hasn't been connected to the internet since I left Charlotte and is also locked to my desk. I also have had no conception of the city. Tomorrow I plan to get a map of the city along with train system, and bike system. Some radical cartographers would insist that to know a city freely without the power structures inherent in a map you could use a map of another city. I wish I had the time to explore the city that way, but tomorrow I have to find a place with bikes, and go to see my professors along with other faculty in charge of international students. As I walked back worrying about the setting sun, I realized that the pace here in this city is slow and everyone here is either a student or a clam citizen. Considering this fact, "With a population of 185,000, it is by far the largest city in the north of the Netherlands. Groningen is a university city, inhabited on average by about 50,000 students." (thanks wiki) At dinner tonight the city appeared to have a young face being watched by the many locals. The mood here is mellow. I came back to my room and after consulting my Student Manager was shown that I was attempting to connect to many of the now dead sockets in an old office building for an internet company. When I tried the one labeled internet it worked much better, this set back made me much smarter about potentially difficult network problems, however, I could have simply read the labels.