Trip to Hoek van Holland

Today I decided to do something else than just sitting inside my apartment or at the university library, so I took my bike, went to Rotterdam Centraal Station and took the train to Hoek van Holland (meaning something like the Tip of the Netherlands).

To give you all a sense of where Hoek van Holland is:

On my way in the train toward Hoek van Holland, it began to snow heavily and it continued until five-ten minutes after I got off the train. Then the weather cleared up, and except for a few showers, including hail showers (so wonderful when you’re biking), the ride home to Rotterdam was fantastic!

The trip from Hoek van Holland to my place is a little more than 30 kilometers (20 miles).

I went along the Rhine River for as long as possible, but eventually I had to go more inland as I came to the suburbs of Rotterdam and the harbor area closer to the city.

Including stops along the way to take pictures, the trip took me three hours from when I left my apartment to when I was back again. Some of the pictures I took:

The mouth of the Rhine River

The bikeway along the mouth and first few kilometers of the Rhine River.

 

When I arrived in Hoek van Holland, it snowed! But I was able to catch a picture of a DFDS Seaways ferry. DFDS Seaways is a Danish corporation

I hope you’ve all had a very nice weekend. Enjoy the coming week, and tot ziens!

It’s All Fun and Games

Yesterday, a good friend of mine from the U.S. emailed me:

"… Both A and B have been asking about you wondering what you are doing for excitement in Rotterdam - I tell them you are a very dedicated worker who has little time for fun and games - of course they do not believe me!"

They really shouldn’t believe him. Besides preparing for and going to classes a few times a week, it’s all been fun and games in Rotterdam.

Frankly, I haven’t been out this much during my time at law school in Copenhagen. Of course that’s not because my friends in Copenhagen are more boring than my fellow exchange students in Rotterdam, but there are many more offers and occasions to go out and have a beer or a drink. And it’s so f**king cheap compared to Copenhagen!

An example: the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), which is the student organization for international and exchange students at the Erasmus University, arranges a so-called Social Drink every Tuesday. They offer beer at more than reasonable prices, you get to spend some time with your international friends and meet many more. So, what the ESN Social Drink really is: an excellent excuse for getting drunk on a Tuesday… And you gotta love that idea! (Especially when you don’t have classes on Wednesdays which I don’t.)

Being an exchange student – albeit the beer budget heading may be exceeded – is all fun and games.

A and B is substitute for the real names of two other American friends. I won’t post their real names for privacy reasons.

The Feeling of Spending Too Much Money

Before I left for my exchange stay in Rotterdam lots of students in Copenhagen, who’d been on exchange, told me that you might be able to make budget for the entire stay before you leave, but remember that you’ll definitely spend more money than you thought you would.

With that in mind I did make a budget for the trip. And what has happened: I’m spending more money than I thought I would.

I’m actually pondering about the fact that almost everything in the Netherlands is cheaper than in Denmark – beer is cheaper, food is cheaper, bacon is cheaper (all the essentials, you know) – and yet I still spend more money!

The feeling of spending too much money is to me not necessary a good thing. However, when I think about one of the reasons why those bills and coins are leaving my wallet so damn fast, it makes the feeling just a little better: I’ve met some awesome people who I actually like to grab a beer with, who I like to go to watch a movie with, who I’ll have lunch every day if I could.

So although the feeling of spending too much is not a good one for me, socializing with awesome fellow exchange students makes it better.

More Snow

An hour after I posted my first blogpost today, it started to snow:

This is my street

Beautiful, but Cold, Rotterdam

The last few days in Rotterdam – especially since it snowed on Monday – have been extremely cold!

When I came to Rotterdam a little more than three weeks ago, temperatures were 5-10°C (40-50°F), so understand my dissatisfaction. However, it’s been sunny and beautiful. Yesterday, I decided to take my camera up to a huge lake called Kralingse Plas five minutes on bicycle from my apartment, so you can see for yourselves:

And a picture of the photographer (that would be me, yes):

Have a nice weekend everyone!