Thoughts about Groningen/Europe

1. Dutch people are SO friendly! Last night we were at the grocery store deciding on a new kind of beer to try. This complete stranger recommended a beer to try and told us that the name of the beer "Duvel" means "devil" in Dutch.

2. Groningen is NOT very close to any bigger city. So, any trip we take will include a 2 1/2 hour train ride to Amsterdam or a 2 hour bus ride to Bremen, Germany.

3. I liked having classes 2 days a week when I was in college...and grad school, but now I'm just kind of bored. I only have classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, which makes traveling easier, but when we're not traveling I don't have much to do other than homework.

4. The streets with brothels are bizarre. It is really difficult to differentiate between those streets and the normal side-streets. The other day Josh was taking pictures of a little street with cute houses when the guy in a car rolled down the window and said "no foto maken." Then this woman on a bike said "no pictures!" Then this woman in her NEON PINK BRA AND UNDERWEAR came running out of one of the houses yelling "no pictures." Finally, he understood, it was a brothel street. Yikes.

5. It's nice to have a kitchen. I've been cooking all of our meals lately. This summer we were eating in restaurants the ENTIRE time. That may sound great, but after a while it's frustrating not to be able to eat something if it's not on the menu! So we've been eating lots of Italian and Mexican food :)

6. Europe is exciting! We're going to Vienna and Prague for a week, we're going to Scotland for a long weekend, Paris for a long weekend, and Italy for 11 days! In November, Mom, Paul, Hilary, and Zak are meeting us in Florence and we're renting a villa in Tuscany for a week, then we're going to Rome. That'll be for my birthday!!! (I'll be 27...)

7. Stores don't take Visa. This is a little frustrating, since my financial aid hasn't come yet it would have been nice to be able to use my credit card for my school books. BUT no, none of the stores take a credit card. Visa, it's NOT everywhere you want to be.

8. Josh is really happy here because my mentor recommended a basketball club for him to play with. He used to play with a group of guys in Cambridge and has been missing that. It strange to have a fiance who is so athletic...but I used to play...soft ball...

9. We could live in the Netherlands for a longer period of time. We like the way people interact with strangers. We like the walking/bike-riding instead of driving everywhere. We even like the weather (never too hot, but never too cold).

10. There are things that I miss about home. The cheese in the grocery store is almost all Gouda, so cheddar is sorely missed. Bagels are not a staple in the Dutch diet, and I love bagels. I miss being able to go see my mom whenever I want to. I miss having a cell phone to call people when I'm walking by myself. So there are plenty of reasons for why I would like to live in Europe, but there are also reasons, that are irreplaceable, for going back to Wisconsin.