Bicycles, Barbers and Beer

Week 8 (14/03/16 – 20/03/16)

Apologies for the late upload but I've been having internet connectivity problems. All fixed now. 

After spending the weekend with my parents this week I made two major accomplishments – first I bought a bicycle and second I got my hair cut. Writing them down it seems rather silly to call them accomplishments but living here to me these are definitely accomplishments. Using a bicycle for transport is a major part of Dutch culture and I have never seen more bicycles in my life. As well as this there are bicycle lanes along every road and I have come to the conclusion that bicycles have right of way over everything. Everybody seems to own a bicycle and I have been looking for one since I arrived however it has been difficult to find one for a reasonable price in the size I need. However on Monday on what seemed like my 1000^th visit to the bicycle shop below the NHL (that’s right, a bicycle shop below my university) I finally found one suitable. I can now race around the streets and what was a 15 minute walk is now a 2 minute cycle. So that was accomplishment number one.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep going.” – Albert Einstein

Number two was getting my hair cut. This being a generally trivial chore at home was an activity of anxiety over here. It’s relatively simple task to find a place but the next challenge is explaining to the barber how you like your hair cut (something which at home I forget cut to cut). The night before I found myself googling if barber language was the same in every country, you know like a 4 back and sides and just thin the top? When it came to the day I just had to suck it up and be brave. I found a place that was packed with people so I made the assumption it was good and spoke to a very nice woman behind the desk, who’s English was impeccable, and made an appointment for the same afternoon. Of course when I returned in the afternoon a different lady was cutting my hair who described her own English as “not so good”, however it has decades on my Dutch. After about 10 minutes of failed explanation she pointed to a guy leaving the shop and asked “is that good?” I replied with a thumbs-up and a smile and after 20 minutes I left with one of the best cuts I think I've ever had.

With St. Patrick’s Day falling on the Thursday of this week I had big hopes and I was not disappointed. The whole university had the day off and I was surprised to see how many people were about celebrating the day. The Leeuwarden ESN team had planned St. Patrick’s Day festivities starting in the afternoon with a trip to the local Irish Pub Paddy O’Ryan. Surrounded by Guinness, green beer and what seemed like every Irish person in the Netherlands I didn’t feel like I was in a foreign country at all. The celebrations continued throughout the evening and into the early morning with a whiskey tasting and listening to what can be weirdly described as a Dutch Punk Folk band, who were actually quite good.

“There are only two kinds of people in the world, the Irish and those who wish they were.” 

- Irish Saying

Nice old school bar

Everybody out celebrating St Patrick's

This week due to multiple cancellations we end up with only one full class on the Wednesday so there isn’t much to report on that front. However next Monday I will be visiting an international school in the neighbouring town of Groningen which I am thoroughly looking forward to and can’t wait to share my experience in my next blog.


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