An (un)Expected start

I don’t know why, but I feel the urge to share with you, dearest readers, about my first weeks in the Netherlands. It may or may not be useful for you but I’m gonna share it anyway.

When I came here my flight was more or less 18 hours. I used Malaysia airlines from Jakarta, had a transit in Kuala Lumpur then continued with KLM to Amsterdam. When I landed on European soil, it's like freedom to me. At least I was glad to leave the plane after sitting for 15 hours straight.

Going through immigration wasn’t an issue. Waiting for my luggage was a different story. I had 2 small ones and a big orange one. The small ones appeared first but I waited for hours for my orange bag. Until there was no more luggage on the belt! I asked the service desk of KLM and the nice big lady told me this: “Your suitcase is left behind in Kuala Lumpur.” Wait, what?

True story. Until now, I don’t know why. Luckily, KLM sent it to me straight away when the bag arrived in Schipol. No charges, no extra travel expenses and nothing’s missing. I’m off to a good(ish) start!

I had a last minute orientation day with fellow students of the same programme. It was nerve-wracking, being an Indonesian among Dutch or Europeans. Good thing was, there were no crazy nonsense or tricks, like in Indonesia. Just a pleasant icebreaker involving toilet papers.

What I didn’t expect though, was how the first day started. Imagine this, after a long holiday of doing nothing then came to a university in a foreign country, our first task was a math test. A math test! My brain wasn't ready for it at all. I couldn’t recall all those limits, integration, derivative and such. It wasn’t graded at the end. It was just… well, a test. To wake us up from vacation mode.

Hectic described the rest of the week. Studywise was as predicted. Some lecturers have thick Dutch accents that made it hard to catch. Other difficulties were finding which classrooms and buildings to go to (people still find this confusing). Obviously, over time I got used to it. I am grateful for those days and all the days the Lord has made, no matter how difficult they may be.

These are photos are some of buildings and locations around the university. They are Heyendaal Station, Hugyengebouw and Berchmanianum respectively.