Orientation

I apologize if this entry is somewhat scattered. I am deep in contemplation, I am contemplating a question I cannot answer and won't be able to determine the outcome until well after the decision is finalized. But I'll get to that at the end.

This morning I had to roll out of bed nice and early. Well for someone who has been sleeping in until 10 or 11 getting up at 7:45 was awfully early. I had to be at the main academic building by 9am in order to pick up my residence permit - fortunately I did not need a Visa, so this is essentially its equivalent for people from selected countries. I also had to book an appointment to register at town hall. This is something you have to do if you are staying in the Netherlands for longer than 4 months. I have to go tomorrow at 9:15 am. Gosh, what have I done to myself.

So this morning I go and wait in line, pick up my card, make an appointment then have 1hr to kill before the rest of the welcoming ceremony starts. Oddly enough I was in line behind 2 other Canadians. Not that you have to cling to other Canadians but it does make some things easier and it gives you an immediate connection. Anyways they were both from Montreal so it wasn't even like we were all that similar. Ha. Ohh. (that was underhanded). No, they were lovely people. SO we decided to take a perusal around the city centre as both of them had arrived just the night before. This was good. It was even sunny and the sun was even kind of warm.

Just before 11 we showed up at the main "Academy Building" for our welcoming ceremony - you know when the higher-up, coordinators etc tell you you're going to do great, they hope you love it here, and then poke fun at themselves and their culture. Yes. From there we went to a building close by for a free sandwich lunch followed by a sort of international student fair where they had information booths set up. It was here I picked up my faculty information about my courses and stuff. They also had an information session that could was not really that informative but it was ok. This was also the time for us to sign up for the ESN Introduction Week. ESN is an international student organization that plans social and cultural activities for us, the welcoming week starts tomorrow and goes until the 9th. It includes things like a city tour, dutch lessons, a dutch meal, a pub crawl, sports activities, and the like. It is a real cornucopia of Groningen experiences crammed into 6 days. It sounds like lots of fun.

So with this you are given a ton of information. I spent about an hour sitting in one of the buildings I will have class reading through all sorts of information about the gym, my program, registering for exams (cause they don't do it for you), and every other thing you need to know. The building I was in is one where I will have class and it was really nice, I look forward to studying there. At around 3pm they provided drinks and snacks for us and it was real drinks, as in I had 2 free Grolsch - which I didn't know was a Dutch beer, but it is everywhere over here. They also had wine and other drinks. At this time a couple of girls I live with came back and we sat around chatting for a few hours.

When we finally left we returned to the house - accidentally biking the wrong way down a very tight one way street, narrowly missing a bus, and getting instructed by the police we weren't to do that. They were very understanding when our English came out.

From here we went to the grocery store, I came home and made dinner and hung out. I finally got to go onto some of the school's online web services to look at course outlines and the such. I am pretty sure this semester is going to be quite easy which leaves me hopeful that I will get in a good amount of studying but it is sometimes hard to judge how much work assignments and courses will demand before they actually start.

Today went by quite quickly.

Now back to the beginning, with my dilemma. As I've mentioned in the last few posts I'm a little dissatisfied with my residence experience at this point. I have met a few nice people but it seems difficult to break into the group of people who already know each other. This of course isn't my main concern but I will say that some of the early friendships I've formed are pulling on me to stick it out at this place. I think the issue is I have actually been put in the loudest room on this floor. Whenever I tell people where I am staying they grimace and say how loud it must be. The kitchen on one side, the loudest guy on the other side, and the entrance on the other side.

I don't want to miss out on precious opportunities as an exchange student by moving somewhere that takes me away from these social experiences but I can't imagine spending my nights being woken up 3 times a night for 5 months. I will probably kill someone. I've put in a request to move to a smaller building but it is my understanding that most houses are party houses. When I talked to the housing lady today she suggested perhaps trying to get into a private apartment which I can't see as being the best choice.

I don't know. I'm so torn. I like the people but at the same time I cannot imagine that I will want to party nearly as much as they do. Some people don't seem to get that just because you have nothing to get up for the next morning does not mean that going out at midnight is the only option a person has. I don't want to skip out too early but if you wait there is less chance you can move if it is actually awful. Thoughts? I value your opinion.