My First Week in the EU

The summarized version of what you’re about to read: I left Kansas City on Monday and spent the day in the New York airport. I had a great week with Britt in the Netherlands. We did so many cool things like shopping (where I was very sparse with my money), climbing the city bell tower, and going to one of the Dutch Islands. We had such a great time together. Now, I am headed to Nijmegen to meet Malte and his family. 

26 August: At 4:30 I woke up and got ready to go to the airport. My dad and Wendy drove to Kansas City the night before and they stayed in a hotel close to the airport so I wouldn’t have to wake up even earlier. All four of my parents were at the airport to send me off on my adventure. The goodbye was very short and sweet as I was eager to go through security and finally be on the way. My flight left Kansas City at 6:10 in the morning and I landed in New York City’s Laguardia airport at 9:35. After I grabbed my luggage from baggage claim, I took an Uber from Laguardia to John F. Kennedy airport. Laguardia is very organized so finding my Uber was very easy. I arrived at JFK at 11:30 and then I checked my luggage into baggage storage and headed out into the city. My plan was to take the Long Island Railroad to Corona Park and to go to the Queens zoo. So, I took the air train to the LIRR station and I bought a ticket. I tried to go through, when an employee informed me that I also needed to buy a metro card to get through to the trains. So, I also bought a metro card and I scanned it. Unfortuantely I scanned it on the wrong entranceso I had to buy anothermetro card ticket to scan it on the correct entrance and go through. I finally made it to the train and when it got to my stop for the zoo, the train did not stop. I had no clue where this train was headed! It ended up going to Penn Station in Manhattan and I got off and ate at Mcdonalds (traditional American cuisine). I was so exhausted, so I ended up going back to the airport after that and I just spent the day sitting on my computer in the food court. My flight finally left JFK at about 12:15 AM. Pretty much the second my butt hit the seat, I was asleep. I don’t even remember taking off! I slept almost the entire flight and missed every meal and all of the in-flight services. 

27 August: I arrived at Amsterdam Schipol airport at 1:45 in the afternoon. Britt and her dad, Benno were there to greet me as I walked out of baggage claim. They brought me a balloon that read “Welkom” and my favorite, stroopwafels! The three of us took the train from Amsterdam to Britt’s hometown, Groningen. The ride was about 2 hours long and it was a very pleasant ride. When we arrived in Groningen, Britt and I took the city bus to her apartment. We left all of my luggage there and I changed into really cute clothes for dinner! We ate dinner with Britt’s mom and dad (Benno and Adri) and her brother, Jornt. We ate at a very nice pizza restaurant, and to my surprise, they did not deliver the pizza in slices! I ate it with a fork and knife, which was a first-time experience, but it felt like my first step into adulthood. We spent the night at Britt’s parent’s house and I fell asleep at 9 pm. I don’t usually sleep in, but I didn’t wake up until noon the next day!

28 August: Britt and I woke up at noon and ate breakfast (really brunch because of the time). We ate delicious bread that I coated with peanut butter and hagel slag (a Dutch specialty, chocolate sprinkles) and an egg. Afterwards, we took the city bus back to Britt’s apartment to change clothes. Then we rode our bikes into the city center which was a little scary for me because the bike traffic in Groningen is so heavy! Once we parked our bikes, we walked to a coffee shop and had deliciouscoffee. We walked around the city center and Britt showed me so many stores that had cute and inexpensive clothes. Fortunately for me, I contained myself and did not buy all the clothes that I wanted to, but instead I bought two really cute pairs of socks. One pair that has the Dutch flag (which Britt and I later discovered that depending on how you look at it could also be the French flag) and another pair that says “Earth Pwr”. On the way back to Britt’s apartment I did crash my bike into hers. It was embarrassing, but it’s all part of the learning process, right? That night Britt has volleyball, so I stayed at her apartment and I spent two hours looking at how much flights cost throughout Europe and I also got to Facetime with Sam. For dinner we ate at the cafeteria place close to Britt’s apartment. We ate French fries and I also tried a fried egg ball which is a Groningen specialty. 

29 August: For breakfast, Britt and I made strawberry and banana smoothies in the blender she got for her birthday. We then rode our bikes into the city center and we both drank coffee on the patio of a place called “Three Sisters”. After coffee we walked to the city’s bell tower which is called the “Martini Tower”. It is 29 stories tall, so the stairs had us very winded, but the view made it worth it! It was very cool to see such a historic place in the city of Groningen. Afterwards, Britt had some errands she needed to run, so I went shopping alone. This is the part in the story where you all should applaud me because again, I did not spend ANY money! I just looked at and contemplated buying clothes, but I pulled myself together. I also embarrassed myself because I didn’t realize that it cost money to go to the bathroom, so I tried to go without paying. Fortunately, I had spare change on my person and I was able to go! That night Britt and I hung out at her apartment and I learned a new game called “Qwixx”. We also played a game from home that my sister Hayden and I call “The Princess Game”. For dessert we ate vanilla flavored Jell-o topped with strawberry sauce which was very tasty! We spent the rest of the evening playing more games with one of Britt’s roommates, Linde who is very nice!

30 August: On this day we woke up very early (which for us was 7:15 AM). We got dressed and caught the city bus at about 8:30 AM. There were a lot of older people on the bus and they all had so much energy. There was an older man who yelled “Oh sh*t!” and laughed every single time the bus took a turn because he would fall out of his seat. It was too much comedy for Britt and I so early in the morning. The bus brought us to the port where the boat would take us to the island, Schiermonnikoog. The boat ride was about 50 minutes but felt way shorter. We drank coffee and played Qwixx and The Princess Game, so it went by very fast. When we arrived on the island, we walked along the beach. We ended up walking about 5 miles to get to the island village. In the village there were many cute houses and some adorable shops that we walked through. We had lunch at one of the restaurants and I enjoyed some warm chocolate milk with whipped cream, which is basically hot chocolate, but I swear it’s different. After this, we went searching for the island lighthouses. As we were walking the “Oh sh*t!” man and his friend saw us and they waved and said hello. It was awkward. We walked another 2 miles and we found both of the lighthouses. They were both very aesthetically pleasing. We found a bench that had an amazing lookout on the ocean and the nature before us and we relaxed there for 10 minutes or so. It was a gorgeous view. Afterwards, we grabbed some ice cream to cool us down and we waited for the Island bus to take us back to the port where we would meet the boat to take us back. The “Oh sh*t!” man was also on our bus back home, but he was much quieter. I can only assume he tuckered himself out on the island. That night we ate some chocolate jell-o and watched two movies that had Rebel Wilson in them. We were so exhausted from all the walking that we wanted to stay up until 1 AM so we would sleep until noon the next day, and we did. 

31 August: We woke up at noon and we went to the Albert Heijn (the local grocery store) and bought fruit, chips, bread, and coffee. We made a picnic by the pond across the street and laid in the sun. We played Qwixx and The Princess Game (are you starting to realize what our favorite pastime is?). We stayed there for an hour or so and then I went into the city center by myself because Britt had some chores to get done. I went to a lot of the same shops I had been to in previous days and contemplated buying the same things I had spent the entire week contemplating buying. Alas, I did not spend any money, so again, I pat myself on the back. I did treat myself to some real gelato. It was coffee flavored and amazing. For dinner, we made dutch pancakes, which in The Netherlands is not a breakfast food, but instead is a dinner food and they put cheese on their pancakes! It was interesting, but good interesting. We watched another movie about Ibiza, Spain, which was very weird. Afterwards I facetimed Chloe and it was very nice!

1 September: Now it’s the first day of September and I am on the train to Nijmegen where I will stay with Malte and his family. I am so excited! It’s been a great first week in Europe and I am so excited for my future adventures!