My First Week
So I've now been in the Den Haag for a week and had some time to get a little more comfortable. I've got my OV Chipkart which is kinda like a Presto pass and is used for all of the transit in the Netherlands. I take the tram to work everyday. I've at least figured out where some things are in the grocery store, although I still get overwhelmed by all the Dutch. I've gotten used to having to watch out for bikes on the red path and I'm slowly but surely memorizing the map of the Hague.
I mentioned in last week's post that all of the interns seem really great - and that feeling still stands. Thursday Night Drinks (or TND for short) is a pub night organized by the Hague Intern Association for every Thursday. I went last week and it was a lot of fun meeting all the new interns - apparently quite a few Canadians came in the week before me! I only stayed for a bit though - still trying to rest and recover.
On Friday the two other new interns on my team, Brendan and Ze-Emanuel, and I made plans to go have drinks after work. It was 4 o'clock, and while still fairly cold, it was sunny. However by 5:30 it was a complete and utter downpour. We got completely soaked walking to the bar!!! I'm pretty sure my Sperry's had puddles inside. But it was nice to get to know one another a little more and I had a good time once I started to dry off and warm up.
Saturday I took it easy - walked to the Centrum (the downtown of the Hague) by myself to go get a Dutch SIM card and get my phone set up (my number is: +31 062-845-5168, and I now have what's app - so add me!). In the evening I went for sushi with my new roommates, which was quite a lot of fun! They are a great group of girls and it is always fun comparing cultures and food and education when everyone comes from such a different place. We also got Natasha to use chopsticks and try sushi for the first time!
Yesterday Effie and I took the train into Amsterdam for the day. I really wanted to visited the Rijksmuseum which has just reopened following some serious renovations. It was very busy (although I don't think anything could ever beat the Louvre in July...) but I still enjoyed it - you know me and museums... They didn't have as many paintings by Rembrant,Vermeer etc as I thought they would, so I'm going to have to find some more museums to visit (good thing I bought my Museumkart which gets me into every museum in the Netherlands).
After the museum, Effie and I spent the rest of the afternoon slowly wandering back towards the train station and did a little shopping. I ended up finding a North Face jacket on sale that I bought because it has been so cold and rainy - great buy right? So of course that meant today was nearly 20 degrees, NOT WINDY, and WITHOUT A CLOUD IN THE SKY. I actually got HOT walking home! Now if only I had a bbq....
Oh - and just an update for those wondering about my neck - I'm doing just fine. I have almost all movement back and I'm down to only 1 Advil every 4-5 hours. Checking my 'blindspot' is still a bit of an issue and tying shoes is also pretty difficult, but hey, things are looking up!
I mentioned in last week's post that all of the interns seem really great - and that feeling still stands. Thursday Night Drinks (or TND for short) is a pub night organized by the Hague Intern Association for every Thursday. I went last week and it was a lot of fun meeting all the new interns - apparently quite a few Canadians came in the week before me! I only stayed for a bit though - still trying to rest and recover.
On Friday the two other new interns on my team, Brendan and Ze-Emanuel, and I made plans to go have drinks after work. It was 4 o'clock, and while still fairly cold, it was sunny. However by 5:30 it was a complete and utter downpour. We got completely soaked walking to the bar!!! I'm pretty sure my Sperry's had puddles inside. But it was nice to get to know one another a little more and I had a good time once I started to dry off and warm up.
Saturday I took it easy - walked to the Centrum (the downtown of the Hague) by myself to go get a Dutch SIM card and get my phone set up (my number is: +31 062-845-5168, and I now have what's app - so add me!). In the evening I went for sushi with my new roommates, which was quite a lot of fun! They are a great group of girls and it is always fun comparing cultures and food and education when everyone comes from such a different place. We also got Natasha to use chopsticks and try sushi for the first time!
Yesterday Effie and I took the train into Amsterdam for the day. I really wanted to visited the Rijksmuseum which has just reopened following some serious renovations. It was very busy (although I don't think anything could ever beat the Louvre in July...) but I still enjoyed it - you know me and museums... They didn't have as many paintings by Rembrant,Vermeer etc as I thought they would, so I'm going to have to find some more museums to visit (good thing I bought my Museumkart which gets me into every museum in the Netherlands).
After the museum, Effie and I spent the rest of the afternoon slowly wandering back towards the train station and did a little shopping. I ended up finding a North Face jacket on sale that I bought because it has been so cold and rainy - great buy right? So of course that meant today was nearly 20 degrees, NOT WINDY, and WITHOUT A CLOUD IN THE SKY. I actually got HOT walking home! Now if only I had a bbq....
Oh - and just an update for those wondering about my neck - I'm doing just fine. I have almost all movement back and I'm down to only 1 Advil every 4-5 hours. Checking my 'blindspot' is still a bit of an issue and tying shoes is also pretty difficult, but hey, things are looking up!
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