After going through customs and getting my luggage, I knew I needed to get a train ticket to Holland Spoor, which is the stop for The Hague University. After playing with the ticket machine for a while with no luck, I spotted two girls who looked like they had just as much stuff as I did, and were possibly having more trouble with the ticket machine than I was. Praying to God they were exchange students in the same program as me, I nonchalantly stood behind them hoping I could watch and see how to get a ticket. Right when I came up behind them, they turned to me and told me I could go in front of them, thinking I had a clue as to what I was doing. We got to talking and found out we were all exchange students going to the same university! I was so happy I think I might have cried but at that point it was 4 a.m. east coast time so I might have been delusional. Sarah and Maddie are both students at Colorado State University and are studying business at The Hague University. Once we got introductions out of the way, we decided to talk to an actual human being rather than try using a machine, and eventually got our tickets. We caught a train and a girl who looked to be our age commented on our amount of luggage. After telling her we were studying abroad for six months, hence the excessive amount of luggage, we got to talking and found out Khadijah and her two friends are all students at The Hague! However, I was skeptical because immediately Khadijah said she would watch our luggage once we got off the train and went to get our keys, so we wouldn't have to haul our luggage everywhere. In my mind I was thinking GYPSY!!!!! YOU ARE A GYPSY AND ARE GOING TO STEAL MY STUFF! Simply because she was wearing a head scarf and I had Megan McCawley's warning ringing in my head to watch out for the gypsies. Turns out Khadijah is actually just an extremely nice person (rare to find in the United States) who offered to walk with us to the DUWO to get our apartment keys, and then to our apartments to drop off our luggage. Counting our lucky stars we had someone who actually knew where they were going, we got off the train and went to the DUWO to get our keys. Once we got our keys, we hopped on the tram to go to my apartment first because I was closer and drop off my bags.
Well. We got to my apartment and none of the six keys they gave me worked. So we rang the buzzer and Khadijah asked them in Dutch if they would buzz us in. Once we climbed the two flights of stairs with all my luggage to my apartment, I again tried all six of the keys to open the door to my apartment. No luck. We decided to go to Sarah and Maddie's apartment so we could put our stuff down and then come back and try the keys again. At this point I knew I was missing orientation but I figured figuring out if I was going to be homeless or not was more important. Once we got back to my apartment again, we tried the keys thinking for some reason it would work this time. Of course not. At that point we hadn't eaten all day and were starving, but first we needed to find a place to exchange our dollars to euros. Khadijah had left once our stuff was safely in Sarah and Maddie's room, so we were on our own. Three hours later, cold, starving, and looking like typical tourists as we ask every English speaking person where we can exchange money and being pointed in a different direction every time, we see a Western Union looming in the light like a gift from God. After exchanging money and grabbing some food (pizza because we aren't ready to embrace the culture just yet) and wine, we decide to try my keys for the third time. After being buzzed in we walk up the steps and look in the window and see an Asian man in my apartment. Now I was thinking either I have an Asian man for a roommate or I'm homeless. Either way it's not looking too good. I decided to knock on the door to see if he was actually living there. Once we quickly realized he didn't really speak English but was definitely living there, we decided to try the apartment next to his because I was getting desperate. Surprise! My keys worked to that apartment and I realized they just wrote the wrong number down on my keys. Because that is not entirely inconvenient at all. Then I met my two roommates, Mary who is from Normandy, France, and Estelle who is from South Korea. Sarah and Maddie helped me move my stuff in and then we went to buy some essentials like towels and a straightener (I mean we are girls) at what we considered to be a Target, and explored a bit. Target, even in the Netherlands version of you I can't walk out empty handed. Bravo. After that we all went back to our respective apartments, sans Asian man thank goodness, and crashed.
If you got through this entire story without falling asleep, congrats! I owe you a drink when I get back.
Well. We got to my apartment and none of the six keys they gave me worked. So we rang the buzzer and Khadijah asked them in Dutch if they would buzz us in. Once we climbed the two flights of stairs with all my luggage to my apartment, I again tried all six of the keys to open the door to my apartment. No luck. We decided to go to Sarah and Maddie's apartment so we could put our stuff down and then come back and try the keys again. At this point I knew I was missing orientation but I figured figuring out if I was going to be homeless or not was more important. Once we got back to my apartment again, we tried the keys thinking for some reason it would work this time. Of course not. At that point we hadn't eaten all day and were starving, but first we needed to find a place to exchange our dollars to euros. Khadijah had left once our stuff was safely in Sarah and Maddie's room, so we were on our own. Three hours later, cold, starving, and looking like typical tourists as we ask every English speaking person where we can exchange money and being pointed in a different direction every time, we see a Western Union looming in the light like a gift from God. After exchanging money and grabbing some food (pizza because we aren't ready to embrace the culture just yet) and wine, we decide to try my keys for the third time. After being buzzed in we walk up the steps and look in the window and see an Asian man in my apartment. Now I was thinking either I have an Asian man for a roommate or I'm homeless. Either way it's not looking too good. I decided to knock on the door to see if he was actually living there. Once we quickly realized he didn't really speak English but was definitely living there, we decided to try the apartment next to his because I was getting desperate. Surprise! My keys worked to that apartment and I realized they just wrote the wrong number down on my keys. Because that is not entirely inconvenient at all. Then I met my two roommates, Mary who is from Normandy, France, and Estelle who is from South Korea. Sarah and Maddie helped me move my stuff in and then we went to buy some essentials like towels and a straightener (I mean we are girls) at what we considered to be a Target, and explored a bit. Target, even in the Netherlands version of you I can't walk out empty handed. Bravo. After that we all went back to our respective apartments, sans Asian man thank goodness, and crashed.
If you got through this entire story without falling asleep, congrats! I owe you a drink when I get back.
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