Now this is the post that I think you've all been waiting for. And partly for that reason and also because I've been incredibly busy, I haven't written much til now and I suspect that I'll be writing this post in pieces during downtimes (like now).
There are many things I want to say about Utrecht and of course they're jumbled in my head so bear with me if it feels jumpy.
First Impressions
As you might recall, I got a sneak preview of Utrecht when I first arrived in the Netherlands. During those 3 days my hosts and others showed me around the campus (De Uithof--pronounced D Idoff) and the city. Utrecht is a smaller city that feels very cozy and inherently european. The streets are often bricked or cobbled and the architecture is very different from in the US. Also, generally speaking, the dutch are friendly. There have been occasions when once I've revealed my accent, people immediately enquire where I'm from and what I'm doing here (made friends with a bus driver that way). It's nice and reminds me of being home because in Los Alamos and the US in general people are friendly. I found that isn't true in other countries during my euro-trip.
Bikes
Also as you've probably heard, there are lots of bikes. But really, there are LOTS of bikes. Stats show that there are more bikes than people in the Netherlands and I can certainly see why. One of the first things I set out to do once I moved into my apartment was buy a bike. Since I really don't know much about bikes and particularly about bikes that the dutch use (more on this later) I walked into a shop hoping that they could easily guide me through it. Instead, I spoke with an older gentleman who spoke english but not fluently and I'm not entirely sure how well we communicated. But in the end I picked out a nice somewhat rusty black bike with fixed gears and back pedal braking. Now, before I go further I think it's important for me to explain the difference in bikes here and the in the US. In the US I typically see people on road bikes, mountain bikes and crossovers. Some would say you also see hipsters on fixies. All of those bikes are fine but require the rider to hunch a little more and are more about going from one place to another. In the Netherlands, their focus on bikes is to be able to be comfortable and able to transport a number of things including people, groceries, giant bags etc. They also have mud slingers over the wheels because it rains here a lot and covers on the chains so that it requires much less maintenance. Fixed gears here make sense because the country is pretty much completely flat and they also require less maintenance and you don't have to worry about your gears breaking on your daily commute. The same goes for the back pedal braking. Now I do see the other bikes around but the bike I've purchased is a classic dutch bike. Also, I mentioned being happy about rust. That's because bike theft is incredibly common here and the less attractive the bike can be, the better. I'm hoping to decorate/paint my bike so it's easier to find in the parking (I'll take pictures soon to help you understand) and I've just gotten courier bags for the back of my bike and would like to get a basket in the front for easier transport of groceries.
I'm going to be lazy and make this my first post and then I'll add more every few days.
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