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I have been here in Nijmegen for almost one week. The city is very nice and beautiful, with old houses and tree-lined streets everywhere. The weather is not too bad, although it rains a little every day (or at least every day so far!) My house is pretty and bright. There are lot of windows so during the day, I don't even have to turn on any lights. I posted some pictures of it in the photo albums. This morning, I tried to mow my grass with the mower in the shed. It was one without a motor and mowing did not go well. I worked for over 1 hour to mow the tiny yard, and still didn't get it all mowed. Obviously, the former resident of the house did not mow the grass for several weeks and that old mower just really wouldn't cut through it. I did manage to get it somewhat mowed, or at least mashed down so it temporarily looks shorter. Look at the pictures and let me know if you think it looks any better post-mowing!
I got a bicycle so now I can really see the city. I also feel more like I really live here with a bicycle. Everyone else drives bicycles everywhere, so I feel a little less out of place now that I have one, too! Today, I rode down to the city center and the parked the bike and walked around. It was very nice - a lot like Charlottesville, where I used to live, except bigger. The whole center is closed to cars and you walk on brick-paved streets. There are lots of stores and cafes where people sit outside and drink coffee. I may go back there tonight and eat dinner (if I feel brave enough to eat alone!) I have found that the Dutch people must be the world's biggest consumers of coffee. Everywhere you go, there is coffee. At work, we have 2 coffee breaks every day where everyone sits down and drinks it together. I really enjoy the coffee breaks, though, even though I am not such a big coffee drinker. Everyone speaks mostly in Dutch, but I am trying to listen and learn the language. Most of the time, I have no idea what they are saying, but I am starting to recognize a few words. Next week, I start a Dutch class for exchange students and I hope that will help me communicate better. I also hope I can meet some other exchange students there so I will know a few more people! The university has an international student club and they hosted a whole week of orientation activities for the exchange students, but it was last week and so I missed it! They meet for dinner every week on Tuesday, so I plan to go this week and see if I can find any other Americans.
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