1st Full Day

We woke up Friday morning still without water and therefore a bit bummed out. It is just difficult to get to know a new place when you don't feel that you've really settled down there--a sense that showering and changing clothes helps to provide. But at least we were all in it together. So as a group we walked down to UCU in the morning for our DLC Orientation.

We arrived to a small breakfast which seemed strikingly familiar to the light-dinner we were served to prior evening, expect that croissants replaced bread next to the cold-cuts. Can't really complain, though. We all sat down to hear a quick orientation from our EAP Study Center Director Vivian, who is really the best. She is very personable and easy-going yet very meticulous and good at her job. One really feels that we are her top priority. Furthermore, she stresses that her job is simply to help, not police us. During her orientation she got a call on her cell-phone that our water had been turned on, so she decided to cut the rest of the orientation short so that we could go home and clean up. We all agreed.

After showering we just relaxed for a little while. A bit later in the afternoon we met Shady, a EAP alumnus who happens to be Vivian's daughter, for a practical walking tour of Utrecht. It was interesting and fun but I felt a little uncomfortable traveling in such a big group of American students. Nevertheless, she showed us where we can pick up groceries, a good bookstore, many great clubs/bars and more. Finally, she led us to and set us loose in the center of downtown Utrecht.

Brittany and I set out for dinner at a good Italian place, which we think we saw along Utrecht's most prominent canal 'de Oudegracht' (the old canal). Shady also thought we should check there for Italian. As we made our way back to de Oudegracht we ran into a number of EAP groups who were shopping for cell-phones at a number of downtown stores. We popped in quickly because we were also interested, but then just decided to wait. We set off by ourselves to find dinner.

On the way to de Oudegracht we began to second-guess our ability to actually sit down at a real restaurant and successfully order as well as tip. As a result we ducked quickly into HEMA, a BB&B type store, because we knew that they also had a good/cheap cafeteria. It was closed. We decided to wing it at the Italian.

We reached the canal and found the place we had noted earlier on the tour. It was actually down a flight of stairs, at the immediate level of the canal. In being off and below the street, it was quiet and intimate. Once inside the host greeted us in Dutch and I alerted him in English as to our situation. He flowed right into English and seated us with English menus.

All went well during the meal. Brittany got a pizza which turned out to be very good and I ordered spagh. puttanesca which was good, but too warm to actually taste. We didn't finish most of our food, but still wanted to take it home. That request took a few servers to decipher and we began to wonder whether we had offended someone, or if that just isn't common in the Netherlands. Eventually they understood and packaged our food.

Everything was a bit more expensive then we expected. And when we finally got our hands on the bill we were reminded that we weren't clear on customary tipping practice. I ended up having to go and ask the host whether or not I should leave tip on the table, considering it seemed to be included in the bill. He nicely and frankly advised me to do so without disrespecting the sincerity of my question. We tipped and left, but not before being stopped by the same host on the way out to add two small loaves of bread to our take-away. It was a very nice gesture which really colored our whole interpretation of what had been, at the time, a rather stressful experience.

A long walk back home because we didn't understand exactly which bus to take (about an hour walk) and then bed.