Orientation in Groningen

The past two days I have been settling down in the netherlands. We did a two day orientation program to help us get introduced to the new city. The first thing that amazed me about Groningen was the amount of bikes. There are hardly any cars in the city, and there are thousands of bikers! Its so different than anything I've every seen but I absolutely love this way of life. Today we picked up our own bikes that we will be able to use for the next three weeks. After we picked up our bikes we explored the city. Its a very young area with tons of students. It also has many canals where people can row or kayak. My favorite part of today however was going to visit a seal rehabilitation center in the small town of Pieterburen. Its in the northernmost region of the country, nearby to the Wadden Sea. At the rehabilitation center we took a tour of the facilities. We learned how seals were rescued, cared for, and returned back into the wild. It was really neat seeing the seals in each stage of rehabilitation and how much the staff cared about helping the animals. After this long day we went out for dinner and drinks and relaxed into the night. I have only just met the students in my group two days ago, but the way we interact and get along it seems like we have been friends for years. Tomorrow is the first day of class so I'm heading to bed early tonight. I'm really looking forward to what I'll be learning tomorrow.

University of Groningen 

Bikes everywhere!