First Day of Classes

The first day of classes started like any other first day of classes, except this time I was in another country. I woke up in the hostel next to a complete stranger (again) and started my day.
After I had eaten and prepared myself for the big day, I debated between riding the bus or taking my bike. I was thinking about taking the bus because it was 1 degree Celsius and I was feeling very lazy at the time but I decided to fight the cold and ride my bike. The ride to HU (Hogeschool Utrecht) takes about 20 minutes at a brisk speed. These are Euro bikes, so a "brisk speed" isn't very fast.

I had only been to HU by bike once and I was following a group of classmates, so I didn't pay much attention to where I was going. This time though, I found myself stuck behind a group of about 15 people who were all wearing backpacks. So, I figured they were students and decided to follow them. Luckily they were and leaded me directly where I needed to be.

Finding my class was not as easy as finding the University. I often walk into the wrong class at WMU let alone an entirely new set of buildings and hall structures. The Hogeschool Utrecht FEM building (Faculty of Economics and Management) is a beautifully constructed modern work of art (I will upload pictures later). The inner workings of the building are much like that of a labyrinth. Almost every floor is on a slpoe and each floor has a sub floor or a half floor assosiated with it. The place literally looks like a maze.

When I thought I was simply going to give up looking and walk back to the front receptionist and ask for directions, I saw a fellow classmate who I'd met a few days earlier. She informed me that she knew where the classroom was located and asked if I was lost. of course, I played it cool and told her that I also knew where the classroom was but just wanted to check out the rest of the building. She bought it.

We entered the class a few minutes late with some Dutch students and took a seat in the middle of of the lecture hall. This particular classroom was set up like any other small lecture hall I had visited in the past; stadium style seating, small tables that pull out to write on, projector in the front along with a small podium, etc.

As we began the first lecture, or as my fellow Dutch students say "List day" which refers to the syllabus, I started to settle into the seat as if I were back in the states. The professor spoke about how difficult it is to get the correct number of books ordered for the class, how he doesn't like the setup of the University's web access, and made a few jokes about people walking in late and sleeping in class.

The lecture continued for about an hour. In that hour we touched on a few main points the course will cover and started discussing topics that were familiar to me. I even shared my opinion a few times. For the first time in 4 days I felt completely comfortable in another country...