Arriving to the Netherlands

On 6th of April, 2019, I got on a plane from Helsinki and, via Stockholm, flew to Amsterdam. I'm fairly used to traveling, but it's always a weird experience not to be able to understand most of the signs and speech around you - although admittedly knowing English and some Swedish and German CAN help with understanding Dutch. Not fully, obviously, but some words here and there at least.

At the airport my first plan was to go to the information point and ask them what would be the easiest way to get to Groningen, but the line was so long I decided to put my trust in Google Maps instead. And with that, I made my way to the train station - located conveniently within the airport. I even bought my ticket through the ticket machine to avoid long queues, though I did use an information point within the station to ask which platform I needed to take. I'm sure where would have been billboards with the required information as well, but sometimes it's nice to actually talk to someone else. But all in all, buying the ticket and getting on the right train was pretty easy, albeit quite costly.

And then I arrived to Groningen. I did feel a little bit intimidated by everything, as there was a language barrier and this was the first time I've ever been to the Netherlands, but the city itself seemed very pretty to me right from the start. I had the address for my new home (for the next five weeks), and Google Maps is very helpful these days, even pointing me to the right bus platform to go to. Getting the bus was easy too, although it's a bit funny - some buses here ONLY take cards, and some buses ONLY take cash. This bus took card payment, and the text on the screen flashed in Finnish, which seemed really hilarious to me at the time.

So, with the help of Google Maps, I found the right neighbourhood. It's a little bit off from the city centre (about 4 kilometres) and where I work, but honestly, the area itself is quite nice, so I'm not disappointed by that.

I found the apartment through Airbnb, and the host, Tineke, was quite friendly from the start, even during the original messaging online. She introduced me to the house, and to my own two rooms at the top floor. It IS an older house so anyone expecting a palace would get disappointed, but having spent a lot of nights at cheap hostels, I think it's more than fine.

The rest of the Saturday and Sunday was spent walking around the area where the apartment is located. Coming from Oulu, where there was still snow on the ground when I left, to Groningen really highlighted the fact that spring is in full bloom here.

And my first impression of the people in Groningen? Everyone is super friendly, and practically everyone will at least try to speak English with you, even if they say they aren't very good at it.

I guess it's easy to be happy when your surroundings look like this.