I am wrapping up my first week of life in Maastricht! Last Friday, I arrived in Amsterdam, where I met Caspar Pompe, from district 1550, who took me to his home in Nijmegen for lunch and to meet his family, and then helped me get settled into my new apartment.I spent my first weekend exploring this beautiful city, walking through the parks, and seeing the river. I have to admit, Maastricht is a great place to be. I will definitely be putting pictures up from around town from time to time.
I was happy to also pick up a bicycle to really get around the city efficiently and, definitely, like the Dutch do.
However, the biggest part of my first week was Inkom. Before arriving I assumed Inkom was just an introduction to the University. Like back home, I assumed that I would hear from professors, see the library, tour the campus, and do some "icebreakers" but, as you can see in the picture above, Inkom is very different from introduction week back home. Inkom was a week long party with thousands of new students, live bands, djs, and also workshops.
There were really two events from Inkom that stick out in my mind. The first was a Masters' Student Wine Tasting and Dinner. Not only was the food amazing, but the event also took place in a gorgeous old church right on the town square!
The other amazing event was what I'm told is a Dutch Tradition called Cantus. Basically, this is another huge party with over 1000 people all singing together and throwing beer on one another. I wish I had pictures, but I with so much beer flying around the room, I didn't want my camera to get soaked. Either way, I think I've found my favorite Dutch tradition!For this coming week, I have Graduate School Orientation, which I assume will be much more business and much less party than Inkom, but either way, this past week has been a great start to my year abroad.
