Never Netherland

The (Pseudo)Triathlon:

Running

I went for a run after we had a “major orientation” the first night that we were in Oisterwijk. There is a lake and some rivers that are right near where we are. Where we are staying now is by far the most rural area we have been in. Yet, against my common perception, it is not a poorer area. There are many well to do people in the area; I know this because there are Porsche cars in the driveways of the houses, and the houses are elegant. This does not mean that they are all that large, but rather nice looking. I have gotten to run during the middle of the day, (and jump in the lake afterwards) and at night, watching bats swooping for the mosquitos that plague the area, and in the refreshingly brisk mornings. Biking around I even saw a house that was almost completely tinted glass with a rather large fountain on the outside.

Biking

On Saturday we had time off after our test for International Trade and Finance, so we went on a long bike ride. I guess I better back up and mention that we have bikes! They are not the lightest, or quickest bikes ever, but they are nice. They have a locking mechanism that prevents the back wheel from rotating that you can engage with a key. They have front and rear lights that are motion powered. One of the most perplexing parts of the bike is that they are 7 speed bikes, but yet they seem to be lacking a derailer. We used these machines to cross the border into Belgium. The mission was to get some Belgium waffles. With the direction of maps, my GPS, and locals we were able to make it there in a decent amount of time. As famished as we were, the waffles could have been horrible and we would have loved them. Even if we had no bias due to our hungry state, the waffles still would have been delicious I'm sure. There was fresh melted Belgium chocolate, light and fluffy whipped cream, ice cream and ripe strawberries that filled each crisp and savory waffle compartment. Then we had to ride back...

Swimming

One of the many lakes in the area has a water park connected to it. It is like nothing we have in the states. There is a swimming area in the lake, then there is a pool that has a diving board, water slide, paddle boats, volleyball nets and other fun things to do. One of the best parts though is that there are few rules. The water slide is rather wide, so we went down 4 or 5 of us at a time. There were maybe 4-500 people on a given day at the water park. We are told we are fortunate the weather is not rainy and cold. It has been humid and hot, perfect for fun in the sun.

Soccer

Watching the Netherlands beat Brazil was quite an experience. In the pub that we watched it at there were so many locals who were singing some wordless anthem (it is good for me, because it is much easier to learn a simple tune than it is to learn a song in Dutch). There is another giant screen in Tilburg which is a city near Oisterwijk that is between a 20-50 minute bike ride away (I know the time gap is rather large, but there are too many factors that influence that estimate). We are hoping to possibly make it to Amsterdam for the final match vs. Spain! What a dream come true. Everything is painted orange, which is a strange national color because it does not show up on their flag. But apparently it has something to do with William of Orange...