Zwolle-Zuid, Lessen, en de stad Urk

Despite having a lot to write about, I neglected you all of last week.  Last Monday marked the first day of introductory classes.  Since Dutch passport picture requirements are so much different than our own, we all set out on our bicycles for the photo shop.  Both groups got lost and probably broke every biking rule here.  Thankfully, our bike safety course was later that afternoon.  It's been going much better since.  :)

The group is already getting to know each other, with a myriad of different events during the week.  Monday night, we biked to Noelle's house to celebrate her birthday, met at various houses to figure out where people lived, scavenger hunted in the centrum, met up a few nights, etc.

The scavenger hunt was actually quite hard - there were so many difficult things to find!  A 1980 guilder, a specific perfume store with a city in its name, bags from 15 different stores, a picture in Kampen (a city 10-15 minutes away one way by train), a picture with the GH buddies wandering around, something starting with every letter of the Dutch alphabet, an English word used in everyday Dutch life, etc.  But we won! :)

I've been biking all over, with multiple trips from Zwolle-Zuid (South Zwolle, where I live) to the Gereformeerde Hogeschool to Zwolle Centrum to Stadshaagen (where Melodie and Nicole live).  I really love it, actually.  It's a great start to every day, and the fresh air is always welcome.

On Saturday, Nicole, Alicia, Melodie, and I went to Urk, an old fishing village about an hour away.  We found our way from the bus stop to the sea and walked along the coastline.  There's a few landmarks - a rock in the sea where babies come from according to an old tale, a Visser monument of a woman looking out to sea for all the fishermen who died, a picturesque lighthouse, several churches, and just a very old, beautiful town.  The written history goes back until year 966.  It was a wet, cold day so we walked by the sea, stopped in at De Kaap for some amazing koffie, walked some more, went inside the museum to warm up, took a tour with some nice people (more in a minute), went to a fish restaurant for lunch to warm up, etc.

There were several other people in the museum when we entered, and they kept looking at us funny.  I assumed it was because we were speaking in English.  We left and were looking at a map to plan out what else we wanted to see when they came up to us and invited us on a tour.  This married couple's grandma gave tours, and they were giving a tour to some friends from Wisconsin/Texas/Arizona/they-must've-moved-a-lot.  So we got in on a tour from a sweet 80-yr-old who had lived in Urk her entire life.

When we got home, I enjoyed a lovely evening with my Albert and Marja, talking, having wine and cheese, and watching a movie.