One Month Later

Looking at the date, I realize that it has been a full month since I left Canada. I'd say "time flies when your having fun", but that's only half of the case. This month has been full of both extremely fun and very unpleasant times.

The good news is that Delft is just as charming as ever, I keep making new friends and, when I have the time, there is always the opportunity for fun. Whether it be strolling the streets of city center with some good friends and a camera, grabbing a beer at a pub, dancing at a club or hanging out at a party, there are plenty of great times to be had.

There are interesting events that go on in city center. Last weekend I was pleasantly surprised to find a carnival in the square in front of the New Church. After dinner and some drinks, my friends and I payed 5 euro each to ride the "Booster" (the tall ride in the picture). While this seems a bit expensive, it was worth it. I got a night view of Delft and surrounding area, and also an upside-down view as the seat flipped.

From August 30th to September 2nd, my faculty took the new masters students to Bunnik, which is out in the countryside near Utrecht. The location was great, and the weather turned out to be quite nice. As usual, I met people and had a lot of fun. However, it is in Bunnik that I got my first indication that things were going to get very difficult. Part of the program was to have our first few lectures for our core classes.... wow, that was a shocker! As it turns out, these classes are meant for people with a bachelor's in math, which I am don't have. After telling a couple of professors about my limited math background, one of them actually said "Well, you are going to have a lot of difficulties."

Luckily, my schedule is quite open. On Monday I have one two hour class, on Thursday there is a one hour class, Wednesday is the day of hell with four two hour classes, and then every other day is free. After my first full-day Wednesday, I truly grasped how much I need that "free time" to study. That was 8 hours of "Oh #$&*, I don't know anything! I am going to fail..." That Wednesday made me extremely homesick. It was the worst day I have had since I got here.

I am pleased to say that, even though I still have a long way to go, I feel much better already. I am grasping some of the concepts. That being said, I'm sure that my days will mostly be full of studying for the entire semester. I am hoping that the other semesters won't be as bad.

Other than classes being hard, there are a few things about being an international student that are difficult. For one, it wasn't until late last week that I was able to open my bank account. A bank card is required for many things, like getting a drink from coffee machines and reloading my printer balance at school. I got by with cash, but every time I need more cash from my Canadian bank account, its costs five Canadian dollars in bank fees. Of course, I also needed my Dutch bank account to be able to receive my scholarship money. The form is in, I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get the money by next week.

The other annoyance is that new students still have not received campus cards. Given that most of us are lacking some of the background knowledge for our math courses, sometimes we need library books to study from. Without a campus card, we cannot take them out. Also, without a campus card I can't get into my faculty building on the weekends, where I have an office. Luckily, with some help, I was able to retrieve my books from my office on a Saturday, even though the security guard didn't want to let me in the building.

So, to summarize, I definitely have mixed feelings right now. But, I can still say that I am happy to be here. As time goes on, things will get easier in many ways, and I'll always have great friends around.