Today I write for the purpose of informing those whom I can't directly contact of my arrival into Europe. I landed at Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport around 1:15 PM Amsterdam time, 7:15 AM back at home. The most interesting part of my trip, I would say, was the nearly barren landscape I witnessed as I landed at Reykjavik/Keflavik, Iceland. This connection was fairly short, as my previous flight from Boston had been delayed quite a bit, but nevertheless I enjoyed the cool 50 degree weather as I stepped into the Icelandic air.
Upon arrival in Amsterdam, I retrieved my bags with ease and saw my friend Tim staring through the clear glass barrier separating customs from the arrival hall. I will be staying with him this week at his home in Bunnik to help me ease into European culture. This, so I've already seen, was a great decision. For instance, I basically walked through Dutch customs without anyone looking at my passport, my bags, or in my direction in general. After Tim reminded me that Iceland is a part of the European Union, I began to realize how great being in Europe really is. Having gone through security again upon my arrival in Iceland, it prevented me from having to go through customs in Amsterdam (although not having a Dutch stamp in my passport concerns me, given that it is required for all people in the country to have their passports on their person at all times in the case of being asked to present it). This conveyed to me the ease of travelling through different countries in the European Union, which I hope to do while I am here.
Jetlag has been nearly nonexistent thus far, since I had a rare success of resting on the way over. I've already ridden by bike to see where Tim will be studying at Medical School. We also experienced our first difficulty of the trip. We tried plugging in my Xbox 360 via the adapter and it fried the fuse. We thought it was just a bad one and tried it again downstairs, and blew another one. With the electrical expertise of Tim's father Jos, he was able to fix it, however I will not know for some time whether or not my 360 survived it, or whether or not it will work in Germany. The voltage here in Europe is much different than in the US. Hopefully it did survive, more to come on that later, you would understand if you played videogames like I do.
Our week is jam packed, with a possible beach trip tomorrow to The Hague to begin the festivities. We will visit some of his friends from around the country, and even revisit some of my old German friends whom I met in high school. The week has only begun, and I'm looking forward to sharing all the experiences with you. Until next time in the Netherlands!
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