Donderdag

Last second day in the hospital. I am freaking out. I am typing this while waiting for the others for the morning report. During this whole month, I've always been waking up at 5 AM, which is very early for people in here (since the sky just turns bright at around 8 AM). I bike to the hospital which takes around 20 - 30 minutes. I always wear at least three layers of clothing with my beanie and gloves because the weather is always around 6 - 8 degree Celcius in the morning. I complain about it to my friends and doctors almost every day. All they say is like, 'Nah, it's normal'. So, yea, I think it is just me.

Talking about the bike, a lot of thing happened in a month. First of all, I lost my bike on my FIFTH day in Groningen. I was all panicked. Who wouldn't? It was borrowed to me by a kind senior and it disappeared. I remembered I cried for like an hour or two. I asked some random men around the parking zone about to whom should I report if I lost my bike. And they just replied: 'If it's gone, it's gone.'

***It's 9 PM now. I just had kaasbroodje, rice cakes, and tuna salad for my supper. Yea. Sigh.

Where were we? Oh. The bike. Ok. So, I also told my intern friends that I'd be late that morning and asked them to tell the doctors about my situation. One respond I remembered the best is: 'Welcome to Groningen! That's the real Dutch experience!' Well.... I then concluded that I should just move on and find a new bike for myself.

Biking is the most favorite means of transportation in Groningen. You can see many bicycles parking here and there. There are bicycle lanes throughout the city with traffic lights especially for cyclists. That basically explains why losing bicycle is a very common thing. It's so ordinary that even if you report it to the police, they won't bother to help much.

Luckily enough, I could borrow a bicycle from another senior the next morning. I  ended up paying some cash to the first senior to make up for my carelessness. My story didn't end there. So the second thing is: Just a few days ago, my bike's front tire started to keep losing air. I pumped it back and forth but the same thing just happens again. So I walked all the way from home to the hospital which is 3 km away. I am just going to take the bus tomorrow!

This morning, I was in the outpatient clinic with a professor. I always love tagging along with him. It's like I've never met someone with such title who is very warm, kind, humble... alles goed!!! I am so glad to have a picture with him! It really made my day! My supervisor is also a really nice woman. I just feel grateful to meet everyone here.

Self-reminder: Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.

Signing off, 

Stevanie.