I have never been somewhere I didn't know at least one person. Even coming here I flew with two friends from NAU who were traveling to other parts of the Netherlands. So this is very new for me. When I got here, knowing absolutely no one, I was slightly miserable and very alone. It is so crazy how much people around you will affect who you are. Don't get me wrong, I love alone time. I love being by myself more than being with other people I think. But being in a new city where you couldn't call a friend even if you wanted to is not my type of life. And clearly I am very dependent on being around the comfort of other people for happiness (working on it), so it was really hard to adjust. It is kind of like kindergarten here, where you have to meet tons of new people at once and take in a ton all at once in this new curious environment. I knew in the back of my head 100% it would get better, but I felt very alone- because I was. But just like I knew it would it did. The first night here I met most of my roommates. I live in a house of 20-something really great international students. They are so fun, and so social, and they welcomed me with open arms. Most of them have been here for the whole year and are very close. They always are hanging out in the common area which makes it really easy to get to know them. That night we stayed up getting to know each other and I am so thankful for that. The next days that followed were orientation. At Leiden they do this amazing thing called OWL where you get a group and just do fun stuff all week with them. I am really lucky because my group is SO great. There isn't one person in the group that doesn't add to the good dynamic of everyone and it has been so fun being with them. We all definitely will remain friends and have continued to hangout outside of OWL.
I live in a city called Oegstgeest and my school is in the city next to it called Leiden. It is situated about 20 minutes by train away from Amsterdam, and looks very similar. People here don't drive cars much, so I bought the cutest bike and take it everywhere. This place is seriously beautiful everywhere you turn, and it is a college town so there is tons to do. The Netherlands is the perfect place to travel to different places, if you put AZ over a map of Europe you can fit Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, London, and parts of Germany and Switzerland in with ease (look at thetruesize.com, it is so cool you can see how big places really are haha). So it is really cool because all of these beautiful places are really close!
As of yesterday it felt like I hadn't slept for 2 years, but there wasn't ever a time where I felt like I wanted to miss out on time with my new acquaintances to sleep of course. Today I slept in until 3 pm (I am a person that wakes up at 7AM without an alarm clock on weekends if that explains how sleep deprived I have been haha), and am looking forward to school starting Monday. So far, I am so incredibly happy I am here, and love this beautiful little city in the Netherlands.