Queensday

So Queensday, April 30 is like a awesome party all across the country, and is apparently the only day you are supposed to fly a flag out front (with an extra orange banner). This Queensday I had the opportunity to move to Venlo.

Driebergen
So I started Queensday in Driebergen with my second cousins, where I had been staying for two nights since I had arrived in the Netherlands. Almost everything was closed, except one grocery store, Albert Hejin (as far as I can tell the largest chain grocer here). So Selma brought me there by bike, I borrowed Nadine's, and it was still too tall for me! So, we went to the store because it was assumed that it would be hard for me to find open stores once I was in Venlo.

On the way back, we went by the park and town hall. There were Queensday celebrations. There were orange balloons, and you attach an envelope to them with return postage, and everyone releases them at the same time (we missed this part because the speaker was taking FOREVER). But whoever's balloon makes it the farthest wins a prize, so you hope it will get to Germany or France (Selma said they never get too far). There were also tons of people selling their stuff, it was like a giant flea market/garage sale.

Venlo
After shopping and tea Andy drove me to Venlo. It was about an hour and half from their place. Andy was very nice and called the landlord for me, and stuck around as he showed me the place. I will post pictures of my humble abode soon :)

My house
So basically there are two parts to my house, one has 10 students and the other 4. I live in the section with 4 students. In my section there is a shower, toilet and kitchen (that is shared by the 4 of us). I need to go to the other side to use the washer and dryer, and there is also free bike parking (bike parking is always free haha), but this is in the locked backyard. In my room, which is probably similar in size to a single college dorm (maybe even a tad bigger!) I have a desk, small couch, wardrobe, bed, and sink in my room.

The kitchen is an interesting place. There is pretty much every appliance you can want in a kitchen, well not crazy outlandish ones. But definitely more then I was expecting in a student house, microwave, toaster oven, toaster, rice cooker, and more that I can't remember, because I am simple and those are the ones I would want. Also, the contents of the kitchen are interesting. Butter? Check. Dried out cheese? Check. Ketchup and other sauces? Check. A box full of garlic and onions? Check.

Here are some pictures of my room, I've already made a mess

Shopping and Etc
So my internet didn't work right away, the ethernet cord didn't work. So I decided to venture into the world of Venlo and see if i could possibly find ANYTHING open to buy a new one. I started at the train station, which is just a stones throw from my house (if you can throw a curve-stone hardcore). And with no luck, and a very disappointing convenience store, I decided to follow the helpful signs to the VVV(tourist info). I made it there, after a very round-about way, to find it closed. Luckily I found the main shopping street (it is a pedestrian street, not even any bikes) and like a miracle, there were tons of stores open.

I was able to find a couple of other things I needed, like hand-soap. and tea. I also stumbled upon what I made out to be a main square and a park, and there seemed to be some queensday activities. I don't mean to chirp Venlo. But after being in Amsterdam last year and Utrecht on Queensnight, and even Driebergen that morning, I was underwhelmed with the orange to other color ratio going on. Apparently, Queensday is less of a big deal here then in other parts of Holland. So I window shopped for shoes and phones.

Here was a bit of the stuff going on for kids in Venlo

Internet
I got my internet working and I was super duper excited! Its a corded internet, so I am in a very uncomfortable position on my bed to make it reach. I then checked email/updated my family and had a quick bite (cheese and bread, will it ever get old :) )
I ventured outside again with the hopes of buying some flowers (my room came with 4 identical vases) but to my dismay everything was closed and empty. :( So I packed it in early, because I knew I had a BIG day tomorrow (first day of work)