Last time I was tired from the jet-lag, but the next morning my sweet mum got me some sleeping medication that actually worked, so that problem was solved. I went to IKEA, bought some really awesome furniture and paid a ton to get it delivered to Middelburg. After a nice day of relaxing with my boyfriend on Wednesday, I went to Middelburg on Thursday to pick up my keys. I had to be there at ten, or something, so I had to get up at six in the morning! After some wandering about Middelburg, trying to find Bagijnhof, I got there and I got my keys. I was really excited to see my room and I was not disappointed: my room is awesome! It’s pretty big and there’s a huuuuge balcony so that’s all really nice. I didn’t have any furniture yet that afternoon so I just walked around Middelburg for a bit with my boyfriend and we actually found our way to the Albert Heijn and back, haha! Then in the evening my parents delivered the first load of stuff, but my first night here was actually pretty lonely. All those boxes weren’t really good company and I felt a little sad lying there in the empty room on my air mattress.

The next morning I had to get up early again because the furniture guys came knocking at the door! I was determined to be a brave women and fix all the IKEA furniture myself. I did it, but it took forever. Two hours for the table, two for the chair and one for the bed. Next time I’ll let my father do it, because seriously, those blisters are NOT cool. That evening I had dinner at a friends house and it was really nice – pasta. I have now learned that every student dinner consists of pasta, or.. pasta and oh yeah, pasta (: I don’t mind though, I actually really like it. Another night in my new room with a little more furniture and then it was Saturday – official moving day! My parents and boyfriend came over and carried all my stuff (looaaads of stuff) up the narrow stairs. After that long day of moving I was really happy! My room looked so much like home and all my red-and-white stuff made everything look really nice. After that I went home for the weekend and spend the Sunday at the boyfriend. I arrived home on Sunday evening at eleven, talked to some people in the house and fell in a deep and very nice sleep.

The next morning was the first day of intRAweek. We got our cool pink T-shirts, we met our family, had lunch and of course there was the first party. I’m not really a party person so I didn’t go to most of them and actually tried to get some sleep. This resulted in me being all bright and shiny in the morning while all my house mates and family members were either hangover or just really tired. What I remember very well was the next day. The next day was called ‘beach-day’, but ‘walking-to-the-beach-day’ would have been a better idea. We walked from eight in the morning to two in the afternoon, arrived at the beach, were there for half an hour and then went home again. Although the walking was really tiring I had a really nice day because of my awesome family. I learned a lot more about everyone and had some cool conversations, painted a flag and took a billion funny pictures. Oh and we also had to name a leaf. We found one, named him Richard and gave him an incredibly long life story which had a lot to do with the First World War and drinking whisky – I will spare you the rest of the story (:

The next day was academic day and I finally felt that I was in the right place. Lots of speeches and talks about how awesome the Roosevelt Academy is and after that we got to meet our tutor and received our schedules. I was so happy, I have all these really awesome art and literature courses and I was really excited to start! In the afternoon there was committee afternoon which was also really nice, after that we had a wonderful family dinner and then I finally got some sleep. Next day it was raining raining raining. We went to the library and I skipped the afternoon sports day because I went to Breda to celebrate my one year anniversary with my boyfriend. I got home at eight and then we went to prepare for the ‘Everything starts with a P-Party’. Our family decided to be presents and after working on them for at least four hours, we all looked really awesome. Sadly enough, it was also really late, so I went to the party, was there for two minutes, and then left.

Friday – the last day of our intRAweek. In the morning I went to buy my books at De Drukkery, was totally amazed by their coolness and spent some time reading them. Then I signed up for a few committees and around one the afternoon program started: Dutch games on the Market Square! It was a fun thing to do with your family and surprisingly our Finnish girl was actually really good at all the games, hihi. She and I went to get some ice cream after that and we also went grocery shopping at the Albert Heijn. In the evening there was a barbecue and we got our RASA certificates. We didn’t win the competition, but at least we didn’t lose either.. I left that same evening with two of my house mates and spend a wonderful weekend at home. Sunday evening I got back to Middelburg and soaking wet and shivering because of the terrible wind and rain (seriously, Zeeland!) I arrived at my house. There we had a house meeting and I was really happy to be in my own bed again that night.

Monday morning – first day of classes! I had to start at 8.45 with a literature class and I really enjoyed it. Also my rhetoric class was great with some awesome discussions about Dutch politics and, of course, Geert Wilders. After that I spend some time cleaning my room, doing laundry (I was so proud of this), organising school stuff, cooking and doing a huge amount of dishes. To bed in time and we arrive at this morning. Today I only have one class which starts at four, so that’s really nice. I have loads of time to do my first homework and I’m not stressed – yet. The homework is actually pretty cool since it’s mostly reading and I really like that, haha.

So, after not doing homework for an hour because I had to type this blog, I think it’s time to start again now. I’ll talk to you soon about my new Middelburg and Roosevelt Academy adventures!

Seriously – I’m the kind of girl who usually goes to bed at ten and sleep until eight, and that keeps me happy. No late night parties for Inge. I need my sleep, because I need the energy for things I do during the day. And now, I need that energy more than ever. Signing letters for the public transit card, taxes and rent, putting all my stuff in boxes and buying furniture at IKEA is a lot easier if you’re not terribly tired. Even though I loved buying all my red and white stuff at IKEA, I would have liked it a lot more if I wouldn’t have been yawning half of the time. And then there’s another matter of great importance: to paint or not to paint. Half of my Facebook-friends say that I can surely paint in a Bagijnhof house, yet the other half assures me that they’ve called Woongoed and that those guys wouldn’t give them permission. So before I’m buying paint, brushes and all that other stuff, I need to call Woongoed too, as soon as possible.

Yet, through all the sleep deprivation, life has to go on. I’ve packed everything – my room is disturbingly empty and I believe that it seriously echoes here. Tomorrow I’ll the spend the day and night at the boyfriend, and the next day, Thursday, I can finally pick up my keys to my new home! There, I have to find out about if there are any common pots and pans or whether I have to buy them myself. I also have to be able to find my way to the closest grocery store (Albert Heijn!) and do some of my first living-on-my-own-shopping. Then the boyfriend will return home and I will spend my first night at the apartment with nothing more than an air mattress to sleep on, since my real furniture will be delivered the next day by IKEA. Another night of sleepies at the house and then Saturday the family and boyfriend will bring all the boxes and then I will officially be living in Middelburg, and after that the IntRAweek will start.

However, first things first. Number one? Buying some sleeping medicine that actually works..

Thanks, everyone, for your support! (: