Today was the (unofficial) tour of Delft and a lecture from one of the professors at TU Delft! He told us all about the masters program at TU Delft, and how the courses are structured over the two years. After that, we all hopped on our bikes and went to the Delft Market!
Already, I'm noticing several differences between my hometown, Lacey, and the Netherlands. Some are obvious, like the language and the fact that this is Europe and not the US, but focusing on some specific things: it's clear just how bike friendly it is here. Honestly, I'd go so far as to say it's bike preferred here. The bike lanes are completely separated from the car traffic, save for some rare exception.
Another thing I've noticed is the people. While they are inherently very different from the Americans back home, there are some pretty small but noticable changes. For one, they're a weird mix of friendly and anti-social. Back home, everyone is in their own space and it goes without saying not to interact with others. In the Netherlands, strangers aren't itching to interact with strangers, but when the need arrises, they're incredibly kind and generous. While wandering around the market, Sophie and I chatted with several different people about various things, like how good sandwiches are or which cheese is the best cheese. At one point, Sophie was trying to mail a postcard home and a kind woman walked us through how to use the mailbox (and how to find it too). It felt so different to back home, much more like a community, where everyone goes about their day and existing around their neighbors, with an easygoing kindness to even people they don't know. Kindness and care aren't hard to come by in the US, but there are times when it feels like, in a room full of people, you really only can depend on yourself and the people you know. There has yet to be a point here when I feel like if I stopped someone for help, they would be unkind or brush me off. It's a new, good feeling.