I wasn’t really excited about moving to Groningen. People don’t ask you where the hell is the Netherlands, as they did with Malta. The country is not small enough it still shows in the world map. And considering the our long history, it’s not uncommon to find so many Indonesian people, and Indonesian tokos, and Dutch people who speak Indonesian. This place is just too familiar for most of us. And that, in some ways, made me feel less special. Sort of.

I wasn’t really happy during my first weeks here, I thought I would never fit in. It was freezing cold and it rained every day. I hated my status as a student of Faculty of Arts. My apartment was so far from the university, after a few minutes of biking I felt pain on my left knee. I don’t live in a student house, which means I have no one to talk to at home. Strange as it may sound, those days I missed being around people.

After one month, things are better now, so much better they’re almost good. I can bike from apartment to university in 20 minutes without knee pain. In fact, yesterday I biked for 4 hours in total and it felt good. But it’s so hard to feel anything but good when it’s 27 C out there.

Sunday morning is now my favorite time of the week. There’s this field just behind my neighborhood (I never noticed before since I always have to go to the opposite direction) and I’ve never seen such a breathtaking view as when the sun has just risen there.

I never knew I loved foggy mornings, and biking alone, and biking with friends, and cooking for people. I never knew there are so many things to be happy with.

We said that we would never fit in
When we were really just like them

- The Ataris – So Long Astoria