Angie van Bemden, Recepient 2003
University of Miami, School of Education, Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences
Host University, Catholic University of Nijmegen, University Medical Center, Department of Physiology

Angie:
I would never put mayonnaise on fries back home, but here I do not eat them without it. Eigh-yeigh-yeigh, the food is delicious, or as my Dutch friends would prefer to hear me say- LEKKER!) I am still searching for the courage to try the herring and eel. It may take the entire period of time that I am here before I muster enough bravado to do so.

Greetings from Nijmegen! I have been taking advantage of the Dutch hospitality for a little more than two weeks now. Everyone I have met has been more than amicable- it was hard to believe at first that all visitors received the smile and warm welcome that I had been receiving everywhere I went. I suppose that I was a bit arrogant at first as I felt that I was receiving extra special treatment and that the Dutch didn’t honestly treat everyone as agreeably as they were me. I am now aware and humbly admit that I am not extra special. Instead, Dutch people are extra special in that it is innate for them to greet everyone with a kind smile and more than a willingness to help.

I have been out exploring and asking for directions quite a bit since my arrival. Since my first day, everyone has provided more than mere directions for whatever my inquiry. For example, on the day of my arrival, I surprisingly received a friendly police escort from the town center to the room which I am renting (at least 20 minutes away from the center). I had only asked for directions and gratefully the police responded by motioning for me to get in, stating that they would take me there. I was more than thankful for their exceptional assistance. Additionally, when I asked a lady whom was waiting next to me at a café for suggestions as to which was the best pancake house in town to try, she took me by the hand, led me outside, down to the corner, turning right, walking halfway to the next block until she was able to point directly to a pancake house situated on the river, and then she said, nodding her head contently, “dat is goed”. That same evening I ate there and she was right, “it was good.”

I do not want to say that my appetite has increased, but I do know that my cravings have indeed. Gluttonously, I have been succumbing to most of my cravings. In addition to trying the town’s best pancakes I have also tried the delights of just about every cheese stand, every frites stand, every kibbeling stand, every stroopwaffle stand, etc. I know that we have fries and fish in South Florida and I usually say no to any cravings for them, but it is too difficult to say no and resist temptation here. Everything just tastes so much better here. I would never put mayonnaise on fries back home, but here I do not eat them without it. Eigh-yeigh-yeigh, the food is delicious, or as my Dutch friends would prefer to hear me say- LEKKER! (I am still searching for the courage to try the herring and eel. It may take the entire period of time that I am here before I muster enough bravado to do so).

Fortunately for my waistline, Dr. Hopman, the professor with whom I am working at the university, allowed me to borrow her bike for the duration of my stay. I know that I will never forget the first time I rode her bike home. It was an entertaining ride home to say the least. I smiled and laughed the entire way home. You see, Dr. Hopman (as well as every Dutch male and female I have seen here) is much taller than I. Likewise, her bike was quite a bit taller than I. Furthermore, the bike had more years and rust than I and thus we were unable to lower the seat that night. Regardless, I still had to use it in order to return home that evening. Thus, I rode it standing the entire way, swaying my buttocks from side to side in order to avoid increasing the pain I was experiencing between my legs from riding a bike that was just too high. It was indeed a delightful journey home. In addition to the seat being too high, the chain was also old and continuously slipped. Each time I would apply resistance and try to peddle faster in order to gain momentum for biking uphill (if you do not believe there are hills in the Netherlands- just visit Groesbeek, it has MANY hills) the chain would slip and I would fall hard on the seat (I’ll have to check with my doctor when I get home in order to see if I may still have children one day?). I still do not know how I rode home that cold, windy night before having my borrowed old bike repaired at the bike shop (nor do the gentlemen at the bike repair shop). I didn’t walk normally with my legs together for a week. I still laugh when I think of that first experience riding home. I could go on and on about the enjoyable experiences I have taken part in while working and exploring here. Most importantly, I am having a terrific time entertaining myself and those around me! This weekend I will explore Maastricht as I am invited to a professor’s family house there.