After arriving in Alkmaar from Amsterdam Schipol Airport I arrived to the student accommodation where I was going to live for 5 months.  I've been friendly welcomed by the others foreign students, essentially Finnish, but also Dutch student that are living there longer. They explained me that living here was like a little family, there were commons dinners every first Monday of the month. One of the most important rules of the accommodation is to only SPEAK IN ENGLISH IN THE LIVING ROOM (as much as possible).

The week end of my arrival, many activities where proposed with the student coaches like a tour of the city with a guide, ice skating, dinner in an Italian restaurant called Taormina but also more funny bicycling to an old farmhouse typically Dutch where I could make my own cheese! Oh and of course I forgot to mention : drank various beers. That was really interesting 

I also learned quickly that I had to buy a bike as soon as possible because everything is made so that bike are priority sometimes even on the pedestrians.  

To summarize this  first week end showed me the typical culture of the Netherlands.

Here are some pictures : 

Jérémie