First Day in the Netherlands

One grey morning

 So last year I applied for an NFP scholarship to attend a course at RNTC, Hilversum, The Netherlands.

Long story short, my scholarship application was accepted, and here I am, just went through the first week of my stay.

I arrived in Amsterdam on Saturday, May 8th. My flight was set on the previous day with a transit to Kuala Lumpur, before heading to the capital of the Netherlands. 

It was the longest flight I’ve had and it was my first journey to Europe.  I feel ecstatic despite the fact that I know it’s going to be exhausting.

I arrived in Schiphol at 6.45 in the morning. The airport is informative, with clear signage and announcement that will help you to find the luggage carousel and the checking points. What's surprising is that the passport and visa checking wasn’t  as scary as I thought, that in my opinion, checking point at Asian countries such as Singapore, Japan and even Indonesia are more painstaking. You know, aside from stamp in my passport, I got an extra smile from the immigration officer. Welkom in Nederland!

Inside Schiphol

A driver picked me up at the airport's meeting point. He said that the trip to the hotel would take about 45 minutes. I got out of Schiphol and found that it was one chilly grey morning. It was cloudy and raining at the same time. Amsterdam wasn’t in its best mood.

The forty-five minutes trip didn’t really feel long because the view was astonishing. My eyes were pampered with beautiful greeneries. Plus, there wasn’t any traffic, at all.

We drove to the city of Bussum instead of Hilversum. Bussum is a small city adjacent to Hilversum where the hotel is located. Apparently though the training will be at RNTC, Hilversum, the accommodation for all participants are set at Bastion Hotel, Bussum, because they couldn’t find any suitable accommodation in Hilversum.

As soon as I arrived, they showed me my room and the Radio Room. The room is  standard and the bathroom is so efficient in size. Yet it has everything that I need. While the Radio Room is basically a place where we have breakfast, cook, watch tv, and do the laundry. It’s pretty much like a common room in a dorm.

The room

The Radio room

My first impression with Netherlands was very positive. Not only that I fond of the weather (cold weather is my kind of thing), the greeneries view, the no-traffic traffic, but I also like how nice the people is. They’re friendly, warm, and able to speak English very well. I’d say that if there’s a foreign place which makes me feel welcome, then it’s called the Netherlands.