It’s Finally Happened: I Have a Bike

I can’t think of a better way to kick off 2012 in the Netherlands than by two things: blogging again and buying a bike. Yes, you read right. After four months of living in the lowlands, and being hell-bent on refusing to even get on one, I finally managed to gather my nerves together and…

The Unofficial Song for the Netherlands, In My Opinion

The Dutch national anthem Wilhelmus is beautiful, both musically and lyrically, as well as historic. Wikipedia, my always trusted source for last minute research, states it is most probably the oldest national anthem in the world.  And I’m pretty sure that the Dutch know and sing this with pride and dedication. Unlike most of the…

A List of Things I Plan on Accomplishing in My Year in Maastricht

I’ve never needed an excuse to write lists. I even have a notebook for them- a notebook emblazoned with the logo of the initiative I used to work for while in college to remind me to take things seriously. And now that my countdown to the great big adventure is in the single digits, my obsession  fondness for list…

Even Bikes Are Designed By Gender

You know how  the Lebanese are obsessed with way-beyond-their-annual-salary-fancy-so-big-they-block-traffic-in-the-already-too-small-roads-of-Beirut-cars? The same can be said about the Dutch and their bicycles. I think saying they are everywhere would be an understatement. Of course, I’m all for bikes, for the obvious environmental reasons. I’m not too fond of them though because I never really learned how to…