Day 1

 I was on a bus with two hours left until my arrival in Groningen. The cheapest way from my hometown Tallinn was by flying with Ryanair to Bremen and getting on a bus from there on. I now had to call one of my soon-to-be roommates to tell him about my arrival. I found my (temporary) accommodation through another Estonian guy who already studies in Groningen and with whom I had only talked to on Facebook. He told me about friends of his who had a tiny room to spare.
“Hello, this is Dan. How are you? I will be in Groningen in two hours.“
“Hey Dan! I’m good, hopefully you’re fine as well. Just come across the bridge when you get off the bus and go straight through the center until you’re at another canal again. Then turn right and walk along the canal until you reach Turfsingel 1234.“
 That’s what I did. I got off the bus, took my suitcase and started walking. I felt like a complete stranger: people speaking a foreign language to me, bikes whooshing by, the smell of marijuana coming from a coffeshop. The city was going to feel like home at some point, I knew that, but it didn’t feel like it back then.
  I finally arrived at the other canal and turned right, keeping my eye on the house numbers. 13, 15, 17... I was sure I had to look for a four digit number. I called again, only to find out that I didn’t have to look to the houses on my right but to the canal on the left. Was I going to be living in a houseboat? I really liked the idea although nobody told me anything about something like that...
  And no one had to. It was actually the home of the Estonian guy who got me my room. I was welcomed by him on his cosy terrace along with his roommate from Germany and my soon-to-be roommate from Slovenia. They were enjoying the last evening of August together with red wine and some snacks.
“Yeah, we’re going to our place a little bit later. It’s not far from here. You want some wine?“
Wine already? I hadn’t been in the city for half an hour yet and I hadn’t even seen my room. Of course, I still accepted the offer from my soon-to-be roommate. We had a good time as a group discussing the student life in Groningen. They could also give me some insight about my subject as they all study the same thing. At one point I actually forgot that my suitcase was still next to the door and that I hadn’t seen the room I was going to live in so I asked about it. The others asked me if I wanted to go out for a couple of drinks later on and if that was the case then we had to get going. First hours in Groningen and already going out? Well, why not?
 My room was small, still is, but it already had everything in it that I needed: a bed, a table with a chair and a bookshelf. I didn’t spend much time there at first(as we just stopped by to drop my stuff off) but I did meet a new German roommate of mine and his girlfriend from Japan. They also came out with us.
  So we went to the centre where all the nightlife takes place and I had my first couple of beers in a local bar. Good stuff, I have to admit. The others continued telling me about life here. Actually, now we were discussing about the best bars and best beers here. I was told no one drinks Heineken here. My German roommate and his girlfriend didn’t stay for long though and I decided to go home with them.
 With a smirk on my face, excitement in my heart and questions in my head I fell asleep. Am I going to meet someone from a different nationality every day? Does time matter at all here? Is the atmosphere always so relaxed? Is this student life?