A Day in Town

Imagine you are riding you bike down a cobblestone road through the line of trees on your way into town. You are in your normal attire (as opposed to athletic wear often worn when biking) and you pull into town to see the line of 30 bikes already parked and locked about the racks. As you venture into the rows of streets lined with shops, foreign signs of unfamiliarity seem to encompass the area. You slowly take in all the sights and sounds: signs in Dutch, new types of fashion, food stands selling what look like hard waffles (better known as stroopwafels), people in every direction speaking even more Dutch. Without hesitation you begin to journey through the unfamiliar into what surprisingly reminds you of home. Around the corner is a McDonalds and around the other is a coffee shop. Brightly colored signs indicate the shoe store is having a sale. Groups of girls with shopping bags laugh together as they make their way into another shop. You even see someone wearing a USA t-shirt. You decide to try one of these waffle creations and find out just how delicious they are! You walk into a couple shops and fall in love with a stylish new jacket. You even begin to recognize what some Dutch words you hear. After an afternoon of adventure, you decide to head home. As you pedal, you think about the day and…

You quickly realize that things aren’t so different here. And even when they are, differences aren’t always bad things. In fact, it is these new experiences that allow you to not only appreciate what you have, but allow you to learn and accept why others do things differently. In time, you learn to embrace the new way of living and might even learn a few things about yourself that you never knew!