{"id":81319,"date":"2017-10-27T09:16:09","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T07:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=81319"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:52","slug":"valerija-in-the-us-1-even-when-its-10-degrees-outside-the-girls-wear-sandals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/10\/27\/valerija-in-the-us-1-even-when-its-10-degrees-outside-the-girls-wear-sandals\/","title":{"rendered":"Valerija in the US #1: \u2018Even when it\u2019s 10 degrees outside, the girls wear sandals.\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Dear Eefje,<\/p>\n

Taiwan sounds amazing! Walking up and down a mountain sounds very familiar, because in the past three weeks since I arrived in the US, I\u2019ve been doing the same. With all its hills, Western Washington University, in the American state of Washington, now feels like home. The lamps and photos in my room make everything much more homely, even though I share the room with someone else. Fortunately, my roommate and I get on really well \u2013 we both snore at night, so neither of us gets woken up by the other. I can now find my way easily around campus. Every morning, I walk there through an arboretum, with lots of hills to navigate. Having done it for a while, my legs have now got used to it (except one knee which I cut open on a rock).<\/p>\n

I always thought I knew a lot about the US, but the picture you get from films and series is very different from reality. I\u2019d expected some things, particularly the food. They put so much sugar in everything, which just happens to make me feel sick very quickly. At the Starbucks on campus, I tried to order a coffee with skimmed milk, but I got \u2018sugar-free vanilla.\u2019 It\u2019s not all unhealthy, of course, but because of the high prices, you soon tend to reach for a pack of noodles and an apple for the vitamins. I live in an apartment just off campus, so I don\u2019t have a meal plan <\/em>which would allow me to have several meals in a dining hall<\/em> \u2013 and snacking between classes soon becomes expensive.<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\n
\n\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Een lijst van afbeeldingen<\/h2>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t