The first article on a blog is always a bit tricky. Should it be long? Do I have to talk about something deep or just share a funny fact? Do I even have to write it in English or should I do it in French, my mother tongue?
I have a lot of ideas about that blog, I want to write a ton of articles… which means I don’t know where to begin. Well, I guess I can start with where I live now!
Breda, Netherlands. A small city in the south of The Netherlands with more or less 180 000 inhabitants. That’s for the facts. Why do I live here? Because I am doing an exchange semester at NHTV University of Applied Sciences in Media and Entertainment Management. Do I like it? A lot! Why?
Street art
Breda walls are covered with art! For a city this small, I could never have imagine spotting so much artistic paintings on the walls! With all the different colors, size and theme, they definitely represent some of the soul of the city.
The weather
I know that usually the weather is pretty bad in here. It is notoriously rainy and grey-ish all the time. But, I arrived here 3 weeks ago and I did not see a single drop of rain for now. It has even been the warmest and sunniest September month in 150 years! Not such a happy fact because I am pretty sure global warming is responsible for that but still, I enjoyed the sun.
Festivals
Breda is a rather small city as I told you, yet, there are an incredibly huge number of festivals in September! Every week-end and sometimes even during the week, a music festival happens somewhere near the city center. HBO festival made the whole city center looks like Sziget and Breda Barst transformed the park into a new Woodstock! But what I really like about those festival is their universality. Families are there along with high-school students, old rockers, young adults and university students! I love that social diversity and the respect that everyone shows for their neighbors.
People
I am from Paris. Not the city of love but the city of grumpy people. Compare to that, every places where people are not making angry faces at 7am is an improvement. But in here, it is like living in a small village! People are not smiling all the time (don’t push it too hard) but they are always polite and respectful.
I don’t speak Dutch (yet) but I can say a few words like “Ik spreek een klein beetje Nederlands” (meaning: I speak a tiny little bit of Dutch). When I said that at the post office when buying some postcards, the vendor was so surprised and happy that I tried to speak his language that he intend to teach me some new words of Dutch! So now, I also know how to say a stamp: postzegel.
And do I even have to mention it? Dutch people also speak a very good English!
Bikes
Netherlands is the country of bicycles. With 18 million bikes for 17 million of inhabitants, we can even say that it is a religion in here. I really enjoy the fact that everything is easy for bikes: large red path everywhere, places to park at each corner and shelter at school. It is healthy, cheap and gives you somehow a sensation of freedom. Who can ask for more?
Places and shops
As an old city, Breda is made of tiny places, tortuous streets and historic city center. Makes me feel like I am travelling through time! Breda has also a lot of small, independent and beautiful shops for clothes, furniture and wonderful food!
One of my favorite is a small shop in the city center, near the Church, where you can buy Tea, Coffee and Tobacco. I do not smoke and I am not that good at making coffee so you can guess that I am mostly buying tea there. But what a tea! Handmade, local and with divine smells, the tea at De Compagnie is just perfect! And cheap! However, even if you do not like either of those product, you should definitely go just for the authentic atmosphere of the shop!
This is all for now, but I have more yet to come!
Tot ziens!
Minty & Sparkly 
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