巡游文化:在阿姆斯特丹骑自行车和留学 

Studying abroad 阿姆斯特丹之旅绝对是独一无二的体验. 这座城市真是太美了, 提供数百条历史悠久的运河, thousands of bridges, world-famous museums housed in architectural mashups of the 17th and 21st centuries, 和充足的绿地. Connecting the entire city is a network of bike paths that keeps both the city and its people in constant motion. 在我在这个城市生活和学习的四个月里， biking abroad 占据了我的生活，我喜欢每一刻. 

几乎40%的旅行都在 Amsterdam are made by bike. For the Dutch, biking isn't merely a mode of transportation; it’s a way of life. By the age of 12, Dutch school children take a cycling exam to ensure they understand the rules of the bike lane. 

阿姆斯特丹Zuid运河旁的红色自行车道. 

Learning to Ride  

2月抵达阿姆斯特丹后, one of the initial activities recommended during our orientation was selecting bikes for the semester. We learned that single-speed cruiser bikes with pedal brakes are ideal for navigating the flat terrain of the Netherlands, and there is a bike shop steps away from students' accommodation and the CEA CAPA office where bikes can be rented or purchased. 

I chose an all-black bike equipped with a pedal-powered light on the front. This simple bicycle would become my most useful tool for integrating with my new city. Our onsite advisor, Frans, 带领我们的团队第一次骑车去自由大学, providing essential tips on when to yield to cars and explaining Dutch hand signals. 

我的单速自行车熄火了. 

The route from our apartments to our new school skirted the city's edge and served as a calm introduction to biking in Amsterdam. After this ride, I was eager to tackle the bustling bike lanes in the city center. 

On my first ride into the city, I decided to go straight to the heart: Amsterdam’s Centraal Station. 刚上完弗朗斯的自行车礼仪课, 我挑战自己在没有地图或拿着手机的情况下导航. Starting at my apartment in Diemen, I followed the signs reading “centrum” to get to the city center. Having taken the metro into the city before, I was confident I could find my way to Centraal Station. 

As I cycled into the city center, I was surprised that the city began to feel much smaller. Cycling offered a more intimate connection with the streets and people compared to cars or the metro. 穿过城市的主要地铁线路, 我每隔几个街区就经过一站, 现在看起来比地下同行更近了. It was at this moment I realized that biking truly is the best way to experience Amsterdam, and I became determined to be a part of the city’s vibrant biking culture. 

我终于找到了去中央车站的路, making several wrong turns along the way that led me past places and streets I had walked through during orientation. I began the ever-evolving process of crafting my mental map of the city. 

拥抱阿姆斯特丹的自行车文化 

每次我骑自行车出去，我都试着走不同的路线. Navigating with my phone was inefficient and risky, given the no-phone-while-biking rule. Instead, I tracked my rides using Strava (a fitness tracker app with social network features), 使我能够准确地确定我去了哪里. I also connected with other CEA CAPA students on Strava and it became somewhat of a competition to see who could go on the longest ride or log the most miles on the bike lane for a given week. 

Throughout the semester, I became familiar with the organized chaos that runs Amsterdam’s streets. There is an unspoken order to bike etiquette on the street; while hand signals are important for indicating turns, I found that most Amsterdammers rely on reading each other's body language to avoid a collision. 

Biking in the city is about finding your rhythm and syncing with the tempo of fellow cyclists. Shared experiences, 无论是在红绿灯前等待，还是在拥挤的自行车架上固定自行车, 把我和陌生人联系在一起, 给我一种归属感，为城市的流动做贡献. 

我和我的朋友瑞恩骑着自行车等红绿灯. 

骑自行车的意想不到的好处 

In addition to connecting me to the city, biking was a great way to stay active. 这是我日常生活中的被动锻炼. More importantly, biking became my remedy for stress and a tool for mental clarity. 在阿姆斯特丹的街道上骑车成了我每天的冥想. 骑自行车上学让我感到放松和精神焕发, 准备好专心听讲了. 骑车这个简单的行为成为了我的重置按钮, 确保学业成功，培养我的整体心理健康. 

骑自行车回家 

我在阿姆斯特丹的这个学期非常棒. 这座城市和它的人民现在感觉像是第二个家. A significant part of this connection can be attributed to my bicycle. Studying abroad connects you to new cultures in ways different from visiting as a tourist, 如果你打算从你的留学经历中获得最大的收获, 你可能会把一些文化带回家. 即使回家后, biking remains a proud habit of mine and still functions as my reset button. They say, “You can take the boy out of the Netherlands, but you can't take the Netherlands out of the boy!” 

我骑着租来的自行车站在自由大学门前. 

我和我爸爸在荷兰乡村骑自行车.