I have written articles about other places and not where I currently live. Before I move away from this city, at least I share some things that are in here to the outside world. So what do I think or what comes to my mind when I hear the word Nijmegen? Hmmmm… this is quite a question huh! I actually was caught off guard. Let’s see what really comes out my mind when I think of this place, and then I will elaborate later on why these things come up over the others. Thus, Nijmegen is:

1. where I live
2. almost Germany
3. Maas-Waalkanaal
4. the 4-day July march
5. oldest city in Netherlands
6. NXP
7. a Small city
8. where my bike was stolen
9. I worked in finance department for 10 months
10. 133.6 kilometer away from Rijswijk, The Hague where I work


Visualizzazione ingrandita della mappaClick this map, place the, (1) click the "Earth" option and check the "photos" option and enjoy seeing real shots of various places in the city (instructions in screenshot below, encircled in red)...


Wow! These answers surprise me. Now time for a bit of elaboration. I have to admit that answers one till five were almost automatic and for the sixth to the tenth answer, I had to think a bit. When you live in a place, it’s either you like it or you don’t like it. In my case, I am not that type. I always like the place I live after a month or two of living there. I mean, I just love the place, anywhere it is, where I can feel home. I know that for people who love city life, I don’t think there is really something here. But for those who love red-light places, you’ll find it here. The things that I don’t like here include: (1) Too far from my work place which costs me €500 monthly only to travel, not counting wasted time and effort; and (2) Business establishments are closed on Sunday!

So here we are the elaboration part. Look at the stated numbers corresponding to the numbers in the list above relating to Nijmegen. Plain and simple (1) I live here, no need to elaborate on this for sure, right? I relocated here last May 2009 for my previous work assignment.

2) The city is very near Germany. In fact there are busses passing here every 30 minutes or one hour that go back and forth to Kleve, the nearest German city. We also use the German airport Dusseldorf/Weeze when we fly out of the country. It only takes maximum 30 minutes to drive there from where I live.

(3)River Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea with a total length of 925 km. Maas is the Dutch term while the river is called Meuse in English. River Waal is the main distributary branch of river Rhine flowing to the central Netherlands for about 80 km carrying 65% of the total flow of the Rhine. The Maas-walkanaal (Meuse-waal canal) connects the two rivers. See illustration to have a graphic view of it.

(4) Nijmegen has its nationwide or Europe-wide fame for the International Four Day March Nijmegen, nationally known as Internationale Vierdaagse Afstandsmarsen Nijmegen, or locally called the Nijmeegse Vierdaagse, an annual event starting on the third Tuesday in July, comprising four days of walking (distances ranging from 30 to 50 km a day), and the accompanying festivities, the so-called Vierdaagsefeestenincluding rock festival de-Affaire. It has been driving in participants for the past few years. My colleague at my previous work here used to join this march but for shorter Asian legs like mine, I think this is just too much!

5) Is it really the oldest city in Netherlands? As they say, yes, as Nijmegen celebrated its 2000th birth year in 2005. History mentions this place way back the 1st century before Christ when Romans found this place strategic, for its rivers and hills (the latter I can’t testify to its truth, it’s all flat here, you know!).

(6) NXP or NXP (for Next eXPerience) Semiconductors is the name for the new semiconductor company founded by Philips. Its seat is here in Nijmegen and it is one of the reasons for having a lot of expats here. I met and still meet a lot of people from there that’s why this came to my mind. There are many Asians employed by this company.

(7) Yes, compared to where I used to live, The Hague, it is very small. It is out of the Dutch randstad (western Netherlands highly industrialized-commercialized busy cities) and it’s at the tip of the country. There are not so many big or major stuff here. The city center itself is not that big at all.

(8) No need of elaboration I think for this. But for more details, the story of my stolen bike is also posted here. Come and see!

(9) As mentioned, the reason why I live in Nijmegen is due to work assignment. That work lasted for 10 months and now I am back working in The Hague. Maybe I will be relocating back in The Hague soon.

(10) Yes, the sad part of the story is the distance to my work. That means waking up early and travelling and wasting time. But still, that’s life. There’s always good thing from something. ^^

So that was it, Nijmegen, from my personal view. From the view of other, I found an article online written by Vihren from Munich, Germany. I quote here:

Nijmegen is a nice town in the Netherlands on the Rhine River. Being one of the few towns in the country founded by the Romans Nijmegen claims to be the oldest city in the country. The central pedestrian street is very large and has a large amount of different shops and shopping centers and I found the prices very good for the Netherlands. The river here is great by sunset – there is a wonderful view to the west. Although the town is not very full of old buildings or tourist attractions it is a nice place to spend a few hours and watch the sunset above the river.