Activities Galore!

The first week has been full of activities! From visiting the Parliament at The Hague to swimming in an olympic size pool to cooking a traditional Dutch dinner - our days are busy!

The World Governance class is each day for approximately three hours. Bruno, the instructor, prepared the students for our visit to The Hague - the seat of the Netherlands Parliament. There, the students learned that there are 27 political parties in the Netherlands and no one party has a majority vote. The homework from this field trip is to research a political party and represent this party with an issue that is current in the Netherlands, for example, immigration or climate change. Later we walked to the Binnenhof to see the seat of the government. Some students climbed a viewing platform that was nearly 100 feet tall to see the complex from high above!

But the trip to the Netherlands can't be all work and no play, right? The rest of the day was spent exploring  Madurodam - a miniature theme park that highlights the famous buildings and districts throughout Netherlands. And after Madurodam we walked to the Binnenhof to see where 

Later in the week the students went to Caro's kitchen to cook a traditional Dutch dinner called Stamppot. Students had to peel and dice potatoes, apples and carrots while other students made meatballs. The potatoes were "stamped" with a potato masher and Caro created a yummy meal for all the students! 

Lastly, we relaxed in the sun at Flevopark. Some students swam in the Olympic sized swimming pool while others enjoyed the sunshine. It was a nice way to end our first week in Amsterdam!

It's hard to belive the first week has already passed! It's been an amazing week full of wonderful activities!