All Work and No Play? No Way!

While our students are very engaged with their classes and school work, they also love to explore and just have fun in this beautiful city! With our first week now behind us, it's time to reflect on what an amazing time we have had so far. After arriving in Amsterdam, friendships began to form, lessons were learned, and lots of exploring occurred. Some of the students’ favorite things so far have been shopping at the flea markets, using public transportation, hanging around the hostel, and learning more about this city’s rich history.

This Sunday, the students were given a day of rest and fun at Flevopark! After a morning of free time and catching up on sleep, we went to Poké Perfect and picked up some delicious poké bowls. Luckily the sun was out and shining almost all day, giving us the perfect weather for an outdoor picnic at Flevopark. After enjoying the sun and our yummy lunch, the students braved the cold and went swimming in the community pool! We were joined by the Smart Cities and Sustainability program kids for our cold pool day. We spent our time going down the water slide, laying in the sun, reading by the pool, and having underwater handstand contests.

Monday marks the start of our second week here, and we kicked it off with World Governance class with our teacher Bruno and Dutch practice at the Dapper Market! In preparation for our trip to Brussels later this week, class has been focused on the European Union and the United Nations. The students have begun working on their final project presentations while also partaking in Model UN simulations. Our final Dutch class on Monday helped the students learn simple conversational Dutch to speak with locals in markets and restaurants, or just to say “Hallo”!

We are all very excited to leave for Brussels on Thursday and visit the European Parliament and European Commission, as well as explore a new city!