Off to a good start in Amsterdam!

It was a looooong travel day for most of us from Saturday to Sunday, but students made the best of it by playing cards and getting to know each other. It was their first opportunity to meet students in the Inside World Governance program also happening in Amsterdam, but not the last. We will see them again later this week. 

Though most of us didn't get sleep on the plane, we powered through the day in order to get on Amsterdam time as soon as possible. After an orientation that covered the basics of program information, we got a chance to take a walk around the neighborhood. Students took note of the many signs of Amsterdam's prolific bike culture. The walk was named as a highlight of the day for many, we lost count of how many bridges we crossed over the city's canals and started noting how multimodal accessibility is built into them. 

On our way back through the park, we stopped to listen to a band and were treated to some ice cream as a little pick-me-up. Nothing says jet-lag recovery like sitting by a lake and listening to music with a chocolate cone in hand. Bed time couldn't come soon enough, but at least we made it through dinner first.