The first time I left the U.S., I went big and flew to Australia, which is about as far away as you can get from the U.S. and not be standing on a frozen continent. I lived in Australia for 2 1/2 years, and loved every minute of it. People would ask me if I’d even been to Europe, and were surprised the answer was no. Europe just does not have a lot of draws for me, but the Netherlands was one of the exceptions. If I ever got the chance to go, I would go.
Fast forward several years to 2019 and low and behold, while working my way through an MLIS program, there is a study abroad options to the Netherlands. I signed up and was lucky enough to be accepted into the summer study program. June finds me seated in a small room in Amsterdam preparing for the classes and the many excursions my course mates and I will be taking around the city. Two weeks will be spent in Amsterdam, and another two in Delft. The topic of the course? Innovation and Design having to do with Museums, Libraries and other entities here in the Netherlands. I took a design course in the winter quarter and very much enjoyed it, so this sounded absolutely fascinating to me. I am looking forward to this experience.
I got to Amsterdam a few days early so I could adjust to the time change and rest up from a lengthy 10 hours of flight time. Definitely not as bad as the 18 hours from LAX to Sydney Airport though. I walked around my hotel’s neighborhood, found good places to eat and got trapped briefly in a Albert Heijn Market. On Saturday I went to the Albert Cuyp Street Market, and became part of the masses as tourists and locals searched for items and souvenirs. I found a stand selling licorice, and I got my favorite, salted licorice, which earned me some strange looks from the American tourists and delighted surprise from the woman selling the licorice. Two Miffy plush toys were added to my bag for friends, and Mom now has some fabric from the Netherlands. And my phone got a brand new charging cord, because for unknown reasons it’s charging cord broke on the flight here. Which was quite a feat, considering it was carefully packed in a soft cloth bag.
My first few days have been lovely with all the exploring and the sunny warm weather. Hopefully that will continue, but I am told there is always the possibility of rain... which honestly isn’t all the different from Seattle. In fact, it was drizzling when I left for Amsterdam.
Today, the study abroad group finally meets up for a mini orientation. So, off we go for what I am hoping will be a wonderful four weeks!!
No comments:
Post a Comment