Traveling internationally will always have its challenges and surprises. My first day in The Netherlands was no short of the latter. I thought that after leaving Pitt for the school year I would be done with dorm living for the rest of my life, that was until my group arrived at our sleeping arrangements. The group and I are staying at The Generator, a hostel in East Amsterdam. Being here reminds me of my time in Bruce Hall at Pitt, only that I have twice as many roommates and half the space. I had come into the program with certain expectations on what the trip would entail, and The Generator was not my expectation of the living arrangements for the next two weeks. From now on I have abandoned all preconceived notions of our trip and I am ready to take each day as it comes. As for challenges, our living situation is a reflection of the challenges the city of Amsterdam is facing today. Specifically, Amsterdam is in a housing shortage, which has drove the price of hotels and rental homes upward. This housing shortage has also caused a rift between land owning farmers and government officials. Learning that these events were occurring helped me realize that each foreign country and city have their own problems that differ wildly from the challenges our politicians focus on at home.

            During my first day I noticed two big differences in American and Dutch culture. The first is the emphasis on biking as a mode of transportation. Almost every street that I walked on today had a bike lane, which is not as common in the United States. Most houses, restaurants and stores have bikes outside of them. I have never seen more people biking in my entire life than I have today. Looking both ways takes on a new meaning in Amsterdam as pedestrians, such as our group, must watch for cars, bikers and the tram when crossing the street. When we first started to explore the city our tour guide Sophia told us that we were probably more likely to be hit by a bike than a car. Another difference is the amount of electric cars in the Netherlands. Most taxis that I saw coming from the airport were electric vehicles. This is completely different from the taxi fleets that are found in the United States which are mostly made up of hybrid vehicles. Sustainability has been a re-occurring theme in the daily life of Amsterdam and the amount of electric powered taxis shows the country’s commitment to this principle. I look forward to tomorrow’s adventures as the group heads to the Anne Frank House which should be both humbling and informational.