After spending a the entirety of Saturday traveling, we finally arrived in The Netherlands around 8:00 AM. We then took a bus to where would be staying: a hostel in East Amsterdam known as The Generator. Once we dropped our luggage off and sat through a short but informative orientation, we were finally able to explore the streets of Amsterdam with Sophia and Dasha, our CIEE guides for the program. Here is where I started to notice some major differences between the United States and The Netherlands.

One of the major differences was the mode of transportation people use here in Amsterdam. As we had learned in prior to traveling here, The Netherlands is considered the most popular place for biking. Every sidewalk is lined with bikes, and there has even been a dedicated bike lane on the side of every road that I have walked on so far. One thing that we must keep in mind due to the addition of this extra lane, however, is the very real possibility of getting hit by a bike. In fact, during our orientation, Sophia even said that it is much more likely to get hit by a bike than by a car, and after walking the streets of Amsterdam, I completely agree.

This is in line with The Netherlands’ goals for sustainability, which both Dasha and Sophia mentioned is a very important aspect of the nation. In fact, everywhere we went, I saw measures being taken to ensure that sustainability was being taken into consideration. For example, the bottles given to us by CIEE were made from recyclable plastic in order to be more environmentally friendly. Also, public transportation is a very popular way of getting around the city, reducing the amount of carbon emissions made from cars.