Today, we arrived in Amsterdam! After a long day of traveling, we have finally made it. Since we landed around 8 am, we got a quick preview of Schiphol Airport from the consumer standpoint as we deboarded the plane and walked through the baggage claim. Later in the week, we will go back to see a more in depth look of the processes of the airport. This will be especially interesting since Schiphol Airport transports cargo as well as passengers.
As for planned activities, we didn’t do very much for our first day. We came straight from the airport and weren’t able to check into our hostel until later. We had a nice orientation with Sophia and Dasha, where we were given an itinerary, learned some safety information, and even learned some Dutch. It is very important that we learn to communicate with everyone, so learning simple Dutch phrases was very beneficial. We also learned some of the important biking rules of Amsterdam. These rules will be very important to pay attention to since biking is the main source of transportation. This is very different from the United States, where most people use cars as their transportation.
Next, we did a little walking tour of the park and surrounding streets. We saw some markets, passed by some shops, and we stopped to talk about some of the important locations. We saw our first windmill, which was very old yet large. We also saw plenty of canals, and we will definitely be seeing many more. There are so many canals because the Netherlands is below sea level, so they are needed for continuous water drainage. We learned that there are many different important cuisines in the Netherlands, as they held some of the countries as territories, and there are many immigrants from the other countries. We then had a picnic lunch in the park just like the Dutch like to do. We were sure to eat sustainably, just as they like to.
Finally, we enjoyed a nice dinner. I tried halibut with polenta and pickled fennel. It was delicious! It was very fun to try a dish that the Dutch like to eat. I can’t to try all of their cuisines and dishes, and I am thrilled to learn more about the culture every day, what shapes the people, and what shapes the country.
-Kali Burke