Monday, May 8th

Today was a day full of lots of learning, good eats, and some amazing scenery. I would say that was a well spent first day in Amsterdam! We started off today with an engineering talk with Karel Bockstael at CREA. Karel was the formal VP of sustainability at KLM. The lecture focused mostly on aerospace engineering and sustainability within that. Karel talked about how and what the airlines use for fuel now and then how they plan to be more efficient and effective all while being more sustainable. Though I am a business major, I found what he talked about regarding the aerospace industry to be very interesting and something that everyone should be aware of. Karel also shared about how he likes to be sustainable in his everyday life and how his way of living changed after learning more about the importance of sustainability. He shared that he like to second hand shop and spends the summers living on a sailboat. After the lecture we went off on our Fault and Our Stars themed scavenger hunt. We were able to explore Amsterdam on our own, ride the transit, and learn about the ways of the city. Some of our stops included The Rijksmuseum Museum, The American Hotel, and the famous bench in the movie. This scavenger hunt was a great way to learn about the different parts of the city through the lens of a very famous movie. Following the scavenger hunt we met up with the group and went to the Anne Frank Huis which was truly such an incredible experience. I have always been very interested in WWII history and the events that took place, so this visit was very eye opening to me. The house was filled with real things that were in the original house among 8 people that hid in the annex. The were so many pictures and descriptive audios that amerced you in to how Anne felt in that exact moment. I finished the evening with a canal stroll and some nice Italian restaurant where we sat outside and got to take in our new home for the next two weeks.