Hey everyone! This morning the group headed to the University of Amsterdam, where we were greeted by some students to get a tour around the campus. Our tour guide, Aaron, is a current business student and he decided to attend the university after a trip from his home country Germany. Unlike any American schools, housing is very hard to obtain, especially for international students. Aaron said that there was a point in his education where he was traveling from Germany to Amsterdam because he couldn’t find any housing. The requirements to get into the university are also very easy, but almost 50% of first year students drop out. This means that some of the classes can be huge and the campus can be very lively in the beginning of the year, but it eventually dwindles down. There are some pros in attending the University of Amsterdam, such as the extremely low tuition. Aaron pays a little over $2,000 a year to attend school. The on-campus food was also incredible, much better than the cafeteria food at Pitt. There is an incredible bridge connecting two of the buildings and each department is very close to each other. However, I still think the architecture isn’t as good as the Cathedral of Learning! 

After lunch we got to go on a canal cruise around the city. The cruise highlighted some interesting places, such as the building where the mayor works, as well as an old standing bell tower. This city is filled with rich history and I wish America tried a little bit harder to preserve more of its history! It’s interesting to know that citizens used to even swim in the canal during special holidays, and even the queen did some swimming too! Unfortunately, the canals are too dirty now and there are actually several bikes sitting at the bottom. My favorite part of the cruise was when several bridges lined up together and created an incredible tunnel view on the water. I finished the day with some souvenir shopping for my family and I can’t wait to show them their gifts! I can’t believe my time in this amazing country is almost over. The days flew by so fast and this is definitely going to be something to remember. Luckily I’ll get to enjoy some Dutch chocolates tomorrow before the trip ends!