Today felt like one of the busiest days so far during the trip—between the two museums and the alumni dinner, I felt like I was on my feet all day. That being said, it also felt like one of the most rewarding days I have had. We started off our morning, after breakfast, by touring the Anne Frank House at 263 Prinsengracht (trans. Prince’s Canal) in the heart of Amsterdam. This was an extremely somber and moving experience for me, especially coming from a Jewish household. The museum does a great job exemplifying just how thorough and methodical the Nazis were when it came to exterminating the Jewish people. Displayed inside is a map created by Germans and Amsterdam city officials of where every known Jew in the city lived, with one dot on the map for every 10 Jews in the area. Additionally, all the Frank family’s documents kept by the Nazis including information on where exactly each member ended up were preserved. It is an unbelievable level of calculated evil that is gutwrenching to see in person. The most moving part for me was the marks on the wall where Edith Frank kept track of her daughter’s growth—Margot had grown 1 cm and Anne 13 cm. There was also the gifts Peter van Pels had received for his 17th birthday while in hiding, including his first razor—signifying his new manhood. Although extremely crowded and very touristy, I believe everyone should visit the Anne Frank House.

After an amazing lunch—a vegan Gado-gado from an amazing Indonesian restaurant (there’s my sustainability for the day)—I visited the Van Gogh museum. I cannot put into words how wonderful this museum was. Not only did they display over 200 of Van Gogh’s works, but they also displayed works of his contemporaries, many of whom he admired, including Gauguin, Manet, Pissarro, and Redon. This was all done in a way to give context to Van Gogh’s own work and to explain his life. It’s crazy to me just how much breadth he had—landscapes, still lives, portraits—using so many varied techniques that he really couldn’t be categorized into an existing style at the time. Some of my personal favorites were his Cypresses and Two Women, and Wheatfield with a Reaper. I can’t wait when we visit The Hague and I can see more of his work, including Starry Night. Just like the Rijksmuseum, I didn’t take any pictures because doing so is really quite pointless.

Finally, after the Van Gogh museum, we all had a meet and greet with some of the Pitt alumni who are currently living and working in the Netherlands. I had a wonderful conversation with Christian, who is actually from the Netherlands and currently works as an Infrastructure Engineer with a software firm. I had a wonderful time talking about everything from how computers use prime numbers to enable encryption to the reckless, entitled bikers on the roads throughout the Netherlands. I also had a wonderful time talking with Brett, a Business Architect with ASML. It was extremely interesting to hear his story of how he ended up working in the Netherlands and to hear about some of the cultural differences in the workplace between the United States and the European Union. All the alumni were extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and passionate about their work. I am extremely glad to have met them and am inspired to keep up my efforts back on campus so I can end up like them… one day.