That night, we went out to dinner as a group to an Indonesian restaurant. It was delicious! Afterwards we went to the Van Gogh Museum. I have never been particularly interested in art, but it was a humbling experience to see the paintings I had only seen in textbooks right in front of me. The museum was arranged in chronological order, so we could see how different stages of Van Gogh's life affected his paintings. Van Gogh was quite a mad man, but an incredibly talented one.
On Saturday morning, we took a boat tour around the city. Amsterdam is not only HUGE, but incredibly beautiful. The weather was a little difficult, but Madame Martine, with her infinite energy, did not let the weather prevent us from getting a very thorough tour of the city. As we were walking to another museum, we walked through the infamous Red Light District. It certainly earns the reputation it has. It was quite shocking, especially when you have a 65-year-old French woman showing you around.
On Sunday, we started the day at Anne Frank's house. Wow. We walked up to a building right in the middle of the city, with shops and other houses on either side. The building blends in perfectly. If it wasn't for the large crowd gathered outside waiting for it to open, I wouldn't have seen it. It was eerie to see the building and to imagine a family hiding there. Going on the tour affected me way more than I thought it would. Anne's toys, clothing, and diary pages are on display, and it feels frighteningly real. I was covered in chills as I walked up the creaking stairs, then saw a sign at the top that said, "During the day we must tread lightly so the workers don't hear us". It was quite a startling experience, but I am really glad I had the chance to go.
The group was much quieter after the Anne Frank House. We toured a few churches then got on the train to go home. It took about 20 minutes before everyone on the train was asleep. What a glorious trip.
This week at European Voice, we are preparing for an event we are holding on October 5th. It is a debate about public acceptance of new technologies. Basically, members of European Parliament, the European Commission, and various researchers are going to gather and discuss how to make the population more prepared for new energy sources, like wind and solar technology. (The European Union is a very "Green" organization) I am in charge of the guest lists and preparing the program for the event. These sound like easy tasks, but not being European sure makes things more difficult. I have found myself many times struggling to pronounce names, or wondering if they are male or female. While I am working on the program, I have to prepare myself for Lorenzo to come and make a million corrections, because I am expected to use UK English, not American. They are NOT the same thing. Lots of words are spelled differently (organize/organise), punctuation is used differently (no period after Mr or Mrs), and apparently I should avoid "kissing hands" like Americans do in their invitations.
I received an email today from Vesalius University warning students to avoid certain areas tomorrow morning because of a protest that will be taking place. It says to stay away from the Shuman metro stop (where I get off to go to work), Rue de la Loi (the street I work on) and Place Shuman (where I eat lunch everyday). They are expecting 80,000 people to attend this Trade Union protest. It seems like I should perhaps take a different route to work tomorrow, but it is a good reminder that no matter how dull my internship can feel sometimes, I really am in the center of it all at European Voice.
More Pictures coming soon!
Typical Amsterdam resident
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