Monday, July 11, 2011
Until Next Time.........
Until next time Europe...........
Farewell Europe
And it comes to an end.....
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Museum Day and MORE!!!!!!!!!
This next ad is a poster posted outside of the library advertising this authors book.
ThE C0uNtD0wN BeGiNs (3 dAYs LeFT)
M.I.A
Our speaker Thomas, who happens to be a good friend of Dr. V's, came over from London to speak with us and tell us a little about what he does for a living. With his background in economics I enjoyed being able to relate to his conversations from a marketing point of view. Also today, myself and the other girls visited The 9 Streets district, filled with Dutch designer's it was very popular among the people here. I was able to speak with some of the boutique employees and get a great sense of the style and the views on fashion here in Amsterdam. Another spontaneous day of weather we had today; I woke up to it being very overcast and rainy, and when we first got out it was very chilly. But on our way back to the Hostel it warmed up and welcomed us with a little nice weather. We made our way to Bagels and Beans once again, a bagel and coffee chain that they have here in Europe. If you like bagels this is the place for you, the food is really good and the service as well.
Throughout the past few days our group has done a canal ride, took a journey through the red light district, and taken a trip to the U.S consulate and the Van Gogh museum. And I can't forget the Flower Market, Thursday the marketing students took a trip to FloraHolland. I huge flower market where people come and place their bid on flowers to buy. The venue is huge and it seems like serious business goes down when it comes to bidding on flowers. All the flowers were beautiful and the place was filled with any type of flower you could think of. All of these places provided the perfect setting for pictures, and i made sure to get lots of them. Well.....until the next blog, enjoy!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Filmmakers
[GreenPeace link coming soon]
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Today's Assignment
MARKET
Time is winding down
So to back track a little bit, I can't believe I forgot to blog about the accident we saw in Rotterdam. Take my word for it the bikes here are DANGEROUS, they will run you over and pedesirtions do not have the righter way! And cars here drive so fast, there can't be a speed limit because nobody in Europe abides by it.In Rotterdam kristin and I actually saw a bike get hit by a car; while it is really not funny, at the same time it was. That is of course when your not the person that it is happening to. They really just hit you and keep going, they might throw a sorry out the window...maybe not because nobody believes in manners, or they might help you up if they really feel bad. But at the end of the day its just like a little bump in the road, you get hit and you keep going lol. The European way.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
AnneFrankErstdam
DaY 3: AmStErDaM
Accidents
Earlier today I went for a cup of coffee at Coffee Company, the largest chain in Holland, and observed rather peculiar accident. A brand new Mercedes rammed a tram with significant and very visible damage. Of course, it had to be removed immediately from the scene because of very busy tram traffic. The cops on the scene were more amused than inquisitive. Gotta love Dutch.
Amsterdam adjustments
Well the July 4th came and went, and though we did not do much celebrating over here, I'll always give remembrance to the day that continues to recognize those individuals that work hard to serve our country of the U.S. Europe is still continuing to be good to us, so as of now I have no major complaints. A little less bread to eat and a little more variety would be nice; but hey, "when in rome do as the romans do".
Monday, July 4, 2011
TOUR OF AMSTERDAM
We had another great day and an interesting assignment in a new city. We toured Amsterdam. When I first got here, they said we were going on a three hour walking tour and I really didn’t know how I would make it! Three hours?? I psyched myself up and said, oh well, here I go. Dr. V told us to take five pictures of things that I enjoyed the most. The one I really enjoyed was visiting the Red Light District. It’s a long street with that’s distinguishes itself with either a Red or Blue light. It’s where people go to buy SEX from women or transvestites. Which by the way you're not allowed to take pictures of the working women or their clients. Our tour guide Jo took us on a street that’s more like an alley with windows without curtains. At one time the prostitutes would stand in the windows to advertise their business. But today, there are no prostitutes visibly seen in the alley. They don’t walk the streets like they do here in the states. When I asked about the vacant windows, Jo told us that the city bought the windows and the plan now is to put student art work on display through the district by 2010. She says they hope by changing the scenery it would cut down on the sex buying business. The prostitutes are fighting it because they say they’ll be forced to take their business to the streets which means they won’t have police or private security protecting them. I think I need to go back during the evening to see what the Red Light district is like at night.
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Amsterdam-1 Me-0
Next we headed toward the Red Light District. The first stop on this portion of the tour was at the Old Church; which is very ironic. The Old Church is 700 years old and 100 years older than the New Church. The Old Church was in the business of saving souls which resulted in it becoming very wealthy. Jo told us that churches often turn into different things such as hostels or clubs even. I thought that was crazy initially but then I figured it was just another culture difference. Nearby to the Old Church we saw Gable Stones. Gable Stones were the old way of finding where someone lived and their last name. The next site that stuck out to me was in the Red Light District. Then we came across what was the Jews Square. A lot of the houses were very cubic. This was architects attempt at bringing the cubic movement to architecture.
The last thing that made my top five list was the crest of Amsterdam. It symbolizes the three struggles that had to be overcome: Fire, Flood and Disease.
The rest of the tour was very informative and beautiful. The real adventure began after the tour when Jasmine and I were lost for about two hours. To make a long story short, on the quest for food one wrong turn can turn into 30 wrong turns. You should always keep your map on you in case of these kind of emergencies. Overall today was tiring but good at the same time. I am looking forward to the Anne Frank Museum and exploring some more.
July 4th, Amsterdam Style
Throughout our tour Jo told us about this church, that is actually called the "Old Church". In Dam square lies the church named the "New Church", even though it was built roughly around the 1400's the name holds on. I really took interest to some of the history within the Old Church. About 700 years ago the Old church was actually built, years ago, back when Amsterdam was first on its rise the Catholic religion held control. Many things went on within the church and all was not necessarily in the best interest of everyone. Throughout the Catholic religion, they have what she described to us called a Contest pot. The people would go into the contest pot before or after they did something wrong and confess their sins to the priest. They would brag to the priest about how the enjoyed whatever the deed was they did and in the same sentence ask for forgiveness. After asking for forgiveness most times the people would go and perform a good deed, and supposedly the action of sin was erased. They were back in good terms and everything was ok again, until the next time....
The Catholic system was eventually abused, meaning that priest would use this time as a way to take money from the people. Those would come and confess their sins and the priest would charge them a fee afterwards.
The hand on breast sculpture is one that is embedded in the sidewalk right in front of the Old Church. This sculpture marks the leading way into the Red Light District. Rubbing the sculpture is said to give you good luck and the symbolism behind this, is that it represents the ladies of the Red Light District. Sort of a way of letting you know what goes on in the area you are about to journey into. The hand on breast is a hidden sculpture and most would not realize that it is there. Myself, actually being one of those persons that had walked straight over it the day before. Years ago, there was small debate about removing the bronze sculpture, but through the test of time the hand on breast lies in it's place.
I amSTERDAM (HaPPY 4tH oF JuLY)
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Last Train to Amsti (Amsterdam)
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Museums and Rituals
As we are still on the topic of rituals, today we went to the Museum Rotterdam. At the top of the museum is a level solely dedicated to rituals and this is some of the knowledge I discovered and took away from it all.... Easter, a holiday that my family and I take part in yearly was acknowledged in this exhibit. History on this holiday stated, that before the 1900's it was very difficult to preserve food which brought about starvation for many people. When spring arrived the harsh period was over and eggs symbolized the beginning of new life, along with large amounts of food to come.Bringing light to why Easter eggs, and Easter egg hunting is so popular during the holiday. Also during this time the ritual of cleansing the house and yard was done, to represent the time of spring cleaning. On Sunday people would go to church in their Sunday best, and during this Christianity ceremonies would bring remembrance to the death and life of Christ.