A Note from Melissa

As Mary has written, this morning we went to Vondelpark so that everyone could present her/his outside activity reports. This is an assignment that simply requires each student to do something, learn about something, etc., that couldn’t be done at home or simply via web research. It is meant to be active learning at its most interesting.

First we went to a nice grassy spot near a great statue. There was construction nearby and I quite literally felt the earth move. Seconds later a fellow came over to tell us that we would have to move as they were going to be digging where we were sitting. We moved across the path and sat down only to be immediately approached by another fellow telling us that we were sitting in the middle of a golf tournament. Mind you, this isn’t a golf course! But, they had established tees and holes throughout the park for this special tournament. We moved again and were able to complete the presentations with interruptions only from the many, many dogs that wanted to check us out!

The reports included – anonymously and in no particular order – a visit to a live sex show, an interview with a Dutch “twenty-something” on sex education in the Dutch schools, an interview with an elderly panhandler from Morocco about her experience with the Dutch health care system, an interview with a local street performer who has been doing so for 15 years, interviews with street artists/vendors in the heart of the tourist district, a visit to a sauna, an interview with a British tattoo artist who lives part-time in India and part-time in the Netherlands (and the accompanying tattoo), an interview with a young man who is a doorman at a live sex show, an interview with young woman from Lithuania who works as a prostitute in a window in the Red Light District, an account of replacing a lost passport, an exploration of Dutch drug treatment options and a local treatment facility, and actually doing street performance in Vondelpark. You can imagine how interesting it was to hear both the “results” of the activities as well as some of the details of how they were accomplished!

After a break for lunch, etc., the class met up again at 4:30 to take the bus to the pub that two of the desk clerks at the hotel had recommended for watching football (aka soccer). All fourteen of us had dinner while watching Germany beat Costa Rica in their opening World Cup game. Of course the Dutch cheer for Costa Rica because they cheer for anyone playing Germany. I’m sure that any Vikings or Packers fans know what I mean. We went primarily so that Kari could see Germany play so we were very discrete, silently cheering for Germany. The guys from the hotel were there and one of them came over to say hello and bought a round of drinks for the entire class. Very sweet. I think everyone had fun and it was great to be out of the center of Amsterdam just hanging out.

Our last weekend is upon us! See you soon!