We left the USA around 5:30 pm and got to the Netherlands around 6:30 am. I knew I would have to sleep on the plane ride because we were landing so early and had the whole day planned with different places we were going to. With a different timezone (six hours ahead of New Jersey time) and being that it was early in the morning for the Netherlands, I was feeling tired but so excited to be in another country. When we left the airport, we went on a bus that would take us to our first stop. Along the bus ride, I was looking out the window to admire the scenery. The scenery was so beautiful! I was surprised to see that the road direction was the same as the US (for some reason I thought it would be opposite of us since we were in Europe). Our first stop was at the US Embassy. We could not have our phones inside and there was tight security, they always had someone walking with us when we went to once place to the other, even if we were going to the bathroom. The speakers were very informative and I thought that was a very cool place, and that was only the first stop of many! Afterwards we went to the Hague where we got lunch on our own. I got a brie, walnut, arugula, and honey sandwich. The brie was amazing! I was very happy with my first meal here. Since this was part of a leadership trip, everyone had different roles throughout the trip. On this day in the evening, I was meeting manager, which meant I had to make sure everyone was together in the group and letting everyone know where and what we were going to do next. We were still in the Hague so we went on a walking tour with Rosanne, the daughter of someone who has a company that focuses on export marketing and that works with student groups only. She was born in the Netherlands and would travel with us throughout the whole trip (she even picked us up at the airport). The Hague is a parliament area so there was a lot of government type buildings and people were dressed more professionally. There was a stand that had herring, which is raw fish, and I tried some because this was a popular food to eat in the Netherlands. I never would have thought I would eat something raw but I did because I was here for the experience. After that we went to the Urban farm which had a breath-taking rooftop garden. They had a system with the red Tilapia fish and the crops they were growing, such as tomatoes, eggplant, and chilies. We then went to the beach where we ate dinner at a restaurant on the boardwalk. After a long tiring, but exciting, day we went to our hotel in Rotterdam and this hotel was an art hotel so they had a lot of unique pieces of artwork throughout. I thought the lobby bathrooms was cool because it was bright pink and there was a piano hanging from the ceiling as if the whole room was upside down. That sums up my first full day in the Netherlands, stay tuned for the rest of my trip!
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