Well embarkation day has come and gone and I’ll talk about life on the ship soon, but first here’s a brief synopsis of my time in the Netherlands.

Day 1- After an early rise for our morning flight, we arrived in Amsterdam. Our hotel, Lion D’or, is located in Haarlem so we explored the city center, Grote Markt, and walked along the canals. Haarlem is a big shopping area with little stylish stores lining all the roads. We didn’t have anything planned for our time here, so we spent the rest of the day planning what to do over the next three days. We finished our day off by eating dinner at a small restaurant called XO in the city center.

There’s so many people biking here, it is such a shift from the U.S. and even Ireland. The roads are all brick and there is not nearly as much auto traffic as I am used to. Another cool aspect is the taxis that they have from the airport are zero emission electric cars so they are much better for the environment.

Day 2- We started off by eating a continental breakfast from our hotel, which surprisedly offered a lot for a regular hotel type set-up. After finishing up, I went and got a nice, new rain jacket then we got tickets from the train station in Haarlem to Den Haag. In this area, you can find a lot of political buildings, as well as many homes of ambassadors from various countries and the Peace Palace. Our main stop was the Peace Palace. Since it was a Friday, it was a work place so we were unable to go on a tour due to high security and caution for the work at hand. However, they did have a small vistor’s center that had the history and modern day use of the building, including a description of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The self guided tour is free, but donations are accepted. Once we were done here, we headed back to the train station and got tickets to Rotterdam, a major Dutch port city. It also happened to be World Port Days so there were a lot of street vendors set up for people to walk around by, as well as a lot of ships docked for viewing. In addition, the Netherlands had their military there with their ships and other transportation. On shore, they offered some activities for people to try out, such as rock wall climbing.

After walking the extent of World Port Days, it was getting late so we started our walked back to the train station and two trains later we arrived in Haarlem. We had dinner at a small organic cafe that had a very trendy feel to it. The food was excellent and they offered everything from pasta and burgers to ice cream.

Day 3- After a quick breakfast, we grabbed some two day Amsterdam Region tickets which allowed us to use the trains, trams, and buses as we pleases over the next two days. First we headed to, a port town that also happened to be having a festival/fair. After wandering around here for awhile, we hopped back on the bus to the train station to head towards Amsterdam Central. Here we went to find the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam, where I would be embarking. Then we walked around and took a canal cruise around the city. After that, we found a pub to eat at in one of the squares.

Day 4- For our last day in Amsterdam, we went down to Amsterdam Beach and walked down along to beach to Circuit Zandvoort where the National Grand Prix was being held. They had showed multiple cars, had demonstration races, and actual races. We got tickets from the Dunes so we climbed the sand hills all around the track and watched. We were there for about three hours before heading back to the train station to go back to our hotel before I went to Amsterdam Central to meet up with a few other Semester At Sea, or SAS, people. We arrived at the ship location and met up to go hang out and walk around and grab food. There ended up being eleven of us and it was super nice because we all talked to everyone and people were very excited. Everyone was from different places and went to different schools so it was interesting to hear about everyone else’s lives. I am so glad I met up with people before because I had a few friendly faces to have on the ship upon embarkation. After grabbing dinner, we hung out a little longer before going our separate ways.

Day 5- The next morning my parents and I got a taxi to take me to the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam. They dropped me off and we did a quick hug goodbye before they headed to their flight and I started the check in process for my amazing journey ahead.

The first thing I had to do was drop off my luggage. Everyone had a certain time they were supposed to arrive for check-in and I was a little early, but they allowed people to check their bags and then go upstairs to wait for the rest until the right time. I got through the baggage line pretty quick and only had to wait upstairs for twenty minutes before I could continue with check-in. After going through medications, passport drop-off and through security, I was headed up the gangway to the ship. I was so nervous because I really didn’t know anyone, apart from the few people I had met the night before. I was finally doing what I had been looking forward to for the past year of my life and I was about to step onto my home for the next four months.

Once on the ship, I found my room (on the fourth floor) and started to unpack, very minimally might I add. Then I wandered around the ship to get a grip on my surroundings. They had food, but I had eaten breakfast with my parents and wasn’t hungry yet. All the common areas seemed so full and you could tell everyone was super excited. I headed back to my room where I met both my roommates, Abby and Haleigh, and we talked for a bit before walking around and meeting other people.

This initial experience was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. When I came to college it was in the Spring so there wasn’t as much of the get to know each other activities. Everyone on the ship was introducing themselves and trying to put names to faces. Honestly with all the people and the journey ahead, it was a bit overwhelming, but we all knew that basically everyone was in the same boat (literally). We met so many people it was hard to remember who you had and hadn’t met. We finally departed at 2000 and we all stood on Lido Deck, our top deck, and waved goodbye to everyone at the port. It was a total movie moment and I couldn’t believe that this was really my life.

At 1500, we had a brief meeting with everyone to suffice as a welcome and introduction to the ship and crew. After being released from that, we went back to our room to get ready for the Muster, or lifeboat, Drill. That took quite a while, but it was our first run through it so it was justifiable and we’ll get better, especially since we have to do it once a month. We then had another short meeting followed by Sea meetings. So to explain the concept of a Sea, we are divided into six groups by living quarters and each is given the name of a sea, for instance I’m in the Yellow Sea. These suffice as floor meetings and they will also be our Sea Olympics’ team (details to come). Then we stayed up and talked with people until midnight before calling it a night.

The next day we were up for breakfast and then we had a quick meeting with the crew before we split into our Seas for some get to know each other ice-breakers. After an hour of a very confusing activity, we had meetings from 0930 until lunch at 1200. The meetings were long, but they were necessary safety and communication briefings. After an hour lunch break, we were back at meetings for about another four hours. We then had the opportunity to meet and talk to all of our professors. With only a little difficulty, I was able to locate my professors and briefly chat with them about themselves and the class set ups. Then it was dinner, followed by the activities fair. The food here has actually been good and they always have pasta and salad as options. The meal times are two hours for each meal, but there is a snack bar where you can buy food if you want something between those times. The activities fair was cool because anyone who wanted to start a club would go on stage and present their club idea and then at the end everyone would go around and sign up. I signed up for two: the Early Riser’s Club and the Stargazing Club. After this everyone just hung out, talked, and played games all over the ship.

A1- I started my morning off by getting up at 0645 and eating breakfast before getting ready for class. Every day, I have a 0830 Global Studies, the required course. From there, I have a 0940 Exploring World Music, which is so fun. My class is honestly full of awesome people and my teacher is so cool. After that class I eat lunch before going to my 1240 International Relations course. Once I’m done with that class, I’m finished for the day. Basically meaning I do a lot of reading homework and socialization with all the people onboard.

B1- My second day of classes started off the same way as the first. Except after Global Studies, I have a break to do some homework and then class at 1110 followed by lunch and I’m done for the day. I spent more of the day reading because that’s what the homework for everything basically consists of. Later that night, SAS put on a Trivia Night and a Speed Friending which were very fun and upbeat ways of getting to know more people.

A2- My schedule followed the normal A day with the exception of a 2100 meeting for an overnight field program I have in Poland. In addition, my roommate and I also went to walking club at 1130 for a half an hour and 1600 for an hour. Basically we walk (fast) around the ship as a workout type ordeal, which is a great way to get to know the ship. It was also our first night of beverage service. Students are not really allowed to have alcohol on the ship with the exception of two drinks on select nights. On those nights, everyone gathers on Lido Deck to hang out, whether they choose to participate or not. After spending time there, a lot of people broke into groups to go to the enclosed terrace to play games.

B2- My schedule followed a normal B day. I didn’t have a lot of homework to so I mainly focused on making plans for port the next day with my roommates. I played a lot of cards with two different group in the evening before a Logistical Pre-Port meeting at 2000. Essentially, this is a meeting that will take place before each port to give us some background as to the safety, culture, and stances of the country. The cool thing about this meeting was that we had two Polish students get up and talk to us, rather than just another teacher. After that we stayed up and played more cards into the late hours of the night, even though we would be getting up early to go into port.

The way Semester at Sea is set up is meant to push you out of your comfort zone and it has definitely done that for me, even in the five days I’ve been on the ship. Everyone barely knows anyone so we all start from ground one and you have to be willing to approach people and talk and be a bit extroverted. I definitely struggled with this at first because I don’t like not having any comfort zone to lean on and retreat to. It was hard for me to approach a group of people where I didn’t know anyone and sit and eat with them, but that is pretty much the norm on here. It’s what everyone does, and honestly it isn’t that scary anymore because not only do I normally know at least one person, but also I realized that everyone is in the same boat. One thing I’ve noticed is everyone is so willing to meet new people and sitting with people you don’t know is sort of the expectation. People have been so friendly and everyone realizes how great of an experience this is.

Honestly, time has been going so fast and it’s been hard to keep up and stay on top of things, but I think I’m finally getting on a schedule. B2 was on September 14^th so posting everything is a little behind, but I have to wait until port to do any uploading, so thanks for sticking with me being a bit scattered. Anyway, Poland’s the first port, so be ready for some Polish culture coming at you!

With Bated Breath, Abby Lynn