theLittlethingsinLife

After a wonderful stay in the Netherlands, it was time to travel to Paris. The city known for the Eiffel Tower, the Sacré Cœur or the Louvre Pyramid…but what did I really experience? Beyond the timeless charm, the capital has plenty more to discover. There are artistic and cultural events everywhere you look, along with historical architecture young designers are making themselves known in the city. Just becoming part of the Parisian culture makes the experience. Traveling with a group of business students also makes a difference, studying Paris, the congress city. It relies on the energy of its companies and the international dimension of its research and innovation. A modern and exciting center for meetings and exchanges.

Some of my experiences in Paris were…

…boat tour down the Seine river
…driving the tour bus around the Arc de Triomphe 18 times (IBI record)
…walking/bus tour with an English tour guide
…learning interesting facts about a city full of history and culture
…walking!
…dodging rainstorms
…le Tour de France finish line
…Avenue des Champs-Élysées
…seeing the President of Cameroon
…beautiful rainbow after a storm
…getting lost a few times
…fire alarm in the middle of the night
…corporate visit, OECD
…Versailles
…visiting a Missionary church, Cristianity in France is in bad condition
…Princess Diana memorial
…Louvre, the Mona Lisa
…Eiffel Tower at sunset
…Climbing the Eiffel tower, 43 flights of stairs (furthest you can go on foot,then take the elevator the rest of the way)
…Notre-Dame
…Opera house, amazing architecture
…city on the hill, Sacre Coeur de Montmartre (Basilica)

Here are a few pictures…

Paris is a wonderful city, full of adventure and excitement. There was so much to do in the short amount of time we spent there. It is a city full of movement and life. Even if you don’t speak french, try it out. Learn about a different culture. Make your own experience in Paris, I will never forget some of the stories I came home with.

Ahh…the Netherlands!

This is where it all began…beautiful country side with a glimpse of the city. I had no idea what I was getting into, going overseas. My first time out of the United States, what did the rest of the world look like? What am I too expect? Well, I believe it was better than my expectations. Out of the three countries we visited, I can easily say that the Netherlands was my favorite. So what did we do?

We arrived in Amsterdam after a long flight from the states. It was around 9:00 am in the Netherlands but if felt like 3:00 am (I don’t think I got any sleep on the plane). The group joined us when we arrived, just in time for a canal ride through Amsterdam. The canal boat dropped us off at a diamond shop and the Anne Frank house for tours. Dinner took place in Den Hague, along the North Sea. The rest of our stay involved some more touring and class. While the students were in class I did some extra sight seeing. We stayed in a wonderful hotel, located about 20 min from the North Sea and 25 min from downtown Den Hague (walking distance). The people in the Netherlands are very friendly and most speak English. It is amazing how cultured most people are in Europe compared to Americans.

Some highlights of my stay in the Netherlands are…
…visiting a cheese making farm
…putting my toes in the North Sea
…running through a thunder storm
…shopping and lunch on a fisherman’s pier
…open air windmill park
…wooden shoe carving
…Delft (blue and white pottery) factory
…Shell Oil, corporate visit
…Ahold (Giant food stores), corporate visit
…and so much more, just being there was wonderful!

Here are some pictures.

House boat outside of the Anne Frank house.

Bikes are everywhere.

Downtown Den Hague.

Some of the girls in our group.

At the open air windmill park.

The North Sea.

Our coach driver, Ronny, drove us to France for our next stop. Stay tuned for stories from Paris!

I am back! Sorry I have been gone for so long, I was caused to stay away from work an extra week, so I ended up getting a three week vacation. Well, I am very excited to tell you all about my trip. I came back to work last Friday, but things are pretty busy in the office after being away for so long. This blog will be short, but I plan to write some more about each of the countries I visited in upcoming blogs.

To keep you interested, here are a few highlights of my vacation. My trip began on July 17 and ended on July 30. I was traveling with my mom and we joined a group of 40 business students, taking classes in Europe for 10 weeks. We arrived in time for the last two weeks. Mom and I landed in Amsterdam and joined the group in Den Hague, Netherlands. After the Netherlands we took our coach to Paris, France (my favorite city). The trip ended after Paris in London, England. Before coming home, our group came in contact with the swine flu. I will go into greater detail later. Because I was exposed to the swine flu, Messiah asked me to refrain from coming on campus for a week after I arrived home. This is the reason for my extra week of vacation. No need me spread the swine flu around campus. Although I did not have the swine flu, Messiah was taking precautions. Therefore I spent my extra week off, cleaning my room and getting ready to move into an apartment this coming school year.

I have plenty of pictures and great stories to tell. I will write soon!