24 Juni - Day 1 of Amsterdam

Left at 04:00 and had to change trains four times. I only messed up once getting on the wrong train and luckily realized it right away so we got off at the next stop. We were able to catch a train going back right away and still make the correct connection. We arrived at 12:00.  Right outside of the hotel, we ran into some of the other students. I recognized one of them from the bike tour and Nora's boyfriend, Bjorn. Since we couldn't check in until 14:00, we waited for the rest of the group and then went in search of cheap food. I should've known better than to try the pizza that I thought for sure was for display purposes only, but no, he plopped the plastic looking thing in the oven. It tasted almost as good as it looked with cheeze wiz on top. 

After we ate, we went to check in.  Now Amsterdam has very old buildings and this Hostel was interestingly designed. The front desk is up the first flight of steep and narrow stairs and then the room was up a two more flights of narrow winding stairs around a few corners, through a few doors, and up another even more narrow, steep, and windy set of stairs. Have I mentioned my 200 pound suitcase? I only had the huge ones I brought, so I packed it full of both mine and Skylar's attire for the 8 days of our stay. Bjorn and another of the boys took pity on me and kindly helped me lug it up to our room.  We are staying with two of the girls and two of the boys in the room.

Right after we were checked in, we all headed off to the subway system at the Central Station and took it to the Amsterdam Medical Center for the first series of lectures.  The lectures are about Integration in Hospital Management Systems and the schools participating are from Germany, Austria, Sweden, and the Netherlands. After the lectures, we all got together for group work. Groups were divided by main departments in the hospital.  Since I worked in a lab for three years, I joined that group. However, I hadn't worked with any of the groups before this conference, so I didn't have much to offer. It was just interesting to listen to the way things are done in other countries.

English is the common language, so at least I can follow along at the conference. Half these kids are in BS programs and probably barely twenty years old. In Germany and I think most European countries you go to school right away or you don't go, so there are no other 'alternative' students. I wonder if is is just uncommon or simply too difficult with the rigid structure of the programs. The kids are all really nice though and do their best to include me.

Dinner was provided to us with a nice catereing of what seemed like a type of Indian food, which of course I love. We didn't get back to the Hostel until after 9pm.  Having only three hours of sleep the night before, I was exhausted!  All the other students went out to the wonderful coffee shops of Amsterdam, but Skylar and I of course stayed home and went to bed.

Skylar finished his book already and his computer game won't work through the firewall, so tomorrow should be interesting.