26 Juni - Day 1 of Masters Class

After hardly any sleep, I wandered down to take a shower in the closet. The bathroom and the shower are in two separate closets downstairs from our room. For the bathroom, it isn't so bad, but the shower is literally a closet... you walk in and there is enough room to turn in a circle and that's it.  You can't even bring your clothes or towel in with you because they will get wet.  Which means, I had to leave it them on the floor outside the door and hope nobody wanted to play a mean trick on me.

So then off to the AMC for a day of student presentations... most importantly... my presentation (most important to me anyway). I completely zoned out during everyone else's presentations, but at least I didn't fall asleep. I was too busy concentrating on my heart beat that seemed to be loud enough for everyone to hear and swallowing it back into my chest. Mine was almost last though, so everyone was pretty much zoned out by then. Finally it was my turn and I think I finished it in about three minutes. Everyone just stared at me blankly and I got no questions.  I was either very thorough, everyone was sleeping, or with the language barrier and the speed of my talk, no one understood a word I said.

After a quick lunch, we said our goodbyes and thank yous and got on our way to the next hostel for the Masters class part of our trip. We had to take the metro to the tram and then a walk through the park. Of course I went the wrong way with the giant suitcase first, but we made it. The hostel is right in Vondel Park, which happens to be where we spent most of the time we were in Amsterdam the last time I was here. It's a beautiful park. We checked in and went up to our room, which is much nicer than the last. For one thing, the bathroom and shower are in the room. There are three bunk beds and Skylar and I chose the one by the window. Shortly after, our other two roommates came in and agreed to stay in the room with Skylar even though he is a boy. Shann is a MS student from the University of Minnesota as well and a single mom, so we connected right away. The other girl, Melani is from Austria and is very sweet too.

Then we had a meet and greet reception in the hostel's bar. It was really nice with an open bar and some appetizers. I talked to a lot of other students from other schools in the US and in Germany and Austria. It is interesting to find out what people are studying and why and what their experiences in research have been. This group is much more diverse than the last and seems to be much more professional and organized. After an hour or so, we went upstairs for a fish and chips dinner and they even had a vegetarian version of the fish. It was a bit odd, but not bad. I am always so excited for veggie options so I don't have to just eat fries. 

Next we all went outside to the park and sat in a big circle. We played this game where you talk to the person on your left for five minutes and then have to tell the rest of the group about the person you just met and got to know. It was silly, but fun. The social organizer was taking everyone out on the town to a party, so Skylar and I decided to go to a nearby cafe and get internet. Shann and Melani joined us so we could quickly connect with friends back home. We didn't stay long though because it was late and we were all pretty tired.  Not to mention it was nearly 23:00 and still light out. Finally we went back to the hostel and went to bed.