The Wheels on the Bus!

So on Friday, the class met at the Amsterdam Airport Schipol. I felt a little sorry for the kids from Boston since they were to go through orientation while coping with the jet-lag. From the airport, we boarded the charter bus and headed south to Delft. Along the way, Dr. Peter Furth (the class teacher) filled us in on some facts about the area as we got to watch the country side from the windows.

View from the bus.

I also was able to make friends with the class teaching assistant and learn a few things of how the Dutch design their streets (low-sound pavement, sound barriers on the side of the freeway, speed humps at intersections, thermoplastic painted lines, and other fun things).

Once we hit Delft, we took the Boston students to their dorm rooms. The bus driver was a magician behind the wheel being able to navigate the narrow streets in such a wide vehicle. A few times we would have to reverse down some streets due to corners unable to be maneuvered, but the driver did so without issue. After dropping off the students from Boston, we were dropped off on the street to our dorm with instructions to drop off our luggage and then meet at the Civil Engineering building. It took some time to find the right building, but the entire Portland State group was pleasantly surprised at the lodging given to us for the next two weeks (except one, who already had someone living in her room).

Home, sweet home!

All of us dropped off our luggage and then made our way to the Civil Engineering building on campus (which seems to be four times larger than Portland State's building). There we met up with the Boston students again and attended the class orientation. The orientation just was to hand out paperwork, answer any questions we had about our living or bike arrangements, and to give us parting advice of "don't blow your brains out this weekend." We then were allowed to grab a bite to eat in the campus cafeteria and then taken to our bicycles (which would be our form of transportation the next two weeks).

After everyone had their bike, we began our tour of Delft. This tour took us through the old town area where we were able to see the entrance gate to old town, the market center, the old and new churches (one built in 1246 and the other in 1496), and the Beestenmarkt which was where the farmers brought their animals to sell (but now was home to many restaurants). We also visited the construction site where they moved a windmill so they could build a tunnel to accommodate the train that passes through town.

Town gate, complete with drawbridge and moat!

Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)

After the tour was done, the students were left to their own devices. The PSU students used this time to make a run to a grocery store (called C1000) where I bought peanut butter, jelly, bread, orange juice, Morocco herbal tea (cinnamon, peppermint, and licorice), and some weird "Cheeto" like snacks. I would make a couple more trips to the grocery store over the weekend due to not being able to carry much on my bike. We then took all of our purchases back to our dorms and then went out to Billy Beer (translated Billy Bear) and celebrated coming to Delft to begin an awesome experience.