On
Monday we started our day having breakfast in our bungalow. We left the
bungalow at 9:30 to get to the college at 10. The college was
beautiful! There were live plants going up poles near the stairs and live pants
that cover the walls. We first met some professors and a few students in the
lobby. We were able to recognize some students from the video chats and
introduced ourselves. Followed, all the students and professors met in the
cafeteria. We mixed and mingled, put faces with names, and met our professors
that we will be working with. Meanwhile coffee, tea, and small wrapped snacks
for us to eat and drink. Then Hans Jon, the Dutch professor, passed out an
itinerary for the week and talked to the group about what is expected. We then
broke off into our small groups and were given a tour of the college guided by
the Dutch students. Followed by the tour we had lunch with everyone in the
cafeteria where we all ate sandwiches and Dutch bitter balls.
After lunch, all the students went to a room where we played an ice breaker
game lead by Barbara, the professor from Germany’s school. All the students won
a prize that was German swag such as pens and thumb drives. The groups departed
their separate ways and worked together on their papers for the next three
hours.
The best part of the day was Monday night. All students and professors met at
the bungalow park to have dinner at the party room next to the bungalows. The
dinner was prepared by all the students. The Americans made American chop suey,
the Germans made sausage, sour kraut, and pickled potato salad; the Dutch
brought two different pasta salads and pancakes, and the Norwegian’s brought
the meatballs, drinks, and chocolate. After dinner was dessert which was
brought by us because we ate ice cream with maple syrup and blueberry syrup.
Everything tasted amazing! We started building friendships that night and
learned about many individuals. It was quite something to learn so many
similarities and so many differences from the students of the different
countries.
