What do portals, EER, Blackboard, Sharepoint, logins, compulsory attendance, schedules, a boat trip, beer and bitterballs have in common? That's right, the Welcome Day for exchange students of course, and what a beautiful day it was!
Have a look at the photo's below!
Information about Tio
Unlike the previous tropical days it was a cool, but sunny day. The morning was spent indoors while the students gathered as much information about Tio, Amsterdam, Dutch life, city/student life as their brains could possibly digest. Just before they entered the stage of 'overload - does not compute' we directed them to an Amsterdam tram and they were slowly exposed to that typical bustle that is city life in Amsterdam.
Introduction to Amsterdam
Like a flock of happy sheep they exited the tram and moved across the streets, still a little oblivious to the common high-speed cyclists, other tourists and SUV's, and got a good intro to the typical Amsterdam hectics. After they got on the canalboat we hired, students mingled and were quite interested in the tall centuries old buildings and history of the city.
Bitterballs!
Our innards were taken care of as well as assistant campus manager Ingrid had brought snacks for the tour. Sugar-rushed and soothed by the soft movements of the boat students got off the boat in a relaxed state of mind, after which we got to the Doffer for drinks and bites. There they were shown the science of eating a bitterball (never knew that there was 'a way to eat it') and downing it with a proper glass of Dutch lager. It brought the students back to life and into student life. What a wonderful bunch of students and a great start of the semester.