Rotary Nederlands 07-08

On the 29th of September, all of the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars in Holland and some Rotarians convened in Amersfoort, a smaller city in Holland. There are three scholars at Leiden University, Matt, Nick, and myself, and others are studying in Amsterdam, Groningen, Delft, and other cities and universities around Holland.

The meeting was a great opportunity for all of us to meet. Although we're studying in different parts of the country, Holland isn't very big and the public transportation is amazing, so it's easy for all of us to visit each other.

There are many different countries represented, such as Malaysia, the US, Australia, Japan, and Canada, just to name a few. Together we decided to organize and host a conference for young professionals interested in humanitarian work. We all come from different backgrounds of law, medicine, transportation, and humanitarian volunteerism, so we hope to be able to reach a wide range of interested people. We also hope to use this conference as a way to advertise and inform people of the Ambassadorial Scholarships and other educational programs offered by Rotary.

Hoosiers in Berlin

After the weekend in Frankfurt, I took a bus to meet fellow Hoosiers in Berlin. Lesley, a former Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, was leading a group of Hoosiers to Germany to look into what Germans were doing with alternative energy sources. Lesley and I know each other not only though Rotary, but we also both participated in the Indiana Food & Agriculture Trade Mission to Taiwan and Vietnam last Fall.






It was a pleasure to see old and meet new faces. But also, to experience Berlin was a whole new adventure. The city holds so much history while it boasts modern architecture.






While in Berlin, I also visited the Berlin Rotary Club. It was held in the infamous Aldon Hotel, and the lunch, from what the Rotarians stated, was one of the best in the city. I had the chance to exchange club flags and experience Rotary outside of the U.S. One revelation that I had was that although English is the international language of business, one can more easily attract business by knowing the others' native language. I look forward to learning more languages as my next long term goal.

First step into Germany ... Frankfurt am Main

About three years ago, I met Sabrina from Germany. She was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from Germany and studying at IU Law - Indianapolis. Who knew that meeting her would change my life forever. Not only did I become interested in studying abroad, but I started to become familiar with Rotary International and all of the humanitarian projects that it is involved in.




Naturally, making a trip to visit her and her family was on my list of priorities. This was the beginning of a week long trip in Germany. I took the train from Holland to Frankfurt am Main, the economic capital of Europe, and the home of the European Central Bank. Frankfurt am Main is also known as Frankfurt Mainhatten for its New York City looking skyline. Not many cities in Europe have such a skyline as those in the U.S.






I visited Frankfurt and saw many of the "tall" skyscrapers. We went atop Maintower, the second tallest building in Frankfurt, which is one of the tallest in Europe. It was an amazing 54 floors! The Chase Tower in Indianapolis is 48 floors, and no one would consider that tall at all. But Europe has it historic buildings and deep rooted culture.

After a day in the city, we went out to Rudesheim, a town in the Rhine River Valley. Germany truly is a beautiful country lined with mountains, rivers, and vineyards. It's definitely a contrast to Holland, which is very flat (much like Indiana). Sabrina, her parents, and I walked along the vineyards, enjoyed the grapes, and later went wine tasting. I saw the historic monument commemorating the victory of the Germans against the French in some long historic battle. The view into the valley was beautiful. With the vineyards and wineries, I would compare this part of Germany to California's Napa Valley.

My classmates ... EBL Class of 2008!!

After one year, my classmates and I are going to know each other extremely well! With only 11 of us in our program ... Masters of Advanced Legal Studies (LL.M. Adv.) in European Business Law ... how can we not. It's a very diverse group with people from all parts of the world ... the US, Germany, Russia, China, Taiwan, South Africa, Turkey, and England.

We see each other not only in class, but outside of class as well. We are participating in the European Law Moot Court Competition so hopefully we'll be traveling and defending our briefs. Throughout my tenure in Europe, you'll see many of these faces.

First trip to Amsterdam

Being in Leiden and only a half hour away from Amsterdam, I knew that I would be making many trips throughout my stay in Holland. My first true exploration trip included Jaime and her friend, Andy. Jaime and I know each other from back home in Indiana. If you recall, you sometimes see us both in the IUPUI Graduate Studies commercials on TV.

Amsterdam is an amazing city. It's lined with beautiful canals and filled with tourists trying to find the Van Gogh Museum or the Anne Frank House. We did a variety of activities, but definitely didn't get to do it all. It's ok with me, since I have the rest of the year to discover the rest of Amsterdam.