Study Abroad Blog

June 12, 2023

Amsterdam & Summer in Holland

We have been so lucky with beautiful--hot--weather in Leiden.  At the end of last week, we were fortunate to meet with Tjerk Fietsma, Director of Neurodiversity Netherlands who walked us around his hometown of Amsterdam. You may have seen he also gifted us a beautiful and meaningful Neurodiversity Pride flag for us to bring back to Landmark College.  It will be the first ND flag to come to USA. Tjerk was full of energy and thoroughly enjoyed talking with the students.

We were sobered and humbled after visiting Anne Frank House.

Saturday was hot and some of the students are taking advantage our the lovely back garden in our residence hall: Webster University's Living and Learning Center. 

Will, PJ, and Miller learned about life in a 13th century house at "American Pilgrim Museum".

Some students opted to watch "Girl with a Pearl Earring" Saturday eve complete with loads of Dutch snacks and licorice. 

Sunday was a beautiful day in The Hague. 

PJ was the only brave one to try the Dutch herring with onions. We saw the Dutch Binnenhof/Parliament which is still in use today--and the oldest parliament building in the world.

We also visited Maurithaus which houses some of the greatest Golden Age Dutch paintings including Vermeer's "Girl with Pearl Earring" (FYI, she was better than Scarlett Johansson in Sat's movie). 

This week, students will be interviewing Dutch folks about education. We'll also be visiting a school, Leo Kanner, exclusively for students with autism.  On Friday, we'll head back to Amsterdam to visit ADHD Central Amsterdam!