Today was our last day in Europe, but that did not mean that we couldn’t enjoy it. We went to several great museums all around Amsterdam, and then we were able to explore the city!
First, we visited the old Portuguese Synagogue, which was built in 1675. It was very interesting to read and hear about Portuguese Jews who fled to Amsterdam because of its religious freedom. I also learned that, if the Germans had won the second world war, their plan was to turn this Synagogue into a museum on the extinct Jewish people. 
Next was the Jewish historical museum, which had many exhibits about WWII propaganda against the Jewish people, as well as other pieces of artwork that were historically relevant to the Jewish people. This museum explained that, for a long time, Jews were only permitted to work in certain fields, which led to many stereotypes about them. 
My favorite, and most emotional part of the day was being able to see the Anne Frank House, where she lived in hiding during the War. Seeing where they were forced to live was heartbreaking, and even more so was to see her diary pages. 
The rest of the day, we got to explore the city. I went to a few stores with some of my friends, and then we went back to the hotel to eat dinner. The next morning, we were ready to leave for the States!

Today, we had our day off. In the morning, though, we talked with a woman named Kristijn from Belgium, and asked her a lot of questions about life in Belgium, Ghent, and Europe. It was really interesting getting to learn about how things are different here, such as how parents recurve money from the government if they have children. 
Afterwards, we went on a small your of Ghent, and got to see some of the best shops in the city. For lunch, we ate at a restaurant called Max, which is the best and oldest waffle shop in Belgium. I got a waffle with chocolate sauce and whipped cream, as well as a hot chocolate. It was probably the best waffle I’ve eaten.
Then, we were free to go shopping throughout the city. I bought a nice jacket from a shop called Yak & Yeti, where all the items are made organically in Nepal. All the proceeds from the shop go to help the health of the people who made it in Nepal. The man selling was very humble and appreciative, and seemed very genuine.

Today was our first big day in Amsterdam. We first went to the Rijksmuseum, one of the largest museums in the world. We went inside, and there were hundreds of amazing paintings from several Dutch painters, the most notable was Rembrandt. At the museum, we saw one of the paintings that I really like, called “Still Life with a Silver Jug and Porcelain Bowl,” by Willem Kalf.
What makes this painting interesting is the detail put into the lemon (Citroen in Dutch.) One of the big tests for art students at the time was seeing if they could accurately paint a lemon, because they are the hardest fruit to paint. Willem Kalf shows incredible skill by not only showing a lemon skin, but the inside of the fruit as well, which was even harder to paint. 
After we went to the museums today, we got to find our way back to our hotel, around 2 miles outside of the city. We first went on the team inside the city, which was really fun, and then went on the metro, which was my first time doing so. 

Today, we toured several museums in Ghent. One of them was very interesting, because it had different sections from different centuries, each with a different architecture style. This museum was created to show the history of Ghent, and walking through the museum you can see the city change across the centuries.

Near the end of the tour was my favorite thing from the day, a Lego model of Ghent! There were only a few buildings shown off, but it was interesting nonetheless. A few kids were playing with the Legos, creating their own buildings on the outskirts of the city.
Pictured is the Belfry tower, the largest such tower in Belgium. It was built in 1310, with several other renovations in between. These kinds of buildings were not used as churches, but we’re for government offices. 

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Walking in Bruges (which I learned how to correctly pronounce from our tourguide Dany,) we came across several buildings named “Godtshuys.” These are Renaissance style almhouses, and we were able to enter one of them. 
These houses were often commissioned by the wealthy, who at the time, had a different view of Heaven. They believed that one’s time in Purgatory could be shortened by the prayers of others. So, the wealthy would build almshouses where the sick would be under contract to pray for their patron, sometimes up to six times a day. From this, the patron expected to have a much shorter time in Purgatory.
Inside, at the altar, was a set of rules in Old Dutch language. Our guide explained the basic rules for us: in order to stay there, you must be sick, poor, widowed, have no debts, and over the age of 50. 

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While in the Belgian art museum, I studied the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian by Hans Memling. What I noticed first about this painting is that, despite being in tremendous pain, the Saint shows no facial expression of discomfort. The painting also shows a lot of perspective, having the city in the background. The colors used seem to be of the style of the other Dutch paintings in the museum. I enjoyed the artwork, and the museum as a whole, and would definitely recommend anyone to go there if they like art!

​First Time Flying!

I was very excited to board the plane today. I’ve never flown before, so I was a little nervous. Going through security was the worst part; I was worried that if answer a question wrong or that they’d take one of my items for whatever reason. It went well though, aside from me thinking I had lost my phone. Fortunately it was just my bag, which was a relief.

At the gate, I had a few minutes to relax before boarding the plane. We went over safety information and the likes, and then we were finally ready to board. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring my carry on luggage, but I had my personal bag with me.

The first few minutes on the plane were a little stressful, mostly because I had to crouch down to walk down the aisle. I started to record the liftoff, but it would be another 20 minutes before we actually flew. I did get some good pictures, though, despite the weather being very cloudy. I’ve never truly gotten the scale of how big a cloud is until now.

 The ride was far more relaxing than I had expected. I was able to sleep for about half an hour or so of the hour long flight. When we landed in New York, I was a little disappointed, because I couldn’t actually see any of the city itself.

Getting off the flight was much easier, as we didn’t have to go through security or get our checked bags. I grabbed something to eat, and hopefully I can take a quick nap before our 7 hour flight.

Hello,
My name is Harrison Brown. I’m a freshman at Appalachian State, and I am interested in studying Global Studies or International Business. After college, I plan on being a translator for international companies, probably in Germany.

I have never travelled abroad before, and in fact, this is my first time flying! I am very excited about all of the new experiences I will have during this trip. I have always wanted to go to Europe, because I enjoy being able to see people from all over the world. I really like Holland, because that is where my family came from many generations ago.

For this class, I studied the painting The Sick Child by Edvard Munch. You can watch my documentary film here.