What day is it?

Today is Saturday, apparently.  we  lose track of the days because today is a normal class day.

Our confrontation with the staff came to a head today when Dr Scott broached the subject of our concerns and various students, very respectfully I might add, said that we were not complaining about the course itself but that if were possible to make more use of the location we were in to go out in the field and experience life in the Netherlands rather than discuss  it in a theoretical manner in the classroom.  It was done very diplomatically, but Dr scott took it to heart and burst into tears.  That made us feel bad.  Later in the morning Bart (Dr Bartlett) discussed it with the group and told us that we had to put in so many hours of classroom time for it to be classified as a subject worth 6 points.  He also said that it was not negotiable but they would see if they could add more real life stuff from a hotel management perspective.  I was not the only person who felt that the stuff we were doing could easily have been done from a classroom in the US and we were not taking advantage of the environment around us.  I added my feelings about it and later the students said they were pleased I did because they didn't want it to sound like they were a bunch of kids grizzling about sitting in a classroom all day.

With all that out of the way we continued with our lectures, case studies and current events discussions.  Dr Scott did allow us to conduct the last hour or so sitting in the sun on the terrace overlooking the river.

We've been planning our travel to Paris, Verseilles, Brugge and Amsterdam.  I was glad to hear quite a few of the other students are feeling a little nervous about it.  We are going to have to take the slow trains, which will take about 8 hours to get to Paris.  I'm not sure about the accommodation yet but it might still be the Marriott.  We  have a dinner in Paris to attend at 8pm, so we just have to get ourselves organised before then.  Some of us are travelling the night before and spend 3 nights in Paris.  I'm going with the group that's going early on Tueday morning and having one night less in Paris (save on one night's accommodation that way, and don't arrive in Paris late at night).

Tomorrow we are taking a bus tour into Germany and Belgium.  We'll be going to visit a casino and see how it is run.

I went shoppingwith a couple of the girls after classes today and actually bought 2 tops (very unusual for me).  We then bought some food from the supermarket (I bought sushi) and brought it back to the Stayokay and ate it on the lawns. Most of the kids are going to a concert tonight, but I have opted to stay home and write my blog, do my homework and not have my eardrums bashed by the techno music.

I've included some photos of the group and my bedroom.  They are all gorgeous kids and so outgoing and very respectful as well as knowledgeable.  My room looks like a bomb has gone off, but that's what happens when there are 4 of us sharing and there is nowhere to put anything except on the floor.