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STUDY TRIPI Want it and I Want it Now orHow We Discovered the NetherlandsBy Laura MikelsoneThough for some of us it seemed theworst timing possible due to enormousworkload at school, 16 courageous, adventureseeking students from SSE (Y1and Y2) went on an XtraordinaryXchange Xperience program to a smallcity in Holland – Enschede.This exchange week was organizedfor us, students, to get to know thisweird country as well as to learn somethingabout the differences of the threecultures – Rumanian, Dutch andLatvian.The TripThe bus was rather small – 16 placesfor 16 people, therefore, we wouldn’t callthe nights spent in it the most comfortableones of our lives. But that seemedquite unimportant as the people weregreat and we were also quite lucky withthe drivers. We even convinced them tocut down on sleep on our way back, soall of us got home earlier than expected.Besides, the guys had prepared quitewell for the long journey, those who hadnot, made the most of our last stop atRimi in Bauska… have to add that thisresulted in too many pee stops on ourway. Besides, we discovered some hiddentalents on our way home – didn’tknow they could sing or maybe thatthey would sing…Dutch PeopleWhat can we say – they are a bitweird, but in a positive way. Have toadmit that Holland is a verrry liberalcountry, if you know what I mean…Being homosexual is becoming popular!On behalf of all the girls, I should inviteyou not to take such a pattern. However,being liberal is not the only thingwe found out about people there. Theyride bikes everywhere – even from bathroomto bedroom. They are also veryfriendly, open minded, and kind. Wewere taken care of all week through andI believe that many of us have madegood friends! The organizers really didtheir best to satisfy our needs! Hopefullythey will visit us as well… Andno, they are not high all the time…FoodThe Insider #3 (64), May 2004; Page 12Everything can be explained with thehelp of one word – BREAD. Bread forbreakfast, bread for lunch… It seemedquite unusual for us, Latvians, to haveonly one hot meal a day – late dinner.But what a dinner! After the long daysof walking, communicating, having funand learning the dinner seemed fantastic!Maybe because we were also veryhungry… I’m quite sure that quite manyof us have cut down on bread consumptionafter coming back home…ExperienceYou might have the wrong impressionthat all we did was had fun (perhapsit is not that wrong after all…).Anyways, what I am trying to say isthat we also learned something. Welearned about the problems of Hollandwith immigrants and how they arehandled. For many of us this issue wasunfamiliar. We also learned about theproblems of Rumania with their minorities.And, of course, had hot discussionsabout the situation with Russian peoplein Latvia. Once again found out that thistopic is never ending. These topics madeus think a bit more about tolerance towardsother people, their lifestyle andculture…EntertainmentDon’ t really know how to put it inone paragraph. We really did have fun!There were planned parties almost everynight, which made the early morningseven more impossible. Happy DaysParty – music from the 50s and 60s, Rockn Roll, dances, live band, beer…, Internationalparty – many different studentsfrom Enschede, a very crowdedpub, beer…, Rumanian –Latvian party– national snacks, music, dancing allnight long, beer, black balsam andvodka…; Dutch evening – pancakes,folklore dancing, beer… I might be missingsomething! There are just somethings you cannot describe!NetherlandsThough a week was definitely notenough to get the whole picture, we gotto know quite much about this extraordinarycountry through different placesof interest we visited in Enschede,Amsterdam, The Hague and Leiden.Rijksmuseum – fabulous art; AnneFrank museum – our own history; Palaceof Peace – just have to see it for yourself,Scheveningen – beautiful beach;Tweede Kamer – the parliament, etc…All that in just seven days, seems wewalked miles…Red Light District & CoffeeshopsYes, they are real and they are worthvisiting, if only to say that you havebeen there. It is all you can imagine plusmore… The Red Light District (whichwe just visited, really…) was shockingand funny at the same time, though itbrought up some thoughts about whatit takes for a person to choose thisway… The coffeeshops – every cornerof the street, all you need is an ID thatproves you’re over 18. Nothing unusualfor them, main location for some of us…Really cheap – 1 gram = 5 Euros = 4joints = 8 average people. (I might bemistaken) Shall we invite our countryto legalize drugs as well? It has lead to adecrease in consumption of drugs inHolland, hasn’ t it?ShopsOf course, you cannot go abroad andignore shops. You need souvenirs tobring home as a minimum – funny postcards,T shirts, sweets, cheese, woodenshoes… Just wanted to add that surprisinglyit was the guys who did mostof the shopping, cause, according tothem the choice in clothing was widerthere than here at home. Well, perhapsthey are right! The only sad thing aboutthis weird country is that they closeway too early…What we thinkIt seemed a month, it seemed anhour… It was a weird trip, fantasticexperience and lots of fun. Yep, youshould regret missing this fabulous opportunity!We would also like to thankour dear school for supporting this adventureas well as the organizers formaking this week come true!On behalf of Zane, Linda, Linda,Marina, Natalija, Martins, Martins,Kaspars, Maris, Konrads, Agris, Arturs,Kristaps, Inga, Una and Laura –Dank je wel!