Day Three-When I grow up I want to be Dulcia

[Cailin, Me, and Louisa with the Prince of Carnival at the Linden. The picture doesn't do his glorious feather hat justice!]

[Sophie's Lounge in the Main Castle]

[Dutch Beer at the Linden]

[The infamous Castle security pole]

Not much exciting happened today other than the academic meeting and the drug/alcohol talk. Our director, Dulcia (who I want to be, she’s awesome!), gave us a talk about the academic policies and why the program is run the way it is. Apparently there are strict Dutch and American laws that have to be followed so she was outlining them for us. It was really interesting to hear what goes on behind the scenes. She says she gets a lot of criticism for letting the students drink in one of the lounges so she was explaining to us the Dutch view on drinking which helped us understand the culture of the Netherlands. Dulcia also talked about the Dutch view of drugs which she says is very different from close neighbors France and Germany (apparently Well is 5 minutes from the German border).

After the meeting we had a break where everyone started to stress over planning trips. We then went to a talk with the OSA staff about drug and alcohol prevention. It was basically a condensed health class about the dangers of both, but with the Dutch twist that everything should be done in moderation. The head of the drug task force of Venlo (a nearby town) also came in and spoke to us. He explained the drug laws in the Netherlands and cleared up questions people had. We then went to dinner where we had Dutch burgers and fries (very interesting experience). Dulcia ate with us and then passed out glasses of wine to everyone. She made a toast to us, wishing us safe travels, good studies, and a wonderful semester. After dinner we had a fire drill that consisted of us all gathering in the barn. A meeting with our RA followed which was fun.
The rest of the night was spent trying to plan a weekend in Belgium with other castle-dwellers for the weekend after our Amsterdam excursion.

Oh! It also snowed today! The castle looked absolutely beautiful in the flurries that happened this afternoon. Me, Louisa, and two other girls walked around and admired the grounds. It was so picturesque that I couldn’t believe I was actually here.

Classes start tomorrow and I’m actually looking forward to it. My art history class is first which I’ve been dying to take and it’s taught by my new favorite person-Dulcia.
Everyone here is so nice and we’ve all been getting along really well. Uncle Joe, I know you’ll ask so.. there’s only been one trainwreck so far, a girl who had a little too much fun at the Linden and ended up with a Dutch boy..

I bought a Skype phone plan today so I was able to talk to my mom for a while over the phone tonight which was a much, much needed thing today! I found out that the Cardones are coming with my family for Easter and I can’t wait! It is going to be such a fun trip.