Amsterdam Recap

Amsterdam has been incredible! Our gracious and thoughtful host, Bram Boxhoorn, did a wonderful job providing a better understanding of the Netherlands issues and politics in a short period of time. We have divided out in smaller groups and I have to say, our group Rocked! We had Shannan Hicks is from Louisiana, George Walker from DC, Amy Gardner from Chicago and Bijorn Skogquist from MN. We are an eclectic bunch, but had a lot of fun together and a love of food and hot chocolate in common. Amsterdam was cold (snow on the ground this morning), but thanks to patches of sunshine and our group’s sense of humor we laughed and enjoyed this beautiful city.


The Netherlands are grappling with many of the same issues as the states (with the exception of universal healthcare, which is a whole different blog entry….), such as immigration and integration, neighborhood revitalization and community development, and troops in Afghanistan. The coalition government collapsed two weeks ago around the Afghanistan war and the elections on Wednesday strongly indicated a regime change will take place during the National elections on June 9th. Many changes to come for The Netherlands which will be interesting to watch unfold and follow the people we met here.

As soon as you say Amsterdam, many think of the Red Light District where legalized prostitution and “coffee shops’” selling soft drugs are tolerated, both showing their goods in shop windows. There are political arguments for the pros and cons of this area, but what we saw and experienced was beyond the novelty of it all and into the sadness that abounds. Back door drug and human trafficking are becoming issues that cannot be ignored. From a political standpoint, having control to regulate has solved for some problems, but as we observed, has opened the door to these other serious issues. The community redevelopment taking place is interesting and familiar to what many organizations in the US are also working on in our urban, inner-city communities.

So since we last spoke, we spent a day in The Hague visiting Parliament. We had a wonderful meeting with Angelien Eijsink, member of Parliament for the Social Democratic Party and the spokeswoman on Defense issues. From there we visited the International Criminal Court where we observed the criminal trial of a Congolese war criminal. What a strange experience to be eye-to eye with a man accused of horrific crimes with only a glass wall separation.

At lunch we started our afternoon of meetings including: Thijs Niemantsverdriet, political reporter, Vrij Nederland weekly and a GMF European Fellow Alumni, discussing The Netherlands and Iraq; Chris Buijink, Secretary-General, Ministry of Economic Affairs to discuss commerce issues; Marianne van Leeuwen, Professor of Modern Transatlantic relations and the debate and policy on Muslims in the West; and Mayor Harry Groen of Noordwijk to visit the Noordwijk new seawall that will protect the surrounding areas from devastating flooding. Whew, I am worn out just writing all that out!

But, we are not finished…..Saturday morning we were off to a dairy farm with the first ever bio-gas energy source – modern technology with the aroma of cow all around. We were awarded with the rest of the day and Sunday for museum outings to see Anne Frank’s house and the works of Rembrandt and Van Gogh, which were all moving in different ways and just incredible.

So now we are sitting in the airport waiting on our flight to Rome…..onward and upward – literally!

PS. Internet is slow going, so pictures to come.