Peace or Justice?

Today I had the amazing opportunity to visit the International Criminal Court in the Hague with some of my classmates. We attended presentations by people working at the Court and were also allowed to attend trials. The most interesting case before the Court started just last week and is on command responsibility. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo who is a former vice-President and Senator of the Democratic Republic of Congo is on trial for the atrocities committed by the men in his group the Movement for the Liberation of Congo in the Central African Republic. The prosecutors were questioning a witness today, yet we were not able to see the woman based on confidentiality of victims.
My head is about to explode from all the new and interesting information I acquired today. It is so amazing to be able to go out and see in action that which we talk about on a daily basis in class. It is funny how for learning methods we never change, students will always get excited about a field trip!

Another particularly interesting point is that Amsterdam witnessed its first snow this past week. There is still a little on the ground now and it is only supposed to get colder over the next week. I didn't think -14 Celsius was possible in this country :( But, the weather makes it feel very real that Christmas is just around the corner. This past weekend added to the holiday spirit as I had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday with all the trimmings. With the 1st of December tomorrow it is time to break out the Advent Calendar to count the days until Christmas 24!! and until home 19!!

But before leaving I will have to hand in my final assignment for my central course the Changing Nature of War on the subject of humanitarian intervention. Here is hoping that the ICC today can help with some inspiration.

Ciao from Chilly Amsterdam.

Laura

Reunions

You can see the excitement on my face!

It has been awhile since I updated but life in Amsterdam got very busy as the past two weekends I had some good friends visiting. The nice thing about travelling all over is that you meet and make friends with people you might never have had the chance to otherwise. It was also really nice to reminisce with these friends about past adventures. This past weekend Terri from Scotland and Meike from Germany joined me in the city, both who I met while I was studying in Heidelberg. The weekend before Michele from Switzerland, who I met in Rome, was visiting. It is weekends like these that I realize how fortunate I am to have such an international network of friends.

What is also interesting is that when these visitors arrive it is like I become a tourist again in the city I live in. I want to show them all the interesting sites and take them to all the best places. We went on bike rides, on canal cruises to musuems and concerts and out for some very nice meals. This past weekend it was nice that the Christmas season officially kicked off so the city is alight with decorations which made for a nice atmosphere. Michele and I also went to Utrecht about 30 min south of Amsterdam and climbed to the to of the big Dom (over 400 steps!) All in all I was really happy to play hostess and have such good friends visit and see my life here in Amsterdam.

In between my visitors I saw the Canadian Cirque de Soleil show Totem, made two presentations about Rotary (one to my classmates :), went to see Harry Potter Pt.1. and tonight I am going to the Opera. Life just doesn't seem to slow down. This weekend I will relax and stuff myself with some turkey as some American friends celebrate Thanksgiving.

To any American readers have a Happy Thanksgiving! Christmas is just around the corner and here in Amsterdam temperatures are supposed to slip to a frigid -5 this weekend. With the winter feeling, who know maybe we will even get some snow.

So with my visitors now gone it is a return to real life, this means studying and preparing for the end of the Semester, which happens to coincide with Christmas. This is the next big thing to look forward to, I am definitely excited to be going home to see my family and friends.

Ciao for now!

Laura

Meike, Terri and I near the Amstel river.

Terri and I at Paradiso for Broken Social Scene!

Michele at the top of the Dom in Utrecht!

Michele and I inside the Houseboat Museum.

Susi in front of the Big Cirque Tent for Totem.

Lest we Forget

I want to take this weeks post to reflect on November 11th, Remembrance Day, which in Canada takes place this week. It is interesting that in my program, everyday I am studying and reading about war and armed conflict, and it is sometimes easy to forget, the people out there fighting and those who have in the past. I wish I could join everyone this week in wearing a poppy. When I was living in Belgium on my Youth Exchange I travelled to Ypres for the Remembrance Day Ceremony and when I was in Germany during University I travelled to Vimy Ridge to witness celebrations there. This year I will be unable to leave Amsterdam on the 11th as I have my most important seminar aptly titled "The Changing Nature of War". The Dutch don't recognize the holiday but I will take a few minutes at 11:00 to pause and reflect on the real affects of war.

After a couple of weeks of studying and writing I finally finished all my assignments. The new semester has started already and with that comes new classes and new challenges. I have a much heavier course load for the next 2 months so unfortunately I won't be continuing with Dutch classes at the moment. Though I did pass my exam with top marks.

When I handed in my last assignment last week I went out for a celebratory dinner with some friends. We went for Indonesian food and shared a bunch of typical dishes which were all really delicious. After the dinner we went to see The Social Network, which had my friends and I debating intellectual property and privacy rights the rest of the night.

Last night was also a unique opportunity in Amsterdam, as all of the city's 45 museum stayed open until 2am. The city was buzzing with activity much more than is usually the case. I went to see the Tropenmuseum, which has exhibitions on natural sciences, the Aquarium and the NEMO, one of Amsterdam's most popular museums, which has many hands on science exhibitions.

Today as the first Sunday of the month I returned to the Westerpark near my house to go to the Sunday Market and fortunately it was another great day. I can feel that winter is on its way though and I think it might be time to pull out my winter coat.

For now I will return to my readings on International Criminal Courts and Tribunals, one of my new classes that is really interesting. In fact at the end of the month we will be going to visit the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Den Haag which is really exciting.

All the Best from Amsterdam.

So very close to Flanders Fields.