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.