Day 3: Amsterdam Part 1

During the afternoon we met with our Dutch partners to talk about future collaborations. The conversation was very interesting and informative. I am amazed at how two educational systems can face similar challenges under very different governments and cultures. While funding is not an issue, retention, graduation and respect for short cycle education are issues. Also, the need for leadership training is an issue. For the Netherlands it is an issue because of the new concept of short cycle training while for US community colleges it is a matter of a agitate of trained and available people with advanced degrees. I was also surprised that the idea of studying "higher education" does not exist in Europe. While there are always one or two exceptions, there really is no field of study like higher educational administration and policy. This field of study in the US has it's tension as well. There are some who question it's relevance as a field of study as well.

After our meeting we returned to our hotel only to meet up later for dinner. I find Amsterdam to be very diverse. So to are the food options. We opted for a French restaurant. Our dinning experience began when the waiter took us to the pub area in the lower level of the building where we consumed pre-dinner drinks. There he shared with us a tray of herring and sausage. I tried both. I knew I would like the sausage from previous visits. The herring I had previously tried back in 1990 when I first traveled to the Netherlands with Sports Outreach International. I didn't care for it then. Tonight I tried it and it seemed wonderful. After drinks we were led to the dinning room. We ordered. I has Damon and it was outstanding. For our "salad" we were served a variety of items, one of which was a hard boiled quail egg. I tried one. I couldn't peal it but the shell was thin enough to eat it along with the egg. It was good, nothing real different than hard boiled chicken eggs other than the shell.

Dinning here is a much more casual, relaxed event. Time between courses of a meal are lengthier than in the U S. No one is trying to turn tables quickly to serve as many as possible. The relaxed approach is part of the experience. Dinning is highly social. People seem much more focused on one another than the TV or ambience of the decore.