Business Scholars Europe Trip '15

Meeting at the Salt Lake City Airport at 12:30 in the Afternoon wasn’t too painful, although staying up till 5:30 am the night before didn’t help. Packing was easy, well, as easy as packing two months worth of a life’s worth of clothes in one large suitcase and a carryon can be.  The last half hour was the most stressful, of course, debating which white tee shirt of the three was a necessity, if I needed extra Band-Aids and whether to wear my favorite feather earring or not. But all things work themselves out when you’re crunched for time; all three tee shirts couldn’t hurt right? Right…. until you’re strolling down a little Parisian rue packed with crepes and vintage shops holding the little gems you’ve been dreaming of since you

tried on that dress last year that was almost perfect but just a little too loose in the waist. But obviously I didn’t know my guilty retail dreams awaiting me at this time.

I wished my packing party (George and Laura) goodbye and was finally out the door, for the last time—at least for three months. ~ In my defense, when you’re a fresh 19 year old girl who has never been away from mom for more than two weeks, two and a half months feels like a lifetime. But like they always say, time FLIES when you’re having fun. ~

The airport was easy, curbside service never felt so good. I kissed my sweet auntie Nettie goodbye and she sent me off with my luggage and a baggy of half eaten, melty donuts (Thanks Net, what’s left of them was tasty). Flying is not my favorite thing. In fact, besides my irrational fear of spiders, flying is runner up for my biggest fear. Taylor and I convinced some nice man to switch me so I could hold her hand for take off and tried to pass out before we even left the terminal. The 10-hour flight flew by (lol) and I woke up rested and sore in Amsterdam at 10:50 am—2:50 am Mountain time. First thought? “Wow, this is American.” All of the signs were written first in English and then in Dutch. Slightly bummed, I got over it. I was expecting a completely foreign ancient airport with Dutch people yelling left and right, silly I know. Turns out, almost everyone in the Netherlands speaks English. Most people speak two to three languages, and many people speak up to eight languages!

We headed straight to Zaanse Schans form the airport and toured the windmills, which was absolutely beautiful! This felt very foreign so I was pleased. Dead tired, we made our way to the hotel to set our stuff down and check into the hotel. The professors’ attempts to keep us awake involved walking miles and miles around the city of Amsterdam. Imagine fifty University of Utah teenagers walking around half asleep and post-ten hour flight. It was one of the most interesting sights to see in Amsterdam—which is saying A LOT. Amsterdam is absolutely insane! Amsterdam is home to the most beautiful canals lining the small roads and sidewalks with crooked houses lined down the street as far as the eye can see. The evenings are lovely. It was slightly rainy with the sun peaking through the clouds, perfect weather for our introductory boat tour with a delicious and authentic Indonesian dinner. ~ Why we had Indonesian food catered in the Netherlands, I couldn’t tell you. But it was delicious! ~ When the sun goes down, an entirely new city awakens. Amsterdam is well known for the beauty of the city, but what their really famous for is the Red Light District and Coffee Shops. If you want a morning cup of Joe, you go to a café. If you want a blunt the size of your thumb, you go to a Coffee shop. Feeling lonely? That’s fine; just stroll through the streets of women posing for your purchase under harsh red lights in tiny costumes (or lack thereof).  Amsterdam is an interesting place to say the least, but it is one of my all time favorite places! You could never be bored in Amsterdam. But you could be lost. TRUST ME. Sierra and I left the Ibis hotel to look around before meeting everyone for dinner. Four hours later, three Ibis hotels, two waffles, and endless locals help later; we finally made our way back to the RIGHT Ibis hotel. Stressful, scary, hilarious and wonderful; it is still one of my fondest memories from my Europe adventures so far.

The Next day we visited the Anne Frank house which was very interesting. I was surprised by how big it was actually! I know you’re probably shaking your head at me, but when Otto returned to the house after he was let go from the concentration camp, the house was empty. His one condition for letting them turn the home into a museum was to leave the house exactly as they found it. Without furniture or anything, it looks like there’s lots of room for activities! The tour was sad and eye opening, but amazing. We went on a company visit to the Student Hotel, which was really interesting. We then took a class from a local professor on domestic economics (which was not as interesting).

After two short days, we were out of Amsterdam and on our way to Bruges for the day. First thing when we got there we had a boat tour of the canals and the city. Within two minutes of being on the boat, the heavens opened their gates and let down the rainiest of rains. Luckily, after our hour boat tour, it stopped only minutes after we got off. Life, man. I spent the day with Taylor, Sierra and James exploring the small quaint city and touring a local brewery.

That evening we drove to Brussels, home of chocolate, waffles, beautiful buildings, and a terrifying Albanian young man. That night, we went out to a bar around the corner from our hotel with all of the other Business Scholars and the TA’s from year. It was so much fun! But you know what they say; it’s always fun and games until someone pulls a gun. And that’s exactly what happened. The creepy Albanian boy with a hicky the size of a softball on his neck wanted to dance with Taylor, but McKay had beat him to it. When you get denied, what else do you do than pull a gun? Yeah I don’t know either. McKay—strangely calm—said something along the lines of, “Hey man, you don’t want to do this,” and the boy left. That was that. But it’s never that easy. Everyone was frantic and rushing us out the door. We went back to the hotel in fear and shock and awaited the wrath of the professors we would experience the next day. The next morning—after the wrath—we dressed our best and headed to the headquarters of the EU. We sat through a very very long presentation by a member of the EU and then we’re off again.

I was so close to Paris I could almost taste it. I slept on the train ride to make it go by faster, I couldn’t stand the anticipation. As soon as we got there, a small group of students staying for the two months (aka carrying huge luggage) got lost behind the group and spent the next hour lugging 10 times our weight up and down the dirty stairs of the metro stations. Finally, we made it to the hotel in a sweaty frustrated mess. Not exactly how I envisioned my first moments in Paris, but it would have to do. Taylor, Sierra and I found our way to an adorable corner café near our study abroad school, CEA, and experienced all of our very first Parisian meal. I got a classic Croque Monsieur, Taylor got a salad and Sierra got absolutely amazing Lasagna. Of course we had to share a toast to some delicious wine for the occasion and cheered to living our dreams. That afternoon was chill, we checked out Le Tour Eiffel and took some classic pics. That evening we were planning on going on a boat tour with everyone, missed the boat by seconds, and waited for them on the Seine. Sierra and I met some Parisians and I was able to really practice my French. I convinced the boy to kiss Sierra, in French of course, and took pictures to document the whole time, another one of my very favorite memories from the journey. After the tour we all went to dinner and had never ending Steak and Frites, yum! That evening we hung out with our new best friends, McKay, Curtis and Squal. Something about spending a week in Europe with amazing people creates lifelong friendships. Back at the hotel, we had a movie night and all ended up passing out in Squals room. When 3:30 am rolled around, sweaty and squished, we all made our ways back to our own rooms.

The next night we checked out the local nightclub everyone had suggested, ‘Wonderlust’. It was a blast! They had two bounce houses, lots of people, loud music and lots and lots of dancing. It wasn’t until we were about to leave that we learned it was a Gay party. No wonder the boys were all prettier than me. I was just thinking the boys in Paris were very respectful, but no, they just don’t like “my type”. It was hilarious. I should’ve picked up on it when a girl came up to me in the first five minutes and asked me if I was lesbian or if I had ever considered being. Although she was oddly forward, I was oddly oblivious. In the morning we went on a bus tour of the Charles De Gaulle Airport, aka a great nap for majority of the Business Scholars. The final night, our crew went to the Eiffel Tour in hopes of making it to the top. The boys—being the biggest sweethearts that they are—bought us roses from the hustlers crowded every tourist attraction. We made it to the first level before we lost Sierra. I felt like I lost my newborn. We assumed she continued on to the second level so we made our way up the hundreds of stairs to the most unbelievable view (and it wasn’t even half way to the top!). After staring in awe, and searching frantically, we headed back down and found our sweet Sierra! Exhausted, we all went back to the hotel for another movie night, which ended up more like a giant cuddle puddle. The next morning, they were off.  Taylor and I went to a hotel her mom booked us for the night by The Louvre and slept the entire day. It was perfect.

Bright and Early the next morning at 5:30 am, I left sleeping beauty in the bed and headed to the Airport. Destination: Munich, Germany with my Dad. The next couple of hours was a mess to say the least… but it has to be for a good story right? Plus, it was only the beginning of Le Prochain Semaine.