Day 1 (A New Beginning)

It was a pretty early morning for us. We left our houses at about 4 am and arrived at the Vancouver International Airport at around 5 am. With passports in hand, we boarded the plane at 7:30 and set flight at 8 am. We had already had training for the Dutch language and therefore didn’t nneed a translator. We were told that Dutch businesses were bound to be good in english or find people that were. The time difference between our two countries is 8 hours, or 8 time zones. The travel time was about 9-9.5 hours on the plane, so our time of arrival was about 1 am the next day. The plane ride itself was pretty wasn’t that bad. I, personally watched “The Man of Steel” three times on repeat. I know, huge Superman fan right? Anyways, I think Gio also pulled something like this off, after watching “Iron Man 3” twice. I think I’m the more dedicated fan. Clearly! Otherwise the ride was smooth, the service exceptional, and the food, well it was airplane food to say the least.

Upon arrival at the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol we went to the modest and exceptional Ambassade Hotel. We made sure to exchange some of our currency to Euros to reflect the countries currency. Our Visas should suffice for most of the trip, but cash is always useful to have on hand. A good night sleep was needed, and we only needed to have our first meeting at 15:00. Transportation throughout the city was pretty easy. The bus system is simple and refined, and so we decided to get some of the simple to use strippenkaart (strip card). One mark of the card and on you get on the bus. We decided to both the largest cards that cost 19.80 euros for 45 strips. As for the actual buses they are modern and similar to what we would find in Vancouver. As far as plans for the first day, we only had 1 meeting. 

The meeting was at 15:00 and; aside from missing our first ever bus here in the Netherlands, there were no problems. We arrived at 14:40, a fashionably early time, and were greeted by a warm, Welkom; these were the first dutch words we had heard since coming here. Contrary to other countries, such as China where it is okay to be a few minutes late, the Dutch are very critical about punctuality and today we were meeting Royal Dutch Shell. 


As for the meeting, it went pretty well. We were able to meet the boss and a few of his executives and discuss some of the services we could provide. It was a pretty eventful and it seemed they were genuinely interested in doing business. They invited to a second meeting in 3 days as they need a few days to consider. The meeting ended with both sides exchanging greetings and we left on are way back to the hotel. We stopped at a restaurant and I picked up some delicious Snert. It is a type of peas soup that really was quite amazing. I think Gio had Boerenkoolstamppot. It is a combination of kale, mashed potatoes, and rookworst sausage. It didn’t actually look that apetizing, but the way he ate it made me think that it probably was pretty good. 

Anyways, we went back again to the hotel and called it a night from there.


Carl Turner