Monday

Classes began today! There was a lot of talk about the intensity of the courses (as there is a full semester's worth of information packed into 5-weeks), however everything seems to be pretty do-able. The Digital Photography course seems like it will be interesting, but I was suprised at how captivated I was by the Art History class already. The professor is this extremely intelligent woman who has a real gift for speaking and engaging her students into her lecture (which for Emerson, is unfortunately pretty rare). This particular class will keep its focus largely on Renaissance Art, and our supplemental excursions (Bruges and Venice!) will accompany our lessons perfectly.

We're in class from about 10am-4:30pm, with a short break for lunch. We eat breakfast and lunch here at the Castle, however every night we walk about 20 minutes to this small Inn (called "Grote Waay") where we are served a 3 course meal. It has been absolutely amazing...I've surprisingly been getting some pretty amazing vegetarian meals, and the most delicious desserts. The food is unreal... I guess it's definitely a good thing a bunch of us have started playing pick-up soccer games before dinner to stay in shape!

We leave for our first excursion on Thursday morning, and that will be to Bruges and Antwerp, in Belgium. It's only about a 3 hour train ride from the Netherlands, and we'll be going to many museum's and other sites to further develop our knowledge of Renaissance art. James (my brother) spent about a month studying in Bruges last summer and completely fell in love with the city, so I'm excited to explore!

I'm going to try and post some more pictures of the Village of Well, keep checking back at the photo link:

PHOTOS

Also, if anyone is interested in checking out the website for my Digital Photography course, I believe we will be updating it almost daily with images we create during the trip.

I hope everyone's doing well back home! Keep in touch!

Digital Photo Images of Castle
Digital Photo Images of Students

Orientation continues...

Nothing really new to share. We've just been continuing with orientation this weekend, getting familiar with the Castle, the village, and life in the Netherlands. I'm posting some photos of the Castle so you can see just how unbelievable it is; words cannot do it justice! Later tonight we have a boat cruise that departs about a mile away from the Castle on the River Maas (I think that's the correct name...), which is one of the most important rivers in Europe, beginning in France and flowing throughout the Netherlands and Germany.

We begin classes tomorrow and have a relatively easy schedule compared to what a regular semester usually entails. We have our Art History course from 10-2, then Digital Photography from 2-4...not bad at all.

Here's the link to my photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jillianhorn/

Arrival at the Castle...

(INote: I haven't had a chance to sleep yet since our arrival, so I apologize if the writing is a little choppy)

After about 30 hours of traveling and getting situated, I am finally settled down at the Castle... it is AMAZING. The flight arrived an hour earlier than scheduled, so we had a lot of time to kill in Amsterdam before catching our train to Well. So, Brett, Alex, and I decided to store our luggage at the train station and wander around the city for a bit. We only were able to get a taste of what Amsterdam had to offer and remained pretty close to the main Central Station, however just that bit was so beautiful and exciting. We walked around, taking different paths to different areas of the city, and admired the canals and beautiful architecture. We will definitely return to the city at some point so we can go explore more of the city's district's, go to museum's, etc.

Once the lack of sleep really began to settle in, we decided it was best to head out to the Castle. This would include a 1 1/2 train ride to the city of Nijmegen, and then an hour bus ride to the city of Venlo, where we would be able to walk directly to our new home. The city of Well is extremely small, with only about 2,500 people, and a tiny "downtown" area, with one supermarket, an inn, bike shop, and a few other stores. There are also acres upon acres of farmland-- plenty of cows, sheeps, horses, and more, which I have so far found refreshing compared to my urban-life in Cambridge. There is so much greenery, so many people just taking their time to get from one place to another, and so visibly content living so simply and carefree. It's wonderful.

The Castle itself is an amazing structure, built originally in the 12th century and restored and acquired by Emerson. There are moats, swans, horses, and beautiful flowers surrounding the property, and even a peacock...how strange! The 16 other kids on the program are all very nice and in the same position as me: eager to begin our photo class and enjoy what Europe has to offer. So far, everything is off to a great start!

Link to my Trip Photos

Pre-Departure

Tomorrow the program begins! I fly out of Boston at 7pm with my two good friends (Alex and Brett), and arrive early Friday morning in Amsterdam. We are scheduled to take a train from the airport to the village of Well, where the residence hall for the program is located. The residence hall is a restored castle that belongs to Emerson-- moat, swans, and all. I'm beyond excited; this experience is already completely surreal and I haven't even left Boston yet! It's definitely going be something I will never forget and will learn tons from, and I can't wait to share my experiences!