From Monday 18th to Friday 22nd February, 19 participants from all over Europe enrolled to an AEGEE-Amsterdam’s event… In a boat!
Five days in Amsterdam means lots of fun. If those five days are on a boat, you can imagine how crazy all get’s.
It took some of us a while to get to the boat, but once we were there, the fun began. Introductions, meeting a lot of people in a short time, the booklets, which specifically said “Sorry Spanish guys!” for having dinner… at 7 pm. The icebreaking games came consequently, and also the first party, where just some of us were up to.
The next day began with a lot of energy, starting from the Treasure Hunt to a Graffiti Workshop where we showed our art skills by painting a ‘piece’. After a long journey, we discovered the depths of the Red Light District and later we went to Dansen Bij Jansen, where we met the AEGEE-Amsterdam members by celebrating the ‘Valentijnsborrel’. Everybody got the chance to try to meet someone by leave an anonymous note to his or her lover.
(Re)Discovering Amsterdam
On Wednesday 20th, after a boat trip to Centraal Station we had an activity to do: PhotoFrenzy. For those who already knew Amsterdam it was a way to rediscover it, and for those who were there the first time in the city, it was the perfect way to get to know it from a very different point of view. We had to take photos doing crazy things: from make a child cry, to take a nap on the busiest street in Amsterdam, or get the Asian people to dance Gangnam Style with us.
European Night, drinks and food from all over Europe
On the same day, we had the famous European Night on the boat. All the participants brought the specialities of their countries: Austria, Israel, Italy, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Russia (despite there wasn’t any Russian participant), Turkey, and of course, Spain. Some members of the antennae joined, organisers and participants to have fun in the craziest night of the event. Even when the party ended and some of us were still awake, we enjoyed it until the last moment just talking and having a lot of laughs.
Last day, last night
Thursday morning was the hangover time. Those who wanted to sleep more were more than able to, and those who wanted to see the city just have more free time.
We met again at the afternoon to celebrate Sinterklaas, the Dutch Santa Claus and for some of us, seemed like a ‘war’ to get the present you liked the most. A while later it took place the Cocktail Workshop, where there was no winner because all the cocktails were extremely good. After a few drinks, we went out and some of us ended in pubs, music clubs or even Paradiso!
The following morning was the time of goodbyes. All in all, it was really nice to meet you, guys. Hope we can meet soon and somewhere in Europe. Therefore, as Diamonds by Rihanna was sort of the song of the event, I just have to say: keep shining bright like diamonds!
Written by Katy Sánchez, AEGEE-Barcelona
Pictures provided by Alexander Kirillov, Zoltán Prohászka and Dimitra Giannakoulia