July 12
Our trip to the Hague was a very fulfilling day, packed with visits to the many attractions and political landmarks present in the city. We started from the Hall of Knights, on to the Dutch House of Representatives, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Panorama Mesdag, the Maurithuis Art Museum, and finished the day with a lecture from the Dutch Language Association.
I recall having a conversation about the differences between American and Dutch governance, from which we each came up with similarities but far more differences. In a nutshell, we commented on numerous political parties that have come to prominence here in the Netherlands as opposed to the almost complete bipartisanship we have back in the US; we also compared the length and style of the term period spent in office. But rather than rehash the conversation, as it was a lengthy one unsuitable for such a blog as this, I will instead say that what I’ve learned from the Hague is of the same foundation of freedom and liberty that the United States was built on.
I imagined that a trip to Europe would bring about the anti-American attitudes that seem so prevalent in popular culture, where the US are the pigs of the Western world. That’t why I found it intriguing that there appears to be so much enthusiasm to both emulate what had been successful in America as well as collaborate in order to create those bonds that will ultimately make each nation better off moving forward. For example, the short clip we saw of Dutch-American relations (regardless of what I thought to be an absurd amount of intensity) really showcased the passion of working with America on worldly issues. This theme of admiration and cooperation resonated with each speaker, who all seemed eager to reveal Dutch-American parallels.
Perhaps it may be possible that these speakers simply knew their audience and catered to what they thought we wanted to hear. Either way, it is nice to feel so welcomed and beloved in a foreign country. Just the mere mention of Berkeley or California to anybody here usually piques an interest and conversation.
