Welcome

Welcome everybody. I don't know how many people will actually read this or not, but I thought this would be a good way to keep in touch with everyone back home and in Boston, as well as keep a record of my (hopefully) exciting semester abroad in the Netherlands. I know I always start things like these and never really follow through and keep it up to date, but we will see how it goes. To start off I think I should answer the questions that I have been getting lately...

Question #1: Why the Netherlands?

Answer: Emerson College owns a castle there. It is a legit castle from the 12th century complete with towers, gardens, and two moats (Yes that's correct...I said TWO moats). If you want to read more about it you can go to the Emerson website (http://www.emerson.edu/external_programs/castle/index.cfm).

Question #2: But why the Netherlands?

Answer: Did you not hear about the two moats??? In all seriousness, this program is absolutely incredible. The classes go from Monday-Thursday, which allows us to have 3-day weekends every week to go traveling around to various countries in Europe. I think it will be a great way to be able to see Europe while still remaining in my comfort zone of Emerson students and English speaking.

Question #3: Why are you going abroad so early? Don't most people wait until Junior or Senior year to study abroad?

Answer: Yes most people do. However, certain majors (Mostly musical theatre majors-Which no...I am not one of them) can only go their first semester of sophomore year in order to keep up with their program. Considering a lot of my friends are MTs, I decided to go first semester of sophomore year so I can be with a lot of my friends.

Question #4: How long will you be gone?

Answer: I am going to be away for about 3.5 months (Do you like how I am starting to be European and using decimals instead of fractions?). We fly out of Boston as a group on September 6th and we come back to Boston on December 14th. Yes it will probably be weird not being home for Thanksgiving or any other times in between September and December, but I will be home for Christmas and winter break.

Question #5: Where exactly is Amsterdam?

Answer: First of all I will not be staying in Amsterdam. The Netherlands is the same thing as Holland, where they speak Dutch (Confusing I know...) but Amsterdam is just a city in The Netherlands/Holland. It’s like equating New York City with all of the United States. I will be staying in the village of Well. The Netherlands is located on the North Sea, to the west of Germany and the north of Belgium. The village of Well (As described on the Emerson website) is "located midway between the Dutch cities of Nijmegen and Venlo, close to the border of Germany. Well is a small, quaint village of about 2,800 people, dotted with brick homes, lace curtains, flowers, cafés and shops and friendly people, most of whom speak English."

Question #5: Can I mail you anything (Ok this is basically just Tory who has asked this so far...)

Answer: Yes you can. As far as I know it costs a lot of money to ship packages, but letters could be a fun way of communicating. My address will be...

Scott Sinclair
Kasteel Well
Kasteellaan 20
5855 AE Well (L)
The Netherlands

If for some reason you do want to send me a package, let me know and I will give you the address to send those.

Question #6: Do you speak Dutch?

Answer: No. I do not. Nor do I speak any other language besides English. However, from what I have heard, everyone in the Netherlands speaks English. They have given us a list of basic Dutch phrases to know just for courtesy, but anything besides "Hello" "Goodbye" etc, we should be able to communicate in English with the people in the village of Well. As for other countries...I should be WONDERFUL in London...It should be interesting everywhere else. I am sure we will be able to manage and get around, but I know for sure there will be some difficulties and funny lost in translation stories to tell once we get there.

There are a lot more questions that people keep asking me, but these are the ones that came to mind first. If I think of anymore, I will post them. Hopefully I did not bore you too much and that you will enjoy reading my adventures over the next 4 months.