Hello my name is Ashlee

The Peace Palace, Den Haag

All the students from all over the world have arrived. There are 150 students from 48 different countries. Most are from Africa, South America, and Asia. Less than 25% are from the Northern Hemisphere. My classmates are quite impressive. The average age is 30. Many of them have years of working experience. Some work for their country government and have been sent to the Hague to complete a Masters to enhance their countries development. In my specialization of Human Rights, Development and Social Justice, we all took turns introducing ourselves. The first woman to works for the International Criminal Court!! The second women is an attorney. Then it was me :) So my peers are quite impressive .. the others were lawyers and founders of organizations. My professors are even more impressive! So I lack experience but get to learn from those who have been doing this for many years. I am really happy to be at this school and to be in this unique learning environment. I really feel I am among future "world changers." However, I can already see that because everyone is coming from a different background we will all have very different opinions. There are only 2 other Americans. When I say I am from the United States, everyone gives me big eyes and says. " oh! The big country!" I don't know how to react but I compensate by being just as excited to hear that they are from their country. It has been so fun meeting all new people.

The North Sea! 

This last weekend was the hottest day of the year! My new friends (representing South Africa, Turkey, Mexico, Bulgaria, and Japan)  and I picnicked at the Beach and swam in the North Sea! It was cold, but not too cold.  It is a beautiful sandy beach with little shells, but the beach has no waves.

 

I am arrived at Den Haag at a perfect time. This past weekend was called "Museum Night" where all the museums are opened at night! The Dutch color is orange. They rolled out the orange carpet and the museum celebration began!