December 11
 
Hello Everyone.  I thought I would let you know some interesting things Im finding out about Rotterdam and the Netherlands in general. 
 
1)  People here drive on the left side of their cars like in America.  In London its on the right, as most of you probably already know.
 
2)  Most of the buildings here are either rebuilt or are newer.  This is because in the 1940's Germany attacked the Netherlands and bombed Rotterdam in the center of the city, so they had to pretty much rebuild. 
 
3)  The name of the city Rotterdam has existed since 1328 and grew around a dam in the river Rotte.  Rotta is a word that comes from 2 Netherland words rot "muddy"and a "water".
 
4)  The port in Rotterdam has slowly become the largest port in Europe making Rotterdam one of the largest cities in the Netherlands.  Historically it was the home of the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or the Dutch East India Company.
 
5)  The rivers Maas and Rijn reach all the way into the Switzerland and France, making excelant trade routes.
 
6)  At the Europe Container Terminals, transport takes place using automatically guided vehicalls which are unmanned!
 
7)  Be extreemly carefull eating out if you ever go to the Rotterdam, esspecially when applying mysterious sauces to your rice!  It can be so hot it will set your face on fire.
 

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