Netherlands- The Peacebuilders 2000 delegates departed from San Francisco International Airport on Saturday afternoon without one of its most key components: the head basketball coach. Ken Carter, Richmond High School's varsity basketball coach, regretfully pulled out from the trip at the last moment, leaving everyone at a loss for words. The timing of the Hollywood made-for-television movie deal on his life, a deal made with Warner Bros. Pictures, swayed him away at the very last minute.

The youths patiently waited in line for their boarding passes in a state of disbelief. They immediately began asking, "Who's going to coach the team during the exhibition games against the Dutch?" After I explained Coach Carter's situation to the group, nothing more was said. The main focus of the group's journey is the mission of promoting peace through sports-basketball- and participation in the wide range of Hague Appeal for Peace youth program workshops and activities. "I'm eager to learn what their culture is like in the Netherlands," stated Mohammed Alarbesh of Castlemont High School. "A lot of the youth in my East Oakland community have a difficult time relating with each other in positive ways because of a lack of education on cultural differences."

"I wonder what it's going to be like over there in Holland. Do you think they will be friendly to us American youth?" wondered Berkley High School senior Perry Pugh, while chatting with Yellowjacket teammate Kaylin Thornton over a card game on British Airways Flight 434.

The trip to Europe is a first for all of the young delegates, and traveling on a place for 10 hours was an experience they will never forget. El Cerrito High's Andrew Gooden, who is 6'10" and 6'7" Courtney Anderson of Richmond High had the most difficult time relaxing on the flight. Neither of the two young giants could seem to get comfortable, let alone sleep.

The people are real friendly over here; they are almost too friendly." Pugh said. "It's not like in New York where you can get some pretty nasty cold stares. I noticed that the city (Rotterdam) has a very diverse population, and everyone seems to get along real well. That's a big difference from where we're from in the East Bay."

When we got off of the freeway from Amsterdam, we were actually only three blocks from our hotel. We drove around the entire city for more than an hour, asking everyone for directions to the Florin Hotel. We got so mixed up that we had to take a break." said Pugh.
The break consisted of a series of street basketball games at a nearby Rotterdam playground.

"The guys were real nice to us, they welcomed us onto their court for a friendly challenge," said Damien Carter from Richmond High. A short time later, the delegation found its way to the Florin Hotel, escaping the first day with only casualty: Andrew Gooden caught what was thought to be a 24 hour bug (he had a slight temperature).