Day 1: Arrival in Amsterdam

I'M IN AMSTERDAM!

I had all my stuff together, and tried to make a call to my boyfriend as he had requested from the airport. For some reason they didn’t like my credit card for the international call option (good thing too, it was 20 Euro at minimum!). Customs was a breeze, and I have a pretty new stamp to show for it.

There was a taxi driver looking for passengers right as I stepped outside the airport, so I am glad I went with that option instead of trying to juggle the train to Central Station and then the tram back to the hotel. With 2 bags, that would have been a struggle, plus my brain was running off 2.5 hours with the time difference, inability to sleep on the plane, and the sun that came up over the horizon at 2:30am KY time. Boo!

I met Onno when I checked in, and was glad to find the place I’ll be calling home for the next 10 days. I paid my hotel bill, and was pleasantly surprised I had over budgeted the cost of the stay here. Looking at the room rate, it was 34 Euro instead of the 37 that was on my hotel reservation. That 30 Euro over 10 days with the current exchange rate adds up to a big savings very quickly!

While I was tempted to just fall right on the bed when I got into my room, I had promised 2 classmates I would do the Anne Frank Huis with them today, and already had my ticket I’d purchased online. So instead I took a shower, and wandered around the hotel for a few minutes. Timothy Beatley’s comments of green urbanism were easily identifiable, with eco friendly soaps in the lavatory and the shower, and the smaller toilets and slow flow showerheads. The breeze coming through the window is nice and cool - the temperature outside is definitely a little chilly though. Glad I brought clothing in layers. I walked down the stairs to the ground floor, and was very glad for the lift that I used going up to carry my luggage to my room. These stairs are spiral, and there is barely enough room to put your foot on the step, much less a large piece of luggage. Aesthetically though, they add very much to the character and feel of this place.

Getting directions to the tram stop from Onno, I set out to wander the neighborhood for an hour before needing to brave the tram and head towards Dam Square. I walked to the edge of A.wing to the Gate of Vodelpark, and then down Koningweg to the Vandersplein tram stop (which I later learned when I got off the tram too early coming back from Ann Frank Huis, and recognized the intersection so just decided to walk back the rest of the way). I recognized the Hotel Wilmena, and some of the other businesses in the copies of the business cards Matt Hanka had given us. I decided not to take my camera out on this walk, because I would be walking by all these buildings numerous times before our trip leave, but I also wanted to take it in with both of my eyes and see EVERYTHING, rather than the world through the view finder of my camera. My experience of Amsterdam this trip around was not as overwhelming around this time as it was the first time. I couldn’t quite figure out the tram stops at first though, and was waiting at the wrong one, when I asked someone to confirm before it was too late. They pointed me in the right direction, and said I was very nice for an American. That made me smile. The tram came, and I was on without a hitch.

I am glad I have a good sense of intuitive direction and distance. I got off at the right stop near dam square, even though the tram map isn’t labeled that clearly. It was then a walk up 2 blocks, and then over 3 canals to Westerpark square. I recognized this area from my first Amsterdam visit, where we had spent most of our time in Leidsplein and Westerpark Square. This area was nowhere near as busy as it was when I visited Amsterdam during a June month, but it was still busier than the San Luchesio neighborhood. I think this largely contributed to the feeling of overwhelming - loads and loads of tourists!

While there was no sign of my 2 classmates, I went ahead and went in to the self guided tour, thankful this is not heavy tourist season, allowing me to go at my own pace without feeling rushed or squeezed out of the way of the exhibits. Towards the end of the exhibit, they showed footage of the trains being boarded and then leaving, taking Jewish prisoners to Auschwitz and other concentration camps. When I visited Frankfort, I couldn’t get the images of these trains out of my heads. I was visiting in a suburb called Langen, and so we took the train almost every day into Frankfort. You could look behind you, and forward, and see nothing but trains, and no signs of others who noticed you going by them. I got a wave of this memory seeing this footage, but because Amsterdam is so compact, I haven’t felt that here. Everything is integrated, and shares the same space.

I am still trying not to get too frustrated at myself with the language. Because of my reading lips, I really do feel like everyone is saying greek, unless I KNOW for a fact they are speaking English, and even then it is a 50/50 whether I can actually understand them through soft speech, surrounding noise, and accents. I am so glad I can understand Onno!!!! The folks at the Anne Frank Huis I could understand, but I know that is because they are much more used to tourists there. Still, it gave me that boost that I am not a complete alien with feelers above my heads. The grocery store I think will get better, once I have been in there a few times and can at least try to make conversation when its not the busy hour before closing. I picked up some pineapple, mineral water, nutella, and a little bread. I brought granola bars, crackers, etc with me, but it was nice to have the experience and compare how things cost. I knew to make sure to look for mineral water if I didn’t want to have the bubbly experience of carbonated water. Glad I remembered that one!

Other than seeing said classmates for about 10 minutes yesterday, I spent the entire day alone. I’m not complaining too much, since I live with my boyfriend, and often spend more time in the US than I would like without my own private space and time. The hotel room is still a little smaller than I had envisioned, even with the pictures. But after being here a little longer, I was able to arrange to get the maximum use, having to make the admission I don’t really “need” more space - this is why the Dutch are so much further ahead of the U.S - they understand the need versus want equation, and strongly adhere to the former. I emptied my main suitcase and got that off the floor, and put the things that I brought “just in case” in my second suitcase and out of the way. As far as creative use of the limited outlets, I ran my curling iron cord through the crack in the bathroom doorjamb to make the cord long enough that I could use it and still see what I was doing in the mirror. Take that, Macguyver! For some odd reason, my alarm clock is speeding up. Once I figured out this was happening, I went ahead and unplugged it until I actually needed the alarm, to keep myself from getting more confused about the time.