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Some Amsterdam Statistics
Number of people living in the city: 743,027
Number of bikes in the city: 600,000
Number of bikes I've seen with gears in the city: 7
Number of helmets being worn I've seen in the city: 5
So, that's interesting/unsafe. But to each their own, right?
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| Kat's Mom is in the pink |
Thursday morning, we went to the Starshollow of Holland. Gilmore Girl fans are keepin' with me, for the rest, I'll elaborate on what I mean: they have cute festivals/parades/etc., but they're only pretending to do them for the tourists. In reality, they're doing them because the people of the town (like Taylor in GG) finds joy in putting them on. Plus the kids get school off. I know this because I'm not a tourist, I'm a traveler. Ha, just kidding. I used to say that, but now I've realized how much I like museums and some tourist stuff. I've accepted it - I'm a tourist. Anyways, I know that because Starshollow of Holland is the town that Kat grew up in, and her parents are still there. Her mom was in the little parade wearing super cute, homemade Dutch clothes. We ate delicious Dutch food and walked around the cute little Dutch town. And I petted the fluffiest bunny in the world. And it was a grand morning.
In the afternoon, I went cycling in the park near her house.
On Friday, I played tourist. I went to the famous "I amsterdam" sign that was put up for the sole purpose of attracting tourists. Obviously it went, because I went and took a tourist picture. But not before sitting and eating my lunch right next in front of the sign. I found it super amusing to watch everyone pose for their own pictures. Some people tried to take original pictures, but little did they know, someone took a picture in that exact same space 10 minutes earlier. Teenage boys would run across the top of the words, then 15 minutes later, a different group of boys would do the same thing. Photographers would be running around saying, "I can't get the whole thing." (It's a big sign). One of the most entertaining scenes was when parent picked his kid up and sat him on top of the "t", and the kid kept saying, "Dad, I don't like this. Dad, get me down. Dad, really, I don't like this, get me down," but he was saying it with a huge smile on his face so as not to ruin the picture. Another little boy curled up in the hole of the "e." Backwards. That was my favorite.
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| find your favorite tourist |
THEN I WENT TO THE ANNE FRANK HOUSE! It was - crazy. I'm really glad I got my hands on the book a couple days ago. It was like being on a movie set. I recognized everything. I was already familiar with everything. I had to keep reminding myself that it was real. She had really been there. They had all really been there. In that house, for two year. All eight of them. The Anne from my book was actually the same person who hung those posters. The Peter who loved her actually owned that game there. It wasn't a movie, it wasn't created to replicate the house described in the book, it was the real house. It was reality.
Crazy.
At the end of the house/museum, they had this one room that I thought was absolutely brilliant. They played short, 3 minute videos about different human rights issues going on in the world that ended with a y/n question for the audience to answer with the buttons spread around the room. Most people came in for a question or two and then left, but I think I was there for almost an hour. It was such an intelligent way to say, "Now that you know a bit about persecution during WWII, please recognize that it didn't end with the end of the war. Here are some different groups that are being persecuted today in your present world. Please think critically about these questions." There was one about a rap group called Sexion d'Assaut from France that has highly homophobic lyrics, and it was brought up in the context of freedom of speech. The question was, should concert halls be allowed to not host Sexion d'Assaut because of their homophobic lyrics. (My answer: duh. Concert halls are private, they can do whatever they want. I thought it was going to be a harder question, like, "should they be allowed to have homophobic lyrics?", which gets a bit more complicated legally). There was another one about Jobbik, which is a radical Hungarian nationalist party that's known to be anti-Roma, among other things. (For those of you that don't know, the Romani people are a group you probably know as Gypsies. They're a bit like the Jews before the Jews received Israel in 1948. What I mean by that, is that they are a united people group, dispersed all over and without a country, which makes them exceptionally vulnerable to the laws of whatever country they are living in, because they don't have their own official government to protect them). The video went over a bit about the party, and then asked if they should be able to hold political demonstrations. There were other questions about groups on facebook denying the holocaust, and should they be allowed to exist, or should neo-Nazi clothing like combat boots with white laces be banned in Germany. I loved it. I sat there for a really long time, watching the videos, watching peoples' reactions, being surprised by the results. It felt good to be back in that world again. I even took notes about stuff I wanted to research more. And I thought it was so smart the way the Anne Frank museum was able to say, "Wait! Before you leave, realize that this isn't just history! This stuff is relevant to your life!" Because it really is.
From the Anne Frank museum, I went and met Kat for dinner at a restaurant she used to work at. I drank Bride's Tears. Some drink with gold shavings in it that Kat ordered for me. Felt fancy.
Then we went out to this little bar next to a windmill and were sitting next to the cannal when she said, "oh, see that houseboat there? That's my friend's. Let's call him." So we called him, and he came and joined us. After visiting his houseboat (Kat insisted I had to see the inside of a houseboat), he said, "Do you want to go out in the boat?" He wasn't referring to driving their house around, they had another smaller boat attached. So we were like, "Uh, ya."
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| Our skipper |
So I went on a night time canal cruise of Amsterdam. Beautiful! We went briefly through the red light district and I saw women standing in windows like live manikins, beckoning men to come inside. That was something I hadn’t seen before. I would love to sit down with one of those women for coffee sometime. There was one moment when we were going under a canal bridge and the other boat members both lit up, and in my head I was like, “oh, hey Amsterdam” because it felt like a very stereotypically Amsterdamian moment. Red and green aside, the canal ride was beautiful. All the bridges were lit up. The stars were out. It was perfect.
(turns out I'm tired and want to go to sleep. Like I said, 6am tomorrow. I'll finish later. . . maybe).
(now we’re back to present time, and I’m in the train station. Continuing. . .)
On Saturday I hung out with Sjoerd, which you pronounce like “Stuart” except not quite. I met Sjoerd when he was studying abroad in Berkeley and we had a PACS class together. And guess what, he has a boat! So now I got to see Amsterdam by boat in the day time! Winner! Sjured was an excellent tour guide. I could be like, “what’s that?” and he would have all the deets. When it was made, what it was originally used for, what it’s used for now. Very impressive, that Sjoerd. We docked the boat at a little café on the water (you can do that, by the way. Just dock boats places like you would park a car) and had some coffee and talked about PACS things like the videos at the end of the Anne Frank museum, and I was so happy. I love what I studied. I love learning about it. If someone gave me a research topic, I would gladly take it and study it and write about it in my free time – even while I’m here. I saw a bumper sticker somewhere that I really loved (warning, I’m going to swear for a hot second). It said, “You say ‘nerd’ but I prefer the title ‘intellectual badass.’” Made me laugh and smile. I’m okay with being nerdy, which brings me back to my original point: loved my coffee/day with Sjoerd!
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| Sjoerd! |
Oh! After making dinner at his apartment (that makes it sound like we both made it. We didn’t. He made it. Very impressive chef, by the way), we went out to the movie at the EYE, which is an awesome, brand new theater near Amsterdam that’s right on the water. I could have just hung out there all day. Seriously the coolest theater in the world. I should have taken a picture. Anyways, we watched this super cute movie called Moonrise Kingdom. Usually I don’t like artsy farsty movies, but this one had so many really cute moments, I could have started it over and watched it all again. Then we cycled back into the city and split up to go to our separate parties.
(P.S. Friends, you should know that I told Sjoerd he can stay at your house if he goes to California and I'm not there. But he really is awesome. You'll end up thanking me. But I just felt like you deserved a heads up).
At the party (wow, this is incredibly long), I finally got to see MAX! I met Max when I first met Kat, when they were hitch hiking through California and my dad picked them up. Max reminds me a bit of Captain Jack Sparrow, if instead of being a swashbuckling pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow was a globetrotting photographer. So that was super fun to hang out with Kat and Max for a bit. Then Kat and I rode home and went to sleep.
(whew, big breath. And continue…)
On Sunday Kat and I went to the BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHH. That says “beach.” Woohoo! I love the beach. We laid around and she taught me some yoga, then we tried to do acro-yoga where you balance on each other and do things, and we went swimming, and it was perfect. Hurray for beaches.
Then I went to a museum because they had an impressionist exhibit and I’m learning that Monet is one of my favorite artists. Then I cycled around a bit more in the park, and went home. I went to sleep early, because the next day was starting pre-6am.
We were in the car by 6am Monday morning, off to Venlo where they are holding the Floriada, which, if you don’t know, is the global horticulture show thing. It happens every ten years, and it’s a very big deal. Kat was performing, which is why I got to go (for free!). So we go in the van, went and picked up the costumes and the other performers, I fell asleep (motor narcolepsy – remember?), and then around 9:30 we were there!
(side note – I’m on the train now. Turns out that people think the Window Seat song/dance is a bit strange. Whatever.)
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| Kat |
So we went to the Floriada, and I got to watch Kat and her friends perform. They were on meter stilts. METER! I had trouble with those 6” stilts we picked up at a garage sale somewhere. They did a great job – all three of them! So they performed and I watched for a bit and then wandered around for a bit. On their break, Kat and I sat in a clog because I’m in Holland and it just felt right. Then Kat painted my face. Then they performed again and we went home. And I slept the whole way.
That night, I went out with Max and he spoiled me with really nice prints of some of his photos (he’s a photographer, remember?). I’m so excited to get a new apartment and proudly feature them somewhere. It was great catching up with him, hearing about his latest adventures and his plans for the future. He really is a cool guy.
Then today, Tuesday, I woke up and did all the pre-leaving stuff (packing, cleaning, etc.), then I left and went to the train station and didn’t go to the post office. Now I’m on a train to Berlin, where I get to see Nadja and Phillip and Sarah and David. (David Miller, not David Melendy, btw). Quite excited.
I’m getting a bit hungry, so since I’m now caught up and you’re probably sick of reading, I’m going to finish this up and have my pudding for lunch. Technically is vla (pronounced, I recently learned, like “flah”). I think I have an apple somewhere too.
You should get a medal for reading this whole blog.
Love you all. See you soon.
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| Bye Holland!!! |
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