"I AMsterdam" January 27th-30th, 2012

I am happy to say as I am writing this blog that I have finished taking all of my finals (Klausuren). It’s quite the relief to be able to say that I don’t have any left. Unfortunately I’ve been having a really hard time working on my research. I have a lot of information that I can use, so thank goodness that that’s not the problem at all. However, I think the biggest problem is getting myself to find the work ethic to finish just this last bit of work. As long as I get my paper turned in before I go to Africa then that should be fine. I kind of like the way American schools generally set very strict deadlines. Here in Germany all I want to do is bask in the glory of not having the same school system, having finished all of my finals, travels that are coming up within the next couple of weeks and anything that doesn’t involve doing more work. However, in reality, that doesn’t work just yet. But it will get done. I’m excited to see how I can continue my research on into German society next semester too.

One of my friends that I travelled to Amsterdam with, Sami, and I are travelling to Paris, France on Wednesday, the 15^th, to visit our friends. One of her really good friends is French and lives in Paris, and one of my really good friends from childhood is studying abroad there for the semester. I’m so excited to be able to meet Sami’s friend and see Tyler in his French glory. I also love the fact that Tyler’s last name is French. Tyler French is living in France and learning French. I get a kick out of that, what can I say. We will be staying there for six days, and then coming back to Munich. Sami will be leaving for Malta right away and I will have six days until I leave for Nairobi, Kenya. I still have to get my shots for Typhus, Malaria, and Yellow Fever, and I’m hoping to be able to do that tomorrow sometime. The problem is that Yellow Fever is apparently a very dangerous shot to carry, so they may not have it right away. 

 This is a picture of Tyler and I when we were around 1 or so in daycare. 1992.

I never got the chance to write about our trip to Amsterdam, Netherlands until now, and I hope to be able to give the city the justice it deserves. We had a direct flight from Munich to Amsterdam with Lufthansa very early in the morning. We took a taxi from Studentenstadt around 3 am, which was actually quite pleasant (I hate taxis), and had the opportunity to speak German with the cute older man driving the taxi. It’s always so exciting to be able to have small talk in situations like these. It even helps us a lot in being able to think on our feet in German and just have opportunity to speak. We have a great program, but unless you are able to make friends with Germans, it’s really, really hard to find beneficial opportunities to speak outside of getting a Sprachpartner.

Anyway, we got to the airport really early and checked in. We had to wait a while for our flight, which was perfectly fine because it’s better to be obnoxiously early than running behind. Heather passed out on the seats in the airport, which is what I eventually decided to do, while Sami and Caroline paced around the terminal taking advantage of the free coffee, hot chocolate, and cappuccinos. I’m pretty sure the term ‘double fisting it’ was used once or twice.

We arrived in Amsterdam honestly not having the slightest clue of what we were doing. We had gotten our flight stuff together, but hadn’t had a lot of time to plan our actual trip due to the fact that it was the weekend before our finals started. So we were basically at the airport not really knowing what steps to take next. We’d already found and paid for our hotel thanks to Groupon (I have built a deep love relationship with Groupon), but had forgotten to print out directions to the hotel, or even write down the name and address. Sami was able to find internet on her ipod and we eventually got it worked out. We also decided to buy the ‘I Amsterdam’ Card. If you’re interested in looking at what it has to offer, here is the link: http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/visiting/iamsterdamcard

The card basically is created for travelers who are going to Amsterdam for a limited amount of time 

and want to get the most out of their experience as possible. You can buy the card for different prices for 24 hours, 48 hours, or 72 hours. Basically, the first time you use the card, it becomes activated and you then have however many hours you bought it for to use it. This is a really good system in my opinion; however it can be a little stressful for the buyer when trying to make sure they get their moneys-worth. The card comes with a large booklet of suggestions for the buyer to experience, along with a transportation card within the inner city, and vouchers to get free things like a cup of coffee, discounts on food, or discounts on items you’d like to buy. It also comes with a map and very nice introduction to the city of Amsterdam. 

We finally got directions on how to get from the airport to the hotel and made a few wrong turns in the process. It was so strange because we had to board a bus that we had already taken because we’d gone too far down the busline, and the man driving the bus was the same one from before. Instead of him being rude or discouraging, he smiled and asked where we needed to go so that he could try to help us. Then he just had a conversation with Caroline and me! It was so strange because in Germany that generally doesn’t happen. I mean it can, they’re not mean people, but it is rare. And it was so refreshing to be able to pick up a conversation with a stranger and for him to have been so helpful. When we got to the bus stop that we needed to get off at he even pointed us in the direction of our hotel and gave specific instructions. It was very helpful and we found it quickly and efficiently.

Heather and I roomed together and Caroline and Sami were together. The Groupon deal also offered free breakfast for each morning that we were there, which turned out to be a beautiful all-you-can-eat buffet with breakfast foods of every kind. My favorite thing they had was a very large coffee machine that made whatever kind of coffee you wanted! All you had to do was push a button. Technology is mighty lovely at times.

That Friday, January 27^th, our Amsterdam journey began. We were all starving and starting looking through our Amsterdam booklets to see how to best map out our day. We ate first at a place called ‘The Pancake Bakery’. THIS WAS THE BEST PLACE EVER. EVER EVER. It was like the Willy Wonka World version of chocolate and sweets. They had pancakes of every flavor, size, and shape. They had international pancakes, Amsterdam specialty pancakes, dessert pancakes, meat pancakes, create-your-own pancakes…seriously, does it get much better? I ordered banana and nutella pancakes and split with Sami, who ordered one of the international pancakes (those got discounts with the Amsterdam card) that hat ham, bacon, onions, and cheese. It sounds really weird but it honestly just tasted like pizza. Beautiful.

After we ate, we moseyed around in the city in awe of the beautiful designs, layout, and architecture of the buildings in Amsterdam. The canals are absolutely incredible and unbelievably gorgeous. 

Here are some of my favorite pictures of them:

After a lot of exploring, picture-taking, and getting lost, we eventually found our way to maybe the most well-known part of Amsteram—Dam. It’s a large shopping area with incredibly structured buildings, which appear like city hall buildings in Munich (or look like castles to anyone who’s not used to such beautiful architecture). We were searching for a place called “The Amsterdam Dungeon”, which is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Amsterdam, as far as things to do. It’s a very interesting approach to explaining the history behind Amsterdam because every part of the story is being acted out by real people who are acting as if they are still in that time period. It’s literally like taking a time machine back to each point in time and living it out yourself. The thing is is that they’ve put somewhat of a spooky twist with it. Each area is meant to add some level of scare to each person’s experience. For example, at one point Sami was made to go into the next pitch-black room by herself, while the rest of us stayed behind. This actually resulted in Sami almost fighting someone, which was actually one of my favorite parts of the entire Dungeon experience. 

At the end of the tour there was even a baby roller coaster ride. The tour was done in English and Dutch, which was incredibly awesome to hear. I never knew how similar Dutch and German were. Dutch is almost even a mix of English of German, and I would even dare say easy to read if one has a good understanding of both languages. I was in awe of each of the actors who could switch back and forth so easily between the English and Dutch. By the way, people from Amsterdam speak perfect English. Everyone there speaks perfect English because..let’s be honest…no one knows Dutch. I have a lot of respect for that though. On the roller coaster ride two children from Norway got separated from their parents and started freaking out. We were trying to make them feel better but had absolutely no way of communicating that to them. How’s that for two languages and neither one of them is useful…

After the Amsterdam Dungeon we decided to do our free boat tour through the canals at night. By this point I was unbelievably exhausted and could barely stay awake due to the fact that I’d only slept for 2 hours the night before travelling. I can’t fall asleep anywhere to save my life, unless it’s in my own bed, but I am about 95% sure I fell asleep sitting up during the entire canal tour. One minute we were starting, the next we were finished. Oops. During the tour though I do remember them repeating everything they said in English, Dutch, French, Spanish, and German. Can you imagine trying to translate so many languages at one time? It was pre-recorded tour, which played over the speakers, but literally everywhere we went, things were written out in at least four languages. I loved seeing the German, however, because it was my first time outside of Germany that I could get a real feel of where my German is without having the constant pressure of speaking it around Germans. Being in a relaxed environment like Amsterdam was very encouraging for my language skills and through the relaxation I was able to understand a lot of the German used in many occurrences. 

After the boat ride we went to a cute restaurant called Restaurant Manzano. Sami and I accidentally ordered wayyy too much food (due to the Dutch menu, oops) and spent way more money than we had intended. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much food in my life. I wasn’t even hungry until dinner time the next day.

Saturday entailed a very different experience from Amsterdam. Caroline wanted very badly to see where the clogs were made, and so we made our trek with the train out to Zaanse Schans. This area was further from the city and included various windmills, clog-making stores, cute houses floating on the water, a family-run bakery, a diamond store, ferry rides over the river, special Dutch cheeses, pottery, and a family-run restaurant. It was kind of like the outskirts of a small southern town, from my perspective. I absolutely adored it. We took many pictures, and I bought a pair of baby clogs. I would have loved to buy my own personal clogs, but they ranged in price from 45 Euro to over 100 Euro. Desirable, but unfortunately not sensible. However, Sami did buy a pair (because she has small children feet) and I am now super jealous that I don’t have my own personal clogs to sport around in Munich. We didn’t get to spend as much time there as we’d hoped because the day was going away too quickly and there was still much we wanted to see and do. 

After Zaanse Schans, we traveled back to the city toward the Red Light District for a night tour. Let me tell you, I was extremely weary and freaked out by this. I was very interested in how they approached prostitution in this area because it’s completely legal, which is something not many places in the world condone. As we were walking toward the Red Light District the distinct smell of marijuana kept getting stronger and part of me wanted to turn around and run away. And as we got closer to the clear windows with the red lights shining above them, it didn’t make me feel much better. It was a very scary thing walking into it, but now I would say I’m extremely glad that I did go there. 

The tour was led by a Dutch lady who worked at the “Prostitution Information Center”. This center was created by a lady who was actually a prostitute herself for many years, working at Red Light. During her work there, she realized how ill-informed many people were about the business of prostitution as far as how it worked, how prostitutes are viewed, how much it can cost if purchasing, and what is expected from people should they choose to purchase, etc. From this she decided that it was important for her to start an information center in order to encourage safety for all parties involved that choose to spend time in the Red Light District. They literally encourage anyone who has any kind of question (even the most embarrassing ones you can think of) to come to their center so that they can give you the best and most informative answer possible. As much as I don’t agree with the trade, I do have respect for that. 

The tour that we went on was very informative and handled very professionally. The lady who gave the tour herself had not been a prostitute; however, she had studied prostitution at the university for many years and got her degree in it. She constantly made the joke that her parents were very proud haha. Prostitution is just viewed extremely differently in Amsterdam. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it is respected, but I would say it is viewed just as common a profession as a banker or working in a restaurant. The oldest prostitute actually still working there was in her 60s!!! And she had been working there since her 20s. Unimaginable. She said also, however, that one of the downsides is that a lot of people who work there do live double lives. A lot of them are married and have spouses and children who have no idea of what their real profession is. That made me really sad to hear that.

There’s a lot more I could write about what I learned there, but I won’t because I would encourage you to go for yourself, learn the culture and atmosphere, and create your own opinion. Mine is that I think it’s excellent they have a smart way of informing outsiders of the “Unsaid Rules” of the Red Light District, and also to be sure that if one does venture there then one (hopefully) won’t act like a complete idiot. I still don’t agree with the profession, despite how much money it brings in, but I think they handle it as best as it could be handled, considering the complications that may come with such a profession. 

Here are the few pictures I took from Red Light. They really don't like people taking pictures, so I did my best to not disrespect that wish.

 These buildings on the water in the Red Light District are the most expensive places to live in Amsterdam. Millions and millions of Euros.

The red lights above the doors indicate where the prostitutes work.

After Red Light we went to a small pizza place and ordered Heinekens (my first one!) and personal pizzas. After dinner Caroline and I ventured to the ‘Torture Museum’ while Sami and Heather went to a different one. It was a really cool place, outside of the fact that people were tortured with these tools, and another good opportunity to practice our German since each section was written out in German, along with many other languages. After that we then went home and passed out from exhaustion. Two days down. One more day for Heather and Caroline, and two more for Sami and I.

The next day we had to check out of our hotel after breakfast. We stored our luggage there, planning to come back later that night. Caroline and Heather were flying home since they had class Monday, but Sami and I didn’t have class so we decided to stay for an extra day. I have a sister church in Amsterdam, and one of the sisters, Carolyn, invited Sami and I to stay with her, which was such a blessing because Sami and I literally had no idea where we were staying for the longest time. 

This day was literally filled with running around and trying to figure out which places to go to use our vouchers before our 48 hours expired. We went to Anne Frank’s house, which was incredible!!! I loved hearing the story and seeing where she and her family actually hid out for so many years. It was incredibly sad though going through everything and knowing the actual ending that took place. I never knew actually that their family was found out because someone had betrayed them. That just makes the entire story even sadder than originally. In the book store I bought Anne Frank’s diary in German to read and the man working at the cash register just starting speaking German with me! It was so much fun because I think he thought I was German. It put the biggest smile on my face, not because the German was hard (simple shopping lingo), but because I’m just so glad to have an understanding of a language outside of English. And not to mention that man was switching between about ten different languages. Crazy.

After Anne Frank’s house we went to the Van Gogh Museum, which was also incredible. I bought a coffee mug with “Starry Night” on the side J. After Van Gogh we went to a “Houseboat Museum”, ate lunch at a Restaurant called “Restaurant Blue”, which had a 360 degree view overlooking Amsterdam, and then went shopping at Dam. The day went by quickly and before we knew it was time for Heather and Caroline to head home. 

Pictures from the Dam Area:

Sami and I spent the rest of our night shopping at Dam and relaxing and enjoying the time away from Munich. It just felt so refreshing to be somewhere different, and even being surrounded by a different language that I wasn’t expected to speak. Sometimes the pressure of German overwhelms me. I’m thrilled to have the chance to learn, practice, and directly speak it, but sometimes I wish I didn’t have the constant pressure of….’Jessica, you really should be speaking German right now…’ which is generally a very strong pressure I’m always putting on myself.

Anyway, the time that we spent with Carolyn was so much fun, and I’m also very encouraged that Sami enjoyed it as well. She gave us dinner and we got to meet her hall mates, which all spoke English very well (the majority we met were actually American). I felt so bad because I literally felt my body trying to collapse from the exhaustion of the day and I could barely keep myself awake and upright the entire time we all talked and hung out. I could sense Sami starting to fade as well and Carolyn noticed how tired we were. She left us to have her room and bed to ourselves, and we immediately climbed into her warm bed and once again passed out, with the unanimous unquestionable decision of needing to sleep in. Carolyn, if you read this, thank you again so much. Being able to spend time with you really made my Amsterdam experience the best it could have been.

Our last day in Amsterdam was absolutely freezing cold, colder weather than I had ever felt in my life. It was so cold that it made it hard to even enjoy being outside. Sami and I went to McDonald’s for lunch because we were completely broke, and because McDonald’s had these McFlurry’s with this beautiful waffle-caramel cookie inside that I am officially in love with. If only I could remember the name of it. However, Sami found it for me here in Munich at the Starbucks, so I will have a constant supply until my time in Munich is gone. We decided to leave the city early and head back to the airport and check in early for our flight. I absolutely love big airports because they’re like a huge mall, and I feel as if I could be entertained there for hours. 

We spent a lot of time at Starbucks putting our pictures on our computer, and I finished my last blog from the week before. Then we had a pleasant, quick flight home filled with homework and sorrow for our finals in the week ahead. And as we entered in to plane, once again being surrounded by the German language, newspapers, food, and the German flight instructions coming out of the speakers on the overhead system, we knew at once our Amsterdam journey had finished and we were once again headed home to Munich.

I know this blog was long, but I hope you enjoyed it! I’ll be sure to write about Paris before leaving for Africa! I wish you all a great week and can’t wait to post my pictures from Paris soon.

Love, Jessica