The trip to Amsterdam was a pretty smooth trip. Despite some American's distaste for hard bread sandwiches, I rather enjoy the dynamic bite: crunchy : soft : cheese flavor : salty flavor of meat : and some refreshing lettuce and tomato. This and quality cheap German Ice cream accompanied my train ride. A border police officer got on at one point to check our citizenship. "Ah you're from the United States."-"yes"-"What are you doing here?"-"I am studying in France was traveling in Berlin and now I'm going to Amsterdam"-"What are you going to Amsterdam for?"-"Because I haven't been there yet..." I don't think he thought that was a great answer... but I had no other good one to give him. Either way his mood changed, he smiled and said enjoy my trip. It was definitely odd... he was young and not grumpy, just full of questions, though no one else seemed to recieve the same attention. I was glad to have not forgotten my passport as I did in a dream I had of going to Germany. That ended me up 3 days in jail!  |
| Trip scenary |
I got into Amsterdam at 19:00, and at that point figuring out anything was impressively difficult! Even figuring out how to get a ticket for the connection from south station to the north main one!! One machine didn't take any normal credit cards the other machine required you to buy an expensive reusable card. Well I used that once, but didn't see any other machines to put more money onto it, and once you got into the city more, you could just by tickets right on the bus!
The next challenge was finding my hostel! I walked down the whole street, back up the other side, and then finally asked for directions at a pizza place. They directed me to a stair case that had absolutely no sign at all, nor address number. The stairs (which I realized to be quite common in the Netherlands) had steps about about 2xs as high as they were wide, and they were only no more than 6 inches wide! There weren't tons of people around in the hostel by the time I got there, so I ended up blending in with a group from Valencia (as well as a white girl in Mexico -thoughts of you Kelsey :) ) They didn't speak too much English either... We played a make shift board game though, it was a lot of fun.
Later I went downstairs to use wifi, and I met one girl from Australia, and the 2 guys working at the desk and their friend who happened to be originally from Monaco. He introduced himself as Appie, like Happy, without the H. Between that and the fact that he was wearing his bike helmet for some silly reason I couldn't help but to laugh a little. The group of us poked fun at each other for a little, and then Appie's friend suggested Appie take me to get something to eat since I hadn't eaten dinner yet. He wouldn't let me get money so he ended up paying for me, which was nice of him. He showed me his bike, don't worry Mom, we didn't go anywhere on it!! (He only had one helmet.)
We went for a little walk and talked for a bit and he filled me in on what to do and where to go. He had to work the next day but perhaps he would meet up with me later to show me around more. The next day turned out to be rainy... so I didn't meet up with him, but walked around on my own.
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| An abstract dragon? |
 | The Amsterdam zoo... a little too expensive to go in. I soon realized that unless you have a museum membership in Amsterdam, it is not cheap to go through all the museums. They often cost 10 euros for the smallest exhibits. |
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| A boat tour I considered going on... but it was getting to be too late by the time I found the dock. |
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| Someone learned not to only lock the back wheel. |
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| Nifty draw bridge! |
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| Bet you can guess this is the main square! |
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I did get to do the Anne Frank museum. I've known her story since childhood, and it was always an important one to me. While I was waiting on line I met a Hawaiin family; sweet mother, father: a civil engineer, and two little girls. He was here on business but they family got to come along for "vacation" Ironically anyone in Amsterdam would probably love to be in Hawaii on the cold rainy day! I was more than happy to share my umbrella with them though.
There's something particularly touching about Anne's quotes; her age probably contribued to the value of the words: young not over analyzed, just simply the truth of how the situation was for her and her family.
I snuck a few pictures before I was informed that I was not allowed to do so. I'm always afraid of finding that out, because I have heard stories that in some cases security might try to smash your camera. Nothing of the sort happened of course. 
Little models of the annex. |
| Moveable bookcase: entrance to the annex |
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| Common area |
Little Anne died in a camp just a few months before the war ended and America freed the prisoners. She had thought there was no one of her family left, and she no longer had the bright courage of her childhood. Unfortunately she did not know her dad would come to look for her once he was freed as well.
The last museum I went to which was not at all costly, and not something I would normally go to, is on a different topic, but a good way to open up the next thing I wish to discuss. Perhaps I will rate it my 'M for mature' section. I will try to keep it concise.
Amsterdam is known for drugs. Not so much alcohol, but marijuana. It's legal there. People like to smoke it, eat it and problem drink it if they could.. perhaps they do! On one end of the spectrum there's smart people who take pride in enjoying intelligent experiences. On the other end there's people who prefer to temporarily and eventually permanently lower their intelligence so they can find a much wider range of things entertaining without having to exert any effort. These are personal decisions, and of course I associate myself more to one side, I do not hold it against people if they choose the other one. Why? because the world would become a very crowded place if everyone strives to become an astronaut. [I use this example not because it is not the most intriguing job in this world, but because it is the only one not in this world... you may laugh, I do, at this choice because if everyone were an astronaut then I guess the world wouldn't be crowded at all. I simply mean it's a very small field for everyone to cram into.]
Two hings I do particularly care about are related to feminism and discrimination. Here I will talk about my perspectives as a woman. Beautified women like this girl here, and Marilyn Monroe, below are considered to be sex symbols of their time. Yet guys in their position might simply represent artistic talent!
On my travels in Europe I have encountered several astonishing events where guys have approached me and admit their love, or desire for me to accompany them in the present, for short or long term. It's because of a smile, or my eyes, or because I speak English fluently, or because I speak a little french. None of them knew me. I assure you they did a little better by the end of the conversation. A 40 year old druggy who appeared to be more like 60 approached me and spoke a little french to me, bonjour ect. not uncommon strangers greet each other frequently. I replied with an American accent. "Ah you're American but you speak a little French! I like you let's go together to smoke a joint" he said as he tried to put his arm around my shoulder. When I turned down the offer by "I'm meeting someone else" he seemed truly disappointed that I "didn't have time for him." I now recall the time in Nice, and the train coming back from Beauvais.
I am not tormented by these guys, I am full of disbelief at society. Somehow society seems to exclude select males from the secret that women have minds and choices of their own and do not or should not live to satisfy the will of any man passing them on the street. In the past men went to war instead of being taught to respect women. And blacksmiths forged chastity belts for father's daughters to prevent them from losing their virginity whether by choice or more harmfully by force. *I like guys, I have many guy friends and I am in no way generalizing
them to be all missing this important social secret of respect. There
are some though, and enough for me to notice in a majority of the places
I have gone. I only hope that these guys I come across will remember me as an important moment of realization in their life. Something along the lines of "Oh yes, I'm a homosapien, I am part of society, not the wilderness." Even male birds do not just expect the females to fly away with them. Even many wild species have very intricate courting behaviors.
A conversation with a guy running the hostel has not allowed my hopes to become too high that it is common sense that people should be respected. I passed through the Red Light district to see what all the excitement in that area is about as well. It consists of live dolls advertising themselves in windows lining the streets, among other similar infectious businesses, and then other shops selling the immunity medicine in the form of "care free" drugs. The man at the hostel explained to me and another girl about how these prostitutes get paid ridiculous amounts; according to him, 50 euro for 20 minutes, and he computed that up to over 1000 euros a day! These girls are not poor, nor in an unfortunate situation. They get paid big bucks for something "not even real". I wonder if he has thought enough to put himself in their shoes, or if he is that shallow that he would be okay with living a life in which he can have no self respect for his body. I wonder if he has thought past the money and the sex to the type of people who would be his customers: Men incapable of making love and real relationships. Men so desperate they are willing to pay 50 euros for 20 minutes of pleasure. This price should be about right. It's not a ridiculous amount where the only people with money to afford would be the dare-I-say "classy part of society" but it is enough to discourage anyone less than desperate. Has he thought about that. Those girls don't really want to be there. But the men who pay don't know nor care. Anyone who isn't against these girls having to depend on this lifestyle, don't know nor care. The fact that it is still legal here means that a majority of the public or selfish, desperate, and or ignorant.
No that is not "one sentence" concise. But I believe it touches on my point.
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