WEEK EEN

Me and Alex at SFO ready to go!

This Tuesday, Alex and I boarded our KLM flight from San Francisco to Amsterdam. We arrived in Amsterdam the morning of Wednesday, January 26, 2011.  From the airport we took a cab straight to the housing office where we waited for our keys and housing contracts.  Alex and I were placed in different dorm so I had to grab my own cab and was dropped of at the corner of Prins Hendrikkade 189 with no idea where to go from there. Finally someone came out of the courtyard and pointed me to the right direction to my room, but of course there was no elevator.  All on my own I had to push two large 50 pound suitcases, my carry-on, and my full Longchamp up a narrow staircase to the third floor.  There was nobody around and rule #1 about traveling is never to leave your belongings alone (and I was convinced I would be the one to get their suitcases stolen with my luck) so I had to push one suitcase up a few sections, turn around and run down the stairs and pull the next one up until I finally reached my room exhausted and had 15 minutes to get ready for orientation.  That day we met everyone in our CIEE program that is half USC kids and then students from small colleges all over the US.  After giving us Dutch phones and brand new bikes (with the most complicated lock system I have ever seen) they took us on a night canal tour and we got to see our first glimpse of the city all lit up.

Thursday and Friday continued to be packed with orientation activities including the orientation for the International Student Network for the University of Amsterdam (or UvA) where we met students from all over the world.  My group visited a flea market and toured the Royal Palace. 

Saturday was the first free time we had and a small group of us ran to the Dutch version of Target called Hema where we bought things we needed for our rooms.  My front door opens to a small hallway with two single rooms, a small kitchen with a stove top and fridge, and a bathroom.  My room is bigger than my room at home and looks out onto the courtyard where all the bikes are locked up.

My desk and view of the courtyard.

My bed and bookshelf.

After Hema we had traditional Dutch pancakes at the Pancake Bakery and they were incredible! They are more like giant crepes with any toppings you can imagine.  I had bacon, cheese and mushroom. 

Me, Laura and Drew at the Pancake Bakery.

Saturday night I went to a Burlesque show with a few international students and my friends from USC Alex and Laura, but it was not at all what we expected and ended up being a bizarre kind of improv show... we had fun anyway.

Sunday Laura and I met Alex and our friend Drew in Dam Square, which is where the Royal Palace is along with a lot of shopping and the most beautiful mall you will ever see.  We were proud to get there without looking at a map once! We spent most of the day exploring the center of the city.  Amsterdam is one of the quietest places I have ever been with only the occasional ambulance that sounds more like an ice cream truck than an emergency.   Later, we bought groceries at the main Dutch chain Albert Heijn which has everything you could imagine and tons of already prepared food (chopped vegetables in a bag or chicken that is already seasoned and cut) that you can just throw on the stove.
 

Alex and Laura with Albert Heijn bologna that has cartoon faces on it.

So far I've learned a few things about the Dutch:

1. They are the tallest people in the world. I didn't notice it until we were told this as a fact and now I can't stop being amazed at how many of them tower over us, including the women (who look like they could be in the WNBA).

2. A 10% tip is considered more than generous!  Its really nice to be paying almost exactly what the bill says. Most people just add a couple euros or round up the change for smaller bills.

3. Dutch men are very standoffish and do not approach women the same way other European and even American men do.  One of the program leaders asked out her boyfriend twice before he finally answered with a "fine."  And they also don't really rush into marriage, if they get married at all.  The leader I mentioned has been dating her boyfriend for 10 years and they don't know if they even are considering marriage.

4.  The Dutch saying that is the title of this album is directly translated into "That breaks my wooden shoe!" which is their equivalent to the American saying "Well I'll be darned!"   Its funny to see how much an expression can change with the cultural differences, but still mean the same thing.