I only have EUR 10 in the bank, and I would really like to go to the reception weekend in Utrecht. Due to my liquidity problems, I asked Paul for a small advance from my salary. Just EUR 50, or so. I reminded him as he was leaving the office, and he gave me a EUR 500 note! That's 75% of my month's pay, in one note!
I'm not sure how useful it will be, though. How many places are there going to be where I can change a EUR 500 note? The banks are closed in the weekend, and I don't see myself having success asking for change at the city market. Maybe I could go to a shop that typically sells expensive things like suits, washing machines, televisions, etc. I may be able to get change there. Or, I could pay for the reception weekend for 20 people, and they could pay me back in smaller notes? Hehe.
posted by James 6:56 pm
At work, I have been given more responsibility to answer the phone. Until now, I had usually deferred to anyone else in the office who can speak Dutch. I need to get used to this because Levon and Gerard are finishing their hours (for school) soon, so I will find myself alone in the office more often.
Sometimes I will be speaking English and the person on the line will be using Dutch. I can recognise the occassional word, so I usually know what they want. It helps that they all ask similar questions, e.g.: May I speak with Paul? When is he back in the office?
On Thursday night, I went pooling with the AIESECers. It seems that everyone understands the rules of pool differently! For instance, when someone hit the white ball in, the AIESECers used a rule where the opponent could replace the white ball anywhere on the table for the next shot. And, I mean anywhere! Also, towards the end of the game, you had to nominate which pocket you would sink the black ball in. So, if it went down any other pocket, you would lose. I haven't played by these rules before.
I taught Sjoerd and Jasper how to play "cuts", an ideal game for three players. I'm pleased because they really enjoyed the game.
Home life is really good at the moment. Everyone helps each other out with their chores, often without being asked. The other day, I put a load of washing on, and when I came home, it was neatly folded on the kitchen table! Marina had put the washed clothes in the dryer, and Kasia had folded them afterwards. Doing small gestures, like this, is "contagious". I know I would be more likely to do favours like this, if I know that I will receive similar help at other times. It also "greases the wheel" of life, making the everyday routines more bearable.
posted by James 6:15 pm
My luck ran out. It rained as I was cycling to the train station, this morning. And, not just light drizzle. It was much more, hmmm, moderate. Anyway, after 12 minutes of cycling, the effect of the rain built up and the lower part of my work pants are wet. The top part of my work pants are still dry because they were protected by my rain coat. So, you can see a clear line where the wet area becomes the dry area.
I figure that I have three options. I could hold an umbrella with one hand, as I cycle, and cover my pants that way. Or, I could fashion a piece of plastic to the handle bars and drape it over my pants - sort of like a curtain. Lastly, I could just stay at home, and only cycle to work when it's not really raining. But, really, only a soluble person would be allowed that last option.
posted by James 9:33 am
I had another Dutch lesson, last night, at Lia's. Our practice is for her to stop and correct me whenever my pronunciation is incorrect, and I will make notes in the book. Usually some sort of phonetic guide. This time, it seemed that she hardly stopped me, so I'm taking this as a sign of improvement. Of course, in some words, letter combinations which look familiar have different sounds, but I think that's the case in many languages. Just look at English, and the many ways of pronouncing "ou", depending on which word you see it in.
I have also been practising "no hands" cycling whenever there is a straight piece of road. It's probably similar to learning how to walk - you need to learn how to keep your balance, and how to adequately "correct" yourself when you feel like you are going to fall. I am getting up to ten seconds with no hands, but this wasn't with my arms folded. I might go to Leijpark, one day, and do some more practice in a huge open space.
posted by James 6:36 pm
Ah, Dutch precipitation. Either it's light drizzle, or it's hailing hard.
posted by James 12:23 pm
Last night, I was proofreading Ania's master's thesis and it was taking longer than I had expected. It was 10:30pm before I left the house to bycle to town to see the AIESECers. I felt anxious that it was so late, and I wanted to get there faster. I think this is evidence that I feel better about going to the AIESEC drinks.
"Bycle" is a corruption of the words "bike" and "cycle". Ilse said it last night, and I think I like it.
I got my latest set of photos back, so I spent a lot of time at the drinks showing the photos around. There were a mixture of Queen's Day, my trip to Utrecht and the gala evening (for the 55th anniversary). Everyone commented about how well they had come out. Of course, the "drunken" photos towards the end were interesting. Those photos were bright, due to the flash, when it was really dark inside (the "night club" type atmosphere). I think girls are more worried about how they look in photographs. Lia found one that she didn't really like and I have agreed not to show it to the other AIESECers. I didn't destroy it, though, so I guess there is the infinitesimal chance that it will appear on the internet one day.
Girls always take their time when they look through photographs. Guys, on the other hand, flick through photographs quickly. (The exception is when they are photographs he has taken himself).
posted by James 9:45 am
As I was running up the stairs of the train station, I was sure I could hear someone behind me, calling my name. It was Paul – he had run after me from work. There wasn’t any time to have a real conversation, but he pressed a EUR 50 note into my hand, and said it was “for effort”. This is very generous. But, it left me really confused as I caught the train home. The past two days at work have been strange.
I wonder what work will be like on Monday? At least I know that I will be working on something different.
I ate pancakes for dinner at Floortje’s house on Thursday. I tried my hand at making a few pancakes, but I wasn’t fool enough to try “flipping” the pancake directly from the frying pan. It was a pancake dinner party, so there were three frying pans going at the same time. I can only imagine what it would be like in one of those special pancake restaurants!
I found a review of “Whalerider” in the newspaper. Of course, it’s in Dutch, but it will make for some good translation practice.
On Thursday, I also saw “The Matrix Reloaded”. It was the opening night. It made you think, but I found the first movie in the series more interesting.
I spent the weekend in Amsterdam, both to experience the fun side of the city and to meet up with Wei Jian, one of my friends I met through AIESEC Auckland. To make it more worthwhile, I made it a long weekend, by securing the Friday off from work. We had booked two nights at a Christian Youth Hostel, “The Shelter City”.
I arrived at 2pm on Friday. My plan was to explore the city centre by foot until it was time to meet up with Wei Jian. After leaving the train station, I wandered down the Damrak. This is a long street that divides the central city into two sides – the old side and the new side. The sides are named after the location of the Old Church and the New Church, respectively.
With an entry price of EUR 2.50, I couldn’t resist a walk around the Sex Museum. It had an extensive display of things sex-related through the ages – photographs, strange sculptures, videos and, hmmm, equipment.
The Damrak ends at Dam Square – the central focus of the city. It is a huge open space and a nice place to chill out. The Royal Palace is situated on the west side. This was originally built as a city hall, but has also been inhabited by King Louis (Napolean Bonaparte’s brother) and the Dutch House of Orange. Officially, Queen Beatrix lives here (though she really lives in The Hague) but it is mainly used for state functions. To the right of the Royal Palace is the New Church. It has the word “new” in it, but really it’s second oldest church in the city. It was built in the early 15th century.
The famous canal belt wraps around the south of the central city. The buildings and streets look very much how you would imagine them to be centuries ago. I found my way to Herengracht, one of the inner streets, and walked its length. The houses along this street were distinct and interesting. I liked the gables and I took some photographs showing the different types – some had a step formation (my favourite) and others were more bell-shaped. The houses had little street frontage, but they were at least 3-4 storeys high. They also slanted forwards, towards the street. Apparently, this is intentional, to make it easier to hoist goods from the street to the attic. (Centuries ago, when these houses were inhabited by traders, goods were stored in the attic).
At around 6pm, I headed towards “The Shelter City”. I soon found out that the hostel was right next to the red light district. The most direct route involved me walking right through the aforementioned district. Even though it was only 6pm, there were already women standing in windows. The Shelter City is a Christian hostel and they have a 1am curfew. Wei Jian and I were put off by this, at first, but, in retrospect, I don’t think it affected our enjoyment. The beds were comfortable and breakfast was included in the price.
In the early evening, we met up with Bregje, a Dutch girl that Wei Jian had met on his traineeship in Brazil. We had a few drinks at bars in the central city. We went to a “coffee shop” which sells marijuana, but not alcoholic drinks. I think this is generally the case.
From 11pm until our curfew (shame), we wandered around the red light district. (Bregje had caught the train home). We followed a circle route of the main street and also explored every side street. There were so many people there, wandering around like us. I would say about 70% were men. The “attractions” were prostitutes standing in windows (with red neon light frames), so many sex “media” shops, and the theatres where you could watch live sex shows. Of course, you weren’t allowed to take photos of the women in the windows.
It was like a zoo – people slowly walking past the windows, checking out the women inside. Naturally, there were bottlenecks in front of the windows where the nicest-looking women were. Occassionally, someone would go inside, complete the “transaction” and come back fifteen minutes later. The guy emerging from the room would get a big cheer.
I was surprised at how good-looking some of the women are. This went against my stereotype of the prostitute. Wei Jian and I gave each other dares to approach the nicer-looking ones and ask questions. It seems that no matter whom you asked, they only sold one thing (well, really a sequence of two things, that rhyme) and the price was EUR 50.
So, did I do it? No. And, I don’t think I would. I wouldn’t want to have sex with someone who was only doing it for the money (and, probably, gets no pleasure from it). I can’t separate the sex from the emotions. I can’t help but feel that both people are getting “used” even though they voluntarily choose to do it.
In theory, a “one night stand” would be something different. While both are one-off encounters, I assume that with the “one night stand” each person is choosing to have sex for a similar reason.
I had some staring contests with some of the women. One of them must have been for at least a minute – she was quite persistent, and I lost that one because I was embarrassed. Following notion of “you don’t know unless you ask”, I tried to negotiate a kiss on the cheek from the nicest-looking woman. She just confirmed that there was only one option available, and I had neither the money nor the intention to go through with it.
The red light district felt like a fairly safe place to walk around. Perhaps this was because there were so many people there. However, there were people trying to sell hard drugs – Wei Jian was asked if he wanted cocaine so many times that I lost count. I am guessing that “charlie” is slang for cocaine.
On Saturday afternoon, we visited the Amsterdam Historical Museum. This took the whole day to look around, and it was well worth it. It gave a comprehensive account of the history of the city since its founding, including economic, political and social aspects. I was interested in how Amsterdam was such a powerful trading centre after the middle ages, how people lived then, how things changed and why. In the part of the museum looking at modern times, the profiles of different “Amsterdammers” made the experience more meaningful.
We went to a comedy show at “Boom Chicago”, in Leidseplein, in the evening. Wei Jian had been recommended this by a friend, and I can understand why. It was a 2-hour show, a lot like “Who’s line is it anyway?”, topical and very funny. I was amazed at how well the actors could improvise scenes using suggestions from the audience and make them funny. I would recommend anyone visiting Amsterdam to attend one of their shows.
I want to take up theatre sports and become good at it. Aside from being lots of fun, I think it is also good for self-confidence and thinking under pressure.
After the “Boom Chicago” show, we headed to the red light district, again, for another show. A different type of show, and this time, the performers didn’t take suggestions from the audience. To get straight to the point, it was a live sex show. After paying your EUR 25, you could stay for as long as you wanted. We got seats right at the front, and we didn’t leave until midnight. There were three couple performances and in between each was a single dancer. In the time we were there, we saw everything twice.
It didn’t take long before the show was more interesting to watch, than arousing. Everything was choreographed down to the final detail. I wonder what goes through the performers’ mind when they are having sex on stage? They must be so used to it, that they are as excited as if it were any other job. Like programming a spreadsheet. Then again, people don’t pay EUR 25 for the privilege of watching me work with Excel.
Aside from the live sex, there were individual performances involving a string of beads, a candle and a banana. You can use your imagination. After some encouragement, Wei Jian was one of three men who volunteered to go on stage and dance with the stripper. They were encouraged to eat some of the banana while she was holding onto it in an interesting way. It makes the “banana dance” that I’m used to back at AIESEC Auckland look well within the comfort zone.
We checked out of the hostel on Sunday morning and had a lazy day. In the afternoon, we saw the World Press Photography exhibition which was being held in the Old Church. It is an exhibition of the best photos from the past year. Some of the photos were very moving and gave a personal touch to the events that you hear about in the news.
I want to be more serious with my photo-taking and become good at it. I love taking photos!
I spent well over EUR 100 this weekend, and this has broken my bank account, so to speak. I may have to ask my parents for some more money.
posted by James 9:38 am