Initial Impressions

Even though all I want to do right now is sleep, and sleep lots, I’d feel like a bad blogger is I didn’t keep you updated on all the current happenings.

When I last left you, I was making my way up to meet the IES representative in room 17. When I got up there (the Dutch apparently don’t follow normal room-numbering conventions like we do, since room 17 was on the fourth floor) I was greeted by a very friendly, if slightly surprised to see me (since I hadn’t rang the bell) Dutch woman. She got me all set up with my room key and housing contract, and mentioned that there would be an optional neighborhood tour at two in the afternoon, with a compulsory orientation meeting at four. She also told me that it appeared that my roommate wasn’t going to come, so I would have the entire room to myself. Score for having lots of space, but it’s a bit unfortunate not to have somebody to immediately bond. Could get a little lonely.

I walked across the hall to my room and let myself in and was pleasantly surprised by the size of the room. There’s a small kitchenette (a stovetop and fridge) along with plenty of cabinet space right inside the door. Across from the kitchenette is a walk-in closet with two clothing racks. The main room has a bed on each of the far walls, two tables that have been turned into desks, two easy chairs and a bookshelf. The bathroom has a tiny shower and a toilet that I don’t know how to flush. I’ll forgo providing a picture of that.

After unpacking most of my stuff and typing out the hastily-written previous entry, I decided to nap before the neighborhood tour. As you’ll remember, I was in a bind about what to use as an alarm clock. Well, I set up the alarm on my iPod, but fearing that wouldn’t be enough because the sound is fairly faint, I attempted to navigate the Dutch menus of my phone to set an alarm there as well. Thinking I had succeeded, I climbed into bed fully clothes and passed out.

I awoke to a knocking on my door. Mumbling something incoherent, I heard Hallie (the Mac student I would say I know the best) calling from the other side of the door, telling me that I was late for orientation. Shit! Not only had I slept through the tour, but I was probably holding up the entire group, waiting for me before taking the bus into the heart of the city. I pulled on some shoes and grabbed my messenger bag, wearing only what I fell asleep in.

I would begin to regret this as soon as I met up with the group downstairs and we went outside to catch the bus. The temperature had noticeably dropped from earlier in the day and the wind howled around us. I wasn’t the only one underdressed for the trip, so at least I didn’t feel too stupid. We walked to the bus stop and waited for what seemed like an excessively long time for the bus to arrive. It served as a good chance to meet my fellow IESers, though. I introduced myself to a couple of groups of guys and I very quickly got the distinct impression that these were people who came to Amsterdam to party every night. That was a bit off-putting, the idea of drinking or getting high each night of the week. Luckily though, the second group of guys I met with seemed a bit more laid back and we talked about good music and movies. I knew these were good people when we all began talking about the stunning achievement that is There Will Be Blood.

We finally arrived at the orientation site. We briefly went around the room and introduced ourselves, then talked a little bit about various housing policies. I have a feeling this was just the primer for tomorrow’s much more comprehensive orientation. After that, we had a bit of free time until dinner, so I again got to know the guys some more. Around 6pm we made our way to this cafeteria type restaurant. I’m not sure if it was associated with the Universieit or not, but it certainly felt like food made for students eating on the cheap. I got some sort of beef lasagna that looked pretty gross but tasted alright, some french fries and a pasta salad of an unknown variety. It was a perfectly fine meal, especially since IES paid for it. I had briefly worries about paying for dinner when I realized I had left my wallet in the room in my mad rush to make it to orientation.

After dinner, a few of us decided to try our luck and figure out a way to walk home. We actually made it back without any problems whatsoever, except for a couple of minutes in the middle of the trek when we got stuck in the middle of a hail storm. The pieces were pretty small and certainly not big enough to do any sort of serious damage, but they did sting. Soon the hail let up, though, and was replaced by a pouring rain. Before we knew it we were back at Funen. Some people are talking about going out for a drink at a nearby microbrewery or stopping by a coffee shop to check out their product. Me? I’m going to go to bed. I figured out how to change my phone to English after reading a manual online, so I think I’ll actually be able to set up a working alarm for tomorrow morning.

Hopefully the weather will be nicer tomorrow so I’ll be able to get some better pictures of the city itself. I’ll be sure to post them as soon as I do. Right now though, I’m going to take a shower then get my sleep on.

The Journey

Let me detail for you what has occurred since our last correspondence.

I was sitting on the train, put away my laptop after finishing my last correspondence, feeling more and more like maybe I was on the wrong train. I made up my mind to get off at the next stop regardless of what is was, look at a map, and likely begin traveling back in the other direction. However, Providence decided to smile on me, and as the train slowed down to halt, a voice came over the intercom announcing “Amsterdam Centraal” along with a bunch of other Dutch I didn’t understand. But no matter, I was where I was supposed to be.

There was a problem, however. I was only 8am and I couldn’t get into my apartment until 9am and a taxi ride from Centraal to my apartment (Funen) only takes about five minutes. I walked around the station a little bit, but aside from the AH to go there wasn’t much there. So, armed with a a couple of maps and a general idea of where I was supposed to go, I set out walking to Funen. Part of me just wanted to kill time, part of me wanted the challenge and a third part of me just wanted to move a bit after sitting on the plane for six and a half hours (incidentally, when my plane landed in Amsterdam, this image greeted us on our video screens. Apparently United Airlines frequents Google Images as well).

I was immediately rewarded as soon as I began walking. A beautiful pink sky beckoned me forward and a brisk wind kept me cool. But more importantly, I recognized where I was. I had looked at this route on Google Maps enough before leaving to know that I was going precisely the right way. I didn’t even need my maps!

I kept on walking. I knew that Funen was about three and a half kilometers from Centraal, which I guessed was roughly two miles. While walking, what I was struck by was just how many people rode bikes. This is of course something I had heard over and over again when preparing to come over, but seriously, there are bikes everywhere. The other nice thing is that, as far as I can tell, every road has a sidewalk on each side, and each sidewalk is split into pedestrian and bike lanes. So bikers don’t have to worry about cars and walkers don’t have to worry about bikers. It’s so simple, I wish more cities would follow suit.

I walked further. Did I mention I was carrying lots of luggage with me? My legs grew tired and the three bags I was carrying really began to wear down on me. On top of everything, the further I went, the less sure I became in my assertion that I knew where I was going. In reality, all I ever knew about the directions were which main road to follow for a while and that I just had to keep going southeast and I’d be okay. Well, those are pretty sketchy directions.

One other thing I did know, though, was that there was an Albert Heijn off the main road. So a sense of relief passed over me as I saw an AH emerge in the distance. I decided I would stop by myself since I needed to buy a cellphone anyway, and apparently they sell them there. I go into the store, feeling supremely awkward because of the three large bags I’m carrying with me. I go up and down every aisle searching for phones, certain they must be there somewhere. Finally I go up to a cashier and ask her:

“Do you have cellphones anywhere?”

She responds: “What?”

“Do you have cellphones?”

“Telephones?”

“Sure.”

“They’re over there.” She points to a woman sitting behind a counter upfront.

“Thanks.”

I make my way to the woman behind the counter and ask her about phones. She points to a display beside the counter. I move over to the display, realizing that my backpack is crushing a display of flower bouquets beside me. I quickly grab a box from the display and move away. I glance at the box. It’s a pretty simple Nokia, but apparently it’s only €29.95, discounted from €59.95, and it comes with a free headset. The rest of the box is in Dutch, but I figure it’s probably okay, so I let the woman know I’d like to buy it. She rings me up and asks if I have a bonus card. I assume she means a card to fill up the phone with minutes, so I ask her something about whether the phone comes with any minutes. She looks at me without understanding and says she’ll just use a bonus card she has back there. She pulls out a card and scans it, and the price on the register display drops from €59.95 to €29.95. Ah, that kind of bonus card. I thank her and leave the store.

By that time, I decide it’s time for a sit-down, so I take off all my bags and take a seat on a concrete bench by a canal. I open up the box with the phone, glance at the instruct manual, realize I don’t understand a word of it, then flip through the rest of the materials. I pop the SIM card into the phone and power it up, but once it’s once, I realize I still don’t understand anything that it’s saying. I can’t even figure out what time it is. I put the phone in my pocket, sling my bags back over my shoulders, and set out walking again.

I realize pretty quickly that I have absolutely no idea where I am in relation to where I’m supposed to be going. I pull out the Amsterdam map I bought from Barnes and Noble before leaving, but it doesn’t go far east enough to cover my apartment. I check the map from IES, but I don’t recognize any of the street names. I decide just to start walking and hope that something good happens.

It’s around this time that the once-brisk wind was now biting cold and was going straight through the sweater I was wearing. I start walking down a road, not really knowing what I should be looking for. I follow it to a dead end, check my map, still don’t recognize anything, then head back in the direction I came from. I pass the Albert Heijn, thinking I might head back to where two of the roads diverged, and this time take the second way. However, as I pass the AH, I decide to check the IES map again. Maybe now some the streets will sound familiar. They do! Bornelaan! I remember walking by Bornelaan! So I head back in the direction I came from towards Bornelaan, which I reach pretty quickly. Of course, I don’t know which direction to take on Bornelaan, but I decide going east is probably a safe bet. I go a block east and reach a giant information map set up on the the sidewalk. I ponder the map for a few moments, and decide I should probably go back the other direction on Bornelaan. Heading that way eventually gets me to another road I recognize by name, and I quickly find the apartment building after that.

There’s a note on the door telling IES students to ring room 17 to be let in, but I can’t figure out how to work the buzzer, so I stand at it pressing buttons for about ten minutes before a lady leaves the building and lets me in on her way out. I make it up to room 17 and….

…I’m afraid I’m going to stop the story there for now. We’re going on a walking tour of the neighborhood in about an hour and a half and I want to catch a quick nap beforehand. FUCK. I just realized I have no way to set an alarm, since I don’t know how to work my phone. Damn Damn Damn. I’ll figure something out. Hmmm…

In Amsterdam

I’m currently riding on a train from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to Centraal Station within the city itself. To be honest, I’m not even sure if I’m on the right train, but I’m going with my gut on this one. The trains here are great. Comfortable, not too full, and accurate like clockwork. The 7:41 train was there at 7:41.

Since it’s not yet 8am, and I can’t check into my housing until 9am, I killed a bit of time walking around the airport. It’s incredibly modern, built with lots of glass and lit in a fashionably dim manner.

It’s still dark outside, which I thought was strange, given that it’s after 7:45am. I guess Amsterdam is just considerably further north than what I thought. That being said, I didn’t get the chance to fly into the Dutch sunrise like I had hoped.

Hmm, we’re stopping. I don’t see any signs that say Centraal, or any indication whatsoever as to what stop we’re at, so I’m going to stay on the train for now. It hasn’t been the fifteen minutes that I think the trip is supposed to take, so I’m just going to go with it for now. Hmm, here’s another stop… Stationshal or something. I’m just gonna stay with it until we start going back in the other direction… or I end up in Belgium. Either way.

Isn’t this exciting? You get to experience getting lost with me!

In Flight (U.K.)

We’re (I guess when I’ve been saying “we” lately I mean in the sense of the royal “we”) about five and a half hours into the flight now. Baldy is still sleeping, but I’ve grown to live with his reclined nature. He even did me the favor of sitting up as he ate his meal. How thoughtful.

I watched both Persepolis and Into the Wild. They were both dec. I guess I don’t feel terribly strongly about either one, except that, while I enjoyed Persepolis the film, I’d say the Persepolis the graphic novel is much stronger. I felt that the novel revealed much more about Iranian society, and theretofore allowed me to better understand and identify with Marjane’s struggle under the Islamic Republic.

Dinner was actual pretty good. I got the beef, which consisted of a few succulent chunks of beef covered in gravy, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, a truly pitiful salad made almost entirely of iceberg lettuce stalks, an insignificant portion of ranch dressing, and an unbelievably moist chocolate brownie. Overall, it was better than I was expecting. Breakfast just came. It consisted of a very respectable jelly roll and a fruit bowl with watermelon. Watermelon! Color me impressed.

We’re about an hour out of Amsterdam. Not too long ago we flew over Ireland, or so the map in the video console tells me. It’s still too dar outside to see anything other than the occasional outcropping of light on the ground. I wish I could have seen more of Ireland from the air; I’d like to see if it’s really as green as everybody says it is.

I woke up from a short nap with the arrival of breakfast, and while I briefly considered going back to sleep until landing, I’m really looking forward to flying into the rising sun. I remember that being a pretty spectacular view when I flew into London a few years ago. Plus, I don’t want to miss the descent into the Netherlands, I want to be able to experience as much of the country that will be my home for the next five months as possible.

Apparently we just flew over Manchester. Amsterdam is looking pretty close.

In Flight (takeoff)

I’m currently sitting aboard United Flight 946 to Amsterdam. We’re somewhere over the Washington, D.C. area according to the video-map (some sort of GPS device, I’m assuming). We’ve been in flight for about ten minutes, I would guess. The Empire Strikes First by Bad Religion pumps through my headphones.

I’m typing with my elbows shoved into my intestines because the lovely gentleman in front of me decided to put his seat back as soon as he sat down. I knew then it was going to be a long flight. I felt the slightest amount of vindication after the flight attendant asked him to put his seat up before takeoff, but that satisfaction was short lived, as he leaned right back again as soon as we were in the air. The flight is only half full, so I was kind of hoping I would be able to change seats to behind somebody that didn’t plan on reclining for the entire flight, but I don’t think that’s going to be possible (more on that later).

Apparently Into the Wild is one of the available in flight movies, so I’m planning on tuning into that as soon is it begins. It makes me glad I didn’t pay to see it in the theater as I had been planning on doing. Of course, with baldy in front of me leaning into my lap, I have a feeling the screen angle is going to be skewed at such an angle that makes viewing unpleasant if not impossible.

I began to watch Persepolis while waiting for the flight to board. It so far seems to be a faithful adaptation of the graphic novel. I’m going to try and finish it sometime after Into the Wild, I think.

Apparently we’re over Trenton, NJ now, but I can see Manhattan Island out my window. There’re the lights from time square, and the dark rectangle of Central Park. Not bad for being 33,000 feet in the air. It’s a magnificent city from the air.

Later, I might try and take a picture of my pitiful seating arrangements, but I don’t know if it would really be more than just my laptop sitting on the tray-table. I’ll probably write another post as we get closer to Europe, but right now, if looks as if we’re about ready to leave the East Coast behind.

The Time is Fast Approaching

Not much to say, except that at this time tomorrow, I’ll be over halfway across the Atlantic Ocean on my way to the Netherlands. Hopefully they’ll have some good in flight movies, but in case they don’t, I’m planning on renting Once from iTunes to watch on the way. Of course, I’ll be watching it on my tiny iPod nano screen, which is far from ideal, but at the very least, the music, the beautiful music, will come through clearly.

I also just downloaded Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Persepolis and Juno to my laptop last night, so I’ll probably watch one of those while I’m killing time before my flight tomorrow in Dulles.

I don’t know if Dulles has free wifi, but I’ll probably type up a post either at the airport or on the plane, then upload it after arriving at my housing in Amsterdam. My computer is pretty reliably the first thing I set up when I move into a place, so as soon as I get the internet set up, I should have a post up, as well as a second new post about my first thoughts upon arrival.

Perks

One of the perks of living close-ish to the nation’s capitol is that, well, I’m flying out from a airport that’s in fairly close proximity to the capitol itself. D.C. is about a ninety minute drive from Mechanicsville, and because fares are considerably cheaper flying out of there than out of Richmond, my parents decided they would just drive me up there to get my flight.

Now, with Stephen Colbert’s portrait hanging in the National Portrait Gallery for a very limited time, I suggested to them that there’s no reason we shouldn’t make a day of it and swing on by the Gallery since we’re driving up to the area anyway.

What I didn’t realize was that Dulles isn’t actually in D.C. (that would be Reagan National) so stopping by the National Mall isn’t really on the way to the airport. But especially now that I’ve learned that my brother is coming along, I feel like the side trip is fairly essential.

Just think, I’m going to be out of the country for close to six months. What better slice of Americana could I possibly take along to remind myself of the country of my birth than a photo of me in front of the portrait of America himself?