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…