Queen's Day et al, Springsteen Concert
Trip Start
Apr 06, 2003
1
7
69
Trip End
Ongoing
Amsterdam,
Netherlands
Sunday, May 11, 2003
Sorry for the unexpected delay since the last TravelPod - trust me, it is not because of a lack of items to discuss. Hopefully the few weeks off gave everyone a chance to catch up on my last few TravelPods. I plan on continuing to write the "Things that make you go hmmm" section but because of the amount I want to share here, it'll have to wait.
Things at work continue to go well. The last few weeks have been pretty productive for me as I finally have computer access to everything (that only took 5 weeks...plus the 6 months of prep time since we knew I was coming but hadn't left Chicago). I also have a better understanding of what it is that I am doing here. And lastly, and maybe most importantly, Sjoerd was on vacation.
With respect to setting up my life here, I have continued to piece things together. For some reason I have always liked having pet fish and when I look back on the moves I have made, I always seem to make my home include fish. So why would here be any different; I took another step in establishing Amsterdam as my home with the purchase of 3 goldfish (named "Chicago", "LA", and "Madison" - kinda cheesy but it reminds me of my 3 homes). And for some reason, I was told to add 1 tablespoon of salt to the water. Whatever, they're still alive so I'll keep adding the salt.
As I said in earlier TravelPods, I have a mobile and a bike. My next step in assimilating to the Dutch is to ride my bike to work. The Dutch ride everywhere, including to work. It's a bit odd to see a woman wearing heels riding to work but that's what they do. All bikes have chain guards, guards over the spokes of the back wheel, and a mud flap on the front wheel so that clothes don't get caught or dirty on the ride. I think I might cop out at the beginning with my dress shoes - I'll probably carry my dress shoes in a bag and change at work. I plan on taking this step tomorrow. It is about a 30-minute ride to work so I figure an hour of regular excursive has got to make my mother-in-law happy.
Lastly, I looked at apartments on Tuesday and think I found "the place". I will tell you all about it in the next TravelPod assuming we get it. The one funny thing about it I will share now is that when I made my offer on it, I offered E100 less than the asking price and E100 more than my budget under the condition that they replace the carpet. My agent called me back to let me know that she had been "misinformed" and that the asking price was actually E600 more than I had offered. To my surprise, the owner accepted my offer but would not replace the carpet. He said he would have it professionally cleaned though. I knew that the housing market had been tight here but E600 per month for 3 years...ouch. You know what they say, sucks for you - not my problem. So I am going to look at the apartment one last time and meet the landlord on Tuesday. It is exactly what we are looking for and my recollection is that the carpet is pretty bad but I can't imagine it's so bad that I won't take it. Besides, I think the worst carpet is in the spare bedroom and if any of you planning trips out here have a problem with it, feel free to stay at the Flying Pig youth hostel.
With that, lets see what has happened over the past 2 weeks...
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QUEEN'S NIGHT
Queen's Day. Queen's Day. Queen's Day. Wow. Let me begin by saying that the Kantor Hotel is now accepting reservations for Queen's Day '04. It is April 30 so if anyone is planning a trip to Europe in the Spring, be sure to be in Amsterdam on April 30.
Queen's Day officially begins as all holidays begin, with excessive drinking and partying the night before. Brigitte, one of the girls from the Young Banker's Association (YBA) at work, was hosting a "Shooney and Anita" theme party. Everyone was required to dress as Shooney or Anita. What the hell is that? After looking at everyone, my best description of Shooney would be something like the Dan Akroyd, Steve Martin "Saturday Night Live" skit, 'Two Wild and Crazy Guys'. Or maybe Brad Pitt's character in "Snatch" as a pykie. Anita is basically trailer trash. Being that I have 2 suitcases worth of clothes, I wasn't able to bring my best Shooney outfit with me to Amsterdam so I opted for an orange sweater - Orange is the national color.
We started at Aarnt's apartment, Bertil's college friend. After a few beers and a couple of obligatory tequila shots, we were off to Brigitte's party. Now how do we get there? Well, we ride our bikes of course. I have no clue how we managed in the state we were in but thankfully we made it there. Actually, I was lucky. Since I was the Yankee in the group, I rode Bertil's bike. The Dutch have this system of carpooling. On the back of all bikes, there is a place to strap in papers or small things you are carrying. Well, here, people sit on it and ride on the backs of the bikes. Men sit straddling the rear tire, which does NOT look comfy, and women sit with both legs hanging off the left side of the wheel. Somehow they balance and don't hinder the driver in any way. It's crazy. Anyways, since I don't know how to ride someone, Bertil used my bike to chauffeur someone while I used his solo.
Well, somehow our caravan pulled up to Brigitte's place and we hung out there for a few hours. There were so many people and so much alcohol. I don't even want to know what she spent on booze...or how long it took her to clean the place afterwards. It was fun.
Afterwards we headed out to the bars in the Jordaan, a neighborhood in city center, again on bikes. The Joordan was packed with people. The corner of the Brouwersgracht and the Prinsengracht has 3 or 4 bars on it. Nobody was in any of the bars. Instead, there was about 1,000 people (maybe more) standing on the corner and in the plein (courtyard plaza) drinking. It was crazy. I don't know how long we were there but we left to go home at around 2:00. I decided to walk around for a bit, taking in my first Queen's Night. And somehow, I didn't get to bed until 5:00. I have no clue what I did for 3 hours but it was a fun night.
QUEEN'S DAY
At 10:00 I woke up and started the day. I'm not sure how I did this on 5 hours of sleep but Bertil and a bunch of his friends had arranged a boat ride leaving at 11:00 so I needed to get my shit together. I walked around town for a bit, making my way to the boat landing, weaving in and out of streets. As mentioned in the last TravelPod, Queen's Day is a huge, nation-wide garage sale. I'm not exactly sure what the connection is between the Queen's birthday and selling all your crap but if you ask me, it seems rather insulting.
In any event, people were assembled all over town in their spots that they had claimed days and weeks earlier, selling their stuff. Melanie and Chris have been collecting these blue and white canalhouses that KLM gives to its business-class passengers. It seems like Chris has a tendency to find odd hobbies and get into them deeply. So he has been buying them for about E30 each. I found one for half a E so I bought it for him - my first Queen's Day purchase. I also bought the ugliest orange hat with the word "Holland" across the front for myself for E3. It has a mesh back which makes it even more horrendous. The orange is so bad, it's almost that deer-hunting orange. I wore it all day very proudly.
While walking around, I couldn't help but think 2 things. One, I wonder how many people buy stuff on Queen's Day and end up selling it the following year as they find out for themselves that what they just bought is in fact junk. And two, it was fun to see all these kids playing with the same toys they probably haven't played with in years, which is why their parents are selling it to begin with. Just a thought.
Well, I continued to make my way to the boat but it was starting to get close to 11:00 and I still had no clue exactly where I was going. I just kept asking people, "do you know where Squash City is". I finally found it and we were off.
The boat was E50 and had about 35 people on it. It cruised the canals for about 2 hours and included beer (just what I needed, more beer) and these little sandwiches which were really good and surprisingly filling (my favorites were the olive tapanada spread and the tuna).
I was 2 bottles of water into my recovery from the previous night while we made our way in and out of canals, drinking all the way. It was pretty fun. Again, Bertil introduced me to more of his friends, all of whom I really liked - with the exception of one. And ironically enough, she is American. I don't know what it is about her but she is so annoying. She has been here for 1 year and she acts like she owns the place. I tried to space myself from her but she just doesn't get it. Maybe I just need to be mean to her, then she'll get it. Whatever. The rest of his friends are awesome.
During the boat ride, it began to rain so we threw on the plastic covers and continued to drink away, all the while listening to this hideous pop music - if I hear Justin Timberlake one more time, I'm going to snap.
When the boat ride ended, we headed back to the Jordaan to continue what we had started the night before. This time, there were stages set up all over the place and DJ's perched above the street. We ended up drinking a few more cocktails and dancing well into the night. Just when my butt was beginning to feel better after my bike ride with Julie, I messed up my body all over again - this time my legs hurt from all the dancing. I haven't danced that much in my whole life (and judging by the way my body jerked along like Elaine from "Seinfeld", I understand why - I image I must have looked as if I was having a seizure, but after that much beer, who cares). I finished the day around 9:00 with a pizza, it was perfect.
All in all, Queen's Day was awesome and can be summarized as the following: sun, rain, sun, sun, sun and drink, dance, drink, drink, dance, dance, dance. It was great but I was certainly looking forward to some sleep.
Here are a few things I saw or thought about Queen's Day - almost a mini "Things that make you go Hmmm..."
*** The one thing I forgot to mention when describing Queen's Day during the last TravelPod was the amount of music. It was everywhere. On every corner. In every plein. On every boat. It was cool. All different kinds. Actually, MTV set up a stage in Museumplein, which had all the hottest Dutch acts - if that even exists. I wanted to stop over and see it but didn't make it. Maybe next year.
*** Another place I wanted to go and see but will have to wait until next year is Vondelpark. Vondelpark is Amsterdam's version of Lincoln Park. It is a huge green patch in the middle of the city. On Queen's Day, Vondelpark is for the kids. Apparently, throughout Vondelpark, there are tons of kids selling their old stuff, doing choreographed dances, basically doing anything they can for money. I'm sure it is pretty fun to see so hopefully I'll make it there next year.
*** By the end of the day, there was trash everywhere. Smashed plastic cups all over. And people had deteriorated into dancing around and playing in the trash. It was weird. And yet, the next morning, just hours later, it was completely clean. I'm glad Sjoerd doesn't work for the janitorial department - the place would never get cleaned.
*** I saw a woman take her mobile from her pocket. She never really had a good handle of it and it fell. It took one bounce off the street and into the canal. Gone forever.
*** The city brought in tons of Andy Gumps (portable toilets for those of you not from LA). But they didn't stop with the traditional ones. They also brought in these 4-person urinals. So all over town, you would see men walk up to one side of a grey, telephone booth-looking things, unzip, and relieve. Pretty odd but very practical. And for some reason, everyone decided to put their empty cups or beer cans in the urinal part so eventually, they would be filled. But that didn't matter, people would still walk up and go. It would overflow all over the place, but they would still go.
REMEMBERANCE DAY
May 4 is Remembrance Day. It is not a bank holiday. This year, it was on a Sunday. It is a big deal as even the Queen comes to town. It was historically in honor of those who lost their lives during WWII but recently has been changed to include those who lost their lives since in peacekeeping efforts.
There was a ceremony at the Niewe Kerk (new church) in Dam Square. Outside was thousands of people lined up to watch the ceremony on a giant TV screen. I have no clue what was said although I did notice that at the end, a choir sang a Hebrew song (Eli, Eli). That was pretty cool.
Following the ceremony, the attendants exit the church and walk along a path gated off and lined with service men with rifles, to the National Monument, a big stone phallic-looking thing in the center of Dam Square. During the procession, I noticed a lot of men with yalmukahs on, which was kinda nice to see...the Nazis tried but did not succeed.
In the end, the Queen made her way to the National Monument accompanied by her son, the crown prince William Alexander, and his wife, the Dutch version of Princess Di, Maxima. I'm sure I'll talk more about her in later TravelPods but the Dutch absolutely love Maxima.
Nothing else really happened that I could understand or was too interesting but at 8:00, the entire nation comes to a halt for a 2-minute moment of silence. It's pretty cool to think that everyone in the entire country was absolutely still at the same time. I was waiting for some idiot's mobile to ring but it didn't happen - and luckily it wasn't mine. It was pretty powerful. My mind went to a million places during those 2 minutes, from thinking about those who didn't survive WWII, to Iraq, to Ruth, to my friends and family back home, to what I have accomplished thusfar out here, etc. It was really a nice moment.
LIBERATION DAY
The next day, May 5, is Liberation Day, celebrating the anniversary of the liberation of the Dutch by the Allies. I really like the fact that Memorial Day is the day before Liberation Day. It reminds me of the Jewish calendar, which remembers the worst period in Jewish history (the Holocaust) followed by the best moment (Independence Day of Israel).
Anyways, back to Liberation Day. This is also not a bank holiday but is celebrated as one every 5 years. To me, I think this is a bigger reason to celebrate than the Queen's birthday but I don't think anyone was asking me.
So, after work I went to Bertil's apartment where we joined his roommates for some dinner. They all had sausages and rather than explaining the rules of Kashruth, I told them I was a vegetarian. I'm sure at some point I'll explain it to Bertil, although he's pretty well informed in cultural things so he probably knows what it is. Anyways, I had fake chicken schnitzel. They were pretty good although for some reason, everything is fried here. Maybe that's also why everyone rides their bikes everywhere - it's a balance, put on the pounds, take off the pounds.
After dinner we headed over to Museumplein where a few small stages were set up for bands. It was not anywhere close to Queen's Day but it was still cool. I was surprised to see the German embassy on Museumplein, proudly displaying it's flag. Especially on a day that remembers such a horrible part of German history. I would think they would try to be a be a bit more inconspicuous. But no.
On a side note, I am happy to report that the big red things protecting the US embassy have been removed. I think with things in Iraq being somewhat over, maybe hostilities are not as high as they once were in Europe. I just hope that GW doesn't screw up now that he has a chance to make things work. I thought his Top Gun tailhook experience the other week might be viewed as arrogant but luckily, nobody really said anything out here. What was the sentiment back home?
Well, I don't know how we got to GW from Liberation Day, but it was another cool experience.
SPRINGSTEEN CONCERT
Before I begin, I have a small confession to make. The music out here is pretty bad. For some reason, they love Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, and Queen. Those three are always on the radio. It's like Joey's utopia. When they're not on the radio, it's Kelly Rowland (the chick from Destiny's Child), Justin Timberlake, and a bunch of other really horrible teenage pop. The worst of all is a remake of "Heaven" (by Brian Adams?) and some horrible boy band, Blue, singing some Elton John song with Elton. It's soooo bad. And poor Elton. He must really be hurting for money. Hey Elton, here's a clue, less on glasses, more in the bank.
The other one that is so popular here is Robbie Williams. He is the biggest thing. For some reason, he hasn't caught on in the US, probably because he was a member of a boy band a few years ago (Take That, I think). But he is everywhere. When his songs come on, everyone yells, "Robbieeeeeee". So at first I hated him even more than the others. But I've heard the same 2 songs so much that I began to like them. And now I am the proud owner of his CD. And it's actually pretty good. But hear me now, if I buy Justin Timberlake's CD, HAVE ME SENT HOME!
If you are concerned that I am becoming too Dutch, don't worry. I went to the Bruce Springsteen concert this past Thursday with Bertil and his old roommate, Micheil. Bertil met me after work and we took the train to Leiden (about 30 minutes) where Micheil works. He drove us to Rotterdam (about an hour) for the show.
Tickets were only E40 and I bought it 1 day before the show. My seat was actually pretty good and probably would have cost me $85 in Chicago. The show was at the soccer stadium so the place was huge. I tried to sit with Bertil and Micheil but my ticket was section Q and they were in section UU, upstairs. Each section has it's own stairs to the section and a rather strict ticket-taker so it is impossible to move between sections so I was alone for the show, which was actually pretty cool.
Because of daylight savings and the country being so far north, it was light out when Bruce took the stage at 8:15. That was kinda odd. It stayed light until about 10:30. I have seen Bruce before and he was awesome. I thought maybe he would change his show a little for the European audience but he stayed true to himself. Most of what he has been playing on this tour is from his new CD, "The Rising". Since I really like this CD and think it's probably the best CD I've bought in the last year, I was pretty happy. He did play a few of his classics like Darlington County, Badlands, Dancin' in the Dark, and Born to Run...and trust me, there is really no way to describe what it is like to hear 60,000 foreigner screaming in their varying accents "'cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run, oh, oh oh oh oh, oh, oh ohhhhh".
I loved the show and really enjoyed watching the reaction of those around me after Bruce would go sliding across the stage on his knees, or would hang upside-down straddling his microphone stand, or dance on top of the piano. It was fun. I also noticed they attempted to do the wave and while it was neat to see, they are certainly a few years away from the Wisconsin football wave which includes such favorites as "reverse", "fast", "slow", and "split".
I don't think Bertil and Micheil liked the show as much as I did. I tried to tell them beforehand that they were not going to hear the entire "Born in the USA" album. I think they still enjoyed themselves though.
The traffic home was so bad that we actually decided to hang at a bar near the stadium for 2 hours so that traffic could clear up. I eventually got home at 2:00.
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Well, this one seemed to be pretty long again. All in all, things here are very good. I am getting pretty anxious for Julie to finally arrive though. I hope all is well wherever you are and all you moms out there had a nice Hallmark holiday.
-Stephen
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