A Note from Alyssa

This trip to Amsterdam has been an amazing experience. I have learned so many things about the Dutch culture that I would have never learned had I only spent one or two days in this country.

Over the last few days I have made a couple of odd observations about the Dutch. The first is that they really do not believe in air conditioning; the public transportation (buses, trams, and intercity trains) do not have air conditioning and many times you cannot even open a window to let in a breeze. However, there are a few places with this luxury, such as the shopping areas that are mostly frequented by tourists. I would conclude that the air conditioning is to attract the tourists and not for the locals.

The second observation is that when one goes to a restaurant the service they receive is dependent on the mood of the server. For example, I visited the same restaurant two days in a row. The first day we were allowed to order tap water and did not get ripped off at all; in fact we liked it so much we went back the following day. The next day we were told they do not serve tap water and had to pay 2.50 euro for a bottle of water. We then asked for the bill and were told our total was 16 euro, which just was not right. According to our calculations out total would have been closer to 12 euro, all in all it was rather disappointing because it is the only Italian restaurant we found that serves buttered noodles.

The third observation was more of an odd experience. So far in Amsterdam the trams have been very consistent and reliable and nothing to be worried about, until yesterday. We took the tram from Centraal Station to Leidseplein, a very common route that I have become very familiar with. On this day we did not take the same route, and when the tram was coming to a stop it felt like it was falling off the track. This experience was just very odd, and it made me wonder if the public transportation here gets more and more unreliable as the tourist season approaches. After the experience I had I would say that as the tourist season approaches it would only make sense if transportation system becomes more unpredictable.

The last observation is that the Dutch are very affectionate people, even in public. At the beach in Zandvoort there were numerous couples showing their love and appreciation for each and let's just say that,that kind of affection would be deemed inappropriate in the United Sates; the couples would probably be arrested and charged with indecent exposure. Let me say though that we were at a topless beach, which was quite an experience in itself. I was not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be, I mean the Europeans start at a young age of accepting their bodies. Little girls were running around topless and it was a natural thing for them.

All in all this trip has been an amazing experience and I am so very glad I got this opportunity to experience a new and wonderful culture.