On Saturday, we went to the NEMO science museum and saw their exhibit on teen sexuality. Very interesting, and very open! They talked about the emotional and physical stuff, along with “taboo” things like masturbation and homosexuality. Can’t imagine something like that in the US!
Then some of us ate at a nice Argentinian restaurant before heading back to SIT to meet our hosts. My host, as I mentioned, is Anne. She is 60 years old and she works in the office at the fire station. Her house is really nice, and I have a great room. I love the cat, Pinkie, who has definitely warmed up to me. Here are some pictures of my room before I unpacked.
Anne and I talk at dinner, and sometimes I help her cook. Many evenings, we watch the news in Dutch and drink tea together. She usually works until 6:30 or later, so I don’t see her for very long, but she’s nice and makes for good company. She’s a bit quieter than I’m used to, so I have to try to be friendlier and not be afraid to ask questions. But all in all, it’s a good situation. On Sunday, I just spent the day unpacking and enjoying the free time (and internet). Then Monday started classes!
On Monday, I had Dutch class, which I looove. Learning a new language is so much fun, and I really understand the rules (because of my obsession with grammar) so it’s easy for me to pick up. Our teacher, Eduard, is so nice and funny and he puts up with our nonsense. We also sometimes get sidetracked and start talking about other topics relevant to our program, which might make the usual adult a bit uncomfortable, but Eduard takes it in stride. He’s coming with us to Morocco for a few days, and I’m really glad. After Dutch class, we went to an outdoor flea market to get bikes. I’ve hardly used mine because of the snow and the cold, but I’m excited to ride around when it’s nicer. There were so many lovely things for sale at the market. I bought some super thick winter leggings with a pretty pattern on them and a little pocket watch necklace. It was great to see all the kinds of things they had for sale, and I’d definitely like to go back.
It was also a really beautiful day, despite the cold, and there were so many birds out on the canals.
On Tuesday, we had a speaker on Dutch politics versus American politics, and then we had our first theory seminar. My previous critical theory class prepared me a bit for this seminar, but it was still pretty overwhelming for the first day. We were at SIT from 10 am to 5 pm, so it was a pretty long day (although quite typical). We had a two-hour lunch break though, so a bunch of us went and got falafels. I’d never had one before, but damn it was good! On Wednesday we had a speaker on “The Decline of Sexual Radicalization in the Netherlands” discussing how gay rights groups have become less like the kind of gay pride people you see in parades in P-Town and more interested in being seen as “normal” people. It’s quite interesting. Then a women discussed feminism in the Netherlands, but unfortunately her accent was hard to understand and she spoke very softly :(. Thursday was another Dutch day! By that time, we had been practicing numbers and letters. Dutch went from 10am to 12:30pm, and then we went back to SIT to discuss the speakers from the previous days. After that, I went home and explored my neighborhood to prepare for a presentation on it in class the next day. I found a grocery store, a library, and lots of narrow streets.
On Friday, we went to the Amsterdam Historic Museum where our tour guide showed us a lot of paintings and artifacts and explained a lot of the city’s history. She skipped over a lot of the museum because we didn’t have a lot of time, so it would be nice to go there. We didn’t go to a lot of the more modern parts of the museum, so maybe I’ll go back by myself or with a friend sometime. Back at SIT, we did our neighborhood presentations, and it was interesting to see all the different types of areas where people were living in the city. We then had our first oral history workshop, which was mostly just an introduction by our teacher, Yvette who explained why oral history is important and could help us in our independent study projects. We got out at 6pm that day, so I had told Anne I could fend for myself for dinner so she could go out with a friend. I walked from SIT to Museumplein which is a square surrounded by many museums. On the way, I saw all these skaters on the ice on Keizersgracht. It was like a huge party, and they were playing disco music and wearing glowing necklaces.
Needless to say, the Dutch are obsessed with the ice. I then continued to walk to Museumplein but got a little bit lost and ended up in Leidseplein, which was BUMPIN’ on a Friday night. It’s the big nighttime place with lots of bars and restaurants, and it’s where the more touristy things are like the Hard Rock Cafe. So, I poked my head around there for a bit, but then followed the signs to orient myself. I finally found the Museumplein, and it was much bigger than I expected. The area surrounded by the museums has a playground, a big gift shop (heaven!), a skating rink, and some sports fields. Oh and this sign:
Most things were closed because it was around 8pm, and typical closing time is 5 or 6. But it was still nice to walk around. It was very comfortable, and I felt totally safe even though it was dark and I was alone. One woman even came up to me asking for directions to the Van Gogh Museum! I looked like a local! I answered her with a smile and proclaimed, “Just across the square!” Aha it was very exciting. I had been looking for a place to eat, but nothing really spoke to me. I ended up stopping at a small place by centraal station to get…….a falafel! They’re everywhere here, I swear! It was delicious. Then I went home, satisfied with my first solo adventure in the city.
