Day 21-22: Amsterdam Excursion

As you may know (from Facebook or previous post), I went to Amsterdam this past weekend with three of my friends: Mathea (Slovenia), Polona (Mathea's friend visiting from Slovenia) and Bali (Singapore). Bali and I decided on Thursday that we would join Mathea and Polona on their already planned excursion to the capital, and booked our hostel that same day! Traveling on a whim!

So I will try to relay my first impressions of Amsterdam to you here, along with what we did and saw.

We left late Friday morning from the Tilburg West Station. Bali and I took a later train than Mathea and Polona, as we both had a class Friday morning that we were to attend (however, neither of us ended up going!). We all met in 's-Hertogenbosch, where you have to switch trains to continue to Amsterdam. We made a quick pit stop  at the Chocolate Company (again!) and had some good dessert and hot chocolate (as well as shopping!) before boarding the train for the hour-long ride to Amsterdam.

We got to Amsterdam mid-afternoon, and decided to check in at our hostel first to deposit our backpacks and refresh ourselves. It was an adventure reading the maps and trying to figure out which street our hostel was on! After many twists and turns through the busy streets of Amsterdam, we made it to the hostel, Shelter City Christian Hostel. It was very close to the Central Train Station (about ten minutes walk). One crazy thing (amongst many) that we saw on our way to the hostel was a "public restroom". Sounds normal, right?? WRONG! It was a urinal that was open and on the side of the road (see pic)! So you would be walking along the sidewalk and there would be someone using the restroom right there! Crazy!!!

After settling in the hostel, we headed out to brave the cold and find some good sights. It was still kind of rainy and the clouds made it fairy dark outside. I loved all of the old buildings that we passed...so characteristic of Europe! We also walked alongside innumerous canals-gorgeous! We made our way to the Van Gogh Museum first, where is was Museum Night! We each purchased a museum card, allowing us free access into over 400 museusms in all the Netherlands for only 22 euro....pretty good deal! We began our visit to Van Gogh with a guided tour, but broke off shortly, as it was just talking about another exhibit they had going on. Seeing all of those amazing pantings and drawings by Van Gogh was amazing! I remembered some of them from my Art History course I took at Agnes Scott my sophomore year, and it was neat to see them in real life and in their country of origin!

After visiting Van Gogh, we set out to find a bite to eat. We had some pizza at a local shop and then went back to the hostel to rest up for a few minutes. We had walked ALOT to get to the museum and back....my feet hurt! We played some cards (UNO!) in the hostel cafe before gearing up (actually taking everything valuable out of our pockets) to visit the Red Light District. It was only a short walk from our hostel. I was a bit apprehensive about going, but figured it would be okay since I was with three others and knew it was definitely something I needed to see while in Amsterdam. The Red Light District is basically a street in Amsterdam, and it was busy (midnight on a Friday) with people leering at the women in the windows. I thought it was very interesting how many of the women were not really paying much attention to passersby. Many were on their cell phones, talking or texting. It was a very mixed experience for me. I felt sympathy for the women in the shop windows....that they were that desparate (or drugged out) to resort to this "occupation". But I also felt ashamed as a woman that there are other women who choose to exhibit themselves in this manner for this purpose. It was a lot to take in and think about, but I am glad that we got the chance to see it.

After a night of (some) rest in the hostel, we enjoyed a warm breakfast in the cafe. I had Dutch pancakes! Then we set out for another day of Amsterdam exploration. We went to the Bloemenmarkt (Flower Market) where Bali and Mathea bought Tulip bulbs! Bali and Polona went to the Anne Frank Museum, while Mathea and I visited the Tulip Museum. The tulip museum is in an old house right across the street from Anne Frank.  It was very small, but nice! We learned all about the complicated process of harvesting tulips :-)

We had lunch at a small cafe and set out to find the second-shops and flea market. We suceeded (after much walking!) and bought a few things at the market. At this point, it was extremely cold and getting dark. We went to the Coffee Company for a warm beverage and to rest after all of the walking! I tried a Bambino (hot chocolate and coffee mix with caramel flavor....delish!

Then we set out to visit the H&M before heading to the train station. We took the 9 o'clock train back and were home safe and sound in Tilburg by midnight!

Day 23: Finding a Church Home

One of my goals here in Europe is to grow spiritually and explore my relationship with God further. As part of this goal, I want to find a Church home where I can corporately worship with other believers and affirm my faith through interaction and fellowship with others. So, Sunday morning I decided to try out Tabernacle Christian Church, and English-speaking Christian Church nearby Tilburg (in Reeshof). I figured out some directions and decided to take the train to get there. Well, I missed the only train that would have gotten me there in time, so I decided to take the bus instead. It took a long time to get to the bus stop I needed to be at, and I thought that I would not make the service!

But the walk from the bus stop turned out to be shorter than I had thought and I made it in time! However, the service was not what I had expected. Tabernacle is held in a small room in an elementary school, as it is a very small Church. And I mean VERY SMALL. I think there were about 25 people there total. Most of them were middle-age men and women with smaller children. There were a couple older people and several children. No one my age.  I spoke to one woman for a bit before the service began. She was nice and told me a bit about the Church....I got kind of a strange feeling from the way she spoke about it.

Once the service started, I began to feel more and more weird about the Church. The pastor (or whoever was speaking) would talk in English and someone else would translate what he/she said into Dutch. The praise and worship went on a long time and I did not know any of the songs (although they were in English!). Once the message finally started, I started to feel pretty uncomfortable. It seemed like the pastor was just talking about how disappointing we are to God and how horrible the Netherlands and Church are in God's eyes. Then they had a time for "testimonials" in which Church members could share things that had moved them in the past week. Well, people shared for what felt like forever before the pastor came back to finish the message and have time for prayer. Then they were planning on doing communion, but I left during the prayer, because at this point I had already been there for over two hours and I was feeling very uncomfortable with the whole situation.

So, needless to say, I will not be going back to Tabernacle, but I am glad that I at least tried it! I need to do some more research into other English-speaking churches in the area to see if I can find something, but it will be a few weeks before I can go to Church again anyways.

Sunday night, Mathea and Polona cooked a Slovenian dish for Bali and I. It was similar to American pancakes, but chopped up into small bits and eaten with vanilla and chocolate pudding. It was delicious! Polona also made us her favorite Turkish coffee, which was rather strong, but good! We enjoyed each other's company before calling it a night.


Day 24: Class

Today I had three (okay 2.5 classes). I began with Culture, Society, History at 8:45am. This course is really great, but we already have our first midterm on Thursday of this week! Then I had a breif break, in which I went back to Verbs for lunch before cycling back to campus for my first lecture of Organizational Development. This class is really interesting, as it focuses on changes that take place within and between organizations. We have to do a group project (with four others) in which we choose a Dutch company and interview them about a major change that has taken place in their organization and its effects. Should be interesting! I then cycled to Westermarkt for groceries and stamps (that means postcards!) before heading to my final lecture, the second part of Organizational Development. Luckily it was only 45 minutes, because I was about done with classes at this point!

Monday night, Bali cooked for Mathea, Polona and I, since it was Polona's last night with us before heading back to Slovenia. We enjoyed each other's company, as well as Bali's great Indian dish! She made a mix of Masala sauce, tomato puree, suateed onions and fresh veggies along with toasted bread for us to dip in it. So good! Mathea and Polona brought stroopwafel icecream for dessert....which was amazing!

Day 25: Mentor Dinner(s)

Today I had Group Dynamics (Psychology course) and Dutch I (2nd round!). I'm beginning to pick up some good Dutch, so I think I will practice it next time I go to the supermarket. I cycled back to Verbs after class where I studied until ESN Mentor Dinner, round 4! Tonight Amanda and Phai cooked for my group. They made us stir-fry and rolls from Dim Sun....so good! And of course, the best part of mentor dinners is roaming the other floors for food. We went upstairs where Alex (Chicago) had made mini hamburgers with guacamole...a taste of home! All in all, it was a good night.....bit less crazy than last Tuesday :-)