Amsterdam

I've been to Amsterdam in November this year and because of some personal issues related to that (kinda cheated on my boyfriend while there) I have avoided to post thoughts related to it.

Things have sort of settled down now a bit and I've broken up with my boyfriend, so I thought I put down some impressions about it.

I think comparing to London and not to Bucharest is the first observation that comes into my mind. Despite the fact that I am Romanian, after 5 years in the UK, I felt more British in Amsterdam than ever.

From being overly polite all the time, watching my manners, saying "sorry" every 5 minutes and "please" and "thank you" all the time. Being offered tea without milk, craving some decent Earl Grey tea and being reserved and talking about the weather as an ice breaker are just a few of the things that I stepped out of myself and noticed.

I guess it was weird from various points of view, but was especially weird was saying to people I am from Romania and then hearing their reactions. Some would play the Romanian stereotype - "so do you like posh, expensive things because that's what I heard Romanian girls like?" - fucking idiot I should say. But the reality is that there are a lot of Romanians in Netherlands and they of course make an impression on the Dutch people. And when you say where you're from, you're being seen through those stereotypes.

Moving on, Dutch people are fit. The guys are tall, look healthy and are generally good looking, as well as the women. They are apparently into sports and do eat and take care of themselves - unlike British people that are happy to wreck they bodies at any time during a night out on the piss.

Speaking of "out on the piss", I found the Dutch pint (again coming from the UK) to be shocking. One, because of its size : it's half of what we call a pint in England. Second, the glass itself is not even being filled to the brim. This is something all English people take quite a bit offense in: receiving a pint that has been filled with foam rather than liquid. If the pint does not spill over when you grab it, you don't pay for it. It's something really small, but something really big in itself.

I found this mentality of "quality" over quantity to be quite the norm in Dutch culture.

Then there are of course, the bikes. They are everywhere. Dozens, thousands, millions. For every car and for every pedestrian, there are at least 2-3 bikes on the road. Special lanes for bikes and some sort of unknown law governs what someone like me, coming from a very strict and governed England, can only call chaos.

I can't ride a bike myself, which might impede of my acceptance and understanding of the whole "bikes are taking over the world" thing. And you would think that me not being able to ride a bike would mean that I had nothing to do with one. On the contrary, quite the opposite. For my 3 days there, I was taken around Amsterdam on the back of a bike, cycling like we were on some sort of forgotten country road. With cars right next to me, my feet dangling on one side while any other bikes are passing us.

I have never swore so much over 15 minutes of life. But then, once got passed that initial fear, I quite enjoyed it and felt quite inadequate for not being able to ride a bike myself. I quite like the idea of mixing being Eco-friendly, healthy for the body and a lot safer on the roads for bikers and pedestrians.

Amsterdam is a lot quieter than I thought. Not a lot of people on the streets, except for a few busy streets in the Red District. It's got a very subtle, contentment about it. It's not trying to be flashy, in your face, over-selling or over-hiding behind closed doors. It's not over-anything. I liked it, it made me feel relaxed and content by just being there. And since I am not usually happy with any status-quo, always wanting something else, this realisation has made quite an impact on me.