Amsterdam and Jobs

(The view I had across the canal from the Anne Frank house)

I had a great time in Amsterdam and I'm really proud of myself for taking a trip alone and doing fine, but coming back has just brought on this who terrible feeling of dread. I have two main concerns, although the first one is superfulous and will not make one bit of difference in 3 weeks when I go home.

The woman (the one who steals my garbage) whose apartment I live in complains to the other American living here (a brown-noser with no real personality) that she is "sad" that I don't spend more time with her. Excuse me if I am a 20 year old college student trying to survive academically and socially in a foreign country. I have better things to do than sit around an apartment (that I am allergic to) talking to a 70 year old woman who tells me the same things 5 times. If I'm in the apartment, it is to do work. Additionally, if this woman truly has a problem, it is juvenile to go to anyone other than me with her feelings. Because of her telling the other American these things, my last three weeks in this house are going to be awkward and uncomfortable.

My second concern is that I will NEVER find a television production internship for next summer. Those hiring (and especially HR departments) don't take chances on people--even if the people applying really want the job. Those doing the hiring go by the books. You have experience, you get hired. I have no experience and I need the internship to get experience. I don't know how to get started when I can't even get a job licking someone's feet. And, I cannot receive academic credit for my internship--a prerequisite for any of the main companies. I will keep applying though--I won't give up until I hear back from all of the main networks.

Now, back to Amsterdam:
I saw the Anne Frank house, the Van Gogh Museum, the Heineken Brewery, the Red Light district, and basically the rest of the city because I took the tram (their above-ground transportation system) everywhere.

The Anne Frank house was a place I've wanted to see for a long time. Unlike what all people and guidebooks say about the house, there was no line to get in. I just went and bought my ticket and started the tour. The house was different from what I imagined from reading her book (and from watching the 1950's movie several times). I don't want to say that their hiding space was "spacious," but the inhabitants were not living on top of each other. The furniture and other items from when the Franks and their friends lived there no longer remains, but the pictures Anne put on her walls, and her original diary are on display. I was sad to learn that the other mother (Van Pels) living in hiding died at the concentration camp, Terezin, that I visited in Prague earlier this semester. The hiding place was located in this canal house:


After the Frank house, I went to a tourist office to see about a tour of the Red Light district for that evening that I had read about in my Lonely Planet travel guide. However, because December is not exactly tourist season, the tour was not offered that night. I took a tram by myself to the area and walked around for a while--there really ARE red lights! I thought that it was just an expression. There were also sex shops, but they just seemed silly and stupid--I think Amsterdam has gone a little bit overboard with showing how truly liberal they are. (I was told not to take pictures...and I don't really want pictures of prostitutes, and so you will not find any on my pictures site.)

The Van Gogh museum was open late on Friday night, and so I went there after the red light district to try to expose myself to some real (non-trashy) culture. The lobby of the museum had live jazz and plenty of people were sitting around just listening. On the ceiling of the lobby, there is a big Van Gogh painting and video cameras throughout the museum capture visitors and superimpose them into the painting. It was cool to see Van Gogh's paintings from his time in Paris, because I know some of the streets and neighborhoods he captured. His favorite painting that I saw there was one of his Japanese-influenced paintings, "The Courtesan:"


Saturday morning, I went to the Heineken Museum. Just like the Anne Frank house, I was told there would be but there was no line. The museum was a silly journey through beer production, and for 10 euros I got 3 beers, fun amusement-type rides, and a dry place to spend a rainy Saturday morning. After Heineken, I made my way back through the city to the train station to catch my train back to Paris.


The train to and from Amsterdam was really the best--just don't get me started that for European trains, there are no choices between train companies. If you want to go to England, you take Eurostar. If you want to go anywhere east of France, you take Thalys. It's a monopoly, I tell you. But I do enjoy the rides. For about 6 euros more per ticket, you can get a first class seat--twice as much room, and a cart of food and drinks that is pushed up and down the cabin for the entire (4 hour) ride. Also, he crew comes by with warm towels, chocolates, and newspapers in every language. There is free wireless internet, but I know better than to carry around an expensive (and breakable) laptop when staying in a youth hostel. I really just like the train because it gave me 4.5 hours to look at the Dutch/French/Belgian countryside and just think. Additionally, the train passed what I think were Ikea houses (pre-manufactured houses you can buy from the Ikea store). Between Amsterdam and Paris, the train made stops in Brussels, Antwerp, The Hague, Utrecht, and Rotterdam, and so I got to see a bit of several Dutch and Belgian cities. The train passed through the Dutch town of Hertogenbosch, for a town that I had never heard of, it is very modern, with lots of tall glass buildings and stadiums. The cities in the Netherlands seem to either be very modern or medieval (almost peasant-like).

The hostel wasn't bad. It was in a good area, immaculately clean (the bedding was in a sealed plastic bag), and not too expensive. While it is a strange idea sharing a room with strangers, it was helpful to remember that they think that I am as weird as I think they are. I of course kept everything locked up except my valuables which I kept strapped to my body. I never once felt threatened, but better safe than sorry. I had a difficult time getting to sleep because I think that I was at a low stage of hypothermia. I stayed outside for a long time talking to two dutch kids and a spanish guy who were all staying at the hostel. I was cold, but it's December. I figured that i'd warm up when I went inside. I went to my room to go to sleep and after 30 minutes of laying in bed freezing (the room was warm), I started shaking. Luckily I had 2 water bottles with me so I filled them with hot water and put them in my bed. I fell asleep shaking but woke up warm in the morning. Not too pleasant.


I finish first semester in 10 days and between now and then, I need to write 10 pages about the public sphere and the French Revolution, prepare for my Monuments exam (I love how there is an exam for a course where all I do is walk around Paris and look at things and then I'm expected to write for 2 hours on the historical significance and interrelations between specific locations...I'll be happy to get a B). It's really hard to find motivation to do my school work when I realize that doing it has no bearings on my having a successful future--I can't even find an unpaid job.