"Amsterdam...You Done Me Good" a Amsterdam Travel Page by Johnny_CA

Why was it not a bad place to live for the last year and a half? Check it out:

Quality of life-the Dutch have a word to describe good, comfortable and cozy lifestyle, gezellig! If you listen in a Dutch conversation, you will hear this word repeated a lot to describe and express mostly everything. Gezellig applies to work and personal life, focusing on enjoyment and pleasure over stressful and quick paced activities. Gezellig can be witnessed on warm spring days (there is no summer here, that's my experience so far) in Vondelpark where thousands of people are suntanning, chatting, drinking and chilling with friends. Unfortunately, you'll get a feel of this cozy lifestyle too in the quality of the service in Amsterdam. Next time you're in Amsterdam, don't get upset at the bad service, just think in local terms and you're all good!

Nightlife-where else can you get so much entertainment variety in such a small place? Coffeeshops, Red Light District, bars, clubs, football (soccer and American football, the Amsterdam Admirals!), canals, water sports and beaches (not the most spectacular but they are there).

Centrality for European travels-from Amsterdam, you're a 45 minute flight away from London, a 5 hour drive from Paris, a 2-4 hour flight from most other European cities. What does an American do when he lives in Amsterdam? Travel as much as he can! I have seen so much of Europe in a year!

One disclaimer, the weather sucks big time here! If only the sun came out more often, life here would be so much better!

As I'm driving on the A10 Ring (this is the freeway that circles Amsterdam) listening to my new found love, Euro dance music, I see a flash. "Who's taking pictures of me on the freeway," I thought to myself? Oh, it must be those papparrazis that followed me from Hollywood. You know, when you're a big celebrity like me, those tabloid photographers will do anything to get my mug. Two months later, I get a speeding ticket in the mail. You're no celebrity, Johnny. I was first puzzled and then angry. The ?100 plus fine was captured by the many speeding cameras posted along the Dutch freeways. In California, we only had to worry about the California Highway Patrol, who physically stopped and cited you. It's not like the Dutch system where they hide behind technology to snag you for speeding. Within the last year, I've collected around 15 speeding, parking and moving violation fines!! I think half of my paychecks have gone to pay the Dutch government. You're thinking to yourself, Johnny, why don't you memorize where the cameras are and slow down when you approach them on the freeway. It's not so easy my dear reader, they also have portable cameras that they move to different locations and bust you. Also, there are "undercover" observers sitting in their unmarked cars with a camera aimed at my Audi. I think this is all a Dutch conspiracy to supplement the government's coffers at the expense of the poor innocent American! I am waiting for the Dutch authorities to knock on my door one of these days and yank my license. On second thought, why would they do that when I am a primary revenue generator for Amsterdam?

A colleague told me that during the Second World War, the Dutch army had a password, "Scheveningen" a Dutch city near Rotterdam. Even if the password got into the wrong hands, the pronunciation of the word is so difficult for non-Dutch speaking people that it was a dead give-away you weren't Dutch. I'd hate to be an allied force during the WW and having to say this word...

When I first arrived to Holland, I told myself I am going to put some effort into learning Dutch. I signed up for an intensive course (full out Dutch only during lessons!) to get me up to speed so I can impress some of the Dutch ladies. :-) For one week, I was fully immersed in Dutch and what happened was that I sank! The pronunciation (the hard "g" and the "ch" does not exist in English), the words that average 15-characters long and of course the sentence structure. I was fully frustrated that first week and it took away a lot of my zeal to learn the language. I have one week of instructions remaining which I've managed to stretch it out over a number of lessons to ease the frustration and the idiotic feeling.

One day, I am in the office and a colleague stops by, looking for another colleague. Johnny decides to bust out some Dutch to show off the little he knew. In response to the colleague's question of where's so and so, I blurted out, "ga weg." He was stunned! Then his face loosened up slightly and he understood Johnny's pathetic Dutch skills and he said, "jij is weg" or he is away. Then I asked him what did I first say, he said, "you told me to go away!" I had to laugh out loud for my accidental insensitivity. He understood fortunately!

So now, I stick with the basic Dutch phrases, good night, hello, what will you have to drink (when I go to the coffee machine) and of course what is your telephone number. :-)

Strangely, I've slowly begin to hear the words when my colleagues or people speak. Before, I could not distinguish whether people were truly conversing or just grunting and spitting (hard g's remember?) at me. I'm not saying I understand what they're saying, just that I can make out some words. It only took me a year to get to this point. Maybe if I really put my heart into this language, I could be a broken-Dutch speaker before I leave Amsterdam?