So, it's Tuesday...
...and I'm pretty sure it's Amsterdam.
Yes, I'm sure of it
I head back to Frankfurt tomorrow, and then it's on to Berlin (I think, yes, I'm pretty sure). My time here in Amsterdam has convinced me that I need to spend longer here next time. Amazing, amazing, beautiful. The only bad thing about it is the Americans. No, just one in particular. Of that sort of variety that likes to tell strangers on the bus that "this city is filled with sin" and that the person should get out of there before the city corrupts their christian soul.
I ask her where she's from. She says somewhere in Alabama. I admit, all I hear is the word "Alabama," which I'd already heard in her voice. It's a rainy day in Amsterdam and the tram is crowded, and I want to howl with frustration because this woman, with her rude, arrogant belief in her religion, is insulting someone who is still polite, a resident of this country she's visiting. I don't realize how much this has bothered me until I get back to my host's apartment. I rant too much about it, and apologize for every rude American tourist, knowing it's not my apology to make, knowing that I worry sometimes that I'm that tourist that makes other people cringe, thinking "there's another ugly American."
Yes, I have this anxiety and worry about what other people think of me. I wish I didn't care. I do, though.
So on the way back home I said fuck it and did the one tourist thing I could think of - bought a single joint. My host is getting over a lousy cold and he's all congested, so I walked along the canal near his apartment and smoked it. Stopped to talk to a lady with a Shiz-thu or however you spell it. Sweet dog. From her reaction, I guess the dog didn't usually like people. Like most dogs, it got along just fine with me. I think I made at least one person think that not all of us Americans are rude. Maybe pot smokers, but not rude. Considering the grandmotherly woman buying a few grams in the shop, I think it's not nearly as frowned upon by most people around here as it was for the ugly american tourist.
After some waffling, i think I'm going to head to Berlin on Thursday. I have decided I want to come back again at some point and do an extended trip to Amsterdam. Hopefully with some friends or at least one friend who's willing to share some mushrooms with me. I haven't done that for over a decade, but the last time I did, it was a very companionable experience. I liked it, because I liked the person I was sharing it with, liked the way he thought and the way he was my friend. I'd like to share the canal cruise with a friend, come back with a better camera (god, I'm frustrated with this crappy little camera, but I kept telling myself I didn't need *another* hobby).
I just wanted to say this has been quite the journey, there's a lot more to it than that, but it will have to wait until later. I've got lots of things to do right now. Hopefully the weather will hold out until I can do some more walking around this evening. Will post some more pictures on Flickr (user name is djmuse) and it's just a raw dump at the moment, will have to rotate, add comments/explanations later.
I'm kind of missing home, but I'm missing having someone to travel with more. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, don't get me wrong. But I think I would enjoy it even more with the right person. But that's not going to stop me from enjoying what there is to be had now.
Yes, I'm sure of it
I head back to Frankfurt tomorrow, and then it's on to Berlin (I think, yes, I'm pretty sure). My time here in Amsterdam has convinced me that I need to spend longer here next time. Amazing, amazing, beautiful. The only bad thing about it is the Americans. No, just one in particular. Of that sort of variety that likes to tell strangers on the bus that "this city is filled with sin" and that the person should get out of there before the city corrupts their christian soul.
I ask her where she's from. She says somewhere in Alabama. I admit, all I hear is the word "Alabama," which I'd already heard in her voice. It's a rainy day in Amsterdam and the tram is crowded, and I want to howl with frustration because this woman, with her rude, arrogant belief in her religion, is insulting someone who is still polite, a resident of this country she's visiting. I don't realize how much this has bothered me until I get back to my host's apartment. I rant too much about it, and apologize for every rude American tourist, knowing it's not my apology to make, knowing that I worry sometimes that I'm that tourist that makes other people cringe, thinking "there's another ugly American."
Yes, I have this anxiety and worry about what other people think of me. I wish I didn't care. I do, though.
So on the way back home I said fuck it and did the one tourist thing I could think of - bought a single joint. My host is getting over a lousy cold and he's all congested, so I walked along the canal near his apartment and smoked it. Stopped to talk to a lady with a Shiz-thu or however you spell it. Sweet dog. From her reaction, I guess the dog didn't usually like people. Like most dogs, it got along just fine with me. I think I made at least one person think that not all of us Americans are rude. Maybe pot smokers, but not rude. Considering the grandmotherly woman buying a few grams in the shop, I think it's not nearly as frowned upon by most people around here as it was for the ugly american tourist.
After some waffling, i think I'm going to head to Berlin on Thursday. I have decided I want to come back again at some point and do an extended trip to Amsterdam. Hopefully with some friends or at least one friend who's willing to share some mushrooms with me. I haven't done that for over a decade, but the last time I did, it was a very companionable experience. I liked it, because I liked the person I was sharing it with, liked the way he thought and the way he was my friend. I'd like to share the canal cruise with a friend, come back with a better camera (god, I'm frustrated with this crappy little camera, but I kept telling myself I didn't need *another* hobby).
I just wanted to say this has been quite the journey, there's a lot more to it than that, but it will have to wait until later. I've got lots of things to do right now. Hopefully the weather will hold out until I can do some more walking around this evening. Will post some more pictures on Flickr (user name is djmuse) and it's just a raw dump at the moment, will have to rotate, add comments/explanations later.
I'm kind of missing home, but I'm missing having someone to travel with more. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, don't get me wrong. But I think I would enjoy it even more with the right person. But that's not going to stop me from enjoying what there is to be had now.