Oudezijds Auchterbergwal

I spent my first day or two wandering around Amsterdam in total confusion. India is hot, Amsterdam is cold. India is cheap, Amsterdam is expensive. Indian cities are crowded and chaotic, Amsterdam is clean and orderly. I was often the only Westerner around in Hyderabad and in Amsterdam I blend in so well that people speak to me only in Dutch and tourists keep asking me for directions. No one has offered me rickshaws, no shopkeepers have shouted at me to look in their stores, I have walked along the street on real, paved sidewalks, and not a single cow has crossed my path. In India a woman won't show her knees in public and in Amsterdam I am staying on a street where prostitutes and sex shops are abundant.

I chose my hostel because it advertised its central location in the city. As it turns out, it's actually the center of the Red Light district so I'm getting this culture shock in one huge dose. As I was walking out of my neighborhood to go meet some friends the other night I was caught behind a group of French kids who appeared to be no more than 15 years old and I wanted to shout "No! Cover your eyes! You shouldn't be seeing this!" As soon as I passed that group I ran into a group of very elderly tourists taking in the sights and again wanted to shout "No! Cover your eyes! You shouldn't be seeing this!" Tourism in Amsterdam, I have decided, is a very strange thing.

I know a bunch of kids from Oxy who are studying abroad in Amsterdam this semester and they were kind enough to hang out with me the last two nights. On Thursday, Justin, Sara, and Alex introduced me to "La Chouffe,"a Belgian beer (named after a gnome) which is very delicious, unlike Indian beers which taste like poison. On Friday I called Alex to see what they were up to and he informed me that they were all going to go see the new Star Trek movie. I have always dismissed Star Trek as something for nerds not to be watched under any circumstances, but I agreed to go with them because, really, what else is there for a 21 year old girl to do on a Friday night in Amsterdam? The movie was actually pretty decent.

While not monopolizing my friends' time, I have been exploring the city on my own. So far I haven't gone to many museums or anything, because it is hard to bring myself to pay more than 1 Rupee admission to anything. I guess I'll have to get over that. I went to the Van Gogh museum; it had a very nice collection, but more importantly it had a place to eat Belgian waffles right outside. This was a hugely exciting discovery for me and I am now increasingly interested in visiting Belgium.

Tonight I will leave Amsterdam on a bus to go to Berlin. I arrived at the bus station yesterday knowing that I had to get a ticket to go somewhere, but didn't officially decide where to go until the woman at the counter asked me, "Where do you want to go?" I spontaneously responded "Uh...Berlin?" so that's where I'm going. My knowledge of Berlin is limited its portrayal in the movie Cabaret, but if that's any indication it should be an interesting place.