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6 Days
in Amsterdam
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6 Days in Amsterdam Holland has at least two names in English -- "Holland" and "The Netherlands". The people who live there and the language that they speak is called "Dutch". It's more easy to understand if you look at the Dutch names, but I wasn't able to get a reasonable explanation as to why this is, maybe I just wasn't there long enough!
Anyway, I thought that people might find what I saw in my 1 week visit interesting, so here goes!
We went by bus from Brussels to Amsterdam, and there was a rest stop just after we crossed the border between Belgium and Holland. Bankole came back from the place insisting that I go in -- "fancy" he said. He was right! The rest stop was immaculately clean, and fully equipped with a market style Movenpick restaurant serving fresh fish - cooked to order, fresh squeezed juices, freshly made ice cream, fruit, vegetables, meat, chicken and just about anything else that you could imagine! This was our second trip to Amsterdam. Our first was when we arrived in Europe initially in 2001. There was a layover there before we continued on to our final destination - Stockholm, Sweden. But the first visit didn't count, all we saw was the inside of the airport! J
Though the language spoken in Holland is Dutch most people speak excellent English. Everything is, of course, written in Dutch. This can make reading a menu or choosing a restaurant difficult for non-Dutch speakers. Holland is a country with a very high standard of living. There was a lot of wealth made during the so-called slave trade, as everyone knows. In more recent times it was home to one of the biggest squatter's movements in Europe, where people occupied abandoned buildings demanding decent housing for regular people. They seem to have done well with their fight. What were once run down squats and abandoned buildings are now beautiful, modern, spacious apartments. The standard of living is probably just as high as Sweden, and their policies about drugs are much more liberal. That's the thing about Holland that's kind of interesting. On the one hand the people who ran one of the most brutal and genocidal colonial regimes in Africa came from Holland. On the other hand, the country itself is quite liberal in many ways. It seems to be a country where a paradox exists… Sex, Drugs & Weed… On the second day that we were in Amsterdam we wandered into what we thought was a health food store. What it was in actuality was a mushroom store where packages describing various types and strengths of mushrooms, other drugs and smoking paraphernalia were sold. Then we realized that there was one on practically every corner. There were also plenty of shops selling marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs -- all legally, of course. Naturally, I found this fascinating coming from a country where one of the main methods for criminalizing African people is drug use and possession. Funny, I thought, so many people are locked away for use of the same drugs viewed here as "recreational" which the state has sanctioned as being perfectly legal.
I found that most people in the shops were smoking weed -- I mean, the store clerks! Not just in the weed stores, but just about all of the stores! Of course, people on the street at clubs and bars were smoking too!! One of the most interesting things that I found in my travels was the Cannabis College, where they teach people how to grow and use it. There was also a lot of literature about how US drug policies are too strict. They illustrate cases of people being locked away because of zero tolerance legislation in southern states of the US. Grow shops are very popular too. Shops which sell sex toys are also hard to avoid. They are everywhere!
The one day that I ventured out alone, I took a wrong turn and ended up in the red light district. This was a shock -- I'm talking, love for sale! Men and women on display in windows like any other sale item! Some of the displays looked like clothing ads with manikins, only they were real people moving and dancing. I saw this in Brussels too. But, not to the extent that it exists in Amsterdam. Any and everything is available, straight, gay, etc. In Holland, prostitution is perfectly legal and the men and the women in the profession have unions. Their pimps also have a union! People just walked through the area, which was clean and well appointed with shops and cafés, like it was nothing special.
Speaking Briefly in Amsterdam An anarchist group gave us the opportunity to speak about our case at a squat where an event was being held. This was arranged on very short notice. People were supportive and open-minded for the most part. But not everyone was...some people who could have really helped us in our struggle just refused. Just about everyone clapped during the intro. when we told them that we had been banned from America because of political belief and our stance on the culture.
They told us about the large barrels of free marijuana that used to be made available for visitors. They also told us about changing times, and how they were fighting an eviction. It was really interesting to learn about the squatter's movement in Europe. And people seemed to be very serious about their activism, which is important. It was a really nice vibe that night. We were happy to get a warm reception. Truthfully, our situation brings out heavy emotions in people on both sides of the coin. And when people don't want to deal with their own past (or present for that matter) it's difficult sometimes. In my opinion, despite all of the talk of Holland being such an open society, the racism is pretty strong. There seems to be a lot of denial about how today's wealth is tied to yesterday's, and even today's "business".
Racism is a Global System, so is ignorance… I had a very negative experience at a Chinese restaurant in Amsterdam. When I was taken there by my Swedish friends, everything was fine, great food and good service. A few days later when I went by myself I became invisible. You know, that "we don't serve black folks up in here" kind of invisible…I wasn't surprised. I don't have any illusions about that sort of thing...but it did tell me a lot. I have to say that everywhere else I went the service was great and the food was outstanding. There are people living on the street and it's not so easy for immigrants, I'm told. Recently, they passed legislation to deport thousands of people --this is very sad. With all of the openness about certain things, the immigration policy doesn't seem to be very liberal.
You're not in Kansas anymore Toto...
When we got on the bus to return to Brussels the staff shocked us all into understanding that we were now leaving the land of "Oz". There were several announcements made about checking the bus for drugs at the Belgian border. It was a real reminder to everyone that all countries in Europe aren't as liberal about their drug policies as Holland... just in case any of us had forgotten! J
Most people seemed to handle this aspect of the openness of the society well, but unfortunately, I saw lots of people strung out in Amsterdam too. Not as bad as Dublin, one of the most notorious heroin cities in Europe, where you see people nodding and shooting up everyday, but bad. I can really see how some people would not be able to cope with that kind of freedom in terms of drug use. But on the other hand it's kind of an interesting concept. This isn't everything about Amsterdam...of course there are many aspects, it's just a few things that I found to be very interesting during my very short stay.
Amsterdam was definitely worth seeing. Having a good host is worth a lot, though there isn't much of a language barrier for English speakers. Our trip was done on short notice and yet people were able to organize really nice things for us rather quickly. All 'n all it was a great experience. I'd recommend a visit to Amsterdam for sure! Special thanks to our friends in Belgium and our hosts in Holland who made our trip possible!! Dank u!!!!! Written by: Aisha
Glasgow, Scotland
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There is beautiful architecture in Amsterdam and really nice
art displays for regular people.