Netherlands

I, myself, am not a tourist. I am most happy when I am acting as if I were a local. I feel you get more out of your experience when you live like that.

So, needless to say, last weekend was probably one of the best weekends of my life. I went to go visit a long time friend in Tilburg, Netherlands. Upon arrival, we were supposed to go check out Amsterdam so that I could stare at all the glory that would surround me in the Red Light District ;), check out some coffee houses, and just be a crazy teenager. But as soon as I got there, I decided that Amsterdam just seemed too....mainstream for my tastes. So we didn't go. Thus started a whole new cultural adventure that I was NEVER expecting.

Sadly, it all started at McDonalds where as soon as I walked in, I found myself extremely intimidated. Somehow I forgot that the Netherlands was a foreign country.. that had different customs.. and most importantly... a different language. THE WHOLE MENU was in DUTCH (minus names like "Big Mac" of course)!.. HOW WAS I TO ORDER!!??.... I freaked. My friend assured me that it would be alright if I just ordered in English, but I refused. I didn't believe him when he said that they would understand. After I made a scene because I was dancing around trying to read the menu out loud, my friend, Arjen informed me that about 90% of Dutch teenagers are fluent in English. I was immediately taken back. I think only about 80-85% of American teenagers are fluent in English.. let alone fluent in another language. After getting our food, I noticed that my BigMac tasted very strange in comparison to an American Big Mac and instead if ketchup, I was given some strange concoction of Mayonaise, Mustard, and pickles. It was.. horrid.

After we ate, we got back on the highway and found it to be completely backed up. Oddly enough however, unlike in America, people were not fighting their way through the traffic jams, driving on the shoulders, or even honking like idiots. In fact, the people were rather polite. Arjen pointed out that only when there was a traffic jam would the speed limit sign come on. Also, people will turn on their emergency blinkers when a traffic jam was coming up. The whole system was basically based on courtesy. It was amazing!

When we got to Arjen's house, I noticed so many little things that were just so different than London, let alone the US. For example, his freezer and fridge were seperate and about the size of the ones that we have at the flats. I figured that in a home that the fridge would at least be a little bigger. Also, the toilets were different again.. I don't quite understand the whole different toilets in every country thing is about.. Arjen said that in the Netherlands the shape and way that the toilet worked was all about efficency and saving water. I could understand after seeing that there was basically no water in the bowl before you flushed. The stairs also really got to me. They were sooo steep and went around in a circle in one point. I don't know how many times I hit my shins on those stairs. They were killers.

These are just some of the differences I experienced in the Netherlands. There really is way too much to even begin describing here. But, it still to me is soo exciting to look back on. I have so much appreciation for how different every culture is. This trip just made me even more interested in seeing other areas and countries in the coming months and years.

This trip has really shown me that even though you think you know something about the differences between each European country, you don't. I never really thought that simple things such as toilets, would be so much different from country to country. Then there are other things, like weather, that you think will be so much different, and it's not. Each European country is really a country of it's own, no doubt. It's not at all like in the states where each individual state has some minor differences, but are basically all the same. It is a very strange thing to experience being from the US, but it really is what makes Europe special.