Getting Settled
Written on Sept. 4, 2022
Random things I’ve learned
While meeting new people from all over the world, I’ve learned a few things:
Almost everyone I’ve met from outside the United States speaks at least two languages.
Northern Ireland is still under British rule but they aren’t really considered British or Irish (learned about this conflict from an Irish girl while in line for the bathroom).
The fact that America doesn’t use the metric system doesn’t make any sense.
It’s hard to talk about the weather when you have no idea how to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius and vice versa.
Transportation strikes over wages are heavily disrupting traffic in the Netherlands and the UK. This affects trains, metros, planes, and buses. Many metros have been late or haven’t shown up in just in the two weeks I’ve been here.
The number of chain restaurants, fast food, and drive-thrus in America is shocking to every non-American I’ve met. Here in Amsterdam, the only chains I’ve seen are Mcdonald’s, KFC, Burger King, and Subway.
Americans live to work and are taught to be as time efficient as possible — no wonder we all have anxiety. Relaxing and having free time is a given outside of the US.
Taking photos
This week, I finally got the chance to go out with my camera and take some photos for fun. With how busy and social last week was, carrying my camera with me didn't make sense. I walked around the city center with a Polish guy from my ESN group named Filip who enjoys photography as a hobby. It’s obvious he’s passionate and has an eye for it. I love taking photos with people like this because they ask great questions and make me look at things differently. He wanted to learn so I showed him many “Photo 101” tips about composition, lighting, and focusing. I even got to show him my portable off-camera flash and demonstrate how to bounce light off a wall to make the light softer and more flattering. I had a ton of fun and I really enjoy how the results turned out.
Brussels
On Friday, I left early morning with a group of friends from my building to catch an €8 Flixbus to Brussels. Brussels is the capital of Belgium and is only about a 2.5 hour drive from Amsterdam — roughly the same as the drive between Tucson and Phoenix. After taking some time to wake up and eat something, we got our bearings and walked through the botanical gardens and the tourist-filled city center. In the afternoon, we checked into our lovely hostel and dropped off our bags. We wandered through Parc de Bruxelles, saw the Royal Palace, found the panorama view, and after finding some dinner, randomly ended up at the Belgian Beer Festival in the middle of Dam Square. It was lively and being there felt surreal. We ended the night by seeing the famous Manneken Pis and trying Belgian chocolate.
The next day, we went to what Brussels calls their Eiffel Tower — the Atomium. This landmark was built in 1958 for the World’s fair and they decided to keep it. We toured the inside and enjoyed the views. Afterward, we visited the Design Museum and the Comics Art Museum where we learned that the Smurfs are Belgian and Brussels is also the capital of comic strips. To end our trip, we ate the most incredible Belgian waffles with chocolate, whipped cream, and strawberries on top.
Even though I’ve only known these people for about two weeks now, I felt surprisingly comfortable traveling to another country and sleeping in the same room as them. It was also really fun to run around and explore a new European city with friends. I, along with many others, had a cold for a couple of days earlier in the week. I was fighting to not lose my voice throughout the trip because of this, so water and hot tea were my go-to items.
