Worlds Colliding
Elinor Beazley arrived at my apartment in Amsterdam Dec. 15th. I hadn’t seen Ell since I spent a day in London with her back in May. Everyone in Amsterdam was always confused when I explained how I knew Ell since they thought she must have just been another exchange friend from there. Ell is from Wales but goes to NAU on a 4-year tennis scholarship and studies photography with me in Flagstaff. She decided to visit me in Amsterdam for a week before I left to spend Christmas with her and her family in Wales.
I still had to go to my classes throughout that week, but afterward, I would meet up with Ell somewhere in the city and show her some of my favorite parts of Amsterdam. On her first day there, we got pancakes (the best food Amsterdam has to offer in my opinion) and decided what were ‘must see’ items on her list. I acted as her personal tour guide and walked her through a large portion of the city with stops such as Muntplein tower, Jordaan, the 9 Streets, Dam Square, and Central Station. We bought flowers at Bloomenmaarkt and took lots of photos together. It was great being with another photographer again. It was also fun to act like a tourist for a bit and it made me think about how comfortable I had become with the city. I wasn’t a tourist but also not a local, which I think is fairly common for the majority of the Amsterdam population.
Ell’s second day was quite memorable, considering we ran through the city chasing a boat. We started the day by visiting a very frosty Vondelpark and enjoyed brunch at a cafe in the park. We had tickets for a canal boat tour in the afternoon and planned to meet my friends Luc and Finn who wanted to join us at the dock. However, we waited for a tram that never arrived and ended up a half hour behind schedule. Luc was on the boat begging the captain not to leave as we sprinted about a half mile to the dock. Just before we got there, Luc called me and said the boat had left, but the captain would stop at the next dock at Waterlooplein if we were there. Ell and I saw the boat in the distance and chased it to Waterlooplein, but by the time we reached it, the boat was just out of reach. Exhausted, we collapsed onto a bench and watched the boat sail away as Finn ran up to us – he was also late. We laughed about it and took some photos at the dock while we tried not to freeze. When the last boat tour of the day arrived about an hour later, we apologized profusely, and they agreed to let us on.
After the boat tour, we said goodbye to Finn and met up with Luc at a cafe to defrost with a hot chocolate. Then, the three of us went for food together at Wagamama’s. After dinner, we grabbed a dutch pastry called Olieballen from a food truck and took Ell to The PoolBar where we played Jenga and had wine. We joined a friend of mine from class who was already there and then Viola and her friends joined later as well. It was bittersweet to show places like this to Ell and introduce her to the incredible people I had met abroad because it’s difficult to describe how wonderful these experiences have been to people who have no idea what I’m talking about.
Later in the week, I showed Ell around the Jordaan area where the cheese shop, tulip museum, and the 9 streets were. We got my favorite snack in the city from Fabel Friets where the fries are topped with truffle mayo and parmesan cheese. We took some more portraits around 9 streets before I had to leave to film some footage for my documentary video project about my dance teacher. I had to say goodbye to him that day which was really sad as my hip-hop class became one of my favorite parts of my time abroad. He made dancing fun and sparked my passion for it again, which I am very grateful for.
One night during Ell’s stay, my friends and I had a potluck style dinner for one last get-together. All of my close friends were there (besides Silje who left Amsterdam the night Ell arrived) and most had also brought guests. We enjoyed pizza, wine, cake, and other random foods. I'm so glad I taught everyone how to play Egyptian Rats because they had become addicted. We played it again this time with a much bigger group. I loved seeing Ell socialize with all of my friends and how easily she fit in with this wild group of international students. Acelya needed to leave early so we said goodbye and took some last group photos. Once the dinner was over, we took things like plates and chairs up to our other rooms in the building and all had to say our goodbyes to Viola who was leaving in the morning. I somehow kept it together when Silje left, maybe because I still had so many days left at the time, but I did cry when Viola left. It’s one thing to say goodbye to friends in school when they live in a different city, but another when they live in a different country on the other side of the world.
Ell and I explored the Christmas version of Museumplein where there was a giant ice rink and a Christmas market. I also got to take her to the cheap little Italian place that I ended up loving so much. We walked around and I took some long exposure photos of the canals in the evening which I wanted to do for over a month and never had. Luckily, it was no longer freezing cold like the last few days were, so it was very nice walking through the city at night. I think my favorite photo was actually the one I took when I turned around to see Ell sitting on a bench reading while she waited for me to finish running around with my camera. We even had fun sitting in my apartment, showing each other dumb youtube videos like Horrible Histories and the Lonely Island that we knew from our childhood. Lucas stopped by to say bye as well since he would be moving back to Boston around the same time I would leave for Christmas with Ell.
My last day in Amsterdam was very rainy, but Ell and I went on one last walk to get famous cookies from Van Stapele and get souvenir gifts from Albert Cuypt Market. I felt a wide mix of emotions during that last week in Amsterdam. I said goodbye to many friends as I said before, but I also said goodbye to my wonderful teachers and classmates who I had gone through so much with. Another extra hard goodbye was with Mathilde, my friend from Paris, who may truly be the kindest person I have ever met. I had created a life for myself in Amsterdam that I really enjoyed. I loved being surrounded by international students who were all curious about other cultures, were open-minded, and always wanted to go and do fun things as often as possible to make the most out of each day. I knew then that adjusting back to US culture would be a bit tricky.
