Insights from a Rally in Amsterdam

Friday, May 21, 2010: Amsterdam, Holland

After leaving the Heineken Museum midafternoon, my friends and I hopped on the 9 line of the public tram system in Amsterdam, planning to head back to our hostel to freshen up. Five minutes into our ride, our plans rapidly changed. We looked out the window as we passed the Van Gogh museum and saw a large crowd of young people dancing to loud techno music in the neighboring lawn. Immediately, we decided to go check it out. As we neared the crowd, we passed hundreds of young adults and teenagers holding signs and passing out fliers, yelling and cheering, and dancing and hanging out. No one was speaking English and we didn’t understand any of the signs, but we deduced that it must have been some sort of rally. Whatever the reason for this gathering of young people—we were interested.

We sat down in the soft dewy grass towards the back of the crowd, relaxed in the warm sun, and observed the hundreds of diverse young participants in the rally. Most were rocking out to the thumping European techno jams, many were chilling in the lawn, but all were cheering and yelling for whatever political cause they were trying to promote. I was reminded of the “rally” we had at Miami in September 2008 during the Black-out, but this was quite different. Rather than hoping for the cancellation of a day’s classes, this group was fighting for some political cause. Never before had I seen so many young people gathered to fight for their rights and display their pride for their nationality.

Soon my friends and I were invited to participate in the protest. We were handed one sheet of green paper and one sheet of red. When the announcer shouted some protest into the microphone, flashes of red and green spread throughout the crowd as each person signed in agreement or discord, yelling and cheering loudly. We were even asked to sign a petition, but unfortunately we didn’t speak Dutch nor were citizens of the Netherlands.

After researching some online, I found out that the rally was the Dutch National Student Union (LSVb) protesting near the U.S. Consulate: http://amsterdam.usconsulate.gov/demonstrations.html.
They were protesting to keep the grants allotted to every Dutch student. This article explains a lot about their cause: http://www.nrc.nl/international/Features/article2474038.ece/Students_protest_to_keep_Dutch_student_grant

Even though I didn’t know what the rally was for at the time, I will always remember the scene that I witnessed. As we sat on the tram on the way back to our hostel, I thought about how I was able to experience first-hand the ideas we learned about in classes last week. Amsterdam is the cultural capital of the Netherlands, attracting people from all over the globe. In fact, the majority of people I encountered during the weekend were not originally from Amsterdam: they either moved there or were travelers like me. Because of this, I learned how Amsterdam, as well as many other places in Europe, is a place that is tolerant of minorities, as well as welcoming of diversity and respecting of the right to live one’s own life. And that is exactly what I saw that afternoon: people of various cultural backgrounds coming together to express themselves peacefully yet powerfully.

In geography class, we learned that we can understand cultures by looking at everyday landscapes. In this case, the huge lawn next to the Van Gogh museum full of protesting young people reflected the cultural system of Amsterdam and much of Europe. This event symbolized the liberalness of the Dutch as well as their respect for one’s political and social rights. Additionally, the rally is an application of the “imagined communities” of cultural landscapes. Whatever the cultural background of the participants, they were united by their mutual ties to their political community and nation as a whole. Although there is no concrete definition of a nation, I could sense that everyone felt a deep sense of community and pride.

To be honest, I didn’t think I would learn anything educational while I was in Amsterdam, but experiences such as this proved me wrong. While I often felt like just another tourist among thousands of others, I got a sense of being a part of something bigger. I enjoyed seeing the tourist-y sites of the city, but I loved even more being a traveler and observer of an interesting culture. I was amazed at how international the city was, and how liberal and welcoming the people are. I will always remember my weekend in Amsterdam, and I look forward to making a return visit.