Tourist traps serve their purpose. As a tourist on your own personal “Grand Tour” of Europe it is essential to pay homage to the cornerstones of European history. In Amsterdam some of those cornerstones include the Anne Frank house, Rijks Museum, Van Gogh Museum, any of the numerous churches, and of course, the infamous Red Light District. But to truly get a taste of the culture of Amsterdam and to see what identity its populace embraces you need to go off the beaten track. To find yourself in the mix of an organic and honest group of Dutch speaking Amsterdam locals offers a complete emersion into their cultural identity, even if it’s only for a moment. Luckily I happened to fall into this exact situation on Saturday 22 May 2010 in front of the picturesque Leidseplein theatre in Amsterdam (http://www.ssba.nl/page.ocl?pageID=1&mode=&version=&MenuID=0).
(http://www.nyceamsterdam.com/amsterdam-hotels-images/map-of-amsterdam/leidseplein-map.gif)
My inquisitive friends and I had spent the prior two days exploring the famous and touristy parts of Amsterdam in which we were part of a very multi-cultural audience. What we wanted, though, was a glimpse into what it is that makes Amsterdam the city that it is. On Saturday night we decided to get a taste of the European sports environment by watching the UEFA Cup soccer match in a local pub. In this narrow, loud, smoke filled and beer drenched hallway of a bar we cheered and yelled along with the many Germans rooting on their favorite club from Munich (who sadly lost the match). After the game our small group walked out of the bar into the square looking for something to cap the night off with. As soon as the chilly Amsterdam night air hit us we knew we had found the perfect night cap across the plaza – the end of an all day music festival called Live on Stage taking place.
We walked across the plaza and pushed our way into the huge crowd of tourists and locals who had been watching the show. But as we pushed closer and closer to the stage there was a strange phenomena occurring. Where at the back of the crowd you could hear any number of languages being spoken including French, German, Dutch, Spanish and English, the closer to the stage you got the more and more it was exclusively Dutch. This was because the headlining band, Rattle Snake Shake (http://www.rattlesnakeshake.nl/main.html) was one of Holland’s premier hard rock and metal cover bands. The bands fans had made it out to see the show. Being a boisterous bunch of American college students we felt that we could dance and sing along with the bands biggest fans, so we went up to the 5th row away from the stage.
Luckily for us several of the worlds most famous metal and hard rock songs are written in English. This played to my favor as I was dancing and singing along to the Miami University favorite “Jump Around,” transposed to a Northern Holland heavy metal song. I was next to a middle age, bald, skinny and drunk man who had been chain smoking throughout the entire hour and a half concert. I could tell that he was from Amsterdam because the work shirt he was wearing sported the logo of a local Amsterdam restaurant. He saw my dancing and wanted to tell me about how much he loved the concert as well. Our conversation went something like this:
Dutch Man: (intangible drunken Dutch)
Me: Ohh! Yea. Woaaahh. Eeeah!
Dutch Man: laughter (intangible drunken Dutch)
Me: Hahahahaha! Ohhh whoahah!
At this point the Dutch man could not have agreed with me more because he put his arm around my shoulder and broke into an Irish jig.
Several things were at play during this interaction. First of all, I had no idea what he was talking to me about because I speak no Dutch whatsoever. Looking at the interaction more deeply, though, I was given a glimpse into his culture and his lifestyle. Granted not every citizen of Amsterdam is a fan of Holland’s heavy metal scene nor are they all inebriated middle aged men. But this one man offered me the opportunity to share a moment with someone of a different culture. He was at home not only physically but mentally and in putting his arm around me, as comical as it was, he brought me into his home. For the large group of native Rattle Snake Shake followers this band symbolized their lifestyle and helped them identify with one another and with Amsterdam as their city. It defines for them what is unique about Amsterdam. Certainly part of it is attributed to the night life scene, after all this was a concert, but it goes beyond just the Red Light District that tourists gape over. This concert showed me that despite the influx of cultures there is still a distinctly unique culture in Amsterdam, and it thrives through communal bonding experiences much like the one I happened to be a part of.
I found this post to be very interesting because I wrote a similar post about how Dutch culture and a "true" Amsterdamer was hard to find when visiting. The mix of cultures in the main parts of the city make it hard to truly get a sense of Amsterdam. The way you handled the Dutch language barrier was very similar to my tactics. Many times I found myself just laughing when people said things I couldn't interpret even though I had no idea the meaning. I found this post very entertaining and descriptive. In addition, it is very relateable and sends the message to propective Amsterdam visitors that to truly experience the city you should try to meet the locals.
ReplyDeleteI really like the fact that you were able to immerse yourself in the Dutch culture by dancing and singing with an Amsterdam local. I completely agree with you that in order experience a city, you need to find ways to communicate with the locals, even if that means you can’t have a true conversation with them because of the language barrier. It’s very interesting that this drunk, middle-aged, Dutch man brought you into their culture and made you feel like one of them. I hope that next time I visit Amsterdam, I will be able to experience a similar bonding experience.
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