PUB CRAWL TELL ALL

The thing that was most representative of Amsterdam for me was a conversation I had with our pub crawl coordinator. His name was Charlie and he was 5’9 with crazy brown hair and a funny little accent that I couldn’t quite place. After a while of talking to him, I learned that he was a citizen of Montreal, Canada but had lived and worked in Amsterdam for about two years. I asked myself if perhaps this was a grand tour? He told me that he considered himself an Amsterdamer even though he had lived most of his life in Canada. This made me think back to the article in geography that discussed citizenship and how you can only truly be a citizen of one nation. As we continued to converse, I learned that he had briefly visited Amsterdam a few years ago and had fallen in love with it. The cultural diversity and historical beauty of Amsterdam had left a lasting impression on him. He moved there shortly after college, leaving the opportunity for a high paying engineer job for a small marketing position with an Amsterdam event planning company. His usual week consisted of running 3 pub crawls and multiple parties on the weekends. I have to admit after hearing this weekly work schedule, I was a tad bit jealous and half considered what I was still doing in college.

Seeming to have infinite knowledge of the “to do’s” of Amsterdam, I asked what sites were must sees. This is the list I received: the old church, the canal tour, and Vondelpark. He said the old church (shown to the left) portrayed the more realistic story and history of Amsterdam. Located in the red light district, the old church served as the spot for early morning repentance after a night of sin. Sailors would visit before going back out to sea in hopes of being forgiven before again enduring the dangerous elements associated with their jobs. It also withstood the times of the Protestant reformation which we discussed in class and had been apparent in the red light district since its beginnings. As far as the canal tour and Vondelpark were concerned, he said we should take advantage of the weather and experience the outer beauty of Amsterdam rather than being enclosed in museums all day. He told me all of this with a smile and sense of genuine urge to share his knowledge and opinions with me. Our conversation ended after a crowd of pub crawlers began to chant “next bar, next bar”, but looking back on Amsterdam this conversation was one of things I remembered most. I think I feel it was a more significant conversation because it taught me about Amsterdam on a more personal level. Rather than going to see a museum or on a tour, I gained the first hand opinion of someone who lives and breathes Amsterdam each day.

In addition to showing me a more personal side of Amsterdam, I discovered that Charlie himself embodied what I would define as an Amsterdamer. He was a laid back, well traveled individual that seemed open and honest. We found many Amsterdamers to be this way. Every corner we turned there was another individual trying to help or meet us simply because we were American. Even though Charlie was technically considered a foreigner, he displayed nationalism towards Amsterdam when proudly discussing the historical sites it holds. This reminded me of the article about how statues and other physical structures show the history and pride of a nation. His foreign background represented the cultural diversity that resides in the city. From my experience, Amsterdam seems like a group of foreigners all intermixed in one city. As we traveled along we met very few natives. This made everything new and different. We would walk into bars and restaurants sometimes meeting over 5 different nationalities a night. Most people we met were from Switzerland, Australia, Germany, or London. Never has there been a time that I had the opportunity to meet so many different heritages in one place. That is why for me Amsterdam was represented more by the people that live there than by the monuments it is home to.