‘Ik spreek geen Nederlands’ - I don’t speak Dutch
Nederlands. Believe it or not, 3 days in Amsterdam and I am already confused on how to spell Nederlands. Is it with a ‘th’? Yes, I think it is. And the language they speak over there is Dutch! I know, I know. However, I was recently talking with a friend of mine and confessed to her that I am very interested in learning some Netherlands; which I am sure must have sounded quite nonsensical to him, while it was making absolute sense to me.
And that, it basically is what happens when you are very stubborn and you want to learn every language of every place you plan to visit in the world. It may sound pretentious to you, but I am sure you would understand if you were in my shoes and feel so stupid to not be able to communicate that you can’t really cope with the pressure. You start to panic because you think that people around you, they are looking at you when they are not. Nobody cares, they all understand and they all can speak English. Nevertheless, I felt so ashamed of myself for not knowing how to speak Dutch. I felt lazy and stupid, because, I mean, come on, honestly, to learn few basics you only need a few hours, sometimes few days; it really depends on what is the language you have to learn; and it also depends on how you want to learn it. But let’s go back to my trip to Amsterdam, shall we?
As a chick from the South of the globe, I really wanted to see how the world runs up there in the North. Fortunately, I had a 3 days of sunny forecasts, which was absolute awesome and warming weather. It is, in fact, not as cold as someone had previously warned me, if compared to England, it is a very bearable cold and it does not rain as much either. I have only been there for three days, so I wouldn’t be able to say more than this.
Prepare yourself for crowded streets and don’t worry about the language at all, people speak English. However, it is well appreciated if you can at least mumble a ‘dank u wel’ (thank you) or an ‘alstooblieft’ (please), and of course you need to know how to say: ‘Ik spreek geen Nederlands, spreekt u Engels?’ ( I don’t speak Dutch, do you speak English?). As much as you could feel embarrassed about speaking a new language, I believe it would be a lot worse if you wouldn’t at least try. Lame.
The city is quite small, and therefore, it could be, definitely visited by walking and in only about three days you can see most of the monuments and the most important sightseeing. The atmosphere is very nice, calm and relaxed. People are welcoming, streets are very clean and they are usually crossed by a shiny canal. It is a dream city for who likes to cycle, however, it is an absolute nightmare to pedestrians. Finally, food is good, pancakes, stroopwafel soups and chips, all really worth the try, I believe. But then again, I know my food very well.
My favourite place ever? Pancakes! A little place in central Amsterdam - near the Anna Frank House or near the Central Station, where pancakes are really the best in Amsterdam, also very remarkable? Customer service. Price? Students’ best friend. Ask always for a ‘stroopwafel’ when having a coffee, I could eat thousands of those sweet, sweet treats. While I did enjoy food very much, I also did enjoy the view of the surrounding landscape and the view of some ‘men’. Girl talk right now, it was absolutely shocking to me, as I didn’t expect to like blondes at all; I must admit that Dutch’s guys are quite appealing.
Of course, Amsterdam is a very touristy city, hence, you might have to go hunting in some more ‘Dutchy places’ such as Harleem, Utrech, Eindhoven and others to sense a little bit more of the Dutch culture.
At the end of my trip, I ended up having a basic conversation in Dutch and knowing the city quite well as I have been walking up and down, left and right, a few times during my three days trip in Amsterdam.
I have no doubt that I do love to travel alone.
