Day 19: Amsterdam
Amsterdam is a weird place, which automatically makes it a wonderful one. Although I don’t think that I am perfectly suited to the lifestyle. For a start, Amsterdam is a naturally beautiful city. Like many of the European cities that we have visited, it is based upon a river and takes full advantage of this resource. One of the highlights of the city was the highly developed house boats on the river and associated canals. I really fancy living on a house boat. Amsterdam also has a very pretty park.
This is, of course, not what Amsterdam is famous for. Neither are the houses, but I found them interesting, so I am going to tell you about them anyway. Most of Amsterdam, as is the rest of the Netherlands (note: not Holland, Holland is a province in the Netherlands), is located below sea level. As such, foundations are often difficult to set. As a result many townhouses were noticeably askew.
Additionally, because of a historical tax levy based on the width of the house, many houses are exceedingly thin. Because of this there is no room to move furniture into a house. Instead, a ‘meat-hook’
featured at the top of most houses in order to move furniture up to the top floors. In order to accommodate this move, houses are all tilted forward to accommodate any potential swing of the furniture. The combination of forward tilting and off-centre houses made for a very interesting affect.
Not as interesting an affect as many Amsterdamians (particularly temporary Amsterdamiams) experience. Since the 1960s, Amsterdam has developed very liberal policies in regards to sex and drugs. Before our visit I had thought that the affect of these policies would be fairly minor, but it seems to dominate the city. Or at least it dominated our part of the city; our luxury accommodation was located in the sex district. I will not bore you will details of our adventures (which were boring, I can assure you, although details are available on request!).
To be honest, I felt a little uncomfortable in Amsterdam. I think this relates to the nature of transgression. When rules are tightly enforced, I like to be a little rebellious. I think this is the nature of my sense of humour and of my university work. When are the rules are thrown out, however,
I become much tighter, trying to restore some kind of order. When the rules themselves are disorder, I felt rather
discombobulated.
Nonetheless, despite my personal conservativeness, I still remain ideologically very liberal. I was further interested in the affect of such liberal policies. I wonder if the Amsterdamians get as much enjoyment out of their no-longer illicit activities? I also wonder whether there is a strong link between the amount of fifth and graffiti around. This was a feature of many European cities, so perhaps any strong link is a little hasty. On the whole the extended personal liberties seemed to work well for the people; certainly there didn’t seem to be the associated seedy underside that comes with illegal vices. In many circumstances, things seemed to be more regulated. ‘Coffee’ shops were generally very tidy and well organised, with set menus and prices. The same goes with the sex district.
Zizek (the guy my university work is based on) suggests that when everything is allowed, everything becomes prohibited. The idea is that in contemporary society, where traditional forms of authority are missing (God, the stern rule of the father, pre-established values) we do our best to redevelop
ways of controlling our lives, from diets and exercise regimes to ethics committees and regulatory associations. This idea stands in contrast to the traditional notion that the fall of authority/absence of god/moral laws will lead to the end of society as we know it.
I am not sure what my experience of Amsterdam has to say about these competing theories. It must be noted that my experience (both personal and from the experiences of my bus mates) were outsider experiences. Most importantly, we still experienced sex and drugs as prohibited and transgressive. I’m not sure if the same experience exists for the average resident of Amsterdam. It may be that tourists keep the industry going, while long term residents seek order in their lives.
Our tour came to an end with a more traditional form of enjoyment - a canal cruise with free alcohol after we had paid of course) - followed by a local bar. A good night had by all as we came to realise our trip was coming to an end. I’m sure few of us with forget our Amsterdam experiences, at least those we can remember
Day 20: Amsterdam to London
Our
final day. And a bloody long travel day. Starting in Amsterdam, we travelled through Belgium (stopping in Brugge for Belgium waffles and fries) before travelling back to Calais and catching the ferry over the channel. The travel itself has uneventful, but the tour has been anything but.
It is very sad to be ending the tour - these have been perhaps the best three weeks of my life - but my body is barely holding up and I was very glad to be leaving the hotel. I love travelling; it is an addictive way of life. There is a certain tension, an excitement to each and every day. Everything is different and the simplest activities, like buying food, become interesting challenges. I love experiencing different cultures and different ways of life, even if for a short period of time. I feel my brain expanding and my perspectives changing; about life, about home and about my place in the world and its history.
I kind of feel like Pandora’s box has been opened. It was so difficult to leave home, but now it seems so difficult to return. I love home and everything it offers, but at the
same time I worry that when we return something will be missing. Yet, I think I am coming to appreciate what we have at home, but also our relative insignificance in the world. I had previous implicitly subscribed to the ‘flat earth’ theory of globalisation. That is, there is no disadvantage in being in New Zealand. I can see now, however, that what is going on is going on elsewhere. Any serious engagement with the world has to directed outside of New Zealand. At least that is how it seems to me now.
Having ranted about the experience of difference in travelling, I must express the experience of sameness and the uncanny gap it leaves. I had thought that in travelling, everything would be different; it would be a whole new world. It is not, for two main reasons. Firstly, although I am in different places, experiencing different things I am doing it with the same body and the same thoughts. This may same obvious, but the connotations are important. Everything new that comes in can only be interpreted by what you already know, your own existing organisation. Accept for that moment when you experience something new, something that
just doesn’t compute. This is when change truly happens and you really experience what it is to be away from home. Otherwise, for me travelling has been the uncanny encounter of different people and places with the sameness of my thoughts. This has only been enhanced by travelling predominately with Aussies and Kiwis.
Secondly, although this blog has focused on all the differences I have experienced in other cultures, I think that people, at the core of it, are basically the same. The heart of the human condition, with all its paradoxes and contradictions, is the same, it is just expressed and experienced differently. It is this relationship between difference and sameness that has made the trip for me.
Leaving this bus then, and leaving Europe for the relative familiarity of the UK, fills me with a great sadness. That sadness, particularly saying goodbye to all the great friends we have made, was the focus of the day. Unfortunately our goodbye was dragged out over about 15 hours, with no proper conclusion, which made it all the more difficult.
But all good things must come to an end and by the end of the day I was looking
forward to saying goodbye. That said, we have made some very good friends on this trip, many of which I hope to catch up with later down the line. I have never believe people who claim the human is a solitary creature, or that individual freedom is everything. Sure, there is much to individual liberty, which I very much enjoy. Nonetheless, I believe it is the comaradie of being in a tight group which is the particular joy of being human. There are precious few times that I have achieved this in my life, perhaps in sports teams or at high school, but this group will be added to that list. There are some that I was happy to say goodbye to, but that is just the nature of travelling with a group. A group that we will never forget (if only because they are now all facebook friends!)
* I've added a few groups photos onto the end of this blog
Group dinnerFeaturing bus driver Jimmy and tour leader Erin in Berlin
Netherlands' Flag
Map of Netherlands