A sunny day today in Het Gooi! It's been so long since I've seen it, I barely recognized it :)
After buying a new car (we are officially linked to the Netherlands with a major possession!), we had to return our rental to Schiphol. It felt so strange being in Schiphol and not having to catch a flight, lug around tons of baggage, and feel sleep-deprived/stressed. Very refreshing, actually! Somehow Gabriel talked me into eating Burger King. I have literally not eaten McDonalds or Burger King since I was 13, and as we ordered our food, I felt so guilty about what I was about to eat! As we sat there, across from the "Meeting Point" where we had to catch our first taxi to the Golden Tulip Amsterdam Centre 2 summers ago, I mentioned to Gabriel that I could barely remember all the times we were in Schiphol. They all seem to be in one big montage in my mind: a series of irritations, annoyances, sore shoulders, Gravol-induced-comas, and junk food binges. In the last 10 months we had flown in or out of Schipol 12 times...that's a lot, right?! Some of my fonder memories of Schiphol include:
a) Sleeping on the floor underneath a bench at 4am like a little vagabond.
b) Sleeping in the booth of a restaurant at 3am while Gabriel quietly ordered copious amounts of food and drink in order to let me sleep there as long as possible.
c) Sleeping for 4 hours on a bench listening to techno-music coming out of a giant mouth-shaped restaurant in the departures terminal.
Despite our less-than-perfect airport experiences, Schiphol is a very nice airport compared to others I've been to. The service is usually very efficient, the shops are nice, it's clean and easy to navigate, and it's very accessible by train. I shouldn't be complaining about dear old Schiphol, after all, it has been like a second-home to me this past year!
Scenes of Schipol
After Burger King (ick) we had to get a Starbucks coffee. I've only seen one Starbucks in all of Holland, and that is the one at Schiphol. Are there others? I'm not too sure, but I decided to have a taste of this coffee and remind myself of my University days. Then we browsed a book store in the airport. One thing I've noticed living here is that the English magazines are incredibly expensive. Something that costs $5.99 in Canada or the US will cost at least EUR10,00 here. I realize that this is because it's an import, but it seems too steep for me to shell out on a magazine. Instead, I opted for the much-talked-about book, "The UnDutchables". I read the book during the way home on the train, and I'm already in love with it! So many of the stories are so funny and true, and I'm sure it will help me gain a lot of insight into this country. I've heard other expats rave about it, so I'm really looking forward to reading more of it!
I actually decided to use my Dutch today when buying the book. My attempt at a Dutch conversation consisted of something like this:
Me: "Goedemiddag!"
Man: "Goedemiddag! Hoe gaat het met u?"
Me: "Goed, dank u"
Man (In Dutch): "Is this everything?"
Me: "Ja"
Man: "Dat is zestien euro astublieft"
Me: "Hier"
Man (In Dutch): "Would you like a bag (sakje?) for this?"
Me: "Ja"
Man (In Dutch): "Here you go"
Me: "Dank u wel!"
Man: "Astublieft!"
Me: "Tot Ziens!"
Man: "Dag!"
Slowly but surely I'm trying LOL!
5 comments:
This was great with my morning tea :-) You used my word of the week [gooi], but an entirely different form, for the Gooise-area ;-) And you got the UnDutchables! I'm still waiting to order my copy.
My memories of Schiphol are nearly the same. Unfortunate you've had to sleep in Schiphol.. I always feel bad for those who I see stretched out across the seats at the gates & wonder if they really are getting any true rest. Usually the going away flights are the most enjoyable because I have my boarding pass & can shop in the duty free shops. We always try to get there with at least enough extra time to look around.
Starbucks is still only at Schiphol, and there are a few locations inside. I had read a location at Amsterdam Centraal train station was coming, but still I have seen/heard nothing.
OK. I'm done :-) Great post!
Same here. Schiphol is always my stopover and I always got stranded for at least 3 hours there before I continue my flight either back to Copenhagen or home to Indonesia.
What amazes me is that there are usually so many Indonesians in Schiphol, I could hear conversations in my native language everywhere. It feels like home. It sure is weird after being "estranged" for so long in Denmark :)
I'm glad I could provide you both with some morning reading! Starbucks would be wonderful at Amsterdam Centraal. I'm not someone who wants the Netherlands to be just like North America, but sometimes it's nice to have a taste of home.
Strange how I wrote about Schiphol yesterday night and this morning the terrible plane crash occurred. I sincerely hope that the rest of the survivors are recovering well, and the families of the victims are able to arrive in the Netherlands quickly.
I really found your account of the accident near Schipol informative because we didn't get that extensive coverage here in Canada.
I liked your conversation in Dutch!
Thank you for your comment! The accident coverage was very good here in the Netherlands, and I'm glad that I could bring you some information overseas.
My Dutch is slowly improving, and I'm making a conscious effort to speak to people in Dutch everyday.
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