One of the second trips I took while abroad was traveling to Amsterdam. This was a place I had been dreaming about since The Fault in Our Stars came out. I couldn’t wait to see the culture, go to coffee shops, and ride a bike through the crowded cobblestone streets. Unfortunately, my experience was not exactly what I had been expecting.
For starters, let’s talk about the hostel. The first mistake my group and I made was staying in the Red-Light District. That meant encountering some interesting characters. While my entire group was in one room in our hostel, I was in a different one. One night, this man stumbles into my room mumbling to himself, obviously on some type of drug. There were three or four men aggressively snoring, and while I was internally wanting to put a muzzle on them, the new guy whispers, “Shut the f*** up you stupid b****, I’ll kill you!” At first, I froze wondering if anyone else had heard, but no one moved. I had my flashlight on him at the time and I quickly turned it off, rolled over, and went to sleep. While half of me was slightly afraid, the other half was hoping the snoring would finally stop. It didn’t.
One thing to know about Amsterdam is that people are very direct. Especially, in food establishments. Places in the Red-Light District were not very friendly. Living in Spain, you get used to moving at your own pace, leisurely and places aren’t very concerned with making a profit. Amsterdam was the complete opposite. If we went and sat at a bar, everyone was expected to order something, and not something cheap either. Employees were very sarcastic and, in my opinion, rude. It came to a point when we didn’t want to sit down anywhere for fear of being kicked out or forced to buy something expensive. One night we had time to kill before going to an Ice Bar. We passed a restaurant that was closing and had to decide if we wanted to eat there as we did not have many options on a dark street in an unknown place. The host allowed us to come in, but from my first step in the door, the energy was off. I asked to use the bathroom and he gave me this questioning look for two minutes before finally pointing me in the direction of the toilet. When we all sat down, we ordered waters and appetizers. Our waiter was not willing to serve us because we did not order entrees. From there, things got tense. After a full weekend of this treatment, my friends and I were pretty fed up. Since I was the only one who took a sip of my water, the waiter charged me and charged each person who used the bathroom. We were shocked at the service but should have expected it based on our past encounters that weekend. My friend and I walked out leaving only enough money for our waters. The result was our waiter coming to chase after us to pay for using the bathroom. It’s safe to say this was a learning experience for all of us. When visiting a new place, you must understand that customs in the U.S. will not translate abroad. The situation could have been much worse if the police had gotten involved, but luckily it wasn’t. My three-day trip taught me to become more educated on the people of the country you’ll be visiting. That way, you know what to expect wherever you go and overall have a more enjoyable experience. I will redeem myself by coming back to Amsterdam, but this time I will not be staying in the Red-Light District and thinking I can pull off my version of a dine-and-dash.
By: Dillyn McHenry
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