Alone Again, Naturally

Spoiler Alert: come the end of the year, Feb 16 might be listed as one of my top days in 2011

For the first time since being on locale I forced myself into radical openness of a solitary kind.  I had once read an article regarding bucket lists (as became popular following the box office bust) which suggested taking a trip alone so as to build self-reliance.  Though worried coming to Amsterdam and knowing I was living alone, I saw it as an opportunity to strike this item from the list.

 However as you probably know, while I’m studying baseball in Amsterdam, one of my fellow IF scholars, Ashlee, is studying about an hour away in Utrecht.  Meanwhile, my friend Pete is staying even closer while studying at the University of Amsterdam.  While this is not the first time IF students have been in close proximity to one another, or even with other American friends, it is not necessarily carte blanche to socialize with these people, not that we don’t still wish to embrace the opportunity, we are just all aware that we don’t wish to exploit it. 

This is not my first interaction with solo travel, as I spent much of my time in Washington, DC alone wandering through museums, though in DC I had the advantage of a large school group in the mornings, as well as six roommates when I returned home at night (aside: I miss Grosvenor).  In addition, I had cell service where “cha-cha” or “KGB” could direct me around via text.  Here, so far I have spent a good deal of time with Ashlee and Pete and most of my solo time has been interacting with persons at the Amsterdam Pirates facility.   Even when I attended my first CouchSurfers meeting alone, I did so with the reassurance that everyone else was out of their comfort zone as well.  Determined to make my own way, Tuesday night I set in to plan my day alone.

First on the list was FOAM; a photography museum covered by my museum card (two more museums and I get a free one! I wonder if they have a sandwich deal…)  Knowing that my compatriots were not interested in this stop as I was, I made it my first priority for the day.  The first obstacle was to actually LOCATE the museum by bike.  I knew the general area, but had never taken my bike in said direction before and, as stated in past posts, bike lanes mixed with directions do not mesh well with me.  Likewise, when the museum is on “a street that starts with a K,” one that you can’t pronounce even if you COULD remember the name, things become a bit more challenging.

Nevertheless I made my way to FOAM (only overshooting the street once) where the exhibits on display followed the theme of the day, portraying pre-civilization isolation.  Additionally, other halls portrayed the history and discovery of photojournalism –

***Quick background on my career aspirations:

5^th grade: recognize a desire to be a sports journalist
8^th grade: aptitude test tells me to be a sports journalist
11^th grade: A week around law and politics at Boys’ State causes me to question sports journalism.  Lawyer is a much more serious profession
12^th grade: Apply to college as a poli-sci major
Freshman year:  DC and Rotondo’s class make me realize I have no interest in law or gov., I become and English major
Junior year:  My work with InterFuture and my umpiring ambitions shift my focus back to sports media***

– While in this exhibit, a video shows the subject discussing what it means to be a journalist and what it means to be passionate about journalism.  Having the opportunity to take in this video came at a time in my life where my career goals are in transition as a result of my project.  It’s safe to say that this exhibit provided me with the mental push I’ve needed to re-access and re-accept my future and my goals in the next five years (after I try my hand at umpiring of course)

Moving as the photos were, the exhibit hall was much smaller than many I had spent time in the past week or so and I was done rather sooner than I had expected.  Calling an audible on my day, I traveled to Leidesplein to watch a few games of chess, which I’ve yet to do in full.  My favorite part about watching these matches is that everyone has an opinion and no one has a problem with approaching one of the competitors to suggest a maneuver while everyone else chats and points among themselves on the sidelines…does chess have sidelines?  The theme of my trip has been bonding over a common interest in a game and this was no exception.  Language barriers be damned, games plus body language seems to throw down the trump card on international hindrances.

Next on my agenda (as spontaneous as I’m trying to be, I’m still me and plans and to do list are omnipresent) was the brouwerij ‘’t Ij.  That’s Dutch for brewery in a windmill (actually the Ij is a river, brewery on the Ij).  But seriously, IN A WINDMILL, talk about immersing yourself in a locale.  Fortunately, I managed to stay under the radar as a traveler given that the two guys who walked in ahead of me were wearing backpacks and asking for tours.  The regulars around the bar drunkenly called them out on it.  I, however, managed a discussion with the bartenders over the egg-based names of the beer (i.e. Columbus, natte, etc).  I also managed brief conversations with newly married Scottish and Brazilian men, apparently already eager to be out of the house and at a bar one week in! Also, a bit of history: this windmill is the tallest of 8 in Amsterdam and has been moved between multiple locations in its history, which begs the question, how do you move a windmill? …other than wind

 Having sampled all the offerings (the Columbus was my favorite on tap, Struis was the heaviest, but it was bottled) I made my way towards my final destination.  A tall order of chipsy king and a misplaced bike later I entered Club Alto for a Jazz show.  Unaware that the doors opened at 9 for a 10pm show, I was rather early, which gave me my choice of seating.  Having selected a seat with good viewing range and room for company, I was fortunate enough to be joined by a German couple vacationing for the weekend and a mother and daughter pair from Raleigh (though they were Dutch-born, so it counts)  We chatted for an hour before the show and then again during the intermission before having to leave to catch our respective ferries and trains.

After such a day however, my bed was welcomed refuge. Being radically open is both rewarding and exhausting.