The Dutch Ghetto

At 8 am on Wednesday, I landed at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. An hour later I arrived at my new home in Niewendam, or North Amsterdam. The neighborhood looks like many outlying areas in Holland, stacked full with cheaply built, mildly depressing looking buildings. If I were to equivocate their presence to something in the states it would have to be project housing, such that you might find if you were to ride the subway one stop too far north in Manhatten. The buildings have the appearance of public housing, but not the 'sketchy' factor that they might in the states. When my flat-mate Kati informed me that we live in a ghetto area and that I should be careful, it took me a moment, and a chuckle, to know if she was being serious or not. If this is the worst the Netherlands has to offer, then the European nickname of 'Disneyland' is fairly accurate. Having come from Dallas I feel like I know what a bad neighborhood is. Lets take a drive south on Malcom X Blvd. and then we'll talk. That said it is very nice here. The Dutch are very helpful and accommodating. I think living in an apartment with 3 other non-Dutch people helps too.

On Thursday and Friday I ventured down to Phoenix where I will be working. My morning commute consists of :

1. A 10 minute walk to the bus
2. A 25 minute bus ride thttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifo Centraal
3. A 45 minute tram ride to Amstelveen
4. A 15 minute walk from the tram to the studio (which also includes a segment through a local park!)

Ya. I know. A 1.5 hour one-way commute will get old, but there is a lot to look at along the way as the tram goes through the heart of the city.

Well I need to get out to buy a bike.
I heard about this guy. Ya that says 'Bike Pirate' in Dutch.

Awesome.

Is this thing on?

I am a Texan. It doesn't matter how you slice it, Texan blood runs in my veins. My ancestors came and settled in Texas from Germany in the mid 1800's and we've been here ever since. As I have grown older however, my sense of belonging has waned and now that I am out of college, I am leaving. Most people leave their hometown, many leave their home state, but I am leaving my home country. I don't know what I expect to find, but I feel like I have to look. On July 16th I will be flying from Dallas, and landing in Amsterdam, where I will be living for the next 6 months. Surprisingly enough I don't feel scared or even very nervous for that matter, but I suppose we'll see how it pans out once I am there. Hopefully I will stay motivated to post on this blog at least once a week, and perhaps even post a few videos.
Currently I am trying to figure out how to get all the proper paperwork to legally stay and work there. It's really confusing trying to piece together what I am supposed to be doing to from government websites and hotlines. Hopefully my employer has taken care of his end of the deal. I'll be working at a place called Phoenix in Amstelveen, just south of Amsterdam. It's a small graphic design firm, and I'll be the intern.
I'm sure I will miss all my friends in Denton, it will be weird not seeing them anymore. It's been awesome to go through school with such a cool group of people. Hopefully when I get back I'll have some money left over to travel around a bit and visit them all.