Weekend in Paris

Spent a weekend in Paris a few weeks ago, and have been wanting to blog about it ever since I got back.

Paris really wasn't very high on my list of cities to visit while I'm here*. However, a girl who lives on my floor (of my building) was driving back to Paris for the weekend and wanting people to go with her so I thought why not. I had already visited Paris 5 years ago when I was England for a month, and wasn't that impressed with it. The one thing I really can't stand is how much people make it out to be: "ooh Paris, thats so romantic" "oh wow, your going to Paris". I didn't think it was that worth its hype from the last time I was there. But with petrol being split 4 of us, and with a friend in Paris, I thought it wouldn't be too expensive to check out for a weekend.

As we entered the Greater Paris area, I was struck at how much of a population centre it was. Central Paris has 2 million while Greater Paris has about 10-12 million people. This was a huge difference in population coming in from Amsterdam. I've never been a big fan of huge population centres, like Manila, Hong Kong, and Paris wasn't any different at first. One of the girls had never been to Paris before and she was just ogling at Paris and going on about how pretty everything was. Exactly what i didn't want to hear.

The second day I was there, I walked around the main touristic sights of Paris. I was staying at Rue Montague, I nice walking thoroughfare where many (bourgeious) Parisians do their shopping. From there, I walked to Les Halle, Musee Du Lourve, Jardin Des Tuilleries, Grand Palais and Hotel Des Invalides before meeting up with Josh. I have to say I was quite impressed with the, not the sights in and of themselves, but with the amount of history, and significance, that lay behind these buildings. Some of them were incredibly grand and harked back to some era in French history. I can't imagine how these places must have looked back in their heyday. While in Jardin Des Tuilleries, I took a break to read on French history from my guidebook. The few pages did no justice to the glorious history that lay behind the country. And therein lay the problem about visiting France, you can't properly appreciate the sights unless you know the history behind them. And yet French history is much like Gorgonzola cheese, its simply overwhelming. At least for the ordinary person.

Furthermore, its not as if French history is the only bit. The Musee Du Lourve showcases arts and antiquities from the Ancient world. The Musee D'Orsay exhibits French art from the 19th century while Centre Pompidou houses modern art. I know jack-all about art! I'm guessing that the average person reading this know just as much art and history as my soccer boots. So what explains the throngs of people who line up to enter the Notre Dame Cathedral, or the scores of Japanese tourists who are literally crowded around the Mona Lisa to admire it. None of these people know anything. Why are they there?

This is what really annoys me about France. Its so over-rated. Not that it shouldn't be high on the tourist circuit. But its just that its a bit too high. I passed by some incredibly beautiful buildings while walking through Paris: La Beurs Du Commerce, the Grand Palais. None of these buildings had anyone admiring or taking photos of. They were just there in the background. More importantly, they were never made into tourist attractions, or marketed for their architectural/historical significance to tourists. I should stop going on about Paris.

By the time I was about to leave Paris, I was really beginning to appreciate the city for what it is. Much of central Paris was built in the 19th century. And as I reflected upon that, it kinda me of how of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. How? There, there were villages that were erected right next to colossus monuments that were 800-1,200 years old. It seemed like such a shame that the Cambodians were living in the backyard of a civilisation of some different era. Paris reminds of this. You have a mass of people living in the remnants of a 19th century civilisation. I don't know if it was just because it was a short holiday, but I wasn't that happy to be leaving Paris when we did.

Especially after getting back into Amsterdam, I started to appreciate the subtle differences between the two cities. Its amazing to think that there is no way that one can truly compare a city to another. Each develops in its own way: Paris very much through the riches of monarchy and Amsterdam through the prosperity of trade and investment. Each of these circumstances result in a city that is so unique to another. If possible(and if its cheap), I'd like to spend more time just getting a better feel for the city of Paris.

However, let there be no doubt: Paris is over-rated.



*Actually such a list doesn't really exist, as I wasn't planning on doing that much travelling while I was here.

Squat Party at De Nieuwe Anitas

Last saturday 7th of March, I was at a squat party as a member of my homegroup wanted to celebrate her birthday there. What is a squat party? Its not where we get together at someone's house and see who can squat the longest. Squatting is actually quite an institution over here. After a year of being vacanted, you're actually legally allowed to enter into a building and occupy it, AKA squatting. At this squat, called De Nieuwe Anita, they hold movie screenings on Monday nights, open mics on Tuesday and parties on Friday - Sunday nights.

Its completely different from going to clubs or bars. Inside, the first room looks like someone's lounge room, with couches, chairs and tables set out. And then theres a balcony inside the next room. Yes, thats right a balcony which overlooks the basement floor where the dance floor is set up or where bands set themselves up. They didn't play sleazy hip-hop/rnb music, but a mix of music harking back to an older era, like 20s swing or rock and roll from the 50s. From the times that I have gone to clubs, it seems like people are there with the purpose of getting wasted, and it seems like people are doing because well, other people are doing it. The other impression I get is that people go to clubs to see and be seen by other people. There was none of that pretension at the squat party. It seems like people were out there to have a good time with friends. If they wanted to chat, they stay in the "living room" area, take a seat and just hang out with friends. And if they wanted to dance, they could go downstairs and dance. There was a cool vibe in that place.

Last saturday was actually the second time that I had been there. The first time I was there was in the second weekend I was here, the night before valentines day. I have to say that I wasn't as impressed by its coolness the second time round. I get the sad feeling that its because I'm getting used to life in Amsterdam and so things aren't as new and different and cool as I would have found them just 3 weeks back.

Bike Trip #1: Down the Amstel River

Its been so long since I last wrote something. I actually went to the computer lab last Tuesday to blog, and after spending about 40 minutes of writing, I accidentally deleted everything. I wasn't in much of a mood to write after that...

Anyways. In the second weekend that I was here, a bunch of Australians and New Zealanders did a bike trip down the Amstel River. FYI: the Amstel river is where amsterdam gets its name from. The city was founded when they first built a dam around the Amstel river. Hence, Amsterdam. There was actually some really good weather that day. The sun was out, and we could actually see the blue sky, something that I've really learnt to appreciate over the last month here. We met around 1.30 pm at Central Station before heading off. The mission was to cycle down the river, get to the closest town, find some windmills, and find some cheese. We managed to complete all 4 tasks.

We cycle for about 20 minutes when we fulfilled our first task: we found a windmill. It was actually quite huge, someone/people were actually living inside it. And from its construction and aesthetics, you could tell that it was made quite some time ago. Seeing as it was a windmill, we were obligated to get off our bikes and take a photo. Once we were off from the windmill, we had completely passed the city/urban area and was in the countryside. It was only after 20-30 minutes of cycling, even at a leisurely pace! There were no more buildings, or roads, or concrete, only flat pastures surrounding both sides of the river. In fact, there weren't even many houses built along the side of the river. There were definately a few houses, but I was surprised to see that it was largely quite undeveloped and left as it is. If this was Australia or Singapore, I reckon the riverside would have completely exploited for its commercial value. I think its a great thing that the land hasn't been divided up and developed into apartments or nice houses.

We soon reached a cheese and clog farm. After we got off our bikes, a young guy came out to greet us. And he was actually wearing clogs(I kid you not!). I couldn't really believe it myself. He took us around the farm, let us try some cheese, and showed us how to make clogs using the machines. The cheese was pretty good and at 7 euros a cheese-thing, it had better be.

After that it was a straight ride to the nearest town, Oude Kirk Amstel (Old Church Amstel). The town was pretty small but it had a nice quaint feel to it. The main street consisted of cobble stoned. And it was rather narrow, which gave it a more old-world feel to the place. We stopped by at a local cafe for a drink and some applepie before heading back the 9km to Amsterdam. All in all, it was a really nice bike ride and one that I would recommend for anyone visiting Amsterdam.

Getting into the routine of things

My first week in Amsterdam wasn't actually particularly exciting. I know that some of the people I've met have been going out every single night since they'd arrived over here. I haven't really been doing that since its not particularly my thing. I've spent a bit of time in my room. However, I don't have computer, nor do I have my guitar here which is probably what I'd be doing if I were back in Sydney. So i've literally been left with nothing much to do in my apartment. Awww poor me.

The funny thing is that the lack of things to do wasn't exactly boring, nor did I actually feel really lonely or sad. With the way things are usually so busy back at home, the boredom was actually a welcome change. Boredom isin't even the right word since it didn't even feel that way.

But in any case, I've started to get more into the routine of things.

On Tuesday night, I went to play ultimate frisbee with NUTS, the student ultimate team in Amsterdam. We were playing outdoors... At first, it was really cold. I had a thermal with a T-shirt on top and wearing trackies. The most important thing was taking extra care when you catch the disc when your hands are cold. Cos it can really hurt if you catch it badly. There was a lot of new people so the standard of play wasn't that high. However, the Dutch guys on the team play with another mens team, the Cambo cakes. Cambo cakes train on Monday and Thursday nights so I'm probably going to join them for practices. hopefully I'll be able to make the team to go for some tourneys.

I've got classes on Monday, Thursday and Friday mornings til 1pm. Probably one of the worst schedules to have while your on exchange and want to go travelling. However, I'm not really planning on doing that much travelling so its all good. The first week of classes was incredibly boring. We never went into the course content since it was the first course. And its even worse over here cos my classes go for 3 or 4 hours at a time. There are breaks but nearing the end, its pretty hard to pay attention. The second week has just finished and classes were way more interesting.

The Zolder...

I've decided to join a church in Amsterdam called Zolder. Zolder means "attic" in Dutch and (I think) it refers to where the church used to meet when it first started out: in an attic. Well probably not literally in a dark, dusty, low-ceiling attic, but at least in the upper levels of a house. At present, the church meets in the basement of a house. But they've decided to keep the name of Zolder. For sentimental reasons (I dont really know....).

Anyways, Zolder has quite a different concept to how church is structured and run. First of all, the church itself is set up like a cafe. There was a stage area running by the length of the room, and then couches right in front of the stage, followed by coffee tables. Behind the coffee tables was a walk way, and then there were those small round tables that you find in bars. I have to take a picture of it sometime. But yea, no pews, no chairs set about in rows, no pulpit. When I entered, I thought the place was run commercially as a cafe during the week.

The whole layout of the church really gave it a relaxed, informal atmosphere to the place. And I think it also reflected the dynamism of the church itself. Another cool thing they've done is to make a church plant. Not in a different area, but at the same location! At the same time! Instead of meeting every Sunday, the church meets every two weeks. And so each congregation meets up fortnightly. Personally, I'm not a big fan of Sunday church services and I think it was a great idea. Someone told me that changing it from weekly to fortnightly, stressed the importance of homegroups as opposed to Sunday services. I thought it was brilliant.

After service, I was invited to have dinner at one of the church member's house. To get there, I was given a ride the back of Gerard's bicycle. I had to hold up the bike light since it had broken off (I broke it the first time I got on). i didn't have any gloves, my hands were freezing cold. They had never been that cold before. In fact, they went numb after a while and I was seriously (and paranoically) afraid that I had gotten frost bite. I didn't. However, I did have a good time at dinner getting to know some of the other people from church.

The following Wednesday I joined a home(bible study) group and it was really good. I already knew two people from that group, and the rest of the people were really easy going too. We had an interesting discussion on pre-destination (don't get me started) that night. However on the whole, I know its a group that I can get involved with and be actively serving in. I'm really thankful that its only taken me 2 weeks to find myself a church that I can be involved with.

It snowed!

On Sunday, I was walking around the city centre while waiting in between two different church services. As I was walking along the street I noticed these fluffy things floating about in the air. They kinda looked like those really small tufts of bubble foam was flying about in the air.

Believe it or not, it took me a few seconds to realise that it was snow! I'd been to the mountains for snow back in Victoria. But you don't really get real snow in Australia. And so this was the first time I've seen it snowing in a city before. I thought it was pretty cool, but I presume most other people weren't very impressed.

However, this winter has been the coldest winter in Amsterdam in 12 years! I heard that a few weeks before I came the canals froze over and people were ice-skating on the frozen ice. I'm really really hoping that the canals will freeze over again so that I get the chance to do that. I guess that I could have always gone so ice-skating in a rink. Whats really so special about ice skating over a frozen canal? Nothing much I guess, except for the novelty of it and also the fact that I can brag that I've ice-skated over a frozen lake/canal. I've heard reports that the canals might freeze over again. My fingers are crossed...

That said, it really isin't that cold over here. I've been wearing about 3 layers. Usually a jacket to keep the cold, wind and rain out, and another two layers underneath. I noticed that in the first few days, I would always find it extremely cold coming out of a building into the open air. But I've gotten over that now. My apartment is actually really well heated and its actually even too hot to wear the warm track pants that I'd brought to wear while sleeping. Funnily enough, the apartment is even warmer than my house in Sydney.

Life in Amsterdam so far

I just got my bike yesterday! Bikes are essential for living in Amsterdam as most people get around by bike. There are only 800,000+ people living in Amsterdam so its actually a pretty small city and the distances you have to travel are actually pretty small. Not only that, there are always bike lanes on the side of the road so it makes it even easier to get around on bike.

Currently, I'm living in a shipping container. if you don't believe me, refer to the picture:

These are shopping containers that have gotten converted into housing apartment.

It looks exactly like that...except I'm in winter at the moment. There isin't the clear blue sky and the grass is not green at all. Everything is pretty much... grey. The buildings are the same though

Before coming, I was really hoping that I wouldn't be put with an American college student who would be full drinker and party-er. Alas, things were not meant to be that way. Well, my housemate (justin) is a bit of a party-er. But it hasn't been bad at all. In fact, we get along decently well. If anything, there is a commonality in that we both play guitar. And it was pleasantly(pleasant is quite a big understatement) surprised when I heard a guitar being played from his room. And it was just any guitar, it was a Taylor 600 series too. Sweet. :)

It's kinda wierd being in a totally different country. It's kinda like I have to reconstruct my life from anew: thinking about how I should spend the (massive amount of) free time I have. Travel? Church? Frisbee? Meeting new people? Not only that, but its made even pronounced since its the first time I'm out of the home. So I did spend a few moment thinking about how I'm going to arrange my room, furnish the apartment as its rather bare at the moment, and also how/when to cook dinners.