Amsterdam, What a Joy!

Yesterday I came biking home at the perfect hour. The sun was actually shining (something that usually happens between 5 and 7 p.m. for some odd, though predictable reason), I had just interviewed 2 gay intellectuals about gay emancipation, and as I cycled through the Red Light district I passed a midget tourist couple asking directions. Next, I headed into Vondelpark and cycled neck in neck with one of those 2-seaters old folk use, waved to the grandfathers seated within, and came home to my lovely, still canal. Ahhh, Amsterdam! On some days you are divine!

Shoddy Dutch Service?

So, perhaps I contradict my last posting ("if you haven't got anything positive to say, don't say anything at ALL!) but I just gave a speech in my Dutch class about aspects of the Dutch character, and it stirred an interesting discussion. The gist was this: Dutch children are taught to do one thing at a time, the idea being that by focusing, you get the job done. I don't disagree, except they take this to an extreme with customer service. For example, you stand in a bakery wanting to buy a loaf of bread but the guy in front on you has ordered 10 sandwiches. What does the baker do? He makes the 10 sandwiches, effectively forcing you to wait.

So my classmate says to me, well don't you think the quality of most things is better here because they do focus? And yes, the bread is better than the plastic that passes as such in the States, but the inability to multitask is a huge disadvantage, especially in this day and age. And yet surveys have found that multitasking--which my countrymen take to the extreme--actually makes you dumber, because your visual and listening skills plummet, effectively forcing you to redo much of what initially failed to sink in.

Still, to me focusing on one person/one thing only translates as ignoring the revolving complexity that exists in everyday situations but ultimately, this is a question of culture. Mine's got ADHD and the Dutch have mastered a kind of autism.

Horrible Blogger

I'm a terribly blogger--why else have such a long hiatus between entries?! But I've been caught up in my life, something that happens distinctly outside the Internet, and so haven't made the time to sit down and pen something--anything--and indeed, nothing at all. On the one hand, I find expat diatribes about living abroad are often negative and I don't want to fall into the trap. On the other, I have little to report. The sun is shining, Vondel park is beautiful, I'm working on a book, eating well, and always gunning for gainful employment. Life is good. And this blog, until I find some consistency, isn't quite as good. But there's hope. Stay tuned. I'll be back before long.