schiphol thoughts (year 2)

sunday | 9:50AM
august 20 2006
schiphol airport, amsterdam

"20 minutes 'til boarding."

it's that same gripping feeling that comes with leaving once again. similar to right around this time last year in this airport. shorter trip this time and somehow i wish i could've stayed a few days more. although im not that sure it'd fix this "goddamn that was too quick" feeling.

it's been a great eurotrip '06. the 5 days in spain were an adventure in unknown territory. and the days spent here as though a coming home. never really grew up here of course. heck, first time i encountered a dutch person, i thought they were from denmark or something. but a few dutch connections made in new york and here i am feeling quite at home—at home in the midst of friends.

this year there was no crazy hectic jumping from one part of the country to another. all the action was in amsterdam. cappucino in cafes and in the park, rounds of biertjes in different bars and lounges, breakfast treats from friends, spanish, turkish and indonesian dinner over lively conversation, south american movie with dutch subtitles in one of the outdoor squares, amsterdammers, bootjes and classical music in one of the canals, before-sleep whiskey and cigars over bullshit and serious talk in the balcony.

gezellig. its a dutch thing i guess. a general penchance for coziness, it's closest translation. or, if you're going for a bit more colloquial—chill, nice, sweet, i guess. or more philosophical, perhaps, human. this trip here has been another great reminder of gezellig, what it is to be human. how we're really social beings meant to interact with others. and how barriers of color, language, background are just superficial really. we were not made to whine, nor worry, nor even hurry. chill, relax. grab a coffee. enjoy the company of friends and make new ones. laugh, joke around, pull practical jokes. talk to strangers. say please and thanks. enjoy a few rounds of biertjes. piss on the sidewalk and if the politie start coming, hope that you can talk your way out of the 40euro fine. or pretend you dont understand a thing they're saying and just tell them to chill. that works too.

boarding time.

that's it for now, amsterdam. we'll meet again next time. might take a while though. coz sydney it is next year. for now, dank u wel. i'll try to bring as much of this gezelligheid to new york. groetjes. doei!

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5:47PM | williamsburg, brooklyn, ny

here now at a chill neighborhood cafe. following the ilcone's instruction to get myself a large cappucino, on his tab. sweet. so far so good. had to bike myself out of the apartment obviously coz otherwise i would've probably whined myself out for missing amsterdam. friends are dining out in the terrace as the interracial couple next to my table reviews a map and amsterdam is mentioned as biking becomes the topic of their conversation. as for me, time to check out. i have a whole load of holiday photos to leaf through. nice. smells like another book is in the works.