Do any of you actually live in Amsterdam?

I'm really curious to know if any of you actually have experience of LIVING in Amsterdam? Having lived there myself for the past few years, I am amazed at the crap advice and recommendations that are thrown out to people coming here!

Many of you speak as if you know everything there is to know about the city and then come out with some of the biggest bunch of bullshit i've ever heard.

For someone looking for good, accurate (non tourist trap) advice on Amsterdam, this place is useless.

Rembrandtsplein is cool?? since when? anyone who says that has no idea. Rembrandtsplein is one of the worst places to stay in centrum (unless you want to get woken up by morocaans beating up the gays coming out of regulairebiestraat(sp?) at night). If you're going to shell out all that cash, then why not stay in a hotel in the Jordaan and experience some of the 'real' amsterdam.

If you're looking for a run of the mill amsterdam experience, then by all means listen to the people here. however, if you want to get something out of your time in amsterdam other than stories to bring home about smoking pot and seeing live sex shows, then get off the beaten path a little.

Amsterdam is a beautiful city, if you spend your time in rembrant/leidseplein/damsquare you'll miss it all.

I've even seen people here recommend Madame Tussards(sp?)! no dutch person would ever go there!

 

H'mmmm OK.
Welcome to the site, btw

 

thanks for the welcome.

i just had get that off my chest!

 

http://www.channels.nl/
Another forum that many others from here including myself frequent.

 

thanks for the link.

for a different perspective on amsterdam and the netherlands, have a look here (they also have a forum):

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_content_subchannel.asp?subchannel_id=1

visitors to amsterdam get a very sugar coated look at the city. living there is a different story (esp. if you aren't dutch). i visited amsterdam many times before i relocated, but it wasn't until i'd lived there for around 6 months that i really started to see that the 'tolerence' and 'freedoms' that one associates with amsterdam are images created to generate tourism and are a far cry from the reality.

i have dutch family and im continually shocked by how conservative and ignorant they are on some things. amongst real dutch people, i've only ever met a handfull who are not racist and bigoted. learn some dutch and you'll be shocked at the things you hear on the street and on the television.

here is a great article on the real state on the netherlands at the moment.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/95d75b52-441b-11d9-a5eb-00000e2511c8.html

 

Expactica.com is one I've had bookmarked for many years.

Out of curiosity, where do you come from jasonspaceman.?
What sort of work do you do, etc. I'm dilegently looking into
finding work there myself having visited many, many times
for hedonistic holiday breaks over the years and would very
much like to move there. So far it's proving a bit difficult and
impractical solely based on there being more opportunities
in the UK.

 

I've lived there for one year.. But I prefer living in smaller towns..
You talk about giving bad advice, but people who never been to amsterdam want to see the tourist places aswell as other places.. When I go to Paris, I'd still want to see the Eiffeltower..

 

all expats whine no matter where they from or where they live.

 

Welcome to the Forum jasonspaceman and thanks for contributing an interesting thread as your Introduction.

Your points are well taken and I can only imagine how different it must be to live than to visit Amsterdam. Not sure I would ever want to actually live in The Netherlands for many of the same reasons you pointed out in reference to conservativism. It's one helluva place to visit though.

 

Jasonspaceman.. I live in Amsterdam (the 'less nice' part actually.. south east.. ) and I LOVE the city.. been living here for a couple of months now.. I work with homeless people so I sure as hell don't see the 'sugar coated' side of this city OR the Dutch society but still.. I love living here.

You go off on how locals are racist and biggots.. well my man.. you don't strike me as very friendly either.. maybe it's that attitude of yours that doesn't bring out the best in people? Just a thought...

 

I live about 5 minutes from Amsterdam by bike, to answer your question...

thank you very much for saying this, I really agree with you... although what consolidated said is true as well... a lot of people that post questions about amsterdam are going there for the first time and only really want to see the touristside... but of course, the nontourist side is much better...

maybe it would be a good idea if someone posted a sticky with tourist attractions as well as some ideas to really get to know amsterdam...

 

Oh and by the way.. Dam Square not a nice part of Amsterdam? It has a HUGE history, especially based on the protest movement of the sixties and it is now a meeting place for a lot of the 'underground' of Amsterdam.. sitting there for a while you will see the whole world passing by, not only tourists of all places in the world, but also refugees, junkies.. everything and everyone.. how is that 'missing out'? Since when do you decide what people like to see in a city?

I guided a couple of Japanese people through Amsterdam and they were thrilled by all the touristic places. And by the way.. touristic places? What the hell?' Those are places I cross daily.. it's a normal part of Amsterdam, not some kind of fake open air museum or sth..

Amsterdam has a LOT to offer.. known and less known. For each his own. If you don't like it.. stay away or give people here alternative option.. but don't come barging in here telling we give crappy advice.

 

Dam square is the reason its called amsterdam.


its where the dam on the amstel was.

 

I totally agree with you! In London I want to see Tower Bridge and in Moscow the Kremlin. Amsterdam has more to offer than weed and hookers since most of the people who actually live in Amsterdam hardly got a taste of both of 'em. So, visit the Anne Frankhuis, the Dam and of course Rembrandplein, that's Amsterdam!

 

Exactly. Anne Frank was (sort of, in a germanish kinda way) Dutch wasn't she? She lived in Amsterdam, hiding there for way too long.. why not go there if you visit? I walked past Rembrantplein yesterday.. the area round there is really nice with the canals and houses.. locals LIVE there!

Guess it takes a local (or Dutch person) to really know Amsterdam

 

Actually, thinking about it, I'm not sure what this person
means about people here in this forum giving crap advice.
Never came across that myself, so give all yourself a pat
on the back from me and keep up the good work.

 

Dag. Such excitement. I am a "tourist" everywhere, I do not have local status anywhere. Filtering out some emotion, your post is very informative. The all that glitters is not gold thought did come into my mind many times there (and in every tourist area I have ever been). Lots of humans where I am are way worse than others I have encountered anywhere, let alone some of my own random ugly thoughts. Here its taught anything is OK..if you make a buck. Thanks to all you folks. In two minutes here, I know things about Amsterdam I did not find in the guide books or the forum sites I belong to. Dank U.

 

I'm like.. hm.. like a 'freelance volunteer'.. let's just call it that. I have contact with different organisations but have no official volunteer contract there. One of them is 'vluchtelingenwerk Amsterdam' (www.vwamsterdam.nl), the main refugeehelpcenter in Amsterdam. The otherone is a project for young (illegal) immigrants, they don't have a website.

Why are you asking? Interested in sharing ideas on the subject? feel free to pm me..

 

Yes, locals do live there, but the local you find living in centrum (not bullewijk or biljmer where you are), are not really representative of most dutch people.

I am speaking to the way that dutch parents bring up their children and the hatred that is openly encouraged towards all that isn't dutch. Like i said, I am half dutch, I have dutch family.

I fell for the tourist image of amsterdam hook, line and sinker. only to move there and find out that no matter how well i spoke dutch (or tried to), no matter how well i tried to 'integrate', it was never enough. I was always going to be treated as a 'kut buitenlander' or 'allochtoon'. I would never be a part of dutch society. I met and spoke with non dutch people who had lived in amsterdam for 30 years, spoke perfect dutch yet still only had one or two dutch friends. I asked my family and their friends why this was the case and was shocked to hear them say that 'dutch people don't want foreigners in their country'.

Sure, Im the furst to admit that my experience has made me somewhat bitter towards many dutch things. however, i moved to amsterdam because i loved the place so much from visiting. i also loved the dutch people i met while visiting. what's more, they encouraged me in my delusional view of dutch society.

after living there for a while all i got from dutch people is that i must forget about my home country and my language (english). i must 'become' dutch (like that is even possible). im a white half dutch person from australia and i was treated like dirt by 90% of dutch people i came across. i can only begin to imagine what it must be like to a an asylum seeker in the netherlands. dutch people are brought up to believe that there is a caste system to humanity and the dutch are at the top. if you ask most dutch people (and they answer you honestly), whether they believe that black people are inferior in worth to white dutch peolple, they will say yes. what's more, they don't even seem to be embarrased by the admisson.

for my last 6 months there, i started to pretend that i was a tourist so the locals would be friendlier to me.

i guess i just feel a little cheated. i moved to amsterdam because of my experience as a tourist. because i actually believed that the dutch had it right, at a time when so much is wrong with the world, i felt that the dutch had found a way to avoid it all. amsterdam felt like a utopia.

i'll admit that this view was naive on my part, no place is perfect. but with amsterdam there is a little more to it than that. the government, the dutch people and the netherlands as a whole, profits from encouraging the view that the netherlands is this tolerant utopia. they go out of their way to spread this myth of 'dutch tolerance' and praise themselves. all this while supporting politicians like Rita Verdonk (along with her stupid integration program), and muttering 'kut maroccan' under their breath when they bump into a muslim in the albert heijn.

the world is stating to realize what is going on in the netherlands. it's amazing that they managed to hide the truth for so long. i think its rather ironic that they praise anne frank and encourage people to visit. they claim that anne frank is an example of this dutch tolerence, of dutch people sticking up for the jews against the germans. the truth is that anne frank is an example of dutch intolerance!

it was dutch people who directed the germans to where she was hiding. in reality, the dutch resitance was very small. a little known fact is that the netherlands had the HIGHEST percentage of volunteers for the nazi party when they were occupied. the germans even praised to dutch for their ability to round up theit own citizens and send them off to the gas chambers.

the dutch hid the jews (for payment) and when the money ran out, they ratted them in tho the germans and recieved payment from them also. this brings me to another distasteful dutch trait, they're the tighest people on earth. dutch people and money make and ugly combination.

i could go on and on, but im sure you're all bored by now!
i will close by saying that i don't hate dutch people (that would just be too dutch), but i do harbour some resentment to the way i was treated. it also angers me because i know that there will be many more like me. they'll move to amsterdam only find out the same thing. at the same time i know that by complaining and blaming the dutch, im actually proving that i've become 'slighly' dutch.

 

Good to have you back Jasonspaceman. I have had days like you must have been having (1st post) myself. Nice thing, I have noticed here long before I joined, memories about some emotions are quickly forgotten and helpful, friendly and interesting free speech prevails. However, you did opened my eyes and I love possible necessary knowledge, just take it out of brick before you lay it on me. Dank U.Peace on you. Where I live it is similarly bad (bigots etc),ah humans. Tourist towns are another social phenomenon. In Durango, Colo, USA, no pot no hookers, an old train..I digress. My point is they hate all that isnt colorado. 5 people are locals, the others are from where ever...live there a short time and start hating all that is not colorado, but they are not from colorado. Generally not there long, but they say they are locals after a weekend.The kids are worse and here the parents are becoming more and more out of the picture. The TV is the great teacher. I feel better it is not just here. thanks.