Phoenix to Breda: How I Almost Was Not Allowed Into the Netherlands

August 14-18, 2013

Sitting at Sky Harbor in Phoenix waiting for my plane I started to think back on why I wanted to go to Europe. I thought about all my history classes and my Humanities class from high school. I remember studying these countries that have had so much history and amazing cultures. I also thought about every cheesy teen movie where the kids go off to Europe and have the time of their life. Sitting in Sky Harbor I realized that this is my time. I am lucky enough to spend the next four and a half months learning, traveling and living in Europe.

Once I got onto the plane I realized that no one was sitting next to me, I had the window seat. There was only one guy in the aisle seat, not too bad seeing as the flight is almost ten hours, I got to have some extra leg room. I usually have no problem sleeping on planes but this time I was too excited and nervous to sleep. I would wake up thinking hours had past when really it was five minutes. It was the longest ten hours of my life! Luckily I got to see the movie “42” about Jackie Robinson and they even fed us dinner and breakfast. Overall I couldn’t complain about the flight, especially when you get free drinks!

When we landed in London I had a few hours to get to my next terminal for my flight to Rotterdam. I wasn’t entirely sure where to go so I followed the crowd off the plane and onto the bus to Terminal 1. After waiting awhile in the security line I made it into the main terminal. London’s airport is like Rodeo Drive, they had all the designer stores right there! Of course I didn’t even tempt myself so I sat down did some Sudoku puzzles. When it was time to proceed to the gate I started wondering when they would stamp my passport. I have a brand new passport and was eager to get my first stamp. I went to the gate, got on the plane, and off to Rotterdam I went. It was a short 45 minute flight to Rotterdam and we flew over the channel which was pretty neat.

When we landed in Rotterdam we had to have our passport checked. I walked up to the immigration officer and he looked at my passport, then at me, then at my passport again. He started asking me questions like, “How did you get here? How long are you staying? Do you have proof of you staying here?” Turns out somewhere in the London airport they were suppose to stamp my passport. Since they didn’t, it looked very suspicious for me to just show up all the way from the United States with an empty passport. After answering all of his questions he stamped by passport and let me into the Netherlands. Whew! I was definitely panicking, my study abroad was almost ended and it hadn’t even begun!

             I took a taxi to my hotel in Rotterdam and by the time I got into my room I was beyond exhausted. It’s been four days now and my body still hasn’t caught up with the jetlag. My first full day in Rotterdam I explored the city and saw some of their local landmarks. I went all the way to the top of the Euromast, which is the highest point in the Netherlands. From the top you can see for miles in every direction! Then I went to the Boijmans Van Beuningen where I saw some amazing pieces of art from artists like Dali, Picasso, Cezanne, Monet and more. Then I wandered into the museum’s modern art and exhibition section…it was hands down the most bizarre things I have ever seen. I love art, I appreciate art, but some of those exhibits were barely art in my opinion. They had one piece of art that was just some chairs, nothing special, probably the type you would find at your grandmother’s house. One thing that was pretty cool was the piece about the ridiculous high heel shoes, watch this video of them! Backwards High Heels

I had seen the video online last year but this museum actually had the pair on display! It was cool to see them up close but also painful to watch the demonstration films.

            After spending the whole morning and part of the afternoon walking around I headed back to the hotel (Holiday Inn Express) to rest my feet. I started getting blisters on my feet because I didn’t break my new boots in before I left. Laying down was a huge mistake, my jetlag kicked in and my muscles were too sore to let me get out of day. Sad to admit but I slept most of the day and just lounged around the rest of the night. When it was time to actually sleep I had an awful time going to sleep. Stupid jetlag, stupid boots. Eventually I fell asleep, waking up every few hours hoping it was morning. I woke up around 8 am and packed my things, showered, ate an amazing breakfast at the hotel (they eat sandwiches for breakfast, how cool is that? And they also eat delicious chocolate croissants) then left for the train station.

            Luckily the Holiday Inn Express was extremely close to the Rotterdam train station so I walked my TWO 50 pound luggage pieces and myself to the station. Wheeling 100 pounds around and carrying a 15-pound backpack is no easy feat. Not to mention they have a lot of cobblestone-like sidewalks and ramps. But I made it to the station and was ready to head to Breda. I got to the platform and realized this was the first time I had ever taken a train (besides the one you take with your family to the Grand Canyon as a kid). I was watching what other people were doing to make sure I didn’t look silly.

Turns out carrying this much luggage on a train makes you look silly regardless. I boarded the train and thankfully there weren’t many people on it so when it took me a few minutes to get my luggage on the train I wasn’t holding anyone up. The most embarrassing part of the trip (so far) happened when I realized I had no place to put my luggage, the aisles were too narrow and the seats were too narrow to put them next to me. A Dutch man (around my age) saw me struggling and the train was about to start moving so he offered to put one of my suitcases on the rack above the seats (I’m only 5’5’’ so there was no way I could lift my bag up there). The man struggled, I felt bad, here he was lifting 50 pounds above his head for me and I couldn’t help him in any way. So I lifted my other suitcase to the seat next to me and settled with it staying there. We started to talk and turns out he is from Breda. He was extremely nice and we chatted the whole way to Breda. He had visited Arizona before, he stayed in Scottsdale and talked about the heat.

Once we arrived in Breda he helped me get my luggage off the train, up the stairs and even walked me across the street to my hostel. He carried my suitcases up the stairs to the hostel entrance. He helped me so much and I completely forgot to ask him what his name was! I am very thankful for his help and giving me such a warm welcome to Breda.

My blisters were acting up again so I decided to take a quick nap, which of course turned into a three hour nap. When I woke up I convinced myself that I needed to explore Breda a little bit before it got too dark out. Turns out that the tourist center closed while I was taking my nap and they are closed (gesloten in Dutch) on Sundays so I will be without a map until Monday. I walked through a gorgeous park where wild roosters roam, never thought I’d see that! Then when I got back to the hostel I decided to relax in the lobby. The TV was on Comedy Central and it was in English with Dutch subtitles so I watch “Community” for awhile.

I still can’t believe that I am in the Netherlands right now. It all feels so surreal. To be honest it is strange not understanding other people when they walk by or if they talk to you. I blush a little and apologetically reply “Sorry, English” and they smile and start talking in English. I knew for awhile that I would be coming to the Netherlands. I wish I would’ve made the effort to learn Dutch so I could at least make basic conversation. Hopefully I will pick some up while I am here. I am excited for my friends Megan and Karlie to get into Breda because traveling alone can get a little lonely. It is nice because I am on my own schedule but it will be nice to share these experiences with others and have people to talk to.