Important Things To Know In Amsterdam

In the past few weeks, I have learned some important details that have made living in Amsterdam much easier, and now I'd like to share them with you:

A coffeehouse or koffie huis is a place that sells coffee. A coffee shop does not sell coffee. VERY important difference.

The washing machines here are quite small, and many Europeans have never used a dryer before. Seriously, I taught a German kid how to use a dryer and when his clothes were done he was so excited about this amazing invention.

You have to pay for even the plastic shopping bags, hence why everyone reuses their bags.

Bike lanes are for bikes, not pedestrians. One of my new favorite pastimes riding past Centraal Station is to see how many tourists I can hit. And I am not the only one who enjoys doing this. Also, there are more bikes here than people, meaning they get the right of way most of the time. Nobody here wears a helmet, and there are very few cars hitting cyclists. I tell them about how dangerous it can be to ride a bike down a busy street in America and they are shocked that cars are so mean to cyclists.

I am never going to be warm in this city, it's official.

Europeans don't understand the concept of light beer. They think it's stupid.

They also don't understand all of the Americans complaining about the healthcare reform. Then we tell them about how much healthcare costs in the U.S. and they especially don't understand why so many Americans are opposed to it.

Most European students do not have to pay for their educations, in fact Dutch students get a €500 stipend each month for going to school. I tell them how much my school costs, their jaws drop. Apparently if you take more than 5 years, then you have to pay about €1600 a year.

Ok, that's all for now. Time to continue doing my laundry in the tiny washing machines, I am definitely going to have to learn to do laundry more often now. 2 1/2 weeks is way too long.