Country guides
Bikes, staircases and the Albert Heijn
During my internship in Amsterdam these were a few of the things I noticed:
- Walking to work. I was almost run over by bicyclists! I can compare the way people ride bicycles in The Netherlands to the way New Yorker cabbies (cab drivers) drive. You better move out of the way! It took some getting used to, but I had to pay attention not only to the light signal for the cars but also the light signal for bicycles! We do not have this in Los Angeles. I had to help a few of my fellow Americans as I crossed the street (straat, a Dutch word I remember!). I didn’t want them to have an injury during their holiday!
- Moving. When people move out of a flat in The Netherlands, all furniture is hoisted through a window on a pulley-system. I saw this one day and I had to just stand there and watch. It was amazing. Now when I look at a building and I see a metal fixture at the very top, I know what this is for!
- The grocery store. I love the Albert Heijn chain and I gladly travel with my distinctive orange plastic bag. I was in Italy in 2005 and a lady approached me and greeted me in Dutch because of the bag!
Cecilia Davis, American national, lived in the Netherlands for a while, back in Los Angeles now.
Photography: © Eric Sijbrands/Expertise in Labour Mobility.
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