#leideseplein

[meatpuppit]

hey guys. its 5:20 pm. at the park in amsterdam the big one idk how to spell it. drinking coke zero. pretty much completely out of money going home tomorrow phone at 8% been walking around since 1:45 cos i was early to check into the hostel (checked my bag) (im at the park to smoking weed) goose nearby may attack me btw. my whole body hurts but mostly my back and knees (wandering around the city for several hours(by the museum, leideseplein, oud zuid neighborhoods)) about to eat a salmon wrap (it has egg salad) from the grocery store. kind of got distracted typing out how i am doing. looked around an antique store and a cd store but didn't get anything. a duck just bit my boot

[anothertravelblogorwhatever]

The beginning of one million pictures of the Amsterdam canals. I’m not even a little bit sorry.

Leideseplein, Amsterdam

[ajonassonlife]

Leidseplein

[rachnas-blog]

"THIS IS THE LEIDSESQUARE ENTERTAINMENT AREA."

Every time I hear that announcement in trams lately, I have a picture in my head: Crowds of tourists walking all over Amsterdam looking for the famous 'Leidseplein' their lonely planets warned them not to miss.

Making Amsterdam officially bilingual is a decision that's come a bit late. The authorities believe that it is going to make tourists and expats happy. Well, as a tourist and a traveling expat not so long ago, I just loved hearing a european language on my trips here. It smelt romantic thanks to all that Bollywood in my head. Getting around was never a problem coz we all know how-much-the-dutch-love-speaking-english, even when the translations are a bit cute. English speaking students / inburgeraars in my Dutch class who have been living here for years and still don't know what a kapper is, do get their hair cuts. But having said that, Amsterdam is likely to become increasingly international anyway. A real melting pot or a patchwork quilt, we don't really know yet.

English is the language that integrates the world, and that is why this decision is late. I think it is a decision that is going to sprout a more global breed of Amsterdammers rather than attract english-speaking tourists. And I think that this process can only be accelerated if immigrants - a growing pool of the city's population - are also given a choice of Dutch or English in their inburgering. Non-english speaking immigrants could go for a more global language option, while people like me would have no option but to go for Dutch.

Jan Paternotte, a city council member who championed the recent anglicization plan, says "If you want to be a part of the world you need to accept that not everyone can speak Dutch" in an interview with Timeout Amsterdam*. And I couldn't agree with him more. In India, a country where there are more languages that divide us than religions, English is still the only way to communicate with colleagues from across the country. And that, is also making us an increasingly global race.

Change cannot be controlled, but it can be designed; The Dutch will be happy coz there will be more people to speak English with. The tourists will continue to be happy or stoned or both. The expats are a happy lot anyway. The immigrants who learn Dutch will be useful in Holland. The immigrants who learn English will be useful even outside Holland. And that will make a lot of people happy.

Just don't overdo it and let Leidseplein be Leidseplein. That will make me happy.

* TIMEOUT AMSTERDAM is a cool source to discover lil secrets about the city. (I believe most Amsterdammers spend their lives doing exactly that.) For eg: Did you know that there are closed, private canal gardens hidden throughout the city that open only for 2 days a year to the public? I stole their first ever local issue from Burgermeester one day, and thereafter decided to collect every one of them (subscribed, of course). They have been following me across the years through Bombay & Dubai.