I’m on Holiday…Again

I’ve been in Amsterdam for a little over 4 months and it seems like 10% of those days have been made up of holidays.

There’s literally a holiday every 3 weeks.

While in school and in jobs that I didn’t love, I used to live for the holidays. The holidays that we got out of school or didn’t have to go to work are of course the best types of holidays. Except for Halloween. Where your cleverness is tested among all of your friends and it’s socially acceptable to act anyway you want, dressed as anything you desire.

The first holiday came a mere 2 weeks after I started Knowmads. It was ‘spring’ holiday according to all the other school calendars so Knowmads went along with it. In my opinion this kind of messed up the flow of the start of Tribe 5 because who really has a week holiday 2 weeks after you start a new school? Knowmads apparently. I could understand the holiday if we started 3 weeks earlier because after 5 weeks of school, yes, you need a break. But no, we had just started.

Come April we had Easter, which is completely understandable but it did feel like we were just on holiday. We got Good Friday off but then there’s this thing called 2nd Easter. This is the Monday after Easter. Not exactly what this is about in Christianity, we don’t acknowledge it in America, but it did lead us and the rest of the Netherlands to nothing being open. Though I did find the occasional Albert Heine market grocery store open around the city depending on location, so that was nice.

Next up for holidays was Queens Day on April 30th. I already wrote about Queens Day in a earlier post but to remind you it is the celebration of the Queen but really just an excuse to party everywhere.  Because this is the hugest party holiday in the Netherlands, all the schools had holiday for the rest of the week. This meant Knowmads as well. Which was when I really started the question all these holidays we were having. Not sure if they are necessary especially when we usually only have 4 day weeks scheduled in our calendar. 3 day weekends seem to be the norm.

During that week of school holiday, there was also 2 other national holidays happening on Friday and Saturday. On Friday was Remembrance of the Dead day to remember all the victims of WWII. This didn’t seem to be a huge holiday over here unlike our Memorial Day which remembers all soldiers who’ve died but most people aren’t really remembering. In America, Memorial Day is now more focused on the celebration of the start of summer. Because starting this day, always the last Monday of May (happens to land on my birthday this year, May 28th), the fashion law says you can wear white and it’s also officially BBQ season/summer. Here in the Netherlands I didn’t see anything happening on the streets or around Amsterdam but I was told there were events going on.

The day after Remembrance of the Dead day is Liberation Day on May 5th to mark the end of occupation from the German Nazis in WWII. There were festivals happening all around the Netherlands but nothing so big that the Dutch were telling me all about how exciting this day can be. I did run into a big event that was happening at the Amstel river. They had thousands of seats/bleachers set, a band playing, and a big jumbo screen that I assumed had something to do with Liberation Day. I didn’t stay because I was on my way to get my haircut…priorities.

What’s interesting about May 5th is that no one here in the Netherlands knows about Cinco de Mayo. I wanted to celebrate but no one heard of it except for my Mexican Knowmad, Sally. We were going to get margaritas that night but the plans fell through. I ended up making fajitas for dinner for Floris, our sick council member, so I did honor the holiday a bit. Cinco de Mayo also reminds me of St. Patty’s day here in Amsterdam because barely anyone in the city was celebrating that day in March. I remember seeing a couple of Irish pubs with green balloons  but they weren’t crowded with people like you’d see back home. Is it because there aren’t many Irish here or that the Irish don’t have much of a following like they do in America. Unfortunate really, because the Dutch love to party so why don’t they just adopt this holiday. Perfect excuse to act crazy in public. Think about it Dutchies. It would just be a low key version of Queens Day for you. I’m throwing it out there. Think about it.

The most recent holiday to pass was Accession Day on May 17th. Have you heard of it? I hadn’t until last week and I grew up a Christian. Accession Day is the day Jesus went to Heaven. Apparently he stayed down on earth for 40 days or something and decided to peace out and go back and chill with his Father in Heaven. Why didn’t I learn this in Sunday school? This was all huge news to me. Kind of like when you finally realize who won the Civil War when you had been going to battle fields for years. The news kind of hits you in the face. Accession Day is a government holiday so all stores and businesses were closed Thursday or closed early. This can definitely ruin your plans especially if you’re looking for cheap beer. Note: stock up on alcohol the day before  a holiday.

I’m not done. There’s one more holiday coming up and that’s May 28th. Not only is it a holiday because it’s my birthday but because it’s the 2nd  Pinksterdag. A pretty fun word when you leave it in Dutch but it means the 2nd day of Pentecost. Again, we don’t celebrate this in America. I didn’t even know there was a 2nd day of Pentecost. Is the first day of Pentecost Easter? I’m really starting to question the American protestant churches because if half the western world is celebrating this day it must mean that it’s pretty important. This is great news for me though since I’m missing my Memorial Day birthday back home, I will still get to enjoy my birthday on a holiday this year. Awesomesauce.

Do you think it’s necessary for all these holidays? Are people really honoring the 2nd Pentecost?

Do you think a school that doesn’t follow anything the regular system follows except the holidays makes sense? We question everything else but when it comes to holidays we go along with it. hmmmmm

Frustration Kills

Right now I feel like I’m in college again sitting in front of my computer the night before a paper is due trying to figure out what I’m supposed to write for a class paper. I’m tense in my face, especially my forehead. Frustration is gripping my body. I have all these thoughts going through my head about what I want to say yet I have no idea where to start or how to put it in words for it to make sense. I’m at a point where I want to cry. Cry because I have something to say but I have no idea how to communicate it. Does this ever happen to you?

The thoughts in my head are running around like a 5 yr old boy who woke up early to eat the rest of his birthday cake.  The thoughts won’t stop and I have no idea how to control them or even understand them but my need to figure it out is so strong that I’m troubled as to how I can figure out how to solve this problem.

My mind goes to Knowmads. The constant question “What is it that I want to learn?” Why the heck is this so hard for me to answer? Why can’t I pinpoint exactly what it is? Do I need choices and then I can get inspired from them? Why can I never figure out on my own what it is? I know deep down inside that I truly do know. I can feel the feelings. But I can’t put those feelings into words. I can see glimpses of thoughts. But they’re there for a split second and then disappear. Both the feelings and thoughts come back but they come back slightly different then before. Again, I remind myself how frustrated I am that I don’t know what it is I want to learn.

Figuring out what I want to learn at Knowmads is extremely important to me because I believe going in with an intention to something helps bring it into reality. Not having a clear intention makes me feel like I’m missing out on a huge opportunity to get what I want out of my year at Knowmads. Not knowing is killing me. How do I figure this out?

The 2nd question that keeps flashing through my brain is “What is it that I’m learning at Knowmads?” I’ve been doing a better job at this but it’s never in the way that I think does it justice. The story isn’t good enough. I know it can be better (now I’m sounding like a perfectionist). Plus, is what I’m learning at Knowmads really what I want to learn? Can I do this in other settings? Can I do this in other places where I will get more professional/expert teaching? Is that fair to say?

There have been a few things I can honestly say I have enjoyed at Knowmads and I believe if we have more of these types of workshops I’d really come out in 1 year with a combination of knowledge I couldn’t get anywhere else.

1. The business canvas model (though the pace of this workshop was extremely too fast that I didn’t learn as much as I could’ve)
2. The crowd funding workshop
3. Nonviolent Communication: every person needs to take NVC to become aware of how they communicate on a personal and business level
4. Deep Democracy: An interesting tool in order to make group decisions. Though I feel like our 2 day workshop only scratched the surface of DD
5. Model Minds Visual Harvesting Workshop

I find this to be a very small list. That’s 5 substantial workshops in 4 months. Be it this month we’ve limited our amount of workshops due to Project Mayhem, a project I co-created with another Knowmad, so I have to take that in consideration.

I’m not trying to undercut Knowmads, I’m only trying to figure out what it is I need in order to make the most out of Knowmads. I really do love it but there’s a tiny voice in my head that says “you’re not doing what you need to be doing.” And again I go back to “what is it that I need to be doing?” My heart is telling me I know but my brain isn’t letting me figure it out. There’s all this stuff just flying around in complete disarray up there.

The council recently told us we have the green light to look for a coach within the Knowmads database. I wonder if it’s because I have no idea what I want do (which is not true) or how to explain it in words, or if it’s because I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with a coach, but I’m having an extremely hard time picking one. What the heck do I do with a business coach? I want to learn all parts of business because I’m a knowledge junkie but I don’t want to be an expert in all the fields. If I reach out to an entrepreneur what do I do with them? How can there be mutual benefit if I don’t even know what questions to ask them? Is this my social anxieties projecting onto this coaching thing?

A lesson that is constantly coming up in my life is communicating what you’re feeling, any apprehensions, doubts, worries, fears, questions, just put them out on the table. Maybe that’s why I’m feeling like this. I haven’t properly put all this out there on the table. I haven’t been asked the right questions. However, this is blaming others and that makes me even more frustrated that I would go to such a level.

But this constant desire to want to know exactly what I’m thinking and feeling so I can put it into words and communicate it is beyond frustrating because I feel like I’m not capable of doing it. What interesting tools are out there in order for me to solve this problem? It has to do with the questions I ask myself. Please, someone help me get out of this trap. Help me figure out better questions to ask. As the saying goes, “Change your questions, change your life.” Or may be I just need to get some sleep and it will all be better in the morning.

Happy Queens Day!

Long live the Queen!

It was Queens Day in the Netherlands on Monday, April 30th. What exactly is Queens Day? I kept asking everyone what it was about but I didn’t get the extent of what they were saying until I actually experienced it.

Queens Day is the celebration of the Netherlands Queen’s birthday. However, it’s not the current Queen’s birthday because her birthday is sometime during winter and who wants to celebrate outside during the winter? So the Dutch will keep it April 30th. I wonder, will this ever change?

This is what happens during Queens Day:

• Everyone wears orange (the national color)
• It’s also called Free Market day which means it’s basically yard sales galore on the streets of Amsterdam
• Everyone drinks their face off all day
• The Amsterdam population doubles in size that day
• Street Parties, street parties, street parties…the amount of people is crazy. There’s all different types of music from dj’s playing techno, to rock, to live music and cover bands
• People start partying the night before on Queen’s night eve
• The canals are crowded with boats filled with people
• Tons of parties happening in clubs and you must get your tickets weeks before the big day or else no indoor party for you
• Totally acceptable to BYOB as you walk around the city

I’m definitely missing other things because there’s just so much that is happening this eve and day it’s ridiculous. You must experience it yourself to really understand. The closest American holiday to Queens Day is St. Patty’s Day but maybe because Q Day is Dutch it’s a completely different experience. The best I can do is show you in pictures.

People marking their spots for Q day 2 weeks before the big day. Bezet means taken

All the stores doing their best to sell you the best looking orange gear you can sport

An outfit for purchase at the local Dirk grocery store

One of the many Queen’s Day parties

Girls in the Jordaan doing karaoke for money. People will give you money for anything on Q day. Next year Stacia and I will have a beer game section set up. Beer pong, flip cup, and cornhole!

The massive amount of people in the Jordaan

Everyone wearing oranje

People selling orange juice…the Dutch drink of choice

Anastasia getting laid by an Indian man who is to the right of the picture Getting some falafel in our bellies so we can drink for 12 hours because we did mmmm falafel Street dj with the speakers in the windows #dowhatyoucan Sea of people We found a great rock band and people were actually dancing!

Canals fill with boats and the boats crowded with people. Next year a boat will have to be arranged got me a free hug in Vondelpark!

Kids games in Vondelpark. The sign says Swallow your Majesty!

Chucking eggs at people…ouch

Wishing Wall for Ubuntu found down a random street

Christo came to Brouwersgracht for Queens Day!

Our English Hipster Knowmad, Josef, joined the party! Off to Anastasia’s rooftop and more beer of course

When my fellow German drinking partner, Anastasia, and I were finished with our late afternoon break, we ventured back onto the streets of Amsterdam. By this time it was around 8pm, and the streets were deserted. No more Queens Day party outside but there was TONS and TONS of trash everywhere. All the things people couldn’t sell that day were tossed out on the curb. A sad day for mother earth because none of it got recycled. All the streets didn’t get cleaned up until 2 day afterwards. I had guests come to the hotel the day after Queens Day and they said to me, “What happened in Amsterdam? It is such an ugly, dirty city. It looked like a bomb went off.” Yep, not at all what Amsterdam looks like the rest of the year but the Dutch sure know how to have a good time.

Imagine that pile on every street corner

On my way home from Anastasia’s at 1am there was a cleaning crew but they only put in a dent