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All year, I planned to take my vacation in Amsterdam/Belgium and now that time has arrived. To get me started for this elaborate vacation, I was invited to the Menchaca's double birthday party in Stockton. They had make-your-own burrito buffet set out, they had a live mariachi band and they had an Elvis Presley impersonator. When the Elvis impersonator left the building, then they started playing good dancing music and one of the songs was "Let's Get it Started" by the Black Eyed Peas. When this song played, I knew I was ready for Amsterdam! Everyone at the party did a 'soul train' and I had visions of Amsterdam in my mind!

My Adventures in Amsterdam and Belgium

PaulDaleRoberts
2007-01-29 11:34:14

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simple things to me. She tells me that once a week a car falls into the canals. I can understand this, since some of the roads are so narrow.

The next day in Amsterdam I hung out with an West African man named Suoton Dambo from my hotel and we went souvenir shopping in Amsterdam. While we shopped, I noticed in the day sky that there was an unusual contrail with donut rolls in the sky. I thought to myself could this be the mysterious Aurora plane that our military denies? I never saw an unusual contrail such as this. But, while this mystified me, I continued my shopping with an enthusiastic Suoton Dambo. He tells me about his family and West Africa. Suoton now lives in Queensland, Australia with his family and he is shopping for clothes for his wife and children.
One of the shuttle drivers for my hotel, gives me a great history lesson. Dutch is derived from the German word "Deutch", meaning German. He tells me about the provinces of North and South Holland and how Netherlands means lower lands. He believes that Dutch people are mainly of French and German nationalities. He is also very concerned about global warming and said that in 50 years, the Netherlands may be taken back by the ocean, especially when Greenland melts.

When internationally traveling, you meet so many people. When you are confused about something, you ask someone to assist you and people are willing and ready to assist. I found this with Jean-Pierre Braun, the CEO of Crocus Technology in Sunnyvale, California. Jean-Pierre was born in France and now lives in California. We both lost our way on the train and Jean-Pierre boldly started asking for directions from anyone and everyone. Jean-Pierre and I traded travel stories and we laughed when we discovered we haven't seen common places in the USA like Yosemite National Park, Grand Canyon, but yet we have seen things all around the world. Jean-Pierre says...'what's wrong with us?" Jean-Pierre and I are both very ...