Ilse

Planning to visit Amsterdam?
Ask me your questions and I will respond asap!

E-mail
ilse@amsterdamdiary.com

Ilse

Bbxtina Video Transcript: Random Things I noticed when I First Moved to Amsterdam


VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION

Bbxtina: “Hi everyone, how’s everyone doing? So I bet you can tell that I enjoy traveling and I also enjoy living abroad in different countries for obvious reasons such as you know experiencing different cultures, sightseeing, different scenery, any different language. Those are all fascinating, but one of the reasons why I love experiencing a new culture so much is as something so mundane and part of your daily routine can be exciting and stimulating.

When I first got here, I was over stimulated of course because the culture was different than what I was used to, and I have a collection of short clips that I’ve collected since I’ve been here. Something that I found so fascinating at the time. Now, I’m already used to it and it’s incredible how adaptable humans can be but I found these files and I’m like “Oh my gosh! I have to share it because it really reflects what I was fascinated with at the time”, maybe you’ll find it’s boring and kind of silly maybe you’ll know what I’m talking about when I say that you know even the littlest things can bring you joy when you’re in a new environment.

Anyways, here are some things that I found interesting when I first moved here:

First is this intercom dial that I saw at the Airbnb. That I was staying at in Amsterdam when I first got here now I haven’t seen this anywhere else so I can’t say that this is a Dutch thing, I don’t know! I thought it so cool when I first got here that I have to record it and basically it’s just this giant plate that you have to spin in order to select the apartment that you want to call and when I first saw it, I had no idea what I was doing. I like I didn’t even realize that it was a dial or a button. Maybe this exists in a building in Toronto as well but I don’t know it was a new experience for me and it brought me joy when I first got here and I was apartment hunting like I said I was staying in an air B&B so it was kind of difficult for me to cook for myself. So what I did was eat a lot of pre-made food.

This particular sushi tray that I had, had the cutest little chopsticks. I bet you this thing is something that you can find all around the world but it was new to me and I was like “oh my gosh!” how cute and innovative the fact that it fits into the little packaging. I thought it was so cool, probably this is probably the coolest thing. In my opinion, when I first received a package from online shopping, the box was different than Canada. First of all it had a little handle which was really great because here you have the option to get your packages delivered to a local like a local convenience or a grocery store so when you’re carrying that home, it’s really nice to have a handle especially if the box is really big and…

Second of all, they didn’t use tape and I’ve seen this in multiple stores that are ordered from like bull or like divine cars. The box itself is the tape so you peel off the little bit of the box that holds the lid together and voila! I thought this was so innovative because usually I have to grab scissors or knives to cut open the packaging. The company doesn’t have to buy extra tape in order to send off their. You can recycle everything it’s clean, Oh so cool!

Probably the most obvious one is the urinals I’m still fascinated by this every day. Um… It’s just sensually like a designated public urinal found throughout the city, mostly in Amsterdam but I here it is in other parts of the city and I think it’s good to consolidate the mess that could be in the city to one designated are and I even heard from you guys actually that in other cities they actually have ones that come in and out of the ground, so you know if there’s like a big event, they’ll expose it but if not, otherwise it’s hidden which is so freaking cool in my opinion.

I don’t know if every bank does this but I’m personally with ABN AMRO because that is one of the most commonly seen branches and also they have all the services in English, so when I did my research doesn’t seem like the bank that made the most sense to me and when I first signed up for my debit card I received this little calculator. I’ve never seen this before. This is this not exist in Canada and what is, is an identification tool so when you’re shopping, let’s say on your computer it gives you a pin code that you also input into this little machine and the machine pulls out a pin code that you also put it in on your laptop or desktop so that it’s a more secure way of online shopping. Now my bank has the QR code so I only need my phone and set up this calculator… Bing! What do you what do such people call it. I’m curious I’ve just never seen security done this way before and I guess Amy and I, where I was moving away from that. I’m not sure if other banks have this practice. Let me know if you do know in the comments below so, yeah! This is a short and sweet video but like I said these little things are what kind of get me going when I’m traveling somewhere new.

You guys already know that what one of my favorite things to do is go to a local grocery store whenever I’m in a new city because… I don’t know… Even something as basic as milk can have look different and have different packaging.

So I really appreciate the litthe things in life when I’m living abroad and that’s why I choose to live a country that I’m not familiar with.

I hope you guys have a great week and I’ll see you next time. Bye…

Questions? 


Like it? Share with your friends!

3 shares

Comments 0

Your email address will not be published.

log in

Become a part of our community!

Captcha!

reset password

Back to
log in