Paranoid for pickpockets, I put on my most aggressive face and we got on the train to Leeuwarden. Several English-speaking folks were quite helpful as we tried to navigate the dizzying train system and use the automatic ticket machines which didn’t accept our PIN-less North American cards. I felt proud that we actually made it to Leeuwarden in one piece.Ok, my first experience with being the obvious foreigner. I look like everyone in that station, but I can’t understand a word of the language (either Dutch or Frisian). Many times while in the Netherlands, I had to stop a person after several moments of Dutch came careening my way, saying I didn’t understand. I felt kind of ashamed; I didn’t feel like this was my homeland... in fact, standing in the station at Leeuwarden, I’ve never felt so alone and far from home.
Also my first experience with having to pay to use the toilet. Something I definitely don’t miss now that I’m back in Ottawa. Cripes. 0.60 EUR (almost $1.00) to use the toilet... makes you think twice about staying hydrated.My great-uncle and aunt picked us up, and after my initial nervousness re: not being able to recognize them! we got along famously. This was helped along by a generous serving of red wine and some home-made Dutch soup, baguette and various cheeses… the first home-cooked and non-processed dinner we’d had in some time. My eyelids were drooping by 10pm, and after a struggle to understand Dutch television, it was early to bed for all of us.
