"This place could be of historical importance"

So, I have been really getting into reading graffiti on the back of toilet doors lately.

What can I say, I am always up for some education, especially when it is free.

Actually, Amsterdam has a funny little graffiti artist who runs by the name "Laser", and he/she sprays odd but poignant little sayings on surfaces like construction site caravan offices, portable toilets, fences etc. In my first week in Amsterdam, I remember one that said "Do you get people? I don't. - Laser (tag/date)"



Anyway, I digress.

In exploring a new city, Laura and I have taken it upon ourselves to be the pioneers of broke and unemployed Swiss/Australians youngsters living in Amsterdam, and made it our duty to seek cheap drinks and entertainment.

Which means, when we meet, we need to seek the most thrifty way to entertain ourselves. So far we have found a few bars that are cheap.We have come across some nice bars and some not so nice bars, and some interesting ones to say the least. Which makes for interesting toilet door graffiti observation. Generally the dirtier the bar, the more enlightened I get from sitting on the toilet.

Backpacker bar toilets doors are usually full of drunk scribings from Canadians, Kiwis, and Australians, that don't have much to say except "Caz was here, Contiki July 2009, rocks yeah, love my girls xxx".

The bar that Leon and Sam took Laura and I too last week had great graffiti on it's toilets doors and walls. So many angsty girls must hang out at that bar - all the graffiti was quite deep and perhaps, a little bit overdramatic. (Actually, I need to bring this up right now - Even though the graffiti was thought worthy, it wasn't an Emo in sight at this grungy bar we were at - in fact I should point out that EMOs DONT EXIST IN AMSTERDAM! Well, no locals are Emo's. The only Emo's I have seen are working in a backpacker bar in the red light district and they are Australian.... hmf. Boo.)

Anyway, one of the things written on the back of the toilet door was "This place could be of historical importance." I kind of liked that someone had thought about that, because to me, it was. It was historically important to me, because the actual graffiti itself was reminding me about exactly where I was standing, the city I can now call myself a resident in, and the people I was hanging out with, and I felt very very lucky.

I felt the same way when I started my new job yesterday.

I am working in a bar/restaurant in the middle of Dam Square. I looked out at the most touristy part of Amsterdam, wearing a waiter's uniform, and serving tourists beer and burgers, and I realised that I now live here, and that sort of sent my head spinning.

Here's a crazy fact, ONE GUY OWNS DAM SQUARE - he owns every single restaurant/bar that looks over Dam Square's war monument, which is a pretty big deal, since there are about 5 of them, and they are crowded nearly every single day.

He is a Chinese Dutch guy who never even finished highschool. Wow, Richard Branson eat your heart out. If that isn't inspiring I don't know what is.

Anyway, back to my day, the people that work there are all international, and I actually don't mind working there. Well, it has only been one day, but everybody seems to know what their role is. Like mine, at the moment, is a food runner. Which means I don't take orders, and I don't carry money, I literally just serve the food to people and clear tables. I think in America they are called Bus boys. Yes, I am a bus boy. But it's great. Zero responsibility. Don't have to talk to any customers should I not feel the need, which is good.

I met so many different people and personalities yesterday; My manager on duty was a great Javanese Indonesian guy who has lived in Holland for 30 years, and he's fantastic! He's such a great guy, really cool and funny. I also met a gay Thai bartender, a cute little Filipino chick, a few crazy Polish girls with, a couple of smooth dutch guys, all of us made a pretty crazy front of house team. All of them had moved to Amsterdam, and spoke a little bit of Dutch, but we all spoke english and it was sort of fun.

Not sure how I will feel about the job in about a week, maybe it's just the honeymoon phase.

My friend Laura had a trial shift at American Apparel yesterday, so we met up for some dinner to discuss our days, and we went to a backpacker bar nearby Dam Square called "Belushi's" - the place where the bar staff are Australian and Emo. But the beer is cheap.

We were sitting outside, and then we got kicked out of the beer garden, and moved inside. When I was finishing my beer, Laura looked at me and she said " What the fuck is this game they are playing on tv at the moment? It looks so stupid."

I looked up at the plasma and it was England vs Australia cricket match. I nearly choked on my beer from laughter.

She and I were so meant to be best friends.