Amsterdam, capital of The Netherlands

Amsterdam is by far one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is very rich in heritage and I just love to stroll by those magnificent canals. I was fortunate enough to travel to Amsterdam and to reside there for three weeks on a official training with my colleagues. Prior to boarding my flight to Amsterdam from New Delhi, I was very excited but the long seven and a half hours of flight made me cranky for the lack of adequate sleep. Nevertheless, I arrived at Amsterdam in the early hours of the day and it is the coldest part of the day. The bus which was due to pick us up couldn't find us and we couldn't locate the bus so in this little game of hide-and-sick with bus driver, most of us were freezing, mind you eight of us out of twelve people came from one of the most hottest and humid areas in Bhutan. Therefore, standing outside the airport with the temperature of minus five degree with chilly wind piercing our bones wasn't so welcoming for us. When we could feel our bones almost giving up to keep us standing still, we could finally see the bus which was parked just steps away which I am still unable to comprehend how we missed to catch the sight of nearby bus. After getting in the bus, we were driven to our hotel. for the first night, I slept for straight twelve hours. Htel Serviced Apartments provided us the experience the freedom of our own apartments which means we had to cook our own meals. Now, the problem is I don't know how to cook. Thankfully, my roommate was pretty good in cooking and thanks to her, I could save some euros from eating outside. At times, I used to visit my male friend's room for dinner. I didn't know how to cook for sure but I knew how to get a free meal from others though. Once a week, room service people used to come and clean our rooms which was a luxury which we couldn't afford back home as we have to clean by ourselves. We are the maid, cook, carpenter, mason, gardener, sweeper, all in one, working our arse off to survive but in hotel we were treated like a boss. Three weeks stay at luxurious Htel was worth cherishing for life. I made the best use of steam bath, sauna, and swimming pool in the hotel. I ain't a swimmer and I don't know how to swim yet I visited swimming pool more than most of my colleagues just to be inside the pool to float like a frog. Amsterdam is a cold city and to be in a hot steam bath and later to be in bathtub was relaxing up to the extent that I forgot where I was. Now, after coming back to my country, I missed those facilities but again I have to reason out that those facilities are kind of useless in a hot place like Samtse. Oh well, it was good while it lasted!

I was to share a room with my female colleague for it was just two of us, women in a big group of ten men. Now, I haven't shared a room with anyone in my life. I had been a loner and independent woman. I find difficult to adjust with people. Anyways, my stay at Amsterdam was fun because of my roommate and sharing a room wasn't a hassle. My roommate was a fitness freak and we used to go to gym every single day for two weeks but couldn't go for the last week as the schedule was very hectic with some last minute shopping to be done. I always learn more from people and I learned how to be a caring person from my roommate from the way she handled every small issues which was happening continents away from her. She was physically there at Amsterdam but she was mentally and emotionally at Bhutan with her two lil' kids. I used to wonder how was she able to manage everything so effortlessly without complaining and with her full heart and soul. No wonder, mother's heart is something which we could never reason out. My roommate was a great mother, faithful and doting wife, and considerate daughter. I owe this trip for letting me know her and all the things I have learned from her was positive. I hope you [you know who you are] remain the same and continue rocking the world like you do always.



It was a different experience for me to be in a same group for three weeks to undergo the same training. As a student, we used to be in same class for a year and more at times but this time it was different because we were grown ups and professionals. The groups consisted of diverse individuals. There were few of them who was positive and helpful in so many ways but at the same times we also has couple of them who irritated each and every one of us with their annoyingly opinionated attitude. When I came across those judgmental and arrogant oldies, I internally scream to myslef, 'no matter what happens, Sonam, you are not going to be like him/her.' Maybe they might be blind to their shortcomings but as an external factor and silent audience, I can see lots of pitfalls which can be avoided instead of presenting oneself in a negative limelight. I got to reconnect one of my pg mates as well. This guy hasn't changed a bit. He was funny, helpful, and positive and even after nine years he is still the same. We had countless and obnoxiously loud laughter over funny incidents that happened years ago. Life tends to get busy with work and other things but when we meet with old friends, life tends to hold still for a moment and takes us back to the past which is a good thing and much needed at particular point of time in life.



Learning new things has always been a fascinating thing for me and I get a kick when I learn new things, be it about a place, country, content knowledge, or the people. All these came in a small package in the form of my trip to Amsterdam. The training was so intensive that we had to literally do assignment every single night but those assignments were developed in such a way that I didn't feel like I was doing assignment. In that way, learning was fun. Some of the topics with regard to content was familiar but didn't feel bored to learn the old thing again rather it was presented in a different way like a old wine bottled in a new designed bottle. I feel blessed to be in teaching profession as I get to be in touch with latest information and research. I have never, after joining my work, felt the need to watch my own teaching and reflect on it but during the training session, each one of us had to record our class in a video and other colleagues were to watch it to provide feedback at the end. I got lots of constructive feedback from my colleagues. I got a chance to reflect on my own teaching. Hopefully, I will be reflecting more on my teaching to benefit my students and myself as a tutor. Professionally, this training was a stepping stone for me to study my own professional growth.



Exploring Amsterdam city via canal cruise on the second day after our arrival was so good that everyone of us were busy recording it in phone and camera to send it folks back home so that they could see wonderful things of Amsterdam. The cruise was of an hour and every cent spent was worth. One thing I have noticed is that people of The Netherlands is that they are very healthy and fit. if you walk around the city, you will see more than half of the population walking around with a big bag of french fries with thick mayonnaise. They eat french fries, they call it as fries, like we eat rice, Fries are solid food for me unlike for us, it is a snack. Consuming big bag of fries is supposed to make them fat and unhealthy but they are not, you want to know the secret? They don't lead a lazy life rather people can be seen walking everywhere. For them a walking distance of thirty minutes is very near and when Netherlanders say it is near, most probably you might have to walk more than thirty minutes. Cycling and walking are the means of transportation for me but for the long distance they take metro. There are few cars which can be seen on the road. Here is the fun fact: there are 881,000 bicycles in Amsterdam and that's four times the number of cars. Like the natives, even we had been walking around for three weeks and that's why we have not gained weight even though we had been eating junk food. I would like to continue walking instead of driving so that I would be fit.



I am so much grateful for this trip as it gave me a chance to visit Paris in France. For those of you who wants to know the details, I have blogged about my trip to Paris in my earlier blog so feel free read to know my thoughts about Paris and my experience of being in France and handsome french men. I had always wanted to explore the world and travel the world to see things differently in life and it all came true with this trip. My perspective towards life has changed ever since I got back from Amsterdam. Thank you, Amsterdam for being beautifully wonderful and giving me the best time of my life. Much love!