A Stroll Through Nijmegen

Thursday, we got on a bus to Luxembourg and stopped for a tour of Nijmege by UC Berkeley Professors Cindy Looy and Ivo Duijnstee.

Figure 1: Our tour guides mention how Luxembourg is a very small country, so Americans bombed some of the buildings in this small town to create a convenient path into Germany. Here is a castle that still remains from WWII.

Figure 2: This is the city hall that still remains from the bombing of WWII. The statues are people who were considered important rulers of the land, such as Charlemagne, whose image is portrayed in the second to the left statue in this photo. Observe the bottom left window has somewhat of a cage element to it. That was the window prisoners were displayed in, when judgment was passed on them.

Figure 3: This sign greatly amused me. I believe this is a great way to discipline people to respect and preserve the history behind the buildings of this area. Bringing this to the states would be most helpful.

Figure 4: This is a school where young boys would learn Latin. The statues on this building are statues of saints, such as Bartholomew. It was mentioned that his skin was shed as punishment, so the statue that resembled him visualized his skin peeling off. Perhaps these statues are a way to reflect and express the history of the city so that the identity and culture of the town will be preserved for the years to come.

Figure 5: The interior of the church we toured. The most interesting thing that caught my attention here is that people who attended this church were buried here. If the person was rich, they would be buried inside the church. If the person was poor, they would be buried outside the church. In the end, I wondered what difference that made. According to the Bible, man was made from the dust of the earth, so when they died, all they would do is just return to the earth which is where they came from. Getting buried inside or outside the church didn’t seem to matter too. Differentiating people by class after they have died makes no difference because their class is now the same now that they are in the grave. The people of the church back in the day came up with many unnecessary and unbiblical practices.

Before reaching Amsterdam, I expected to see a very gorgeous city with canals and reputable buildings with unique architecture. My expectations of the city were met, however, none of my friends or family told me what Amsterdam was known for. One friend told me that everyone knows Amsterdam is the drug capital of the world, and that he was very surprised when he heard I was going there. His thoughts were "wow... Priscilla's being... adventurous..." Another friend from the chemistry department at Berkeley told me that she didn't think I knew what Amsterdam was known for either, and that if I did know, I would probably avoid the city with my life. To be quiet honest, before I knew the Red Light District existed or how illegal drugs were legal in the city, I loved Amsterdam! I loved the history it held, the museums we visited, the gorgeous canals, and the beautiful buildings. I wish I could have avoided the second hand smoke and the stories that went around from the Red Light District... because now I think of Amsterdam as a city that expresses the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Besides the things I found out about, I can really appreciate Amsterdam for the city that it is.

Altogether, the Netherlands is a very small country where all the cities are easily accessible by public transportation. It's easy to just take a train and enjoy a day in a city close to the city you're in, considering how the farthest city is only 2 hours away by train. The Dutch are very concise, direct, efficient, and hard-working people. I still remember my first interaction with the Dutch in the train station: I accidentally got on a train too early, so when the Dutch man checked my ticket and saw I got on the wrong train, he yelled at me in Dutch with a very disappointed tone and expected me to understand him. Usually when someone yells at me, I would be affected by it, but because I didn't understand what he said on top of the fact that he yelled at me for such a simple mistake, I just dismissed it and got off the train to catch the right one. Then I suddenly remembered that the reader said that if the Dutch are very direct with you, you could consider it a compliment because they consider you one of them. Even though the Dutch can be harsh with their tone, at least they get their point across so there is no misunderstanding between two parties. In addition, the Dutch really take care of people and are understanding when weaker people ask for help, so they are a balanced group of people: harsh to get the job done, but gentle to those who are in need.

I first heard of Luxembourg in the 7th grade when I started studying French. My teacher described the city as a romantic place with beautiful gardens, so that's the image I expected to see. Fortunately, I got to see more than that! There are awesome castles here and people who sing and dance in the city plaza. I can't wait to explore more of the city.