Amsterdam - The Dark Side

Last Updated: September 23, 1999
Not everything about my trip to Amsterdam was positive. Here's a summary of the negative parts of my experiences.

Phone Connection

KPN is the phone monopoly. A 1-year connection costs 100G to install; a short term connection costs 231G to install. Plus, because I'm an American, they wanted a 750G deposit. They didn't appear to take the deposit, though.

However, the real problem with getting my phone connected was once it was turned on, it didn't work. I made an appointment to have someone look at it (I had to be home from 8-1 to wait for him) but the guy who came (around 10:30) couldn't get in to the room he needed to access the connections. I got the key and made a second appointment, again having to be home from 8-1. This time no one showed. I called on my cell-phone and was put on hold for 20 minutes. Finally someone else came on and said they'd get me an appointment and call me back (which they did).

The new appointment was for 4 in the afternoon the next day. At 10AM that day, I get a call from the phone repair guy: he was at my apartment, where was I? I went home at 3:30, and the guy who called at 10 showed up and fixed the line (they had activated the line for another apartment).

In all, my phone wasn't working for 1 week after it was "connected". High prices, poor service. Just what you'd expect from a monopoly. Fortunately, KPN has lost its monopoly.

Pedophiles

One evening I went for a walk and saw a rather direputable looking man whistling to and fingering money at a pre-teen boy riding a bike. The intent was clear; the boy rode on without stopping. (I only saw this happen once; it was disturbing none-the-less.)

Amsterdam - The Segregated City

If you visit the Central City, you'll notice that Amsterdam has a very homogeneous population: nearly everyone is Caucasian. But that's a result of the reverse urban flight that has occurred here: all the more well off white live in the central city, while the minorities live in the suburbs. A lot of Amsterdam looks old and run-down, but appearances are deceptive. Go to pretty much any neighborhood out of the central city and the racial mix changes dramatically. If you want to see a bad neighborhood, try going to Bijlmermeer. I biked through here (my bike map showed a path through here) and was very uncomfortable.

Amsterdam - Home to pick-pockets

Supposedly, the main crimes committed in Amsterdam are bike theft and pick-pocketing. When my wife visited, someone opened her backpack and stole some money, her credit card, and her ATM card. We're not sure exactly when they did this, but we're pretty sure it was while we were walking. They charged f25 on the credit card before we stopped it. Total loss was about $CA 100.

Other than pick-pocketing and bike theft, Amsterdam is suppose to have very low crime rates and be a safe city. However, when you see people wearing their back-packs as front-packs, you'll know why.

Cigarette Ads Targetting Children

A tobacco company well known in the US for its commercials that target children has moved its campaign from North America (where the outrage forced them to stop the campaign) to Europe. Scattered through the city (mostly at busstops) are posters with pictures of cute, stuffed animals and a slogan (in English) about the brand.