The 15 Things I Did In Amsterdam

Index

Amsterdam

The new place of Nu.nl rocks, but they still need to fix the shuttle to their place. I and others were searching for about an hour, but they waited for us. Last Friday (2024) I was invited to see the new building of NU.nl. Of course I got a tour through the building with 10 minutes workshop stops. Besides solving puzzles, The crime journalist talked about his choices when reporting about crime court reporting and how he coped with the details he got to hear during the hearing. It was very interesting as was the debate about how to serve news. Back to the shuttle although I have spent a lot of time in Amsterdam I am not familiar with the surroundings of the new building of NU.nl.

Studying In Amsterdam

In 2000 I started the study Business Economics at HES Amsterdam at Wibautstraat. Soon I was working once a week as a student-assistant at Weesperplein HES giving teachers and other staff of the HES courses about using the printer and Microsoft Office to get their Computer license. Not imageable nowadays when almost everything goes through laptops, tablet or mobile phone. In 2004 I finished my studies and left Amsterdam with a knowledge where all sports facilities were located and which sport was done where, because two credits (studiepunten) each semester was dedicated to networking through sports. My diploma I got at the new HES location in the Bijlmer. Before the HES merged with Hogeschool van Amsterdam the HES moved next to ING in the Bijlmer.

Internship With The Police Of Amsterdam

My first of two internships for my study Business Economics at the Hes Amsterdam was at Korps Controlling of the Police of Amsterdam in 2003. After emailing I was invited to talk and a background check of 6 months was done before I was allowed to start. I think they checked till second degree family. It was worth it I got to see what I could do with my study besides working at an accounting firm or the Dutch IRS (Belasingdienst). I researched the capacity of the police of Amsterdam. How much hours was spent on police task and on non-police tasks. With this knowledge they could expand the police corps in greater Amsterdam and schedule better.

Fast Flying Ferry To Work

I was going to work on surveys at my new job at Stichting Facit. It was far from home, but by taking the Fast Flying Ferry to work it would take less time. It was a scheduled line between Amsterdam CS and Velsen. I was promised I would work 2 days at the office in Velsen and the other days at home and all public transport costs would be covered. After a week a senior there demanded to have the same rights as me, to work from home. In my probationary period of 1 month the managing director wanted to change my contract. This is not allowed by law and I said that and walked out. This was in 2009.

My Third Grown Up Job, Datamanager VUMC

When I was doing my Master Urban Geography I worked a grown up job at E-Quality. After finishing my master I started at STOGO Onderzoek + Advies my second grown up job. After 2,5 years I couldn't grow further in salary at STOGO Onderzoek + Advies in my salary scale and couldn't become a senoir there. Secondment (detachering) was an option or taking up other tasks, but I opted to apply for a new job in a different research position. For the datamanagement position I got at VUMC Amsterdam I had three talks with each time a lot of people firing questions at me. It was a new way of working that was going to be introduced. The datamanagement department was growing from 2 people to 5 people. I was going to deal with three project managers and my datamanagement manager. It was up to me to coordinate my work (3 projects), keep all managers happy and all the ones depending on me for their datamanagement work, 2009-2011.

Mental Health Projects With The Amsterdam Based Adstructie

After my health crisis in 2010 I did a few project about stigma in the mental health with Adstructie. Adstructie was based in Amsterdam. The project was about getting people to tell their story. The two projects with the most impact were Veerkrachtfabriek (2014-2015) and Reality Keeper (app, 2017-2019). These project were financed with subsidies from ZONMW, Altrecht, Janssen and Anoiksis. Veerkrachtfabriek was about the youngsters, their story and their resilient. The youngsters of the Veerkrachtfabriek did a stigma tour of lectures at the police, military and at health care studies. And the project Veerkrachtfabriek ended with a few youngsters presenting their art at the Art night (Kunstnacht) of Den Bosch.

The Client With The Best View In Amsterdam

In 2012 I started my own business, Databeet. I was giving Excel workshops, Helping students with SPSS, making WordPress websites, doing analysis on culture and also started doing fieldwork (veldwerk). One of my fieldwork clients, IPSOS I&O (2017-now) has an office in Amsterdam. I like the view from their window over the water to Amsterdam North. It is very calming.

A Project At A Former Employer

E-Quality, where I had my first grown up job, merged to Atria and moved to Amsterdam. In 2018 Atria asked me to translate the paper versions of the surveys about domestic violence to an online version, route all questions and design it. After testing the online version Atria went on managing the online surveys themselves in the online survey program I chose for them.

Two Website For A Former Co-Worker

A former co-worker I was working with at E-Quality asked me to design his websites for him. I took this task upon me from 2018 till 2021 when I stopped with building WordPress Websites. He is still using the two websites I designed for him.

The WordPress Website About Food

For a client which was sent to me through another client I built a WordPress website about food and taught her how to maintain her WordPress website. Later on I was allowed to give her a series workshops about Google Analytics, WordPress and Social Media (2018-2019).

WordPress Website United Care Caribbean

I was going to do the budgets for WeConnect (2020-2021), but ended up making also the first WordPress version of United Care Caribbean. It was a lot of work and figuring out what was to be on the website to attract youngsters from the Dutch Caribbean to pursue a career in care. It was more difficult, because of the COVID-restrictions. Once a month I met with WeConnect to discuss the United Care Caribbean website and the budgets for the projects WeConnect was doing. The rest of the work I did from home.

Hoe Duur Was Het Suiker? Claus! Amandla!

Julius Leeft had theater about social issues and had big names participating in the theater narration each year. I went to a few of them before 2013. People form Politics and other famous Dutch people were participating in this theater narration. Princess Beatrix was also present most of the time to watch the theater narration. I went to the theater narrations Hoe duur was het suiker (How expensive was the sugar), Claus and Amandla.

Museumnacht Amsterdam

I went three times to museum night in Amsterdam when I was still living in Lunetten, Utrecht (before 2009). It was strange wandering through the museums at night and doing a boat tour through the canals at night. I never got to visit Artis on these museum nights because it was sold out. That must be something seeing only the eyes of the animals. 

The Queueing Museums In Amsterdam

I went to all three the big museums, Van Gogh museum, Rijksmuseum and Stedelijk museum, in Amsterdam during the day and some of them also during museum night. Sometimes it is really hard to get tickets for these museums, when there are special exhibitions. A good example is the Hockney exhibition in the Van Gogh museum where the two were compared. I went as a student to these museums and I am still going when there is an exhibition I am interested in.

Hiking In Amsterdam

I went on a free walking tour in Amsterdam, not the famous one but one about Amsterdam. I also hiked an E-Quality hike about the women of Amsterdam as a training to march the *4 Daagse van Nijmegen in 2009. I think that was about it before the COVID-lockdowns. I lent a book about hikes in Amsterdam form my former neighbor in Eindhoven and hiked about three of them. I hiked one with her, one with a fieldwork colleague and one alone before the demonstrations got in my way of doing the city hikes of Amsterdam. I returned the book to my neighbor and decided that I will wait for peace in Amsterdam before walking city walks in Amsterdam again. 

COVID Quiet Amsterdam

With the lockdowns all my work was cancelled and I had the time! I had a NSwandeling through Amsterdam and hiked it. I also had the prologue and the first stage of Westerbork in Amsterdam. All three of these hikes through Amsterdam I walked in a quiet and peaceful Amsterdam. No mass tourism, only the residents sitting in front of their houses drinking coffee. It was strange, but nice to see all of the center of Amsterdam and taking pictures without people on it. Even Warmoesstraat and the Dam were empty. I decided to do also a few city walks, but as I already told in the paragraph above that didn't go well. Amsterdam wasn't quiet anymore.

*Hogeschool Economische Studies Amsterdam ( HES Amsterdam) merged in 2004. I  graduated in the summer of 2004, before the merger. 

**I walked the Nijmegen 4Daagse Marches in 2009. And in 2016 I saw the walkers walking through Cuijk, after I hiked the ***Camino Portugues and before I moved to Arnhem. I have never been to the 4Daagse feesten and I will not visit the 4Daagse feesten in the future. Never been a party animal and never will be.

***I hiked the camino to think about what I wanted further from life and Databeet, not to party like some do on the Camino. I talked while hiking with my fellow hikers, but did not party with them or others. I am not a party animal and liked the quietness and calmness of the camino.