Each city, country or region is stereotyped in some way. It is human nature to prejudge, and misconceptions result. I have been fortunate enough to travel while living in Spain and have had the unique opportunity to witness these misconceptions and stereotypes from both an insider and outsider’s perspective.
Those from the United States are thought to be loud, boisterous and more obnoxious than most. But of all the places I have lived and visited, Madrid is by far the loudest. Between street noise, conversations on the train and general speaking volume, Madrid takes the cake as far as noise level.
“Minnesota nice”” is a common phrase throughout the Midwest, but the nicest people I have met were the Dutch during my recent visit to Amsterdam. They were welcoming and very patient with me, an obvious foreigner, and helped me with directions on more than one occasion.
Before my trip to Paris I heard so many remarks from those I met or what I read on travel blogs in regards to their resistance to speak English, or inability for that matter, and a generally rude demeanor. I took a year of French, so I can understand and read some of it, but I can’t speak it to save my life, which, after what I had read and heard, made me incredibly nervous that I would be unable to communicate.
Upon arrival, however, it was painfully obvious how wrong that all was. Granted, the cab driver did not speak much English, but that isn’t incredibly uncommon. I got around just fine and did not have a single problem with the locals being rude.
Amsterdam has quite the reputation, since both prostitution and marijuana are legal and regulated by the government. This was my first solo trip, and not once did I feel unsafe or regret my decision to venture to the city alone. I can honestly say I smelled burning brakes more than weed, and the Red Light District was not as sketchy as everyone thinks.
I accidentally found it within two hours of landing in the city and, while I will admit it shocked me because mostly naked women in windows is not a sight I am accustomed to, it was not as big of a deal as outsiders make it out to be.
The area has a prominent bar scene and was populated as such by the same kind of people that you would find on Broadway on any given Friday night. Given the choice, I would move to Amsterdam in a heartbeat; it is a gorgeous and, in my opinion, an underrated city I will definitely be returning to at some point in my life.
People, as a whole, generally deserve more credit than they are given. You cannot look at a city or group of people from the outside and automatically know everything there is about them. One person’s actions do not define a collective society any more than one bad strawberry from the store ruins the whole container.
The old addage “don’t judge a book by its cover” still holds true; so let’s try to be more open-minded. This is something everyone would do well to remember, especially now.