Netherlands vs Russia // Thoughts on Amsterdam, colonial past, public transport & immigration issues

intro Hi guys! Recently, I had a chance to visit  Europe, and the Netherlands was the first   country I explored. In this video, I will walk  around Amsterdam, visit parks, try out public   transportation, and compare it all to Russia. I'll  stop by a museum to learn about Dutch history,   and of course, I will also share what I  didn't like about my time in Amsterdam. Let's begin! [Guide]: "In Amsterdam,  there are vastly more bikes". city center & crooked houses Right now, I've just had a walking tour with  a tour guide, and I bought a card called the I   Amsterdam City Card, which gives you the  opportunity to visit various museums for   free and take tours like this. I used it for  four days. I had to come to the city center;   it's called Dam Square, I believe. Since my hotel  is close to a train station, I was going to take   the train to that square, and I thought it  would be free for me with this card. But it   turns out the Amsterdam City Card doesn't work for  trains, only for trams, and I had to buy a ticket. As I mentioned before, I was so stressed  and scared yesterday and today while I   was taking the train for the first  time. Now, just three hours later,   I'm filming a video here in a crowded place. My first impression of the city center was that  there are so many people, it's very crowded and   very diverse. I enjoyed the buildings and seeing  the rainbow flags. But one thing I noticed and   didn’t like is the trash on the streets. Not piles  of trash, but sometimes I would kick something. We had this tour, and our guide was just  amazing. We walked for two hours around the   city center. I learned that there are some  crooked houses here, especially the very   authentic ones. It happens because the city is  sinking, and they did something to prevent it,   like putting wooden supports under the houses,  but they are rotting. It's the responsibility   of the owners to renovate, but it costs a  lot of money, which is why people don’t do   it and continue to live in crooked houses.  I also learned a lot about the history of   the country, colonialism, the weed  situation here, and LGBT rights. As for the LGBT community, I  happened to visit Amsterdam   during Pride celebrations in August. I  made a separate video about these events;   you can check it out here. But now,  let's go for a walk around the city! Today is Sunday, so probably that’s why it’s so  quiet. I used to think that Amsterdam was a larger   city, but officially, only 900,000 people live  here. I thought it was like three or four million! This flag with three crosses that I see everywhere  is actually the flag of the city of Amsterdam. It looks kind of cool and unusual for a city flag,   and they also use this design  in marketing, for example, here. groceries and prices Speaking of daily life,   let's check out a local grocery store  and see the prices and products there. Visiting a Dutch supermarket for the first time,   there's such a big variety of sausages and  cheeses. Some cutlets, barbecue… What is this? Look, they even sell eggs  in packs of four! I love it! Here’s a machine for recycling bottles,   but right now, it’s not working.  Anyway, I'm surprised to see all this. Now, I'll show you some more groceries I got.  These are some fancy noodles—I say fancy because   they were more expensive than the others. I have  a receipt here, and it says they cost €2.50 each. I also got rice and meat that I need to  microwave, but I don’t have a microwave. Also, these carrots were €1,   this sausage… I still haven’t figured  out what it’s made of, but it’s sausage! I also got this bun, I don't  know what cuisine it comes from,   but it reminded me of pan,  a dish of Koreans in Russia. For dessert, I got these  waffles—which are €2.2—and   this cookie. In total, these items cost me €20. Honestly, I wouldn’t say that’s too  expensive because it’s comparable to   Russia, especially considering how much  prices have gone up there. And well,   also considering that people in Russia  earn an average of $400 USD per month. bicycles Anyway, one thing that’s definitely different  from Russia is the bicycles. I’ve never seen   so many! After I posted my last video  from Amsterdam, someone commented, “Hey,   there’s my bike in your video. Even my bike  got to meet you!” And someone else replied,   “That’s so Dutch!” I find  this super cute and funny. Another thing that’s unusual for  me is accessibility. It’s so cool   because I’m not used to seeing so many  people with disabilities in Russia,   as the infrastructure there is not made for them. greening comparison in Europe & Russia Another difference from Russia is how they  keep vegetation wilder. If this were Russia,   there would be a white curb, and  the bottoms of trees would be   painted white for no reason—just  a tradition from Soviet times. Also, another common thing for parks  in Russia parks, and in general,   for city planning is abundance of fences.  There is a curb, or a black fence. And it's worth noting that Russia there are  modern parks like this, probably mostly in Moscow,   and one that I visited is Zaryadye Park in the  city center. When I first walked there, I was   surprised, why there are no curbs, why it looks so  unusual. But overall, our parks are still Soviet. Even these flowers surrounding the  pillar... I think it's so beautiful. Here's one more example, behind  me, there’s a bush, a forest even. And oh my god, I see some trash  here—okay, taking my words back!  The decaying WEST! Collapsing society.  Russia is the only savior of this world. Anyway, how did the country ever  get to this point? To find out,   let’s dig into some of the Netherland's history. demographics and colonial past Another thing that surprises me, coming  from Russia and Georgia, is the diversity,   seeing people of so many different ethnic  backgrounds. Although I traveled to   the USA five years ago and lived on  campus with international students,   but for the last five years, I’ve been  living in Eastern Europe, either in Russia   or Georgia. And that's why here, it's my  first time in a while in the Western world,   it’s physically unusual for me to see people of  different skin colors in the streets. But after   several days in Amsterdam, I’m becoming used  to it and almost don't pay attention to it. When I see people from African or  Asian countries, I start to think:   are they immigrants who came here recently ,  or are they third-generation descendants? Do   they consider themselves Dutch, and are they  seen as Dutch by the local white population? I also notice many foreign  stores. One street away,   there’s an open street market with  shops and hair salons for black people,   or Surinamese food. It's so interesting, I  wish I had more time to explore all of this. This brings me to a conversation  about the museum I visited,   called the Wereldmuseum, or World Museum. It  used to be called the Colonial Museum, as it   tells the story of how the Netherlands colonized  different countries. I learned so much because I   basically didn’t know the Netherlands participated  in this world process. When I think about this,   the first country that comes to my mind is  the UK and maybe French colonies, but it was   new to learn about Dutch colonization,  especially in Indonesia and Surinam. I think it’s important for society to reflecting  on this. I watched a street interview where a   Dutch person said that "colonial history  used to be something to be proud of". Although I don’t personally understand how  the government could sell this idea to its   citizens—"look, we brought back tea and spices  from Asia!"— what here is to be proud about,   that you robbed them? Or maybe the idea was  'look how we brought our civilization to them' But yeah, it was in the past, as as that  person in the street interview said,   "now it's something to be ashamed of". And although and he Dutch today aren’t personally  responsible for the crimes of their ancestors,   it's a fact, but they still reflect on their  history. I think this reflection helps people   today be more accepting and tolerant of  differences in other people. Of course,   that’s how it works in the ideal society.   Probably, for people of color in the  Netherlands, things are still not perfect. I also found that of the 17  million people in the Netherlands,   2.6 million were born abroad—so they came  here as migrants. Speaking of integration,   I found info that actually there's a big  Surinamese diaspora. And they have become   symbols of successful assimilation. A large  influx of Surinamese nationals started coming   to the Netherlands about 50 years ago,  so it's actually been a long time. It’s so pleasant to see when migrants  make efforts to study the local language   and manage to speak it. I compare this to the  situation with immigration in Russia, where   many immigrants come from former Soviet republics,  mostly from Central Asia—Uzbekistan, Tajikistan,   etc. Unfortunately, recently, xenophobia  toward them has increased. One common claim is,   “They come to our country, and they don’t even  speak our language.” I understand this claim,   but it’s the government’s responsibility to  provide free language courses for these people. I purposely Googled it the other day and  found very few opportunities for people to   learn Russian. There are some courses, but it’s  not like it's set up in every city. For example,   in Germany, I Googled "German classes  in different cities for immigrants," and   I found such courses in every city,  even small towns. It’s not perfect,   but it's more well-developed. And I think  it's responsibility of government to   provide language courses or classed  on culture history of this country. You let them into your country, so  now you have to help them integrate. public transportation Of course, I have to mention public   transportation. Is it really  as convenient as people say? This city just spoils me with public  transport—I can get to any point with   the tram! It’s so cool that  they’ve preserved the rails. One thing that surprised me is how close the  trams pass each other. At first, I was scared! And I already anticipate  some critical comments like,   "But doesn’t Moscow have well-developed  public transport as well?" Yes,   public transport in Moscow is amazing. They also  have a well-developed, clean underground system,   trams, I am not sure about bike  lanes, but also buses, and more. But let’s compare the cities—Moscow officially has  around 12 million people (though I think it’s more   like 16 or even 20 million), while Amsterdam has  only 900,000 people which I also think is actually   more but okay. The fact is that Moscow is about  15 times bigger in population than Amsterdam. So let's compare Amsterdam to a similar city  in Russia, maybe something like Voronezh or   Khabarovsk... The trams we have rhere are these  old Soviet noisy things. Russia has all the   resources to build a public transport system  in Khabarovsk similar to Amsterdam's, but... weird people While I found public transport in Amsterdam pretty   seamless and easy to use, I did run  into a few unpleasant experiences. What I don'’t like is... you  know, see some weird people—maybe   they had mental health issues or were on drugs. Once, on a tram, I saw a passenger  (who spoke English, so I assume he   was an immigrant recently), and apparently he  confused the route. When he got off the tram,   he complained to the driver, saying, "Why did  you give me the wrong route?" The driver said   'I am sorry' but the guy responded,  "Oh, f*** you! Don’t tell me sorry." There was another unpleasant situation on the  tram. There were some tourists sitting next to me.   And a man entered the tram, and apparently, one  of the tourists looked at him. The man was like,   "What are you looking at?" Then, he  continuously insulted the tourist for   several minutes. The tourist  was smart enough not to respond,   but I was really scared in that moment,  and my mood was spoiled after that. So this was my experience in the Netherlands,   immigration and as you see it wasn't only positive but I  really needed to include this into the video.  And also what disturbed me about these  interactions was that they didn’t come from local   Dutch people—they were from immigrants. One man  was of African descent, probably because people   from so many countries colonised in the past are  moving to the Netherlands, and I don't know his   background exactly. The other man, I assume,  was from Turkey or a Middle Eastern country. It is just disturbingthat now such situations will  be used by far right movements who say that "oh,   these immigrants are coming to  our country committing crimes,   they're eating our dogs and  cats in Springfield", you know. I am totally against it, I don't  want my words to be uh used by them,   and I'm myself really pro immigration,  and I mean I myself an immigrant now   now and potentially going to immigrate  to some European country in the future. I'm really sorry that local people who see this  who see negativity that comes from foreigners   now we'll think even worse about group of  immigrants who are already marginalized. And people suffer from prejudice, I mean girls  who were hijabs and their traditional clothes,   so I mean there is enough of discrimination  still for non-local population. So to resume this all, I would say that I  cannot just cross out this feeling of fear   and anxiety that I felt seeing this,  and I'm worried that these situations   bring instability into this developed and  progressive world, and that it also can   fuel anti-immigrant sentiments of far right  groups and so on. That's my take on this. So these were my overall impressions, and  unfortunately I didn't visit other cities   of that country. And many of you wrote me  in the comments that "oh you have to visit   this town or that town", but well maybe  next time when I come to the Netherlands. what people get wrong about Russia But you know after posting a couple of  video from Europe I got some comments "oh   you must have such a big cultural  shock now enjoy the Free World,   coming from Russia where you  couldn't see any of this". And you know these comments made me to think  that some people in the West still see Russia   from the American Cold War movies point of view.  Because Russia is a huge country very urbanized   there are big cities and there is progress.  And of course seeing this rainbow flags were   something new for me because in Russia there  are laws against LGBT propaganda, and of course,   freedom of speech in Russia is limited, and  there is basically no opposition because it   is either out of the country or in jail. But I  mean still people in Russia have the internet,   they watch American movies, the society is  westernized, at least in big cities. Like,   we used to have gay clubs in big cities  or even Tinder where it was possible uh   to find a date for queer people. Well, now  since 2022, it's a different story because   anything that I just mentioned deteriorated,  and Tinder left Russia, the police raids gay   clubs and arrests people there, and I  mean the whole situation is much worse. So now I'm contradicting myself saying that  Russia is not scary but yes actually it is   scary because of this and that, but I  mean that it just frustrating for me   to see that people don't know about the  progress that Russia at least had up to   until recently. And I don't have a cultural  shock from seeing Life In The West because,   again partially it was possible to see it in  Russia, and also because we have Internet. What I'm trying to say is that Russia  is a country has a lot of potential   and Prospects but unfortunately now  because of the autocracy there the   country is ill, but I hope that in  the future it will be democratic. Anyway thank you for watching this video write  your opinion in the comments, like this video   you can also subscribe to my channel or support  me by becoming my Patron or a YouTube sponsor. Thank you very much, goodbye, poka-poka.