蝶舞 § 活色生香的美丽人生

(homework for four-minute presentation)

Hi everybody, I am very glad to be here to tell you something about a European city I have visited several years ago, which is Amsterdam, the capital city of the Netherlands.

The reason I visited Amsterdam was not for touring but for attending a cultural event: IDFA 2001. What is IDFA? It’s the abbreviation of International Documentary Festival, Amsterdam. As an annual event, IDFA is the biggest documentary festival and market in Europe, and one of the largest worldwide. In 2001, 247 documentaries were screened in several venues. You can
imagine how busy I had been during the festival to watch so many documentaries that had interested me!

It was a very pleasant stay there. Though it’s winter when I was there, I didn’t feel very cold outside. I liked to linger in the streets, enjoying the sun, the rain and the mist of Amsterdam. The sky is blue and high, the tree leaves are golden and clean, and the river is endlessly flowing. Everything is so beautiful. People are not in a rush, the bicycles have their own ways to go, the traffic is easy and the ancient architectures and districts are well-preserved and in good condition. All these are quite different from Beijing.

For a foreigner like me, Amsterdam is an amazing place because nearly everyone speaks good English besides Dutch. So I encountered no difficulty in communication, even in expressing complicated thoughts. One day in a super market, a local granny even approached me and asked me for advice on what kind of orange juice she should purchase. Of course, I was glad
to help. By the way, I should recommend the supermarkets in Amsterdam. The fruit juice, ham, bread, chocolate and cheese are fairly cheap and delicious.

Of course, I have visited some must-see sites. I visited the famous National Museum and State Museum to admire the collections including many treasure plundered from China. I have also taken the canal cruise to have a unique look at the romantic leaning “grachtenpanden”. And the famous tulips were enchanting indeed.

I guess what the first Amsterdam people I met said to me is right. I should feel lucky that the
first place I visited in Europe is Amsterdam.