Aug. 19, 2001

Valkenswaard, Holland - It has been a very eventful day for the Stony Brook women's soccer team here in Holland. Following a morning practice, we took a 90-minute ride to watch the famous Ajax club team take on Roda JC in the season opener.

It turned out to be one of the most spectacular events I have ever witnessed. The stadium was packed with cheering, whistling and singing fans who came to watch the home team win. Upon our arrival, we entered a beautiful stadium with a retractable roof that was open with the good weather. Fortunately, we were seated adjacent to a section of fans all decked out in jerseys who chanted, cheered, sang and waved flags for the entire game. We were swept up in the atmosphere as we rooted on the home team. Thanks to the steep angle of the arena, our corner section seats were excellent and in the first half we saw a penalty shot for the home team. The Roda goalie, who was about 6-8, made a beautiful diving stop to keep the game scoreless. The home fans whistled in disgust as whistling here is the European equivalent for booing. Roda got on the board first 30 minutes in the second half on a header off a corner kick. That only made Ajax tougher and the home team knotted the game at one only five minutes later and the game finally ended in a tie. The team saw a very high level of soccer and in many instances saw some of the things we have been working on in practice. If you even plan on visiting Amsterdam, put this on your list of things to do.

Unfortunately, the post-game was not as fun. It started out OK as most of us went to the team stored to buy gifts. Outside Maggie Haren came through for Lori Nelson as Lori's ring slipped off her finger and rolled into a drain. Haren showed some skill and dexterity by fishing it out with a pen. But after out visit to the team store, things took a turn for the worse.

We had planned to take the Metro to downtown Amsterdam because it would be difficult for the bus to get us down there. Our guide Frank said that would be no problem. Well it was. Another funny story developed -- you can call it "Lost in Holland - Part Two."

For some reason, Frank led us past the Metro through a little shopping area and into the midst of a festival. He said the Metro was not running into town, that they close it after games to prevent riots. We didn't believe him, but since he was our guide we kept walking. We were in no mood for a long walk (we have walked quite a bit here) as we thought we were just heading over to the train station. It slowly began to dawn on us that Frank may not know what he was doing. Well, he didn't. Finally, after 25 minutes of walking, I begged him to stop and tell us what was going on - I was tired of hearing that we were almost there. He then took us to a bus station and told us that we would now take a city bus downtown.

Of course, the bus didn't show on time as we waited and waited. It was now well over two hours since the game had ended. Just then a fire engine passed by the bus stop and Frank's cell phone rang. He said "You won't believe it, but the fire engine is for the bus. It caught on fire!" We all knew that Frank was making this up -- how could he know that the fire engine was for the bus? Did the driver of the burning bus have Frank's cell phone number? Of course not.

Later, the coaching staff and myself felt we needed to make a decision. We felt it was best to head back to the Metro. Of course, Frank, apparently thinking we were born yesterday, blurts out, "Because of the bus fire, they just opened up the Metro again. We should go there." I almost fell down when he said that -- he just trumped his first lie with an even bigger one. We are started laughing as we knew he was making this up as well. We joked that Frank must be in direct contact with the mayor of Amsterdam and that once the mayor found out about the bus fire he ordered the trains running again. Due to our delirious state, we all found this incredibly funny. Frank was an OK guy, just not the best tour guide that money could buy.

The Metro had been open all along, Frank had just made a mistake and was trying to cover for it. So, we walked all the way back to the Metro (laughing at our guide and his storytelling all the way), got our tokens and arrived in Amsterdam around 8 p.m - some three hourse and 15 minutes after the game ended and the stadium is only 10 minutes from downtown. Very frustrating. Famished, we quickly walked through town to the restaurant and enjoyed a terrific meal. For one price, we received an appetizer, an entree and a dessert. For dessert, I enjoyed a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of frozen pineapple, drowned in a cinnamon liquer. It was fantastic.

Walking through the streets you can see why people fear and love Amsterdam. It is truly an anything goes town and that is why we headed for the bus when dinner ended. It was around 10 pm then and it was getting dark. So we only got a little taste of the city by the North Sea, but it was enough for today. We are tired and need some rest. Right now, student equipment manager Greg Delimitros is still up doing laundry -- it is 12:55 am here now.

Tomorrow we practice at 6:30 am, have breakfast immediately after and board a bus for an eight-hour ride to Speyer, Germany. It has been a terrific stay in Holland and we can only wonder and be excited for what Germany might have in store for us.

Hope to write again soon.

Rob Emmerich, Jr.