when *still* in doubt...?

It's been a pretty odd week for me, in more ways than one. This city keeps surprising me in interesting ways, like when walking down the Harlemmerstraat to find myself some chickens for Thanksgiving dinner (now in Amsterdam!), I came across a rather large concert or barrel organ, not an uncommon sight here actually, blaring Michael Jackson's Thriller. It kept me smiling and yes, giggling, for about half a block. Of course, not all surprises are as pleasant, and the theme of doubt has kind of threaded its way through the past week, also in more ways than one. Newly single -- the result of unspoken yet lingering, and no longer avoidable doubts about our relationship on the part of my partner -- I spent the week trying to immerse myself in bringing clarity to the most significant doubt in my own life: choosing a neighbourhood to call my research-own in this incredible city.

I've been here the Netherlands for about two and a half months now, and in Amsterdam for about two months. I feel fairly acclimatized: I know my way around a bit, I'm the proud owner of an oma fiets (a very Dutch bike), I can speak and understand 'een klein beetje' of Dutch (of course, not as much as I'd like), I bought a bunch of notebooks and new pens, I have a few friends, and a couple favourite cafes, I've spoken to some professors at UvA, and I even have an interview lined up in a week or so. So, now it's really time to get into what I said I came here to do. Right... So this week, I have sifted through lots and lots of statistical information on the various districts of Amsterdam, trying to get a better sense of what each is like. I've looked at demographic info (percentages of autochtonen/ natives, non-Westerse- and Westerse-allochtonen/ foreigners), income levels, voting patterns, length of residence in the neighbourhood. Two things have come out of it: 1) I'm amazed at the sheer volume of statistical information the City of Amsterdam keeps on file and public, and 2) I'm still unsure about where I want to situate myself. I kind of have it down to two districts, Amsterdam-Noord and the Oud-Zuid, though both are quite large, and quite different. There are pros and cons for each, of course. And in talking to various people about my dilemma, suggestions for even more neighbourhoods keep cropping up: the Jordaan (seen by people from the Jordaan as the 'real' Amsterdam), Westerpark, De Baarsjes... What's a girl to do?

The Noord is a place apart. It's the only district that you have to cross the IJ to get to. It used to be a completely different village. It's mostly working-class, although there are some quite affluent neighbourhoods within the district. It is demographically mixed in terms of ethnicity (i.e. autochthon/native/white, allochthon/foreigner/immigrant...), but there seem to be neighbourhoods where there's a high concentration of either native Dutch or immigrants. According to the data collected from the 2009 EU elections, there's quite a lot of support (as high as about 35%) for Geert Wilders' far-right populist, anti-immigrant/ Muslim PVV. Interesting. I was told in a conversation with someone at UvA that this is one of the few neighbourhoods, even the only neighbourhood in the city, where people spend their whole lives. People grow up there, settle there, raise their kids there. This is in some ways exceptional in a city where most people come from somewhere else, whether it's from elsewhere in the country or in the world. Another thing that I am not sure if I should consider, is that Amsterdam-Noord has already been the subject of anthropological study by Dr. Erin Martineau. (Does that matter? It's not like a bajillion anthropologists haven't already studied Papua New Guinea, and still people do it...)

The Oud-Zuid seems to be quite a bit more posh, though there are neighbourhoods within the district that reflect more average levels of income across NL. It's a much older part of the city, and is mixed as well. Historically, some areas (De Pijp) were the workers quarters during the 19th century, and now are becoming trendier. Voting patterns show that residents tend to support the status quo (i.e. the reigning centrist CDA).

So, what's important to me here? What is it that I find intriguing? What would make for a really interesting study? Maybe I'm too close to the problem to see it clearly. Really, I'm just not sure.