Ajax

No, not the 1970's dish detergent.  I'm talking about the Amsterdam football team...as in soccer.  In Dutch it's pronounced "I-ax".

I thought that I was doing pretty well adapting to the Dutch lifestyle when I carried my first case of beer home from the grocery store on the back of my bicycle.   And when I bought my first sausage from the Hema I started really feeling like a local.  But it wasn't until I was finally able to speak the language that I people started to second guess my nationality.  I could keep them strung along for a little while, even with my thick accent....until the subject of football came up, which it inevitably does.  I don't know squat about soccer.

But everyone else in Holland knows EVERYTHING about soccer.  And they fall into one of two camps - Ajax or Feyenoord.  Amsterdam or Rotterdam.  And when I say camps, I really mean adversaries...enemies.  It can come to blows.  In fact, it has gotten to be such a big rivalry that the fans of Rotterdam are not allowed to attend a match in Amsterdam and vice versa.    

I'm not much of an organized sports fan, but I thought that if I really wanted to fit in over here that I needed to experience a soccer match and see what all the hoopla was about.  So I went with my friend Frank into Amsterdam on Saturday night for a match.  I still don't get the rules, but the atmosphere was really a great experience - from the fanatics in "Block 14" with their endless chanting and flag waving, to the whacky guy who ran through the crowds, back and forth through the aisles for the last 15 minutes of the match.  Ajax dominated the play (75% of ball handling) and easily beat their opponents 4-1.  It was fun...but once was enough.  Now I think that I can hold my own in a conversation.   Just don't tell my boss that I went to see Ajax...he's a Feyenoord supporter.