Appendicitis

I arrived on my new job and after only two days ended up in a hospital with an operation of Appendicitis - how about new start?

Everybody says this is such a routine,absolutely not worth mentioning operation but not so in my case - for the start,I was alone in a foreign country (Ancona,Italy) with the ship long gone and my passport & luggage delivered straight to my hospital room,wondering what am I going to do next when they release me from here. Than of course pain was not so unworthy of mention since I was very much dazed with all kinds of medicine,both hands pierced with needles,that strange metal tree-thing standing next to me with liquid slowly sipping in my veins and absolutely unable to move or to go to WC by myself,lying there like a bug on its back.

And next to me some poor elderly man whose family was absolutely besotted with TV culinary programs (or people screaming on the screen) it has to be mentioned I very rarely if ever switch on TV and probably detest the whole medium,now I just had to live with this noise next to me.

From the moment I got a hold on phone and internet connection I start to feel better - at least I got some news from my job and was pacified that things were arranged + friends sympathized with me so that helped me. Now they released me from the hospital but I need to stay several days in a hotel until stitches need to come out,apparently it will be nasty big scar oh well never mind.

Remi van Duinwijck

Because of Johnny and Jones,I also visited Jewish Museum which turned out surprisingly interesting thought of course a bit depressing since these poor people were constantly chased away,robbed of their properties and eliminated left and right trough the centuries. A large number of religious objects was on the display (it was very impressive but absolutely unrecognizable to me) and it was only as I entered exhibition about 20.century that I got some sense of reality and people - for example I didn't know that my favorite,beautiful art deco cinema Tuschinski was built by jewish owner in 1920s. But I was moved to tears with photographs of jewish children posing for the portraits with their adoptive parents who saved them from a certain death.

Another museum that left even bigger impression was "Resistance Museum" that tells a story about WW2 in Amsterdam - maybe because its little bit out of hand,I have never visited this place but in fact it was so interesting that I went there two days in a row,dragging a friend along. I always loved the ancient black & white photographs of old houses and strange looking people in them,so this was just perfect for me - moment in time when war spread through Europe and stories how everybody reacted differently, some people helping the resistance,others minding their own business,third siding with german soldiers... Relatively small building was divided into labyrinth of tunnels and corridors so the space was used with great effect and I absolutely enjoyed it. Again, I got all upset and emotional when I encountered stories about jewish children in Amsterdam - there was one particular cutest little boy who was found on the streets (much later it was discovered his parents were arrested and probably separated in the raid) and he was placed in a orphanage where his beauty touched absolutely everybody around (even german soldiers brought him toys),he was called Remi van Duinwijck - Remi for a character in a children's book (all alone in the world) and Duinwijck standing for the place he was found. Around 600 kids were somehow smuggled out of that orphanage but big majority were eliminated and deported into concentration camps during the war,our little Remi being one of them.It turned he was such a celebrity that it was impossible to hide him,since everybody knew about little Remi all alone in the world. I cannot understand why would such a small baby bother anybody and what political or whatever importance he could have been, he was only one year old. His photo touched me so much that I wrote down his name and found him later on the net,I am absolutely 100% sure have I been around I would probably risk my life and bundle him somehow in my coat and run away with him to safety. There's no questions about it, I feel very strongly about this and still find the whole story very disturbing - normally I am absolutely uninterested in politics but story about little Remi really moved me and thought he was just a small footnote in the whole museum,it left the biggest impression on me.

Johnny and Jones

Amsterdam History Museum is probably one of my favorite place in the whole town - been there many,many times and always loved showing it to my friends and visitors. Besides excellent displays of artifacts collected and discovered through the centuries,it also has very interesting part about WW2 where several "windows" tell the stories about ordinary people caught up in the horrors of war - these were people who lived and breathed in Amsterdam,walked these same streets and died because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. For many years I remember being fascinated with a window where two young musicians Johnny and Jones pictures were displayed,together with recordings of their music.

I am sure what sets Johnny and Jones apart from all the other portraits and history is the fact that we can see their photographs and hear their happy swing music - as opposite to some wealthy 16.century merchant who looks stoney-faced from his portrait,these two guys were real people who actually worked in the famous Bijenkorf department store that still stands on the main square Dam. For many years I always visited their "window" and greeted them like old friends,until recently I made a little research and found out more about them. They were very popular just before the outbreak of the war, were billed as "two guys with a guitar", like many others ended up in concentration together with their wives and perished in the camp.

What makes their story unusual and very interesting is that during the war they actually got documents permitting them to leave the camp and record some music in Amsterdam - they could easily hide somewhere in town but both had returned,probably fearing for their wives. Unfortunately they didn't survive the war and both were killed later at the age of 28,what a tragedy - I found all these informations on the net and was truly touched to the point that one morning I woke up with decision I need to find their recorded music, as I am sure there must be some compilation. Surely enough,I found CD very easily but along the way I discovered two more museums that otherwise I never thought about visiting.I love Johnny and Jones very much and besides very interesting story, they left truly happy swinging music along the lines of Django Reinhardt - you hear these two happy young voices singing along with their sweet accented english and they were truly adorable. It makes me happy and sad at the same time. There is one particular bitter-sweet ballad recorded in Amsterdam 1944 as they walked to recording studio with David's star displayed on their chests,called "Westerbork Serenade" (Westerbork was the name of their concentration camp) and its really melancholic - most of their recorded material is uplifting but this is truly mellow,reflective ballad and with all the guy's clowning the feeling of sadness is audible. I wish somebody makes a movie about them,they should never be forgotten.