Winkels to the Left, Winkels to the Right: Thoughts from Places, Antwerp

[PassTheMarmalade1957]

@Caolaidhe13 PROOF! ;)

[ashleighmichellexoxo]

As a escalaphobic, I find that escalator particularly terrifying. It's the flat parts that scare me so much. That's were they can suck you in.

[PassTheMarmalade1957]

I just want you to know that I had a headache before watching this video......and I've now just realised that it is gone. MIRACLE CURE!

[Caolaidhe13]

@PassTheMarmalade1957 ohmigoodness, same here! O.o

[CullTheLivingFlower]

"Abolished" .... hahaha. I lol'd so hard.

[sabresister]

I'm currently writing my master's thesis...the first 30 seconds of this video is so relevant.

[cocaotheobromida]

No internet... Except for, you know, uploading the video.

[54cardsmagic]

Greetings from Belgium :D love the show (btw, if you didn't know, a 'winkel' is a store)

[SolaceAvatar]

Man, it's harsh when your train gets abolished.

[JesikaScott]

spending about a minuite trying to pause the video at the perfect time to read that extract from your book reminded me how much i love that book. and while reading it i could practically remember which exact page i was reading, and what happened before and after.

[orangesaregr8]

Okapis are my favorite animals. They're cute.

[LostxinthexMusic]

YOU SAW AN OKAPI!!!!!!!! The Okapi = God's photoshop. It's fantastic. <3

[redhead312]

That awesome moment when you recognize the page from TFIOS

[SnowingWolfGirl]

OKAPI!!!

[TheGreatSteve]

Escalators turn through 180 degrees at the end so going flat for a bit is nothing!

[brambo3636]

You will NEVER take our amazing escalator technology!

[natethepurplepirate]

today i went to the largest bookstore in my city. they didn't have any of your books. time to move...

[nerdfighteria]

By Quote Uh <-- CLUE

[phantomrox87]

I love how the description of the video says the new novel comes out in March when it came out in January :)

[rikko338]

I spent about 5 minutes trying to pause the video on the bit with his laptop screen, just to see if the book had changed noticeably since this. It hadn't.

[SmileyRyleigh8]

That zebra-giraffe-horse is called an okapi, a distant cousin of the giraffe.

[IndeedIamBored]

I'm guessing you were writing TFIOS the whole time you were there?

[thedustofsnow]

trains in belgium are very often 'afgeschaft' lol



[lynitadalitso5]

"We need to wrest this technology from their tiny, polylingual hands!" LOL :D.

[Imagimontana]

Am I the only on who paused the video and compared the stuff on his screen to the text in TFIOS?

[ArcticPrincesss]

OMG you were in my hometown! this thrills me so much!

[steelvenom2003]

0:13 is TFiOS p. 109-110

[sgtfwoods]

This is still one of my favorites

[MeLovingTheMuses]

Antwerp :D love my city, love it even more after watching this video :D (and I love the way you say "afgeschaft" xD)

[Darthmaud88]

it means abolished

[faye4815]

It's funny to see him writing the book that I've just finished reading.

[Em0EIm0]

I found the page he was working on here in TFiOS. :)

[brooklyntakemein94]

hhahahahaa... your train was abolished

[zjeffe]

haha tiny polylingual hands

belgium!!!

[LamanKnight]

I think I will watch this video for the rest of my university and writing career. :)

[aidanaustria11]

zebra giraffe horse = okapi = only species related to giraffe

[samuelvanheijningen]

he sounds like forman from that 70's show

[calicokity1]

"Winkles to the WEFT and Winkes to the Right..." WEFT WEFT WEFT WEFT!

[naomierosen]

DSLGHDKGJDS I WAS THERE I WAS THERE!!! i got very excited when i saw the winkels sign and the amazing escalators and i said "AAAHHHH JOHN WAS HERE!!!"

[47SNicole]

Okay, in my opinion Zebra-Girrafe-Horses (It's an Okapi!) are the coolest animals on the planet. There is a felt one staring at me right now.

[Oleefant]

Those zoo tickets are ridiculously overpriced!

[stephiiee]

so.. when it showed what john was typing i froze the vid, upped the quality, and full screened it. it's a part of tfios, and it's really really nice. pretty spoilery, so i wouldn't recommend it unless you like to spoil things for yourself. i am excited for tfios ya'll!!!

[zacklebomb]

we have those escalators in japan

[nalakitty01]

I would just like to comment and thank you :) Watching this video inspired me to resume writing my own (hopeful)novel-in-progress.

[curroergosum]

'Ticket on the slow train to Antwerp' sounds like an odd country-western song title

[mootEp8pui8Vw2]

and then other people spent 313 hours on the internet watching this video.

[suicunesrider]

ok, fine, I'll say it: If you have the video paused at the VERY beginning of the video.... John looks unbelieveable attractive. There, I said it.

[rawrrar3]

@suicunesrider agreed

[stephiiee]

@suicunesrider You're right =D

[gymcats319]

Copley Square in Boston actually has that escalator.

[TheRyanNeighbor]

John! That zebra giraffe horse thing is called an okapi! It's my favorite animal :D

[ArcticPrincesss]

I LIVE in Antwerp but at that point I wasn't there! Stupid me!

[ArcticPrincesss]

Next time, I'll be more alert O_O

[Camilla0990]

winkels to the left of me, winkels to the right...

Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

[TheKatsProductions]

i you pause at 0:13 and zoom in.

you still cannot read his book :'(

this makes me sad

[CraaaaazyFoooool]

@TheKatsProductions if you watch in high quality you can yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TheKatsProductions]

@CraaaaazyFoooool i figured it out! if you don't have high quality you just put it on full screen and you can read it, it's blurry but still legible! yes! sneak preview

[Redemogirlsix]

Winkles XD

I love writing... Im terrible at it but i love it...

[lemonice2700]

@Redemogirlsix Then you just keep doing what your doing because, as Maureen Johnson said, you can't be afraid to suck. Everyone sucks. But the more you do it, the less you suck, and then pretty soon there's enough room for awesome to sneek in every one in a while.

[MiraVanMeensel]

sooo cool you were in Antwerp, I live there and it is great !

[Bellie93]

Only after 40 seconds I realised winkels is not a english word. I watch too many english videos, all the english and dutch words are getting mixed up in my head.

[MiraVanMeensel]

@Bellie93 I had exactly the same thing :(

[thedustofsnow]

@Bellie93 like in Leslie Winkel ;-)

[callen0987]

pause at 0:13 and read a page of tfios!

[tigressflowers]

Okapi!!!!! <3 <3 <3

[Kedchup]

Funny how Dutch is so much easier to read than to pronounce for most foreign people ;)

[FreelancerWolfy]

Zebra/Giraffe/Horses=Okapi

I have stuffed animal one on my computer and a stirafoam(sp?) one I made when I was in 5th grade in my room.

[Plyrx08]

@FreelancerWolfy Styrofoam.  That's epic though. :D

[itrhymeswithparade]

After going on and on to my mother about how we needed escalators like those in Belgium, I found some in Washinton, DC (I think in the National Gallery of Art). I was beyond thrilled.

[AURA12597]

my day without the internet: I sat in a corner and sobbed until the power came back on.

[dillpickle3499]

Actually, John DID use the Internet because he was on Google translate!!!

[liesjedr]

BELGIUMMMM !!! <3<3<3<3

[Em0EIm0]

Who else paused on the laptop screen, changed the quality to 720p, fullscreened, and read what John was working on?

[thingthing25]

ahah o yay John! This video made me laugh, this totally brightened up my day

[Moira895]

Dear John,

That's an okapi

[blueiis10]

i love that you followed random people and expected them to lead you somewhere awesome. :)

[japanesecigarette]

I just laughed so much. Great video!

[singlexfilexisxlove]

"There are winkles to the weft --" DEAD. It's so adorable that he just said that!!

[BigTigga3]

When he said, "There's a monkey with pants...", I literally started to look all over my screen for a monkey with pants until the second guy showed up and I was like, "Oh, he meant humans..." I felt afgeschafted.

[faisita14]

You should've come to Ghent would"ve showed you everywhere HAPPILY!!

especialy during the 'gentse feesten'

[YouGottaBeJokingz]

John, I don't know if you've noticed, but that's the point of reading. To be sucked into a wondrous world, becoming ignorant of the world around you, as you miss countless bus stops, pulled so deep into such a brilliant book that the rest of the doesn't matter. No, books do not lend themselves to multi-tasking. But that is what so many have come to love about reading, and what they shall continue to love about it.

[GONEmypurpleflapjack]

@YouGottaBeJokingz It's like you are looking into my mind, but oddly I am happy rather than creeped out.

--DFTBA

[YouGottaBeJokingz]

@GONEmypurpleflapjack It's almost as if I read you like a book, huh?

[GONEmypurpleflapjack]

@YouGottaBeJokingz Haha. Yes!

[MissStarkid222]

Oh my goodness I love your tourist strategy and how- oh look a zoo!!

[zeektheawesome]

I believe you saw an ape with pants, not a monkey. Apes have no tails.

[GamerMX1234]

YOU CAN LIVE FOR A DAY WITHOUT THE INTERNET??!??!

[TheAgeOfMusic]

BELGIUM!!! <3 i love my country

[Triplen01]

@TheAgeOfMusic how much is a train ticket from brussles to amsterdam? im thinking of visiting both places soon

[squishy300]

@TheAgeOfMusic For some reason I read that in John's voice...

[pottersdaughters]

Thank you for bringing back monkeys with pants.

[lemonicricket]

Ooh they have those escalators in Paris Auber station!

[codyjhhs]

When I saw the giraffes I actually kinda squeaked a little and then poked the screen repeatedly where the giraffes where. Thank you for fueling my Giraffe addiction, John.

[islaykiwis]

Aww I'm proud of living in Belgium now! But I couldn't meet you in Bruges because I had to go to this boring field trip to the Ardeche (France). Please come to Waterloo! There are so many Nerdfighters here and you can see the Butte de Lion (butt of the lion lol). Nerdfighters await in your future....

[mypatientisntperfect]

You make "afgeschaft" sound like some kind of German naziword x)

[kieranRhunt]

Winkels = Shops :D

[missfifilopez]

really love how this was filmed! very very interesting, entertaining and informative

[LaSperanza11]

Stalking random tourists...interesting travel style. I hope for your sake you don't ever choose to follow me though. My style, at least the first day or two in a new place, is just wandering around randomly stopping for whatever catches my attention. I don't even look at a map unless it's absolutely necessary. The next couple days I hit up the tourist spots...at least the ones cheap enough for a college student budget!

[NovaBUSFan]

Winkels to the weft?

[MrFinalStand]

I got a sneak peak of johns new book ;3 <3

[charliebham21]

You twobare like some of the most awesome and relatable people ever

[ScienceMusicLove]

You know, it's funny John. I watch these videos by you and Hank regularly. And every now and then I go back and look in my subscription box, and see all the videos that have been posted in the last few weeks and think, "Wow! Time goes by so fast. It just seems like yesterday I was watching this video from three weeks ago." Your videos are so funny and thought provoking and awesome, I'm really glad to have them to help mark these days and this life that just seems to fly by.

[InspiredByTheFame]

Dftba.

[1lessthan5]

did you know that giraffes only have an ankle high fence because they wont cross it; they're afraid they'll break their necks.... fun fact. dftba

[TheHPnerds]

Did anyone else go back to see if there was a mokey with pants? Cause I feel pretty stupid.

[animeotaku]

@TheHPnerds There are no monkeys with pants. John was referring to the humans. Humans are apes, not monkeys. (I am majoring in Anthropology. These things kind of bother me.)

-Vivian

[TheHPnerds]

@animeotaku No, I totally get it but the first time I watched this I was only half paying attention and I heard "Monkies in pants" so I totally wound back to see if there was actually a mokey in pants then I saw the zoo workers and did a major headdesk.

[snookers4ever]

i went to a custom t shirt shop today to get a shirt saying "Winkels to the left& Winkels to the right" bring the shirt home and watch the video only to see that my shirt has mis spelt Winkels it says "Winkles to the left& Winkles to the right"

[joebob1379]

Did anyone else pause the video and read the page that John was writing? :)

[GeertTV]

I go through the same train station to go to school! How cool that you visited Antwerp.

[TheWorldOfShadows]

those are Great-Dane sized elephants.

[llUnderscorell]

hahaha the way you speak dutch is hilarious :D

big thumbs up from Antwerp

[Malanaks]

Last time I visited a zoo the giraffes got frisky almost immediately

I saw the lady-part nudging and the mounting and mum wanted to leave but I was like "it's just like john said!" so she thought I was crazy then we left

I feel privileged

[FireFairy219]

Trains get afgeschaft all the time in Belgium. I guess it's part of experiencing Belgium as a tourist.

[inliner904]

@stillgotlegs You seem to forget that we are Americans. We specialize in taking things that aren't ours. You just watch. Screw patent law. Very soon we will be all like "all your escalators are belong to us." :-D.

[Xephist]

There needs to be a love button.

[Lauraa4023]

I've been there :)

[emilysisi]

I saw one of those escalators in Barcelona and had basically the same reaction :D

[furrybeastattack]

I swear he says "Winkels to the weft"

[TheVosch]

Zebra giraffe horses = okapi, John...

[Nyriify]

@TheVosch Okapis are my favorite animal

[MrSpinner159]

omg omg omg you were in belgium :o. i'm from belgium :p next time make a nerfighter meeting here :p

[leftovercheesecake]

Oh and the anxious face you pull immediately after 'Since everyone is leaving i think that was bad' is soooo cute. oh, poor poor john.

[leftovercheesecake]

John, dear. Your 'Thoughts from Places' videos are absolutely beautiful.

[maddoraptor]

Lived in Belgium for 2 years...Waterloo ftw.

[1crazybacon]

they have the escalators in japan too!



[Mrsbelgiancookie]

I live in Belgium and I've never been to Antwerp in my whole life ! How bout visiting Wallonia once ^^? oh and the train thing? happens all the time around here XD

[UEACSherman]

Did anyone else pause the video and full-screen it to try to read just a page from his new book?

[jsnail89]

That tortoise is obviously the Lady Gaga of tortoises.

[AntarcticShockWave]

Zebra-Giraffe-Horse are called Okapi. :)

[Xdohls]

AFGESCHAFT!

[demitrishay100]

Actually Afgeschaft means abolished when uncapitalized, but when completely capitalized, it means DISCONTINUED.

[Wanriky]

0:44 Winkels to the weft...

:3

[Paool3107]

Aren't Giraffes also omnivores? Or are they just capable of violence with their mouths?

[CrrackTheSkye]

:( I had to work, so I couldn't come to Bruges today :(

[helloimIca]

i wanna do this too.

[janotosinnumeros]

what is a winkel?

[birgiteke]

@janotosinnumeros shop ^^

[janotosinnumeros]

@birgiteke Thanks! :)

[babylonsable]

arrrrr same as my laptop :D hehehe yey! Winkles ! x

[OrangeZest100]

John, I agree about the writing/reading. I noticed, however, that though you spent a day away from the internet you still turned your camera on so you could make a vlog for the internet.

[OrsonSpade]

My fellow nerdfighter friend and I were discussing this video and joking around on the bus in the morning when, after we had both exclaimed, "afgeschaft!" in unison, a bloke on the bus said, "That means abolished.... I didn't know you were a nerdfighter too!" Then we made the nerdfighter hand gesture of awesome & reveled in the delight of finding yet another member of nerdfighteria right in our own backyard. It was superb.

[Psychologese]

@OrsonSpade That was a strange thing for the man to say.

[MistHarbinger]

There is a great deal of fun to be had by living a day(or several, though preferably not all in a row) without the internet. It allows me to think. To me, the internet represents how distracted people have become. With the ability to see whatever we want, when we want, online people no longer seem to care about the simple things. Why go outside and watch the world when you can put a picture of a lake as your desktop or play some high-def fantasy game. It seems so terribly sad to me.

[33dgtp]

abolished .....

[coquelicootje]

now I know how people feel when you film in a place where they are from... it is wicked awesome!!!

[lunacat101]

okapi are my favorite animal now :)

[xxN00Rxx]

love<3

[singxplayxdance]

haha I love this video <3

[blacksnowhitequeen]

Now as for the escalators, they have them in Lisbon too. I was rather impressed as well.

[Migiona]

ANTWERP! I love that city ^_^

I live in Belguim myself and Antwerp is a very artistic city to me.

[hugatreer]

It's an okapi!! The half zebra and half giraffe animal!!!

[ModernDear]

You make me laugh more than almost any other YouTuber I watch. =)

[headcrab21]

John Green is the only person I know of who would have his train abolished.

[birgiteke]

@headcrab21 really it happens alot in belgium :b

[joeshmo101joeshmo101]

"Sorry I'm late, my train got ABOLISHED."

*Imagines some sort of missile-riding Abraham Lincoln crashing into Grand Central Station*

[roadrunnerrune1]

Didn't you use the internet to look up afgeschaft

[nintendude794]

@roadrunnerrune1 When he edited the video, he looked it up.

[i90Christian]

A day without internet? Dutch trains have internet - wifi!!!

[kittenfury]

Winkels to the weft.

[JessSounds]

This is exactly why I love your youtube channel. the complete randomness. I wish more people are like that! Wish you the best with your book, and it really sucks that you go to my school, but i dont have the change to meet you :( have a good time at The Netherlands though !

[Kellerspinne]

god I love your videos so much...

[rhombus0ne]

Is John getting hotter?

[TotallyAwesomeTimes7]

1:31 That is a Lion fish!!! =]

[ArteyLover1]

its no a zebra-giraffe-horse its an Okapi~