One of the things I find the most frustrating living here is dealing with banks and the Gemeentehuis. Sometimes it can be so frustrating. I have to psych myself up to go speaking my best Dutch...and then hope that it'll go ok. Thank goodness I don't have to make these trips so often anymore, but in the beginning there are certain things that need to be arranged: "inschrijving" (registering) with the Gemeente, getting a bank account, etc. etc. Doing all of that when you don't speak the best Dutch is challenging.
Today I had to go to the bank to pick up some cash money to pay for the car I am buying. Wat een gedoe!!! I thought that since I had the cash sitting in my bank account, this would be no issue. But no, apparently at the bank I use, for larger amounts, you are expected to "order the money" 2 days ahead of time. This is the problem....you don't know these rules until you come across such a situation...and then you learn. This isn't the first such surprise which I've had. In retrospect I always feel stupid for not looking up whether whatever I need is possible. I often make the mistake of assuming that things will be the same as I was used to in Canada, and that's generally not the case. Banking in particular can be annoying. Things that in Canada could be arranged on the spot often take way more time. I've had to get a new pinpass a number of times because it stopped working, and they then send you your new pinpass in 4 working days (I believe). Why is this necessary? In Canada, I would get a temporary pass on the spot and then a replacement a few days later in the mail.
I also hate being spoken to like I am dumb. I may be foreign and have a different accent, and perhaps not know how everything works around here...but I am not stupid! I felt like screaming this at the bank teller today, who insisted on telling me over and over what was not possible, instead of trying to help me figure out how I was going to fix my problem. Ahh...customer service in the Netherlands!
Friday 29 October 2010
Sunday 24 October 2010
Vervoer/Transportation
I accomplished something pretty exciting this weekend...I bought a car! I've been car-less for the past 2 years and I will admit that I have very rarely missed having a car. I live about 500 metres away from the NS station in my town and though most Dutch people think it sucks, I've found public transportation in Holland to be generally reliable. The way the town is set up where I live, it's actually easier and quicker to do errands such as grocery shopping with the bike. Everything is so close by that it actually took me about a year before I even bought myself a bike. At first I just walked everywhere, and it was actually very do-able.
There were some other barriers that kept me from running out and buying a car. I find driving in the Netherlands to be scarier than driving in Canada. This is of course ridiculous, because I am used to driving through blizzards, on super busy 4 lane highways, through downtown Toronto etc, etc....but somehow the narrow streets here with cyclists flying by are scarier for me. I also wasn't used to driving a car with a manual transmission. I didn't learn to do that until I met my boyfriend, who such a car. I found it super scary to learn, which I know is also silly, but am proud of myself for pushing myself to do it.
However, when it came time to buy my very own car, I decided it should be an automatic. Why? Because I am lazy, and I don't want to be stressing out about shifting gears on the way to work in the morning! In researching cars, I became aware of the existence of "wegenbelasting" (road tax). The more fuel efficient a car is, the lower the road tax. I initially thought the Toyota Aygo would be a good option....they make a car with a quasi-automatic transmission which is "wegenbelasting vrij" (no road tax), but I eventually decided against it. Instead I will be buying something which has a pretty low monthly road tax payment, but feels a little more solid. And of course, is AUTOMATIC!
I'm excited to start driving on Dutch roads in my very own car!
There were some other barriers that kept me from running out and buying a car. I find driving in the Netherlands to be scarier than driving in Canada. This is of course ridiculous, because I am used to driving through blizzards, on super busy 4 lane highways, through downtown Toronto etc, etc....but somehow the narrow streets here with cyclists flying by are scarier for me. I also wasn't used to driving a car with a manual transmission. I didn't learn to do that until I met my boyfriend, who such a car. I found it super scary to learn, which I know is also silly, but am proud of myself for pushing myself to do it.
However, when it came time to buy my very own car, I decided it should be an automatic. Why? Because I am lazy, and I don't want to be stressing out about shifting gears on the way to work in the morning! In researching cars, I became aware of the existence of "wegenbelasting" (road tax). The more fuel efficient a car is, the lower the road tax. I initially thought the Toyota Aygo would be a good option....they make a car with a quasi-automatic transmission which is "wegenbelasting vrij" (no road tax), but I eventually decided against it. Instead I will be buying something which has a pretty low monthly road tax payment, but feels a little more solid. And of course, is AUTOMATIC!
I'm excited to start driving on Dutch roads in my very own car!
Tuesday 19 October 2010
Why I will stay in Holland...
It is pretty amazing to me how quickly a place that was once "foreign" can become Home. After a little more than two years living in the Netherlands, I am convinced that this will be the place where I spend the majority of the rest of my life working and raising the kids that I hope someday come! That was never my initial plan, but after being here a year or so and getting my bearings in terms of learning the language and getting settled in my job, I realized that this is a fantastic country, and I could really see myself here "for good". I think a huge factor which made this process easier was that I learned the language right away. The first 4 weeks I was here, I took intensive language lessons with a private teacher. Expensive, but necessary for my work as I work in the eastern part of the country and though I am always impressed with the ability of Dutch people to speak English, not everyone around here can. That was actually a blessing in disguise. When people automatically switch to English when speaking to you, it doesn't force you to try and learn. And simply through listening, I think I picked things up. I maybe didn't understand all of the words at first, but I could grasp the meaning of what someone was trying to say. Gradually that improved. Now I would say I am fairly fluent. I don't understand every single thing, sometimes have to ask my boyfriend for clarification on some things or ask people to repeat themselves, but I can carry on a normal conversation. I have to say that making the effort to learn wasn't always easy. I had days in the beginning where I came home from work so exhausted from speaking another language all day that I couldn't even bring myself to make dinner. But the effort was well worth it.
So, after a year or so here, I figured if I had gotten over the hurdle of learning the language, then why not consider staying longer. I opened up to the idea that if I could find someone with whom I would like to spend my life, then maybe I could stay here for good. I loooooooove Canada....love going back to visit....miss my friends and family....but there are certain things that I would just never have living in Canada that I can have here. For example: 4 weeks of vacation as soon as I started working! When I began my current job, I was informed that I would have 4 weeks of paid vacation per year. I was pumped! I mean, who has that right off the bat at a new job in Canada? I have to say that now that I have been here a little longer, I have found out that 4 weeks is actually the legal minimum of vacation time in the Netherlands. I was a little disappointed when I realized that people in lower positions in my company have more vacation time. However, they have been pretty flexible about me taking more time if I need it, so I can't complain!
The second thing I've noticed that is really attractive to me, is that many people do not work 5 days a week here. In Canada, it seems to be the norm that both partners work 5 days per week. Here, it is quite common for mothers to work 3 days per week and sometimes for fathers to work part time as well. What a genius idea! I think the Dutch have simply accepted that it is not possible (or not for everyone anyway) to balance a family life and full-time work and actually enjoy yourself. I love that this is completely socially acceptable here.
Those are really just a couple of the things that make living here attractive. In general, I have to say that I find Dutch social policy to be quite logical and fair and that things are quite well-organized. It hasn't always felt that way. I know that I occasionally faced some kind of "discrimination" when visiting the Gemeente Huis (city hall) and trying to arrange certain things. I sometimes felt like people looked at me like I was stupid because I couldn't speak proper Dutch...that is still a feeling that I occasionally have. In general though, I think the Netherlands is a country that makes things rather easy for ex-pats and I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to come and work here.
So, after a year or so here, I figured if I had gotten over the hurdle of learning the language, then why not consider staying longer. I opened up to the idea that if I could find someone with whom I would like to spend my life, then maybe I could stay here for good. I loooooooove Canada....love going back to visit....miss my friends and family....but there are certain things that I would just never have living in Canada that I can have here. For example: 4 weeks of vacation as soon as I started working! When I began my current job, I was informed that I would have 4 weeks of paid vacation per year. I was pumped! I mean, who has that right off the bat at a new job in Canada? I have to say that now that I have been here a little longer, I have found out that 4 weeks is actually the legal minimum of vacation time in the Netherlands. I was a little disappointed when I realized that people in lower positions in my company have more vacation time. However, they have been pretty flexible about me taking more time if I need it, so I can't complain!
The second thing I've noticed that is really attractive to me, is that many people do not work 5 days a week here. In Canada, it seems to be the norm that both partners work 5 days per week. Here, it is quite common for mothers to work 3 days per week and sometimes for fathers to work part time as well. What a genius idea! I think the Dutch have simply accepted that it is not possible (or not for everyone anyway) to balance a family life and full-time work and actually enjoy yourself. I love that this is completely socially acceptable here.
Those are really just a couple of the things that make living here attractive. In general, I have to say that I find Dutch social policy to be quite logical and fair and that things are quite well-organized. It hasn't always felt that way. I know that I occasionally faced some kind of "discrimination" when visiting the Gemeente Huis (city hall) and trying to arrange certain things. I sometimes felt like people looked at me like I was stupid because I couldn't speak proper Dutch...that is still a feeling that I occasionally have. In general though, I think the Netherlands is a country that makes things rather easy for ex-pats and I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to come and work here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)