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!
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