Tax time

It's that time of year again....crocuses are coming up, the days are getting longer, it's almost Spring!  This also means it's time to file your taxes!  While the deadline in Canada is April 30th for filing your tax return, here it is April 1st.  I was just thinking back to my first year here, and how much scarier a process this was for me than it always was filing taxes "back home".  First of all, I had no idea that in order to file my taxes, I would need to have a "digid".  Someone did actually mention to me that I would need to apply for one, so I made sure to arrange this right away.  I got all of the papers in the mail, and put them in a safe place with my salarisstroken (pay stubs) and jaaropgave (T4 back home) and figured I would take all of that to the appointment with a local accountant which I had arranged.  Later, I realized that I needed to activate the digid by a certain date or the activation code would expire...I of course did this too late, so had to apply for a new one again!  Aaah!  

I remember walking to my appointment with the accountant, because at that point in time I didn't even own a bike.  The office was probably 4 kms from where I lived.  This is of course not far at all, but I remember being unsure of where it was and afraid I would show up late etc.  Looking back, I see how small my world was at that point in time.  I walked everywhere, and the essential parts of my life existed in probably a 1km radius. 

The tax return did end up being completed in time, and the accountant managed to get some money back from the money I had spent on health insurance in my first year.  Since I had only been there half the year, I hadn't earned much and qualified for some sort of tax break!  However, going to the accountant led to a pretty steep bill (which came I think 3 months later or so!).  I didn't trust myself to do it alone, online, in Dutch at the time.  So, I didn't have a problem spending the money to ensure the job was done properly, but looking back I suppose I could have found a Dutch person to help me out with it.  

This year my bf will be doing it for me (yay!).  I feel like I have to excuse my laziness and dependence here by saying that I always did my own taxes in Canada (literally from the time I was 16 years old).  I actually feel like this is the first year where I might have tried doing my taxes here on my own, but apparently since we live together now it makes sense to file them together.  This sounds a little complicated, so I will let him handle it.  I've got all the papers together...and have a brand new digid code...it seems every year I have to arrange this all over again since I lose the code from the year before.  And every year I curse the Dutch government for having coming up with this crazy thing. 

I spent this Saturday at a typical Dutch birthday party (or fairly typical anyway...no sitting in a circle at this one).  At such an event, family and friends of the "jarige" (person celebrating) are invited to come and eat cake, drink coffee and chit chat for a few hours.  The polite thing to do when you arrive is to congratulate the person whose birthday it is...but also everyone else who's there.  I found this pretty strange the first time.  My boyfriend started going around the room, shaking everyone's hand and saying "gefeliciteerd", of course without warning me that this was the custom.  

At this birthday party, I had a bit of a chat with one of my boyfriend's uncles.  I've met him before, but he seemed to forget where I was from etc...so I had to give the usual explanation about what I was doing here and where I came from/why etc.  When I told him I was Canadian, he began to tell me how he remembers being freed by the Canadians at the end of WWII.  Hearing these sorts of stories never fails to bring me to tears.  (I cry easily...but still.)  Being here, and meeting people who lived through that time, makes you realize that that time wasn't so long ago.  It also makes me realize how lucky I am to have been born at the time and place I was.  I have met people here who were literally in concentration camps or prison camps during the war, and it is amazing to see how resilient they are.  They have gone on to make wonderful lives for themselves, despite all they have seen and been through.   

Boswandeling

We took a great little walk in the forest today.  I think this is going to become part of our normal weekend routine.  I'm so looking forward to the days getting longer so that we can enjoy the nearby forest after work too.  I never thought of the Netherlands as being a forest-rich country, but really there are tonnes of great spots for walking or biking.  I also think one of the great things about this country is the amount of bike paths.  Running and biking is so much safer with these paths.  Last summer we spent a couple of weeks in the south of France for vacation, and I nearly risked my life trying to run along the road there.  Though it's only mid-February, you can really notice that the days are getting longer and warmer. Here are some photos from our walk today.

This last photo is of what the Dutch call "heide".  I am pretty sure that it would be called heather in English.  When it's in bloom it's beautiful!  (see below)

Big City Love

I went into Amsterdam today to run a few errands, taking the train from where I live in the East.  (Actually, due to work on the train tracks, I actually had to drive to Amersfoort first...but that's beside the point.)  I was slightly shocked at how happy it made me to be in a big city for a little while.  I always treat myself to a starbucks drink when arriving, and as I exited Amsterdam Centraal latte with my latte, I thought to myself "heerlijk".  Seriously...I actually thought it in Dutch.  These things have been happening more and more often lately.  Last week while driving, I started yelling at another driver in Dutch.  I suppose it's a sign I've integrated. 

My boyfriend has exactly the opposite reaction to the busy feel of a city like Amsterdam.  He would much rather live in a smaller, quieter place.  That's actually a big reason why we've chosen to live really close to the national forest here (The Veluwe).  I on the other hand, loooooove the convenience of being in a large centre.  There are a million fun things about Amsterdam, but I think what I really enjoy most is that there I can find basically everything I could ever want or need.  The last few years that I lived in Canada, I lived in Toronto and I loved that too.  Toronto has lots of great little neighbourhoods and tonnes of amazing shops and after a few years, I knew exactly where to go for whatever I needed.  I had a favourite card store, clothing store, coffeeshop etc.  Unfortunately, where we live is so small that none of those things exist here.  So today, with my Starbucks in hand...I almost felt like I was at home!   The only thing missing was my Canadian girlfriends.  

Sometimes I have so much respect for Dutch women!  They have this attitude that is just like, "get on with it, no complaining".  As is our usual habit here, I went this morning to the outdoor market and then to the supermarket.  In our new house, we have a little bigger of a fridge and more storage space, so we try to just shop once a week (North American style!).

Today, I noticed something which I remember really shocked me when I first arrived here.  At the grocery stores in Canada, generally the ladies at the check out will pack your groceries into bags for you.  Here, you are generally expected to bring your own bags (which I know is also becoming quite normal in Canada now), but I remember at the beginning being here feeling so rushed to make my payment and then pack my bags.   This was made all the more scary because I didn't really speak the language yet and really had to pay attention to what was going on.   Today, I was doing the shopping all alone....when we go together, we've got the tasks totally assigned...my boyfriend packs everything up and I do the paying (I think this is great!).  It amazed me how quickly I watched the lady after me pack all her stuff in her cart (also all alone).  She was practically done before me.  Someday, maybe I'll get the hang of this too....right?  But this is what I mean about there being something in the culture here that says...just do your thing, get on with it...  Births without epidurals, at home...grocery shopping on the bike, with two kids on it....and no help packing your bags....do it yourself and do it fast!

Thuis

Looks like I'm laying down roots here in Holland.  My boyfriend ("vriend") and I have bought a house together.  Heeeeel spannend!!!

Buying a house is something I'd always expected to do at some point in my life, but buying a house in Holland is obviously not something you expect for yourself as a girl growing up in Canada.  Since meeting my boyfriend about a year and a half ago, it became pretty clear to me that I would likely be settling down here.  The initial plan when I moved here was to work at this job for a few years and then head back to Canada.  Then I found myself really loving Holland, and decided that maybe I should open myself up to the possibility of meeting someone here and really making a life here.  And that's basically what happened.

I am so excited to be taking this step.  It is strange though to be buying your first home not in your own country.  First of all, because suddenly you have a lot of financial things to arranged in Dutch (always fun!).  But more importantly, taking this step makes it pretty clear that I am making a commitment to be living my life here for at least the next 5 years or so.  That makes it a little bittersweet....so exciting to be buying a home, but also sad that the home is so far away from a lot of the people I love.  At the end of the day, I'm just thankful that I have a job that allows me to see a bit of the world, live in a beautiful country and buy a house. 

Herfst

We're deep into the Autumn here in Holland..."wintertijd" (what we call Daylight Savings Time back home) is here.  True "herfstweer" (fall weather) has arrived and darkness comes early.  Having grown up in Canada, I am used to some pretty harsh winters.  Fall/winter here is different.  I'm used to bright, crisp, cold days.  It can be truly freeeeeeezing sometimes where I grew up, but if there is at least sunlight, I find that ok.  Here, a crisp sunny day is definitely a rarity.  Winter consists more of rainy, windy weather.  The Dutch have a word for the bone-chilling cold that comes from the humid, wet weather..."waterkoud".  I find it to be pretty fitting.


What comes along with this time of the year, is the Sinterklaas craziness.  This catches me off guard every year...suddenly there are kids running around town in their little pietepakken with their black faces, crushed pepernoten all over the streets etc, etc.  Because I haven't grown up around this holiday, I find myself every year being a little taken aback by all the celebrating.  Yesterday there was a parade of marching bands, floats etc. just outside my house and it seemed like the whole town was out to celebrate the arrival of Sinterklaas.