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zkaI want to start this entry on a positive note! (Before I describe our first 2 weeks of confusion and overwhelm.) Last night we discovered the best Indian food ever, a 3-minute walk from our house. Today we rode our bikes to the mall, and had lunch with expat friends (ex-Portlanders), it was lovely.
So it's been a nice 24 hours!
I've heard folks describe the Netherlands as relaxed, and laid back! I'm sure it's true, after you spend significant time here. Long enough to find your groove.
I'm fully confused by everything here, on an hourly basis. I expected to escape the layer cake of stress, 2 weeks ago. Instead I have moments where I feel like my breathing is constricted and rapid. Holy shit dude. Every single email, phone call, interaction, and transaction (no matter how minor) has a language barrier, because we don't speak Dutch.
I like the Dutch language. It's a close relative to English. It should be "easy" to learn, compared to (oh I don't know) Mandarin? I'm watching videos and raiding the Hear Dutch Here website. It's been 2 weeks, I can say "good day" and "thank you". I'm unsure if my context is correct; am I being polite, or inappropriate?
I feel like there's a 3x difficulty multiplier to all things digital. I keep a Google Translate tab open, and I'm constantly pasting text into it. Sometimes the translations are suspect! "Alstublieft" is translated as "please", but workers say this to me after I say "thank you"?? As always, context is everything: This expression is a formality, and the literal translation is akin to "as it pleases you".
Spoken Dutch has sounds which aren't present in spoken English. The letter G sounds like clearing your throat, "hhccchhhhh". Watch out, this sound has regional variations, too.
By the way. Everything is digital now. The black glass controls reality: Buying stuff, finding information, making plans, sourcing food, the financial universe. It's all pixels through a language barrier.
Lots of websites just don't work here. I ordered specialty sewing thread from a German website (couldn't find a store in the Netherlands). Clicked the checkout button, it debited my account ... but the order wasn't confirmed, and the items were still in the cart? Hmmmm. I called them by phone (note the 9x language multiplier: my English × Dutch bank × German store employee), she was very nice and it's resolved now, but this sort of thing happens alarmingly often. My husband had a package tied up in Dutch UPS for 3 days, and of course the phone tree is useless, even after you understand which options are available.
Very frustrating, when you're trying to (oh I don't know) do anything. Or buy essential objects for your empty living space.
There's a local bakery whose website simply reads: "This account has been suspended. Either the domain has been overused, or the reseller ran out of resources."
In America, I think we're raised with the implicit expectation that things mostly just work, at predictable times. If something is obviously broken, we feel entitled to have someone else fix it. I suspect the rest of the world is a bit loosey-goosey.
Getting insurance is straightforward. Getting a doctor is trickier. Your GP (General Practitioner) must work in your zip code?! This seems weird, but our expat friends explained it's because doctors make house calls, and they don't want to travel far from the clinic.
Husband called all the eligible medical practices, and no one was accepting new patients. On the final call, he stated that everyone else had turned us away, and they sighed and said "okay" and squeezed us into their practice ... starting in October.
If you take life-saving medication, I hope you have several months squirreled away in reserve?
Also new to me: Doctor's appointments are strictly 15 minutes long, and you're allowed to discuss one issue. If you have multiple issues, you need to schedule multiple 15-minute appointments (yes, these can be adjacent).
Trash must be sorted correctly. There are 14 categories of household waste, but only 4 are relevant to us:
But wait! Our grey bin is marked "Restafval", hmmmmm. We called city hall, and the representative didn't understand why we had a can for "everything else". They promised to launch an investigation! Which probably didn't happen. We're still awaiting their callback, days later.
Foolishly, we've dumped all our trash in the grey bin, because we're Americans, duh. Tomorrow, we have the exquisite privilege of sorting 2 weeks of rancid garbage into proper bins and bags, and I'm living honey
Our dog loves the backyard. She's barking at everything: cats, neighbors, doors slamming shut. Houses are packed closer here, we share walls with neighbors. Baby girl please stop I'm mortified
Everything is tiny, and proportioned strangely, not really the human-scale I expect: refrigerator, shower, washing machine. The "oven" is a microwave with special modes that mimic baking and grilling.
Don't get me started on the murder-stairs.
That's enough complaining for one night. I guess the punch line is: it's been a mere 2 weeks, and we're still """adjusting""". Imagine a progress bar, ranging from "American" to "Dutch"; we're at about 2%, and it's no one's fault but ours, of course.
Foolishly, I expected life would be easier here. Currently, it's not! I'm inventing new ways to cope with stress, and being immersed in situations which are (literally) foreign to me.
Unless you're moving into a fully furnished house, and already speak the language: there will be many challenges. How's that for mind-blowing wisdom? Wow, great.
Next entry: be more positive, yes? There's been delights and surprises in the mix too, so ... to be continued.
So it's been a nice 24 hours!
I've heard folks describe the Netherlands as relaxed, and laid back! I'm sure it's true, after you spend significant time here. Long enough to find your groove.
I'm fully confused by everything here, on an hourly basis. I expected to escape the layer cake of stress, 2 weeks ago. Instead I have moments where I feel like my breathing is constricted and rapid. Holy shit dude. Every single email, phone call, interaction, and transaction (no matter how minor) has a language barrier, because we don't speak Dutch.
I like the Dutch language. It's a close relative to English. It should be "easy" to learn, compared to (oh I don't know) Mandarin? I'm watching videos and raiding the Hear Dutch Here website. It's been 2 weeks, I can say "good day" and "thank you". I'm unsure if my context is correct; am I being polite, or inappropriate?
I feel like there's a 3x difficulty multiplier to all things digital. I keep a Google Translate tab open, and I'm constantly pasting text into it. Sometimes the translations are suspect! "Alstublieft" is translated as "please", but workers say this to me after I say "thank you"?? As always, context is everything: This expression is a formality, and the literal translation is akin to "as it pleases you".
Spoken Dutch has sounds which aren't present in spoken English. The letter G sounds like clearing your throat, "hhccchhhhh". Watch out, this sound has regional variations, too.
By the way. Everything is digital now. The black glass controls reality: Buying stuff, finding information, making plans, sourcing food, the financial universe. It's all pixels through a language barrier.
Lots of websites just don't work here. I ordered specialty sewing thread from a German website (couldn't find a store in the Netherlands). Clicked the checkout button, it debited my account ... but the order wasn't confirmed, and the items were still in the cart? Hmmmm. I called them by phone (note the 9x language multiplier: my English × Dutch bank × German store employee), she was very nice and it's resolved now, but this sort of thing happens alarmingly often. My husband had a package tied up in Dutch UPS for 3 days, and of course the phone tree is useless, even after you understand which options are available.
Very frustrating, when you're trying to (oh I don't know) do anything. Or buy essential objects for your empty living space.
There's a local bakery whose website simply reads: "This account has been suspended. Either the domain has been overused, or the reseller ran out of resources."
In America, I think we're raised with the implicit expectation that things mostly just work, at predictable times. If something is obviously broken, we feel entitled to have someone else fix it. I suspect the rest of the world is a bit loosey-goosey.
Getting insurance is straightforward. Getting a doctor is trickier. Your GP (General Practitioner) must work in your zip code?! This seems weird, but our expat friends explained it's because doctors make house calls, and they don't want to travel far from the clinic.
Husband called all the eligible medical practices, and no one was accepting new patients. On the final call, he stated that everyone else had turned us away, and they sighed and said "okay" and squeezed us into their practice ... starting in October.
If you take life-saving medication, I hope you have several months squirreled away in reserve?
Also new to me: Doctor's appointments are strictly 15 minutes long, and you're allowed to discuss one issue. If you have multiple issues, you need to schedule multiple 15-minute appointments (yes, these can be adjacent).
Trash must be sorted correctly. There are 14 categories of household waste, but only 4 are relevant to us:
- Paper and cardboard: goes in the blue bin.
- Compost, food scraps: in the green bin.
- Plastic, metal, drink boxes: in the grey bin.
- Everything else ("Restafval"): Put it in a bag, walk it up the street, open the weird public receptacle with a city-issued key fob, stuff the bag into its chute. The bag falls to a subterranean pit. When the pit is full, a sensor is tripped, and the city picks up the trash.
But wait! Our grey bin is marked "Restafval", hmmmmm. We called city hall, and the representative didn't understand why we had a can for "everything else". They promised to launch an investigation! Which probably didn't happen. We're still awaiting their callback, days later.
Foolishly, we've dumped all our trash in the grey bin, because we're Americans, duh. Tomorrow, we have the exquisite privilege of sorting 2 weeks of rancid garbage into proper bins and bags, and I'm living honey
Our dog loves the backyard. She's barking at everything: cats, neighbors, doors slamming shut. Houses are packed closer here, we share walls with neighbors. Baby girl please stop I'm mortified
Everything is tiny, and proportioned strangely, not really the human-scale I expect: refrigerator, shower, washing machine. The "oven" is a microwave with special modes that mimic baking and grilling.
Don't get me started on the murder-stairs.
That's enough complaining for one night. I guess the punch line is: it's been a mere 2 weeks, and we're still """adjusting""". Imagine a progress bar, ranging from "American" to "Dutch"; we're at about 2%, and it's no one's fault but ours, of course.
Foolishly, I expected life would be easier here. Currently, it's not! I'm inventing new ways to cope with stress, and being immersed in situations which are (literally) foreign to me.
Unless you're moving into a fully furnished house, and already speak the language: there will be many challenges. How's that for mind-blowing wisdom? Wow, great.
Next entry: be more positive, yes? There's been delights and surprises in the mix too, so ... to be continued.
