People often ask me what it's like living in the Netherlands. And usually my first response is, well, if you would have asked me during my first 2 years here, my answer would be much different. I guess it all depends on where you are living and working. Some of you have heard what I write below before, mostly during my own ranting, and some haven't.
When I first moved here, my grandpa asked me, quite seriously, "Do they have running water? and flushing toilets? and electricity?" The answer to all of them of course is Yes, Yes and Yes Virginia, there are modern systems here. Mind you, the last time he had been to Europe was during WWII as a soldier. So his questions do make a kind of sense.
I think if I were to do it all over, there are several things I would change. First off, I probably might have spent a little more time than 3 days to arrange everything. Then I wouldn't have lived the first year out of a couple of suitcases. I might have pushed more for the inburgheringscursus (integration and language lessons sponsered by the state). For some strange reason, I was told I was ineligible when I asked and when it would have helped me more. Oddly, I am required to do them now, 8 years later. I also would have straightened out things with my driver's license sooner.
Because I am a non-EU citizen, and because I do not have the 30% expat tax ruling, I was not allowed to simply exchange it. And international license does not count either. It is simply a translation of your regular license. My American license was only valid for the first 6 months I lived here. If only I had known then, and how wierd is it that your tax status dictates your driving license? Anyways, even though my American license is still valid everywhere else in the world, I am forced to take all the tests again. Not only that, but they seem to have some strange mentality about automatic vs. manual shift cars. It seems only the old, handicapped, or sick drive automatics. Or at least that is the stereotype. Did I say I only drove automatics?
The first year or so here there was definitely a steep learning curve. On the surface, many things seem like they would be quite easy to adapt to, and that is so. It's all the small things that after a while, get to you. Small things like doing your own laundry. If you were to ask an American what temperature they wash their clothes at, you would get a response like "oh warm" or "hot" or "cold". Now over here in Europe, when you ask, you'll get an answer of "oh 30 or 40 degrees Celsius". When you look at the machines, you'll see you have a choice between a range of 30-90 C. This does not tell me what hot, warm or cold is. If the American machines even had it listed in Faranheit, I could convert it (and if your machine does say it, tell me please!!!) So, I assumed 90 was hot and 30 was cold. I was somewhat stuck on what warm was however. Most of my clothes had instructions to wash at warm..... I think you can imagine what the outcome was...
Filling out all the forms and paperwork was interesting as well. I'd receive it in Dutch, spend hours with my dictionary to try to answer it, hand them in saying "Well, I tried, I'm not sure I answered them all correctly.." to hear the people then say "What? You're an English speaker?? Here are the forms in English, fill them out again". Well, one of these forms was a questionnaire about your mental health (for work vs. painter's disease from sniffing too many fumes). There were questions like "Do you often feel frustrated?'"Do you sometimes have difficulty communicating?" and so on. Needless to say, by that time, yes, I was frustrated. I scribbled on a big YES to many of these. When I handed in the form I said "Please take what I said with a grain of salt.." They obviously didn't understand and sent me to the shrink immediately. Ah well.
Anyways, the first 2 years were filled with such things (not to mention being asked "How's your Dutch" about 30 times a day), I missed my family and friends enormously - and still do- but after awhile I gradually got accustomed to it. I've been here long enough now that I sometimes wonder what to say when I am asked "Where are you from" by anyone other than a Dutch person. I still say I am American, but I've picked up enough of an accent that most Americans don't recognize me as such. English people usually ask if I'm Canadian now, or if I'm in the UK, they'll introduce me as being from the Netherlands, even though I'm not Dutch. Causes some confusion when I walk in. In any event, it feels like I'm not American enough for the Americans anymore, nor European enough for the Europeans. I guess that makes me a world citizen?
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