The Honeymoon is OVER!!!

7 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours and 45 minutes - that is how long it took for the honeymoon to end.  It is a small miracle that some Dutch person wasn't at the receiving end of my wrath and fury and isn't dead today.  From everything I had read on relocating and culture shock, this day was destined to come.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't hate everything about here and by no means do I want to/am ready to come back to Canada, but rather have finally reached a level of frustration that warrants someone dying!

First things first - it is still bloody cold here and I am still freezing. And sitting in some port, in some part of this country is my stuff.  And in my stuff is my long underwear - which I am in desperate need of.  I mean on Sunday I had to wear my down jacket, my mitts and a toque!  It is the end of bloody March already!  At least the sun occasionally shines. I am so fed up with this cold weather that I am heading to Palm Springs first thing in the morning and by first thing, I mean I have to catch the train to Schipol at 5:47am (and they are very efficient here) for an 8:15am flight, but I digress.

So what specifically has caused the honeymoon to end.  Well I guess it was a couple of things today and on their own, none of them were really that big but compounded with one another, I just decided that the honeymoon was over.  Firstly, as you know (if you read my blog) my stuff is here and is sitting in Rotterdam (I think) in a secure warehouse waiting to be cleared by Dutch customs.  As a part of my relocation package, I am provided with a moving company who also handles the importation of my goods into the country and all of the necessary paperwork and declarations.  What I was required to provide them (and did on March 5) was my proof of registration at the town hall, which would then lead to a "residence card" to be issued by Immigration.  I had been previously counselled by the relocation team that also assists with my move, that all the moving company, and customs needed was that proof.  So following the process as I so diligently have  done during this entire move, I emailed a PDF copy of all of the appropriate paperwork, only to be told by the moving company that they, being Customs, needs a copy of my residence card.  Okay but I have no control over how long that takes and they say typically is takes about 4 weeks for it to come in, from where, I don't know and to where I don't know, other than I would get a letter on where to pick it up.  So every day, I have eagerly checking my mailbox.  WAITING.  And WAITING.  And WAITING.  Today it has officially been 5 weeks and no card.  Then I read some of the fine print, in Dutch of course, and it said that Immigration officially has up to 6 months to issue you your card.  After reading that, I realized that another email to the moving company was in order.

Simply put, I said to them just that - that Immigration had up to 6 months to issue my card, so would Customs really be holding my stuff for that long?  Within about an hour, I got an email back from the moving company suggesting that there had been a communication issue and that they didn't require my actual card but rather proof of registration with the town office.  So through my email files I went and sent a nice (honestly, it was) email back to the moving company, copying him of his original email to me and my email back with all of the attached paperwork, along with a note saying that I had yet another Dutch person read these forms (because they are all in Dutch and mean bupkas to me), and indeed one of the items that I had already sent was in fact my proof of registration.  I do believe that this elevated my blood pressure slightly, as my entire move has been on hold because I/we have been waiting for this card.  About an hour after I sent that email, I got another one back from the moving company suggesting that perhaps Customs has missed that paper.  I want to know - how the hell can you miss it - it was the only attachment I had sent!  I honestly think my mover was trying to pass the buck on to customs because he screwed up!  However before I left for my holiday, I still hadn't heard back from the movers if Customs had all that they needed.  So who the hell knows when I am going to get my stuff!

Then on top of that and staying with the whole moving theme, I still don't have my official rental contract, although in The Netherlands a verbal contract is a binding contract so the place is mine.  What concerns me is that my possession date is supposed to be April 8 (I was originally assuming that my things would be out of hawk by then), which is the day that I return, with my mom, who is coming over to help me move in.  See any problems here?!  Just a few eh?!  At the beginning of the week my rental agent sent me a note saying that we should have the contract later this week - well later this week has come and it is going and I have nothing.  I sent them a note this morning asking for an update and also informing them that I was going away and would not be able to sign a contract while I was away as I won't have access to a printer or a scanner.  Did I hear anything back.  No.  Typical Dutch.  Let's put it this way, they don't pride themselves on customer service here.  I am used to that.

By the time I leave the office, I am in not bad spirits because hey, it is a long weekend and I am going to sit in the sun and sip some cocktails for the next week and whatever happens with my things and my house, happens and there is not a whole lot I can do about it.  So I get on my tram to head home and instead of swinging up towards where it is supposed to go (and where I am going) it starts to head in the opposite direction, b/c there is some big Easter thing happening and they have blocked the tramlines.  Do they make an announcement on the tram that this is happening - no, I just figured it out when we started to head back to where I came from. I was mad for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, b/c it is bloody cold and the only reason I was taking the tram instead of walking was because of the cold!!!!  Secondly,  were there any notices anywhere saying that this would be happening?  No! (not that it would matter because they would be in Dutch anyway - but still, it is the principle)  Rather than take out my fury on the tram driver, because he had no control of the situation and only found out about the change when he started his shift, I decided then and there that the honeymoon was over and that I was done with the Dutch!

I am sure in a few days, I will be back to loving the Dutch and the Dutch ways, but for now - I'm not and it is probably a good thing that I am taking a bit of a break, or I am sure someone would be getting my wrath sooner, rather than later - if only out of shear frustration.

Finding Friends & a Community

Firstly, let me start this post by saying damn it is cold here!!!!  I know, I know, I seem to lament about the weather a lot here but honestly, these past few days have been brutal. There is a northish wind coming through making it feel like about -40C!   This hearty Canadian, who lived and worked in the arctic is FREEZING!!!!  Palm Springs cannot come soon enough!

I will always be the first to acknowledge that I have an amazing community of friends and family from all parts of my life, and I attribute that to my parents and the fact that we moved throughout my childhood - and of course Facebook.  Friends and family have always been very important to me, and I don't let go of people too easily, so when I made the decision to move overseas, I really wondered how I would go about making new friends and building a new community.  As much as everyone thinks that I am an extrovert and very outgoing, I am at work but not really in my personal life.  I am quite content to hermit at home and if I don't see another person all weekend, I am okay with that - or so I thought.  What I have realized is that I was okay with that because if I did want to see someone or be around people, I could, as I have a great community of friends.  Well, over here in The Hague - that isn't the case and truth be told, I am a little lonely.  Not lonely in the way of sitting by myself crying, but lonely because I don't have someone to call if I wanted to be around people.

That is slowly changing though, as my friend Skye and her family arrived in The Hague on Monday.  She also works for Shell and her and I have worked together in various capacities over the past 6 years and are in fact good friends.  So it is so nice to have her and her husband here.  As well, another girl that I know from work, Lindsey, her and her fiancé moved here about 2 weeks ago and we went for dinner last night.  And there are a few other Canadians at work that I knew before I left and I have them.  So slowly my network is growing.

Another community that has always was a big part of my life in Calgary was my faith community and leaving it was hard, especially wondering if I would be able to find a new one where I felt the same level of comfort and acceptance.  Prior to my leaving, my friend and colleague Jason asked me if I had found a faith community in The Hague yet and if I hadn't, he would put me in touch with Tim at the American Protestant Church in The Hague  I had looked and found an Episcopal church here in The Hague but really I was open to anything.  Tim got in touch with me prior to my leaving Calgary and invited me to come and check out his church and up until today, I have either been too lazy or gone to attend church.  My colleague Marja (pronounced Maria) also goes to this church so on Friday we agreed to meet up and go together and I can say that I have found my new faith community here in The Hague.  APC is kind of a hodge podge of a church that has both the traditional aspects that I have come to be rather attached to in the Anglican church but also has the contemporary aspects that I also crave as a younger person.  If you want the more traditional, you can go to either the early or the late service and if you want the contemporary, you go to the middle service - so this is going to work for me.  Plus, it is in English - always a plus over here and is a real mixture of people and cultures.

Think about how you meet people.  Often through work - which I am doing, but also through your other hobbies or interests.  I have joined a bunch of meet up groups, expat sites and the one that I think will be the best - the Clandestine Cake Club (you bake a cake and get together with a bunch of random people who have done the same) with the hopes of meeting some new people and developing that new community and adding to my circle of friends.  I also think that once I move into my permanent house, get all of my stuff and get settled, I will feel more apt to wanting to go out more and meet people but right now, I am still feeling in that state of flux.

But for now, I rely on technology - such a great thing - to keep in touch.  Between BBM, texting, Facebook, Skype and Facetime, I am able to see, talk and keep up to date on what is happening with all of my friends and family back home and that helps to lessen the loneliness.    I am also super excited that my mom will be coming back with me to The Netherlands in a couple of weeks - now I will be able to show and share part of my new life with someone - that is what I really miss - being able to share things with someone.   I know that it will be a little tough for her because she is coming without my dad and doesn't like to travel without him but also also at the same time, I think that it will give her some comfort to actually see where her baby is living and know that she is okay. :-)

Now please don't read to much into this post by thinking "OMG, poor Heather - she is all lonely and by herself over there" - yes, some of that is true, but I am just being frank about what it is like to move, to another country, by yourself, in your late 30s.

Oh - and I miss my baby.

A little bit from home

This is what 75 kg looks like.

My air freight was delivered Monday morning before I left for work and thank God because although I thought I had packed well in my suit case, I hadn't and was starting to question my clothing choices. (keep in mind that I had one entire suit case filled with beach wear from my holiday to Mexico that preceded my move!  Given my comments on the weather, none of it is helpful!)  Included in my air freight were a couple of warm jackets, a toque and another scarf - thankfully because as I have mentioned - it is COLD here!

Once I started to unpack my air freight on Monday, after work, reality set - although they managed to pack almost all of my clothes in my main closet (my fall/winter stuff), they ran out of weight space so didn't pack my pants and half of my skirts.  For those of you who have seen my closet and know me well, it is rather organized, what I now have to wear on my bottom half is a collection of skirts - all which are stripped in some fashion and one in a leopard print.  They weren't able to fit in the solid skirts or my pants.  So for the next 6 weeks I will either being one of 2 pair of black pants I brought in my suit case or a stripped skirt.  Yah, not to smart!  Oh, and I only have 2 pair of jeans with me yet I seem have 4 pair of yoga pants - go figure!!!!

I am not sure when the rest of my possessions will arrive.  I imagine that they are bobbing around in the Atlantic Ocean right now.  Even if there were to arrive here tomorrow,  I can't get them as 1)  I don't have a permanent place to live yet (starting the search on Friday) 2) I haven't been able to register at the town hall yet (that is next Thursday) and without doing that I don't have my BSN (kinda like our SIN I think) and residence permit which seems to be a prerequisite for EVERYTHING around here, including getting a cell phone and for having getting my stuff imported into the country.  So hopefully by the end of next week, I can start moving ahead on some of that stuff.

Damn It's Cold!!!!

Damn it's cold and this is coming from a born and bred Canadian who spent half of her life either living or working about North of 60 - so this qualifies me to be a good judge of cold!  Honestly, when you look at the temperature it is usually above 0 but when you throw in the 65% humidity and the wind, it bites right in to you.  Fortunately before I left, my friend Kathy gave me a lovely hand knit toque and scarf, and my Aunty Margaret knit me a lovely scarf/cowl - both of which have been getting a lot of use!  I am hoping that I have a warmer jacket packed in my air shipment.

Coffee maker mess!

Today I have been appliance challenged.  I wrongly assumed that this coffee maker came with a reusable filter in it so I just added my coffee grounds to it and turned it on - BIG MISTAKE.  After about 2 minutes I noticed that I had grounds in the coffee and then after about 3 minutes I had coffee all over the counter.  This is when I realized that I need to put a coffee filter into the coffee maker and because I didn't, everything was coming full force through the coffee maker.  So needless to say, there was no coffee this morning b/c I don't have any filters.

Another appliance (for the lack of a better word) is the towel warmer thing in the bathroom - can't figure out how to use that, so I just hang things off of it.  For 38 years I have lived without heated towels, so I am pretty sure that I will be able to live another 4 years without them as well.

The last appliance that challenged me today is the microwave/oven combo.  Yes - this is it.  There is no way that you could ever cook a turkey in this as it is TINY.  Firstly, who makes a microwave/convection oven combo?  The Dutch do.  I attempted to roast some vegetables and a chicken breast with limited success. Firstly, I couldn't figure out how to keep it cooking.   Sounds simple you say but it wasn't.  I had to restart it 3 times.  Secondly, it is in Celsius and I am a Fahrenheit girl when it comes to cooking.  Yes, I know it is as simple as going onto Google to convert, but still.  In the end, everything ended up cooked - maybe a little over cooked but it was still very good.

For fun today, I decided to ride one of the trams from one end of the line to the other and back.  I figured that this would give me a nice, warm opportunity to see more of the city, including passing through a couple of neighbourhoods that I am going to be looking in for a more permanent home.  In all, the tram ride took me about 2 hours and passed me through some beautiful neighbourhoods and some not so beautiful neighbourhoods - I think I found the 'hood!  Needless to say, I will not be looking at places there!  So what did this little escapade cost me - a grand total of .86 euros (I still have to figure out how to type euros properly).  I think because I got on and off at the same stop, my OV-chipkaart (my tram/train pass) read my chip as just getting on and off and it charged me the basic rate and no km charges.  Score one for me!  I found this to be a good way to see different parts of the city but also to work on some of my Dutch pronunciations, as every stop would be announced.  Lord only knows that I am bastardizing this poor language!

Yesterday I found the Dutch equivalent of Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods and it is called Marqt (www.marqt.nl) and just like Whole Foods, you can spend A LOT of money there!  Once again, shopping in Dutch, however this time I decided to try and tackle the dairy department.  I would say that I was somewhat successful in that I was able to pick out 1L of milk but I can't tell you if it is 2%, 1% or Skim or if they even have those types - I just went for the ones with the lowest calorie count (that I can read).  Much of what they sell is either organic or local and very little is processed, so shopping was a little easier b/c a leek is a leek - it doesn't matter if I am in Calgary or The Hague.  Bread on the other hand, not sure what kind I bought - I was hoping it was a sourdough type but I was wrong.  Not sure what it is, kinda tastes like it has corn in it, but it definitely isn't sourdough!

One observation that I have had since I was here, I have yet to see a cemetery - I wonder what they do with their dead?  Not necessarily something that is keeping me awake at night but just something that I noticed.