We are having major computer issues – laptop is having its hard drive replaced – you know the one – slot out, slot in – but here in the Netherlands it takes from 2 to 4 weeks apparently. So far we are in week 3.

Don’t think Acer and Computerland are doing any kind of quick turn around. PITY

I am using the Dell “Blue Screen Queen” – which as the name suggests crashes all the time with pretty blue screens

So the quick update is – we leave 12 weeks tomorrow – to cycle to Switzerland and then return home to retire, somewhat earlier than initially planned. But then we didn’t know that a permanent job doesn’t mean that in some work environments. Here Best Beloved was forced to retire as he had hit the magic 65. So no it turned out to not be a permanent job.

But now we are in go home mode. It is amazing just how much we are looking forward to it now that we have no other option. A New Zealand pension would mean we would have to live on the streets here – so we are going home instead of taking up that option.

But of course there are many bonuses such as family and friends, special grandson,  great fish and chips.  Can’t risk starting a long rave now just in case the computer does that blue screen dance again so this is over and out.

12 weeks till we leave.

Tonight at den Uiver we enjoyed great jazz, and we talked to the many people we have got to know there over the last 2 years.

Sorry – gotta go now

12 weeks

Trams in Amsterdam are run by the Gemeente Vervoerbedrijf (GVB for short.  It means, as far as my limited Dutch can assess, “Local Government Transport Business”).

On Thursday morning, 25 November 2010, I caught a Number 9 tram from Amsterdam Central Station to Alexander Square.  I don’t remember the exact time – shortly before 10:00 AM, I think.

A crowd of small Muslim children arrived, accompanied by their teachers, four or five Muslim women in flowing black robes and full head-scarves.  The teachers shepherded the children to the tram-stop and boarded the tram when it arrived.  So the tram was very crowded.

I took a seat.  At the next stop. someone tried to board the tram at an exit-only door.  The driver growled into the intercom and sorted him out.

We proceeded.  Some of the children were excited and noisy, but the smaller ones were nervous and fidgety.  The teachers tried to cheer them up by leading them in a song.  That’s when the driver worked his magic.  He joined in and led the singing through the intercom, but this time his voice was a comic mock-growl, like a gravelly bear.  The children laughed with wonder and delight, and the whole tram smiled with pleasure.

The driver kept up his entertainment.  On discovering they were going to the zoo, the driver said “zoo” and then rhymed it with mock-gorilla noises “Hoo, hoo, hoo”.  This caused more laughter, and the smiles of the other passengers grew wider.

The teachers and children departed at their stop, and one of the teachers came forward to thank the driver.  When we reached Alexanderplein, I too disembarked, thanking the driver for an entertaining ride as I did so.  I walked ahead of the stop to the corner as the tram loaded more passengers.  When the tram caught up with me, the driver used his loudspeaker and called “Goodbye”  as he passed me.

Take a bow, Amsterdam GVB, and give accolades to that driver.  He entertained those children and completely removed the nervousness of the little ones.  For me, he transformed a crowded noisy tram ride into a journey of delight and admiration.

PS – The song the children and driver sang is very popular with parents and children.  They sing it when travelling:

“We zijn er bijna, We zijn er bijna, Maar nog niet helemaal” (repeated).  In English it means (literally) “We are there nearly, We are there nearly, But yet not completely”.

We would probably write  ”We’re nearly there now, We’re nearly there now, But not yet all the way”.  But no matter how we put it in English, it could never sound as good as it does in Dutch.  ”Zijn” rhymes with “fine”, and “bijna” rhymes with “finer”, so the song has a lovely internal rhyme pattern that we cannot match in translation.

PPS – Today Sunday, my Darling and I attended memorial services for Hannie Schaft, a Dutch resistance fighter who was murdered by the Nazis only three short weeks before the Netherlands was liberated.  One of the prime reasons she joined the resistance was her abhorrence of the Nazi regime that discriminated against Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and other minorities.  We stood in silence in Kenau park before her statue, and it occurred to me that she would have been proud of that driver.

There you go – we have succumbed to the lure of the car.

Tis out now – we have driven ourselves by car – not public transport and bicycles in the UK

We arrived home Sunday night, 10th October rather late, after a 10 day journey from Haarlem by train, via Ghent in Belgium, on to Calais in France, to catch the P&O ferry to Dover and then believe it or not by car via many places to London and by plane back again to the Netherlands.

What can I tell you about this wee trip. Well, it was expensive, the food and the accommodation was excellent everywhere, and we saw Henry IV, part 1 at the reconstructed Globe in London. And we drove down country lanes that in New Zealand we would not consider driving.

You know all those wonderful crime series on TV, nice, genteel ones like Midsomer Murders and Inspector Morse where they drive on very narrow country roads at great speed. You simply cannot ever do that, the roads are so narrow, the hedgerows so high and in need trimming that so many signposts are hidden in the bushes. You cannot ever see a car coming towards you. On those wonderful shows they must organise it absolutely so that no cars, trucks, bicycles, tractors, farm machinery, horses, pedestrians, cows, etc can possibly be driving, riding or walking towards one.

Those roads are as they look on TV – but they cannot ever be driven at more than 10 miles per hour.

And then you have to consider the weather on a trip to the UK in October, or even at any time if the weather information that is absorbed over a lifetime is sort of accurate. The weather was beautiful all the way to Dover, and to that car, that all important car and then it started to rain. It rained all the way to Salisbury, the wind blew like crazy when on the beach at Bognor Regis, and then we bought umbrellas and the rain stopped. Not another drop for the remaining 8 days.

We did a great deal of exploring, visited cathedrals, saw the White Cliffs of Dover in sunshine, ate at little pubs, slept at B&B’s, Stonehenge, Bradninch – birthplace of Best Beloveds Grandad, and generally had a ball – there are some good stories to be told and I will – later.

Oh dear, such heart in mouth stuff, in London we saw cyclists (definitely not something that I could do, in London I mean). If Princess Beatrice can be in a car crash with her huge Beemer mushed between bus and coach on Hyde Park Corner roundabout, then consider the cyclist in that spot. I just couldn’t do it.

And we both had haircuts in Chinatown – Now is that brave or what?

And we nearly understood the English as she is spoke – by people everywhere there, and we did nearly understand it all – thank goodness for English TV shows in New Zealand, otherwise it could have been double Dutch to us. And nearly all those speaking English thought we were Australian. HHHmmm!!!! Nearly.

Expat Voices: 25/01/10

ConnieLene Johnston on living in the Netherlands

Danish expat ConnieLene Johnston, who moved to the Netherlands from New Zealand, is ecstatic about Dutch bird life but cannot abide the way the Dutch simply park their bikes at any spot convenient to them. However, she has managed to join a group to continue spinning a good yarn or two…

Name: ConnieLene Johnston
Nationality: Danish
City of residence: Haarlem, Netherlands
Occupation: Designer, Knitter, artist
Reason for moving to the Netherlands: My husband has a position here
Lived in the Netherlands for: 17 months

What was your first impression of the Netherlands?

Grey, drab and I hated the hotel – but after a few days the sun came out and we had a place to live and it all got very much better from that point.

What do you think of the food?

Traditional Dutch food – very over processed and the source can be unrecognisable. There are many deep fried foods which are not to my taste. But there is great access to many foods from many lands and I absolutely love that.

What do you think of the shopping in the Netherlands?

Great – I love the fact that the Netherlands are not succumbing to the great mindless American Mall syndrome that New Zealand – where we come from, has. Why would anyone want to spend a day out at a mall? They do that in New Zealand.

There are not enough yarn choices here. I buy yarns in every country I visit if at all possible. But then it would not matter how many places there were that sold yarns – it would still not be enough for me.

What do you appreciate about living in the Netherlands?

I love the great public transport and my bicycle and the fact that we do not need a car–ever. Who would have thought that at my age I would be riding a bicycle? (I didn’t ride a bicycle between 15 and 61 years.) I love the terrain. I absolutely love the birds, and now that it is winter our garden is a bird restaurant. Currently–just outside our door – we’ve spotted jays, magpies, tits (Great, blue, long-tailed), Blackbirds, thrushes, red robin, wood pigeons, doves. My husband John has seen a Curlew (I am jealous of that), and I have seen two types of tree creepers. There are Dutch people at John’s work who have not even seen this bird. We feed swans, coots, ducks, jackdaws, rooks and sea-gulls. There are many birds in New Zealand but they are not common on your door-step.

I love the architecture – new and old, canals, polders, windmills, art, museums, bike tracks, and train travel, and the flowers everywhere. I appreciate Skype, the internet, and email in a way I didn’t before coming here.

What do you find most frustrating about living in the Netherlands?

The language. There are a lot of discussions about expats needing to learn the language, and yes they should. It is not an easy language to learn and it is very difficult to practice because when you attempt to use it – the Dutch person you are speaking with replies in English. But then you also meet people in shops in particular who carry on speaking Dutch to you even though you have said that you do not know the language well enough. They can be very rude. We have met marvellous people who are exceptions and will have fun with you and the language – us speaking English and them answering in Dutch, and us trying in Dutch or a mix of Dutch and Danish and English and so on.

The other frustrating thing is that I cannot read the food labels –everything appears so altered that you cannot be certain of what you are ingesting – so we make most of our meals from scratch. If we go out and eat John always ends up with a breakfast or a lunch – the meals here are for mountain men not ordinary people who do not work in a physical way. Thank goodness people here do lots of bike riding – otherwise there could be a real health issue.

What puzzles you about the Netherlands and what do you miss since you’ve moved here?

Why are they so rude? The Dutch park their bikes close to where they are – that could be on pedestrian crossing, on the footpath, even where the snow has been cleared to make narrow safe walking area for pedestrians. They have no sense that they should move to one side if they are in hearty discussion with others on the footpath – you can just go out onto the road or onto the bike path were you can be called things like piss pot – can you believe a woman maybe in her 40’s calling us that.

Because I do not go to work – I miss general contact with people speaking in English. I was born in Denmark, but English is the language I have been using for most of my life. I have slogged through snow in icy conditions to go to the doctor in Amsterdam – to pick up a prescription which could have been faxed – just so I can speak with someone in English without having to apologise for my poor Dutch. How sad is that?

How does the quality of life in the Netherlands compare to the quality of life in other countries that you’ve lived in?

The quality of life here is excellent, but the houses are sooo tiny, we would call them a flat in New Zealand. Everything is handy for us, living as we do within Haarlem – walking distance to everything and close to parks, the canals, the windswept beaches and the bikeways. There is great access either to places within the Netherlands or to Europe and all things artistic and creative. It is great for the soul. New Zealand has a great quality of life as well – it is just different, less history, bigger houses and gardens, great country side– just no real seasons in the North – I love the seasonal changes here – although I have had enough of the snow and ice and am glad of the respite.

Here is much more expensive.

If you could change anything about the Netherlands, what would it be?

I would teach all school children good manners so that when they are adults they will actually consider others when they go about their daily business.

I would also encourage people working in the food industry to learn to wash their hands and use tongs and gloves when preparing food for others to eat. Food regulations in other countries do not allow a person to pick up food with their bare hands where it is to be served to another person. I have seen some appalling food handling here. I watched a woman clearing tables – moving food from one plate to another on a stack, putting it down and then go and make a sandwich for another person without washing her hands.

What advice would you give to a newcomer?

Join as many groups as you can either one where they speak in the same language as you do and any Dutch groups where you have a common interest. For instance I now belong to the local Stitch ‘n Bitch Group in Haarlem. I waited far too long and would have benefited from doing so much earlier. All Dutch people are educated in English – if you have a common interest, like knitting, then the language will not be a major problem and your language skills will develop more quickly.

Would you like to add anything?

I am a passionate knitter, designer and artist. I have recently at the tender age of 62 created and installed my first art graffiti piece here in the centre of Haarlem – The Haarlem Ball Warmer.

Our family came from Switzerland for Christmas and we were a little worried.

Not because our house is small, with one tiny bathroom on the ground floor.

Not because we have only one bedroom and they all had to sleep in the lounge on one fold out single bed, one 3 seater couch, and one blow up double mattress.

Not because we are all used to very different foods and we certainly are – Our family in Europe consists of two New Zealanders (JJ and Morgan), one Dane (me), one Chilean (Angelica), and 2 Chilean/Swiss (Ruedi and Rolf).

Not because we do not have a TV or any games for boys.

Our worry was that we have no common language and being in our tiny house and all the pressure that Christmas itself can create, things could have been fraught.

Ruedi and Rolf speak Swiss German and Spanish, and Ruedi is learning English and French at school; Morgan speaks Swiss German, High German and English and understands some Spanish; JJ speaks English, some French, some Dutch; Angelica speaks Spanish and Swiss German, and has some English and I speak English and fairly good Danish and very poor Dutch.

Our meal time conversations were all over the place and when we were out trying to show the boys things or alert them to something was great fun, if tiring at times.

JJ, the boys, and I went and fed the birds early in the morning – well at about 9. On the way back I walked arm in arm with Ruedi – and he is 13 and very tall, and I am over sixty and fairly short. He looked down at me and said “lady”, I answered pointing at him “man” and he said “no!” long pause and he said “Gentleman”. JJ was walking/dancing in front of us with Rolf – and I said “Old Man” (he is over 64 after all) and he said “No!”, I said hmmm what about “Funny Man” and he said yes.

We had a great time and the boys were great fun to be with and the language stuff was nothing at all in the end.

Then believe it or not, Best Beloved and I had 12 marvellous days in Denmark, we went everywhere, we were taken everywhere,  and had such a fantastic time.

My Danish family were amazing and gave us a holiday to remember. Some of you will have heard the story that Best Beloved said 44 years ago that we would come to Denmark together, and he has been true to his word – that is 44 years later we finally went together to Denmark and he loved it. Mind you we were spoilt rotten.

We had an overnight train journey to Copenhagen, 1 1/2 days in Copenhagen, 3 days in the north of Jutland, and days in and around Vejle. What a joy it was – speaking and eating and laughing and enjoying the family I do not know nearly well enough. Speaking really means trying to speak in Danish – I did okay, and they were so supportive, all of them. Best Beloved meandered along happily, smoking his pipe and enjoying what he had realistically never expected to see and enjoy.

Much to add – much to say, and much to celebrate.

Danish open sandwiches, Gamle Dansk, the sea, the coast, the land, the birds, the petanque – they all seriously play petanque, and we did as well, Tivoli Gardens, Legoland (2 old kids we are), Den Gamle By, the Eagles, the shifting sand dunes, the buried church, the history, the stories, the family stories …… so much to add. We spent 3  nights in Frederikshavn in a hotel overlooking the harbour which was great, great view, great activity. From there we explored the north of Denmark, the stories will come later. We also spent a day in Ribe, a wonderful wonderful old town, and a very wet day in the Gamle By (the old town).

At the Gamle By I discovered, or rediscovered, the Danish shawl – and I have made 3 so far – just to see how they work. I have played with the shape and increases to see how I can modernise it as the original is wrapped around the body and tied at the front of the waist. It is not a simple triangle – but more of that later – oh and it has a really great edge.

As I said before we have also been to Tivoli, Legoland, driven through Brande (where my mother was born), and Stilling – where I was born and many other places. My father was born in Vejle.

We also drove through a sea of frogs. The saying – raining cats and dogs – well in Denmark it seems to rain frogs. We drove with along a gravel country road on a very very wet night  (yes a gravel road in Denmark) avoiding where possible the frogs, there seemed to be millions. You know that story that if the frogs die in the world – then the world is in trouble. Well in Denmark there is not a shortage of frogs.

and I will tell more of these stories.

And we laughed and laughed

We have had some of my Danish family here for a week – they stayed in Den Helder in the north of the Netherlands, and we visited them and they visited us here in Haarlem. We even took our bikes to Den Helder and across on the ferry to Texel for the day.

That was hard work – riding into the wind – but it was still a great day and a great week.

It was great – but my Danish is so rubbish and I have to do something about that.

lots more to come

Continuing the story of our doctor / patient relationship (business partnership).

The drugs that I use are for Asthma and I need a new prescription every 3 months. So I wandered back to the doctors to arrange an appointment to organise a new prescription. I did not phone for an appointment because I do not understand Dutch, and I may not get an English speaking person on the other end.

Another receptionist – very very helpful. No I don’t need to see the doctor, she can prepare the prescription and the doctor will okay it and send it to our designated chemist. Wow!

What drugs do I want on this prescription? I told  her I need this one and I need that one (I couldn’t remember the name) so she told me what was on the computer system, and I told her which one I didn’t need of the three.

Apparently she still included the New Zealand one, and the doctor rang to ask me why I had asked for this additional puffer, which as I knew wasn’t available in the Netherlands.

Did I do that? I don’t think so.

So if you are in a foreign land – check and recheck and then recheck. And if you want an appointment with the doctor, take your list of drugs with you so that if they are helpful and can arrange one without the doctor – you can state exactly what you need.