I just found about 75 old comments to this blog that never got published, which is good since about 90% of them were spam. But to other people who commented, I'm sorry I never got back to you! There were some nice words or questions going back um, 6 months. Oops. Still, thanks for reading. To everyone who asked me a question I didn't answer, I apologize. When I moved to Amsterdam I wouldn't have gotten anywhere if it weren't for strangers offering me advice or sharing knowledge, both on the web and in person. I know I've been slacking in the department of Sharing Knowledge, and I feel pretty bad about that. There is some knowledge I'd like to share, but it's not about how to find an apartment or to explain how to open a bank account. This is about what most of you have been asking about one way or another - what it's like to simply be in Amsterdam during this particular period, and what you can expect if you want to make this your home. So this is from my personal experience.
A friend of mine from Italy moved to Amsterdam about 6 weeks ago, and like a ton of other people in this city, he's looking for a job in a very, very tight job market. He's discouraged and frustrated. What I've seen in the past year or year in a half is this: a huge, scary moment when the crisis really seemed to mean absolutely no jobs, salary freezes, etc. That began around this time last year, and lasted about 6-7 months. I think everyone was just very scared, including employers. I know of places that went out of business and I did have a couple of friends that lost jobs. It certainly didn't hit as hard in Amsterdam as it did in New York, but it did hit. The people that were the most affected were recent graduates. Around the late summer and early fall of 2009, things seemed to be better. I knew more and more people who had chosen to quit their jobs because they had found something better, or were choosing to go freelance (by the way, freelancing is a really great thing to do in the Netherlands - I should write a whole post on that sometime). That's a good sign, it meant that companies were starting to hire again, and work was still in demand. But at the same time, there's a much, much bigger pool of applicants for every job. Employers are putting people through an interview process the likes of which I've never seen before - it's not uncommon to hear of someone going for 4, 5, 6 interviews, involving extensive personality testing. It's not uncommon for employers to ask their interview candidates to put together presentations on the first interview, or write up a report, and that's only the beginning. A job interview, even for a pretty basic position, can take days and days to prepare for. I do see the economy improving here, but it's a very slow, slow process.
So this friend of mine is part of the pool of experienced and smart people who are having a hard time, and the look on his face when he talks about the search is a very familiar look, something I've seen before. It's a fact that this is a hard time to move to Amsterdam and find a good, steady job. One of the hardest parts is getting over that first hump, getting to learn the city and make connections. The next hardest thing might be learning to take yourself and your skills seriously, even though it seems impossible to find a job (which will of course deflate your ego and make you question everything, which I've done ten thousand times). There are still a lot of gaps in Amsterdam that need to be filled, there are getting to be more jobs out there that are waiting to be filled, and best of all, there are jobs out there waiting to be created. Setting up your own business really does work in this country. If you can find out what Amsterdam needs and fulfill it, you will be able to find work, and you don't need to speak a word of Dutch to get started. But this means you first need to live here and get to know this city, I mean, really get to know this city. Things that weren't possible in your former country are possible here (and vice versa of course), but you have to ask, and you have to stay confident.
Don't spend 10 hours a day studying Dutch, thinking that will be the ticket to your next job. If you don't speak Dutch, it's going to take a long time to learn. Maybe if you did it every day for 3 months, you would become pretty good, but you're still nowhere near fluent (unless you're coming from Germany, in which case you'll pick it up much more quickly). Of course, you should try to learn the language, especially if you have free time. But in the meantime, while you're searching for work, focus on English. If you're not a native English speaker, try to practice as much as possible and get used to the different types of accents. If you're more used to American accents but can't understand a word when a British person talks, try to find a British friend and adjust your ears to that accent, because you're going to hear it a lot. Make sure you have a native English speaker look over your CV. Dutch people in Amsterdam often won't judge you for not speaking Dutch (no one expects that you would have studied Dutch in school), but they will judge you if you can't speak good English. It's weird.
I wouldn't discourage someone from moving to Amsterdam during this period, but I would offer a lot of warnings. The crisis hasn't vanished. There's a lot of competition. But if you're in the job-searching position, especially if you're new to the city, keep in mind there are a lot more options than your basic 9-5, monday-friday job working for a big company with a proper job contract. The most important thing that you can do for yourself is take time and be patient (says me, one of the most impatient people on earth!), and keep an open mind.
I'll try to go more into freelancing and setting up your own business and the DAFT agreement in my next post. Since this is the topic I'm asked about most in comments and emails, I want to try and help - just remember, I'm certainly not an expert. I'm just someone who lives here, and everything I'm saying is only based on my experience. I'm 100% positive you could find another person who would disagree with everything I say, but that's okay. There are enough discouraging people out there and enough negativity in general. I have no reason to add to the discouragement because again, I am here. It's all worked out so far for me, and I'm no one special.
Usually the damp, foggy nights here in Amsterdam are nothing to get excited about. However, last night I was really struck by surprise. The city looked beautiful. Dark and foggy in a way I haven't seen in a long time, it made everything seem more mysterious. It was around 3.30am and absolutely silent on the tiny little street I was on (except for the noise still coming from the apartment where I had been). When there are moments like that, how could I discourage someone from moving here and giving it a shot?
When it does eventually work out, it's all worth it.
Showing posts with label practical advice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label practical advice. Show all posts
February 6, 2010
February 5, 2010
The less-glamorous (but necessary) side of expat life
I've been trying to catch up on some administration in my daily life, and thought to myself about how these routines that now seem so normal were so incredibly foreign when I first got here.
Basic Amsterdam Administration
Submitting insurance receipts: Health insurance in this country is weird, and seems to be going more and more the way of the incredibly dysfunctional US system - which is to say the cost of health care is rising. When I went to the dentist last month, I had to pay for the appointment in person (100 Euros) and then submit the receipt to my insurance company to get reimbursed. A fairly simple process, though I can't do this online, so everything goes by mail. I'm notoriously bad with paying attention and opening my mail, so of course I only saw today that while my insurance company is happy to pay me back, for some reason they don't have my bank account information. (why? how?) so I have to write them a letter back with my bank account information and send it in the mail. And one day I'll get that 100 Euros back.
Collecting tax information: I'll have to do Dutch and US taxes again this year, so it's time to start gathering paperwork. That means finding the Jaaropgaaf, or yearly statement, in the pile of mail that that I never look at. I found it, but now I have to not lose it for a couple months (the real challenge). I got my W2 (for my US taxes) from my employer. The accountants that handled my Dutch tax returns last year did a really bad job, so this year I'm using a different guy - one of my Dutch friends who agreed to do my taxes in exchange for dinner and entertainment/conversation with his girlfriend (who is also a good friend). Not a bad deal!
Continuing to deal with letters/statements about all the new cards: This one takes a little explanation. I spent several weeks in Italy over the Christmas/New Years holiday, and had my wallet pick-pocketed in Naples. I know I'm probably the ten millionth person to tell such a story, and yes, I'm lucky that they didn't get my camera, phone, passport, or take my entire bag. Still, it was a hassle to cancel all my cards, talk to banks in two different countries, fill out fraud letters, try to arrange banking by phone (without my cards, I had no way of accessing my Dutch bank account information), and receive everything little by little by post and then having to always mail stuff back. My advice is this: buy travel insurance, and don't be cheap about it - that extra Euro I could have been paying every month would have allowed me to claim all the cash that had been in my wallet when it was stolen! That was a painful lesson to learn. Travel insurance is your friend.
Paying fines: Back in October, I got a ticket from a bike-light cop. This is a pretty normal sight in Amsterdam - a bunch of cops standing around in the dark, checking that all the cyclists are using a front and back bike light. I almost always use lights, but of course they get stolen and run out of batteries and things happen. Bike light cops in Amsterdam are not very sympathetic to the "things happen" excuse. I got a 30 Euro ticket, which went up to 50 Euros because I didn't pay it for such a long time.
Trying to do basic stuff without a wallet: It's hard. My dry cleaning receipt was in my wallet, and my dry-cleaner doesn't speak a word of English. He was also entirely uninterested in my sign language/hand movements/random dutch words attempt at trying to explain that I wanted my clothes but didn't have ticket. Fortunately my flatmate came to the rescue and helped explain my situation to the dry cleaning guy, and I got my clothes in the end, but that was stressful.
Picking up other peoples mail: If you live in Amsterdam, then you know someone who needs their mail picked up. It's a fact. Or maybe you need to go pick up your own mail at a place that isn't your apartment, because the spot where you are registered isn't really the spot you live. This is just a normal part of life, but I forgot that it didn't used to be that way.
Looking for an apartment: Always on-going, always a pain in the ass.
Shopping: Trying to get to the stores on a Thursday night, which is the only night during the week that stores stay open until 9.30pm, and shopping during the weekend is a pain. The plus side of this week's Thursday Night Shopping was the huge sales still going on everywhere.
Thinking about the future: Job contract up for renewal in June, where should I live, what should I do with my life, what do I want out of life, should I plan a big trip, should I take that class... you know, basic questions.
Missing my camera: It's been in the repair shop for almost two weeks, and I want it back!
Preparing for visitors: Making sure I have extra keys, writing out directions on how to find my office/home and how to navigate from the airport to the city.
All this stuff I mentioned is routine. The day-to-day stuff. I'm not always missing my camera, but there's always something like that going on. Getting used to the basic and un-interesting stuff in another country is also part of a normal expat's life. Getting used to reading mail in a language you don't speak or the policies that you've never heard of. Knowing how to scan a list of apartment and pick the scams out just from the titles. Understanding that it's no use to try and call your insurance company, they'll still want everything by mail. I can't just call them and tell them my bank account number - about 1.5 years ago, I might have tried. Now I just know that it's not possible.
It is all pretty boring, but in some ways, incredibly satisfying. When I first moved here, everything I mentioned above would have freaked me out in some way. If I had gotten a ticket for missing my bike lights the first month I arrived, I probably would have panicked. But now I get it. Arguing with any kind of Dutch Authority will never solve anything, and if you're polite and non-argumentitive, even the bike-light cops will smile and crack a joke with you.
Basic Amsterdam Administration
Submitting insurance receipts: Health insurance in this country is weird, and seems to be going more and more the way of the incredibly dysfunctional US system - which is to say the cost of health care is rising. When I went to the dentist last month, I had to pay for the appointment in person (100 Euros) and then submit the receipt to my insurance company to get reimbursed. A fairly simple process, though I can't do this online, so everything goes by mail. I'm notoriously bad with paying attention and opening my mail, so of course I only saw today that while my insurance company is happy to pay me back, for some reason they don't have my bank account information. (why? how?) so I have to write them a letter back with my bank account information and send it in the mail. And one day I'll get that 100 Euros back.
Collecting tax information: I'll have to do Dutch and US taxes again this year, so it's time to start gathering paperwork. That means finding the Jaaropgaaf, or yearly statement, in the pile of mail that that I never look at. I found it, but now I have to not lose it for a couple months (the real challenge). I got my W2 (for my US taxes) from my employer. The accountants that handled my Dutch tax returns last year did a really bad job, so this year I'm using a different guy - one of my Dutch friends who agreed to do my taxes in exchange for dinner and entertainment/conversation with his girlfriend (who is also a good friend). Not a bad deal!
Continuing to deal with letters/statements about all the new cards: This one takes a little explanation. I spent several weeks in Italy over the Christmas/New Years holiday, and had my wallet pick-pocketed in Naples. I know I'm probably the ten millionth person to tell such a story, and yes, I'm lucky that they didn't get my camera, phone, passport, or take my entire bag. Still, it was a hassle to cancel all my cards, talk to banks in two different countries, fill out fraud letters, try to arrange banking by phone (without my cards, I had no way of accessing my Dutch bank account information), and receive everything little by little by post and then having to always mail stuff back. My advice is this: buy travel insurance, and don't be cheap about it - that extra Euro I could have been paying every month would have allowed me to claim all the cash that had been in my wallet when it was stolen! That was a painful lesson to learn. Travel insurance is your friend.
Paying fines: Back in October, I got a ticket from a bike-light cop. This is a pretty normal sight in Amsterdam - a bunch of cops standing around in the dark, checking that all the cyclists are using a front and back bike light. I almost always use lights, but of course they get stolen and run out of batteries and things happen. Bike light cops in Amsterdam are not very sympathetic to the "things happen" excuse. I got a 30 Euro ticket, which went up to 50 Euros because I didn't pay it for such a long time.
Trying to do basic stuff without a wallet: It's hard. My dry cleaning receipt was in my wallet, and my dry-cleaner doesn't speak a word of English. He was also entirely uninterested in my sign language/hand movements/random dutch words attempt at trying to explain that I wanted my clothes but didn't have ticket. Fortunately my flatmate came to the rescue and helped explain my situation to the dry cleaning guy, and I got my clothes in the end, but that was stressful.
Picking up other peoples mail: If you live in Amsterdam, then you know someone who needs their mail picked up. It's a fact. Or maybe you need to go pick up your own mail at a place that isn't your apartment, because the spot where you are registered isn't really the spot you live. This is just a normal part of life, but I forgot that it didn't used to be that way.
Looking for an apartment: Always on-going, always a pain in the ass.
Shopping: Trying to get to the stores on a Thursday night, which is the only night during the week that stores stay open until 9.30pm, and shopping during the weekend is a pain. The plus side of this week's Thursday Night Shopping was the huge sales still going on everywhere.
Thinking about the future: Job contract up for renewal in June, where should I live, what should I do with my life, what do I want out of life, should I plan a big trip, should I take that class... you know, basic questions.
Missing my camera: It's been in the repair shop for almost two weeks, and I want it back!
Preparing for visitors: Making sure I have extra keys, writing out directions on how to find my office/home and how to navigate from the airport to the city.
All this stuff I mentioned is routine. The day-to-day stuff. I'm not always missing my camera, but there's always something like that going on. Getting used to the basic and un-interesting stuff in another country is also part of a normal expat's life. Getting used to reading mail in a language you don't speak or the policies that you've never heard of. Knowing how to scan a list of apartment and pick the scams out just from the titles. Understanding that it's no use to try and call your insurance company, they'll still want everything by mail. I can't just call them and tell them my bank account number - about 1.5 years ago, I might have tried. Now I just know that it's not possible.
It is all pretty boring, but in some ways, incredibly satisfying. When I first moved here, everything I mentioned above would have freaked me out in some way. If I had gotten a ticket for missing my bike lights the first month I arrived, I probably would have panicked. But now I get it. Arguing with any kind of Dutch Authority will never solve anything, and if you're polite and non-argumentitive, even the bike-light cops will smile and crack a joke with you.
March 3, 2009
Reasons to feel at home
My unintentional break from blogging is (hopefully) over! The worst flu on earth has passed (almost three weeks being sick really, really makes me appreciate the simple things - like breathing) and I've been back to work and regular routines for a little while now. There are certain things that really make me feel at home in Amsterdam that aren't all about pretty skies and bicycles....1. Having a doctor to call my own (or at least, a medical practice)
2. Doing my Dutch tax returns
3. Buying a 6-month membership to the climbing gym (woah, commitment!)
Going to the doctor and doing taxes isn't the fun part of life here, but even through my pounding-head-flu-haze, I still really, really appreciated the fact that when I went to the doctor I didn't have to fill out any forms or pay any money. All the doctors and staff spoke English, offered my test results (which were getting mailed to me) in English, and that picking a doctor didn't mean having to stay in any kind of special network - I just picked a doctor, called to make an appointment, and that was that.
I have several guests staying with me at the moment, which always makes me happy (the photo included with today's post was taken by one of them during sunset a few days ago). Having someone new in town always inspires me to go out and do something interesting/new/cultural, so this past Saturday we visited the Jewish Historical Museum (after having a coffee at the Waterlooplein market) to see the Bert Nienhuis exhibit. The Museum cards that were given to me by another friend got us in for free, so it didn't feel like a waste to only spend one hour in the museum. Lunch that day was prepared with fish purchased at the Albert Cuyp market, and eaten at home with good friends. Then, even though the temptation to stay home and nap away the big lunch and red wine that we consumed, I suggested a trip to an Amsterdam Nord cafe. I absolutely love taking the NDSM ferry across the IJ, and since the weather was cooperating (ie: not raining or too cold), it was really nice to stand outside on the ferry as we sailed across the river. We sat in a cafe for a couple hours, drinking beer by a fireplace in big, comfortable chairs. After the sun had set, we took the ferry back to the center (enjoying the view of Amsterdam by night), got some pizza from Cinema Paradiso, and spent the night ... well, we spent the night playing Risk with another friend, but that's not the point.
The point is, that entire day was pretty well packed from beginning to end, and cost almost nothing. The photo exhibit was free. The lunch was made at home with fish purchased at one of the most affordable markets in the city. Taking the ferry - which again, I think of as such a treat - is free. Sitting in a beautiful cafe for several hours, right on the water, with a view of the entire city, cost the price of two beers (€4.40). The pizza was actually the most expensive part of the day, but it was entirely worth it. We got around everywhere by bike, without any need to take public transportation.
Plus, I won the Risk game.
All in all, a pretty spectacular day.
December 25, 2008
Road trip, European style!
The days that lead up to my road trip from Amsterdam to Aprilia, Italy were hectic and incredibly fun. I was very proud of myself for remembering to make a second set of bike keys before I left and get myself some insurance. Insurance in the Netherlands is easy and cheap, if you do it through your bank - or at least it was for me, I never know if these things are generally easy or if I just keep getting lucky. I ran into ABN AMRO on Friday afternoon at 4.30pm, and I left at 5pm with liability, travel, and apartment (renters) insurance. Basically, my apartment can burn down or get robbed, I can run over someone on my bike and injure them drastically, and I can lose my laptop and camera and all my clothes while I'm traveling and I'll be totally covered, all for about 10 Euros a month. Amazing! All that combined with the fact that I have health insurance makes me feel like the safest person in the world.
Anyway, I had fun saying goodbye to Amsterdam. Even though I've been thinking for a while now that I really wanted to get out of the city (just because it had been a while since my last trip), the fact is, I always have such a good time being in Amsterdam that forcing myself away from the city doesn't seem that urgent. However, after a few hours of sleep, I woke up on the 21st of December (a Sunday) to leave for a fabulous road trip to Italy. Joining me were three other great people I met through Couch Surfing, all of us on a mission to take V's car back to its home in Aprilia (about 50 km south of Rome). So what's one of the least fun ways to start a sunday morning road trip? Finding out the car you're planning to take has been broken into! As far as breakins go, this was a "lucky" one. Someone had smashed the drivers side window and messed with the lock, but they didn't actually take anything or mess with the car beyond that - and for once it didn't rain, so the car was dry on the inside.
But obviously, it's hard to feel lucky when you're looking at a car that has a 1500 km trip ahead, in December, through Germany and Switzerland, and there's no window.
That's where our good friend plastic came in. We were all determined to go, window or no window, so we taped up some plastic to where the window had once been, the glass was cleaned up, and off we went. We all knew that the fact that it was Sunday was going to make getting the window fixed more difficult, and the fact that the car was insured in Italy and not the Netherlands made things even more complected, and of course the owner of the car didn't have time to make a police report. After I finally managed to get a cup of coffee (the fact that I even left the house that morning without coffee was a very rare thing for me to do) and could start thinking clearly, I made a few calls and we all started to work together to call service agencies and emergency roadside repair places. I know a lot more about how to fix a car in the Netherlands on a Sunday now than I ever knew I would, so let me share a piece of information: it's really expensive if you're not insured in the Netherlands. If you are insured here, then you're in good shape, because someone will come out and fix your car without a problem and it won't cost you anything (I'm taking about a broken window of course, that's where my experience begins and ends). But if you don't have Dutch insurance, a temporary window - really just some hard plastic - will cost you €185 if it's a Sunday. That's a lot of money.
To make a long story short, we drove all the way to Freiburg, Germany with plastic on the window. And honestly, it wasn't really that bad. We weren't cold, it didn't rain, and the only annoying thing was the noise. But no one pulled us over and the plastic held strong the entire way. The four of us switched around a lot in the car, except for me - since I don't have an EU driver license, I was really only a "last resort" driver. I had a good time the entire way, but of course we were all happy to arrive at our destination for the night and meet up with our CS hosts. A dinner party was thrown together, wine was opened, and within 5 minutes we were all laughing and joking around and having a good time. I went to sleep that night in a comfortable bed and felt amazingly lucky and content.
After sharing a really nice breakfast with our hosts the next morning (Monday, the 22nd), the 4 of us gathered together again to head out for the day with a little bit of a delay. See, we had all assumed that Germany would be the answer to our car problems. I mean, it's Germany! Germans love cars, they're efficient, and they know how to fix things. But the first 3 places my friends tried didn't work and they all sent us in the direction of a repair place a bit outside the city. The good news, when we got to that place, was that they could fix it, and fix it properly and perfectly. The bad news was that it would take a few hours - but all things considered, that wasn't so bad. The owner of the car was happy that her window would get fixed the right way, not just with a temporary solution. We had food, we all had books and computers, and there was a really comfortable waiting area. When we were asked if we wanted coffee, we all enthusiastically said yes - and about 10 minutes later, a wonderful angel from German Car Repair Heaven bought out 4 real cups of coffee (I was expecting something instant) with real milk and sugar and cookies and cakes. I have to say, that small gesture completely made our morning. Everything was fixed and ready to go by about 3pm, and we were back on the road. Fortunately, we had just enough daylight left to see some beautiful parts of Switzerland. The sunset was beautiful, the Alps are spectacular, and seeing a landscape that is the total opposite of Holland felt really special.
We had to drop one of our travelers off near Milan, and I was sad to see him go. When you spend 2 days in a car with someone, you do get this bond to them - I felt like we had all become a little international family (we came from the US, Brazil, the UK, and Italy). He headed off to Genoa and me and my two friends drove the rest of the night to our destination, arriving around 3.30am. I slept like a rock until 12.30pm the next day, and woke up to a beautiful lunch being served by my host. I was drinking wine before I even had a sip of coffee and I saw palm trees and sunshine when I started my day. I mean, if those two things aren't the sign of a good holiday, I don't know what is.
There where three specific things I wanted to note down that happened as soon as we arrived in Italy: everyone started to drive like a lunatic, a very thick fog surrounded us for hours and hours, and the food instantly became incredible. Honestly, a highway rest stop in Italy could be a fancy restaurant in a different country. We stopped a few times for coffee along the way and I give a lot of credit to the drivers of the car, because the fog was really, really intense for a really long time.
It's Christmas Eve now (actually, Christmas day), and I feel completely at home in my friends apartment in Rome. I'm hoping to keep this blog pretty well updated during my trip, so I'll leave this post off here for now. Happy holidays!
Anyway, I had fun saying goodbye to Amsterdam. Even though I've been thinking for a while now that I really wanted to get out of the city (just because it had been a while since my last trip), the fact is, I always have such a good time being in Amsterdam that forcing myself away from the city doesn't seem that urgent. However, after a few hours of sleep, I woke up on the 21st of December (a Sunday) to leave for a fabulous road trip to Italy. Joining me were three other great people I met through Couch Surfing, all of us on a mission to take V's car back to its home in Aprilia (about 50 km south of Rome). So what's one of the least fun ways to start a sunday morning road trip? Finding out the car you're planning to take has been broken into! As far as breakins go, this was a "lucky" one. Someone had smashed the drivers side window and messed with the lock, but they didn't actually take anything or mess with the car beyond that - and for once it didn't rain, so the car was dry on the inside.
But obviously, it's hard to feel lucky when you're looking at a car that has a 1500 km trip ahead, in December, through Germany and Switzerland, and there's no window.
That's where our good friend plastic came in. We were all determined to go, window or no window, so we taped up some plastic to where the window had once been, the glass was cleaned up, and off we went. We all knew that the fact that it was Sunday was going to make getting the window fixed more difficult, and the fact that the car was insured in Italy and not the Netherlands made things even more complected, and of course the owner of the car didn't have time to make a police report. After I finally managed to get a cup of coffee (the fact that I even left the house that morning without coffee was a very rare thing for me to do) and could start thinking clearly, I made a few calls and we all started to work together to call service agencies and emergency roadside repair places. I know a lot more about how to fix a car in the Netherlands on a Sunday now than I ever knew I would, so let me share a piece of information: it's really expensive if you're not insured in the Netherlands. If you are insured here, then you're in good shape, because someone will come out and fix your car without a problem and it won't cost you anything (I'm taking about a broken window of course, that's where my experience begins and ends). But if you don't have Dutch insurance, a temporary window - really just some hard plastic - will cost you €185 if it's a Sunday. That's a lot of money.
To make a long story short, we drove all the way to Freiburg, Germany with plastic on the window. And honestly, it wasn't really that bad. We weren't cold, it didn't rain, and the only annoying thing was the noise. But no one pulled us over and the plastic held strong the entire way. The four of us switched around a lot in the car, except for me - since I don't have an EU driver license, I was really only a "last resort" driver. I had a good time the entire way, but of course we were all happy to arrive at our destination for the night and meet up with our CS hosts. A dinner party was thrown together, wine was opened, and within 5 minutes we were all laughing and joking around and having a good time. I went to sleep that night in a comfortable bed and felt amazingly lucky and content.
After sharing a really nice breakfast with our hosts the next morning (Monday, the 22nd), the 4 of us gathered together again to head out for the day with a little bit of a delay. See, we had all assumed that Germany would be the answer to our car problems. I mean, it's Germany! Germans love cars, they're efficient, and they know how to fix things. But the first 3 places my friends tried didn't work and they all sent us in the direction of a repair place a bit outside the city. The good news, when we got to that place, was that they could fix it, and fix it properly and perfectly. The bad news was that it would take a few hours - but all things considered, that wasn't so bad. The owner of the car was happy that her window would get fixed the right way, not just with a temporary solution. We had food, we all had books and computers, and there was a really comfortable waiting area. When we were asked if we wanted coffee, we all enthusiastically said yes - and about 10 minutes later, a wonderful angel from German Car Repair Heaven bought out 4 real cups of coffee (I was expecting something instant) with real milk and sugar and cookies and cakes. I have to say, that small gesture completely made our morning. Everything was fixed and ready to go by about 3pm, and we were back on the road. Fortunately, we had just enough daylight left to see some beautiful parts of Switzerland. The sunset was beautiful, the Alps are spectacular, and seeing a landscape that is the total opposite of Holland felt really special.
We had to drop one of our travelers off near Milan, and I was sad to see him go. When you spend 2 days in a car with someone, you do get this bond to them - I felt like we had all become a little international family (we came from the US, Brazil, the UK, and Italy). He headed off to Genoa and me and my two friends drove the rest of the night to our destination, arriving around 3.30am. I slept like a rock until 12.30pm the next day, and woke up to a beautiful lunch being served by my host. I was drinking wine before I even had a sip of coffee and I saw palm trees and sunshine when I started my day. I mean, if those two things aren't the sign of a good holiday, I don't know what is.
There where three specific things I wanted to note down that happened as soon as we arrived in Italy: everyone started to drive like a lunatic, a very thick fog surrounded us for hours and hours, and the food instantly became incredible. Honestly, a highway rest stop in Italy could be a fancy restaurant in a different country. We stopped a few times for coffee along the way and I give a lot of credit to the drivers of the car, because the fog was really, really intense for a really long time.
It's Christmas Eve now (actually, Christmas day), and I feel completely at home in my friends apartment in Rome. I'm hoping to keep this blog pretty well updated during my trip, so I'll leave this post off here for now. Happy holidays!
November 13, 2008
This is a post about bloggers, driving, whisky, and travel
Things have been busier than usual lately with the usual life/work/friends kind of things, but there's a few random things I wanted to share with the internet.
Meeting real-life bloggers:
This past Sunday I was standing on line at Batavia with a bunch of other foreigners who had all signed up for Dutch classes being administered by the lovely folks at Couch Surfing. We were all introducing ourselves and starting the usual get-to-know-each-other conversations. When I introduced myself to one of the two non-Italian people standing around me, his response was "Tamara? Do you... have a blog?"
Turns out that Mr Glen and I were signing up for the same Dutch classes! He's another new-to-Amsterdam blogger and all around nice guy. It took me a few minutes to get over the small-worldness of the situation, but what a cool way to meet someone. I mean, "cool" if you um, think bloggers are cool. Anyway, I really like the way Glen writes about Amsterdam, so check out his blog and then maybe one day you'll meet both of us at some random cafe.
Getting a drivers license in Holland:
I know how to drive (and yes, I can drive a stick shift) and have a valid US drivers license, but I haven't needed to drive since arriving in Europe. A few days ago, I got a really cool offer to do a ride share to Italy in December, which I thought sounded way more fun than flying. Only deal is, I would have to share some of the driving responsibilities, which makes sense. Turns out there's this law that says Americans who move to Holland can obtain a Dutch drivers license without having to take any lessons, if they do it within the first 6 months of their arrival IF and only if they're employed and subject to the 30% ruling. So while I am employed and have a contract and a legal residence and all that, I am not eligible for the 30% ruling, and for some reason THAT is the reason I can't get the Dutch license the easy way. As the nice woman who works in the HR department put it "so basically you're screwed." Well, it's not really that big of a deal. If I desperately need to get a license here one day, I'll take the classes and do it the "hard" way. But for now, it doesn't really matter all that much, it just means I can't (legally) help drive a car to Italy.
Whisky:
Yes, a topic that deserves its own paragraph. Tomorrow night I'm going to Leiden for the International Whisky Festival and I am psyched. The admission fee of €40 includes unlimited tastings from 19.00 - 23.00, during which I plan to taste everything I can while still being able to stand upright. There's two major reasons I'm exited about this - #1, I'm going with someone who really, really enjoys whisky, possibly even more than I do, and who knows way more about it than me - so I'll get to learn a lot. #2, an event like this would cost ten zillion dollars if it was in New York City. Or at least $150. Or $500. I don't know, really, but there's no way on earth I could do something like this in New York for 40 bucks, so that's all the more reason to take advantage (and visit Leiden for the first time).
Travel:
For as much as I love Amsterdam, I have been feeling a little claustrophobic lately and anxious to get out and be somewhere different. I'm going to do my best to visit Antwerp next weekend and Paris sometime in early December if I can find a rideshare or an amazing deal on tickets, but I also keep reminding myself that I'm very close to having all my debts paid off (lingering moving costs) and that having a zero balance on my credit card - especially these days, as the interest rate is skyrocketing - is worth postponing a trip to Paris. I also have to remind myself that I have a 16 days off in late Dec/early Jan, and I'll be spending the entire time traveling around Italy, hopefully entirely debt-free. I've started looking for Italian lessons in Amsterdam to add to the list of things I do besides go to work - climbing, Dutch classes, movies once or twice a week, and just the basic fun stuff with friends and hosting guests.
Anyway, since I've decided to stay in Amsterdam this weekend, I'm going to try and take care of the most important ingredient needed for the next big event: ordering a turkey for Thanksgiving.
Meeting real-life bloggers:
This past Sunday I was standing on line at Batavia with a bunch of other foreigners who had all signed up for Dutch classes being administered by the lovely folks at Couch Surfing. We were all introducing ourselves and starting the usual get-to-know-each-other conversations. When I introduced myself to one of the two non-Italian people standing around me, his response was "Tamara? Do you... have a blog?"
Turns out that Mr Glen and I were signing up for the same Dutch classes! He's another new-to-Amsterdam blogger and all around nice guy. It took me a few minutes to get over the small-worldness of the situation, but what a cool way to meet someone. I mean, "cool" if you um, think bloggers are cool. Anyway, I really like the way Glen writes about Amsterdam, so check out his blog and then maybe one day you'll meet both of us at some random cafe.
Getting a drivers license in Holland:
I know how to drive (and yes, I can drive a stick shift) and have a valid US drivers license, but I haven't needed to drive since arriving in Europe. A few days ago, I got a really cool offer to do a ride share to Italy in December, which I thought sounded way more fun than flying. Only deal is, I would have to share some of the driving responsibilities, which makes sense. Turns out there's this law that says Americans who move to Holland can obtain a Dutch drivers license without having to take any lessons, if they do it within the first 6 months of their arrival IF and only if they're employed and subject to the 30% ruling. So while I am employed and have a contract and a legal residence and all that, I am not eligible for the 30% ruling, and for some reason THAT is the reason I can't get the Dutch license the easy way. As the nice woman who works in the HR department put it "so basically you're screwed." Well, it's not really that big of a deal. If I desperately need to get a license here one day, I'll take the classes and do it the "hard" way. But for now, it doesn't really matter all that much, it just means I can't (legally) help drive a car to Italy.
Whisky:
Yes, a topic that deserves its own paragraph. Tomorrow night I'm going to Leiden for the International Whisky Festival and I am psyched. The admission fee of €40 includes unlimited tastings from 19.00 - 23.00, during which I plan to taste everything I can while still being able to stand upright. There's two major reasons I'm exited about this - #1, I'm going with someone who really, really enjoys whisky, possibly even more than I do, and who knows way more about it than me - so I'll get to learn a lot. #2, an event like this would cost ten zillion dollars if it was in New York City. Or at least $150. Or $500. I don't know, really, but there's no way on earth I could do something like this in New York for 40 bucks, so that's all the more reason to take advantage (and visit Leiden for the first time).
Travel:
For as much as I love Amsterdam, I have been feeling a little claustrophobic lately and anxious to get out and be somewhere different. I'm going to do my best to visit Antwerp next weekend and Paris sometime in early December if I can find a rideshare or an amazing deal on tickets, but I also keep reminding myself that I'm very close to having all my debts paid off (lingering moving costs) and that having a zero balance on my credit card - especially these days, as the interest rate is skyrocketing - is worth postponing a trip to Paris. I also have to remind myself that I have a 16 days off in late Dec/early Jan, and I'll be spending the entire time traveling around Italy, hopefully entirely debt-free. I've started looking for Italian lessons in Amsterdam to add to the list of things I do besides go to work - climbing, Dutch classes, movies once or twice a week, and just the basic fun stuff with friends and hosting guests.
Anyway, since I've decided to stay in Amsterdam this weekend, I'm going to try and take care of the most important ingredient needed for the next big event: ordering a turkey for Thanksgiving.
November 7, 2008
...The train off in the distance, bicycle chained to the stairs - everything, it must belong somewhere. I know that now, that's why I'm staying here.
Thursday night is one of my favorite nights of the week - it's the only night that I don't have reoccurring plans, and it's the night all the stores are open late. This is important to know, if you're visiting for relocating to Amsterdam - things close early in this city. Very early. Shops and department stores shut their doors between 17-19hr (19 if you're lucky). On the plus side, there's way more open on Sunday in Amsterdam than there is in a lot of other European cities - and we have one one night of the week where all the stores stay open late, and that night is Thursday. Getting used to that has made my life much easier.
What doesn't stay open late is restaurants or supermarkets, which always causes me a bit pain when I think about the 24-hour organic supermarkets that existed all over my former Brooklyn neighborhood. Going out to dinner even at 22hr is taking a risk, and if it's getting toward 22.30, you're basically out of luck. Hours do run later on weekends, and there are a few gems out there that serve late, but in general you're completely out of luck if you want anything that resembles decent food after 22.30. On the plus side, even if you get stuck eating street food, you're doing it in an absolutely beautiful city. I sat with a friend last night as he ate something unidentifiable at about 23hr, and after making jokes about the food and holding myself back from going on a long rant about how not getting decent food at 22.30 was taking away a basic human right, I looked around and noticed where we were. We had walked down quiet, mostly empty streets, in a beautiful neighborhood. We laughed at two adorable dogs (of course not on a leash), playing with their owner. As we wandered, we tended to walk right down the middle of the street, only getting out of the way for a passing bike or two - I didn't see a car drive by all night. And when we sat down to eat, we chose a bench on a beautiful canal in the Jordaan neighborhood. Streetlights were reflected in the water, all different types of boats were parked along the sides of the canal, and then a family of ducks swam by. I mean, really. The crappy food seemed very unimportant.
There are two other only-in-Amsterdam moments I've been meaning to write about. Earlier this week I was riding home along the Stadhouderskade around midnight, which is a pretty major road for traffic, buses, and bikes. They had shut down a very long piece of the road for construction and put up metal gates and signs to keep the cars away and the bikes from using the bike lane. But as a cyclist, I had nothing to worry about - the bike detour signs were also up and pointed me toward the middle of the road, where a temporary bike lane had been constructed. Even in the most bike-friendly areas of the US or Paris that I've ridden in, this just simply wouldn't happen.
Another thing that you might notice if you're out late is that all the traffic lights are out. This isn't cause for alarm, this is normal. I don't know what time they get turned off, but after a certain hour there just seems to be no need for traffic lights, and everyone is just expected to use good judgment and watch out for each other. Honestly, it completely works. Cars slow down at intersections and look both ways before going through, always, of course, yielding to cyclists.
It's been a really beautiful week here. As I rode into work this morning, the sun was shining, the yellow and orange leaves were falling lightly off the trees, and I was singing along without shame to Simon and Garfunkel playing on my ipod. No one looked at me strangely or gave me a hard time for A) riding a bike B) assuming I had the right of way in every situation where there was an automobile or C) singing out loud. These are the little things that I never want to take for granted, yet now it all feels so entirely normal.
What doesn't stay open late is restaurants or supermarkets, which always causes me a bit pain when I think about the 24-hour organic supermarkets that existed all over my former Brooklyn neighborhood. Going out to dinner even at 22hr is taking a risk, and if it's getting toward 22.30, you're basically out of luck. Hours do run later on weekends, and there are a few gems out there that serve late, but in general you're completely out of luck if you want anything that resembles decent food after 22.30. On the plus side, even if you get stuck eating street food, you're doing it in an absolutely beautiful city. I sat with a friend last night as he ate something unidentifiable at about 23hr, and after making jokes about the food and holding myself back from going on a long rant about how not getting decent food at 22.30 was taking away a basic human right, I looked around and noticed where we were. We had walked down quiet, mostly empty streets, in a beautiful neighborhood. We laughed at two adorable dogs (of course not on a leash), playing with their owner. As we wandered, we tended to walk right down the middle of the street, only getting out of the way for a passing bike or two - I didn't see a car drive by all night. And when we sat down to eat, we chose a bench on a beautiful canal in the Jordaan neighborhood. Streetlights were reflected in the water, all different types of boats were parked along the sides of the canal, and then a family of ducks swam by. I mean, really. The crappy food seemed very unimportant.
There are two other only-in-Amsterdam moments I've been meaning to write about. Earlier this week I was riding home along the Stadhouderskade around midnight, which is a pretty major road for traffic, buses, and bikes. They had shut down a very long piece of the road for construction and put up metal gates and signs to keep the cars away and the bikes from using the bike lane. But as a cyclist, I had nothing to worry about - the bike detour signs were also up and pointed me toward the middle of the road, where a temporary bike lane had been constructed. Even in the most bike-friendly areas of the US or Paris that I've ridden in, this just simply wouldn't happen.
Another thing that you might notice if you're out late is that all the traffic lights are out. This isn't cause for alarm, this is normal. I don't know what time they get turned off, but after a certain hour there just seems to be no need for traffic lights, and everyone is just expected to use good judgment and watch out for each other. Honestly, it completely works. Cars slow down at intersections and look both ways before going through, always, of course, yielding to cyclists.
It's been a really beautiful week here. As I rode into work this morning, the sun was shining, the yellow and orange leaves were falling lightly off the trees, and I was singing along without shame to Simon and Garfunkel playing on my ipod. No one looked at me strangely or gave me a hard time for A) riding a bike B) assuming I had the right of way in every situation where there was an automobile or C) singing out loud. These are the little things that I never want to take for granted, yet now it all feels so entirely normal.
October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween from Amsterdam!
It's pretty safe to say my melancholy mood has lifted over the past few days. A few days without any rain, some quality time with good friends, and my daily bicycle-riding fix was pretty much all I needed to start feeling like all was right in the world. Since daylight savings time hit and it's now always dark when I leave work, my bike ride home or to the climbing gym looks completely different, but one thing remains the same - Amsterdam is a beautiful city, night or day. I love this place.
It's also safe to say that I am 100% in the Halloween spirit. My company is hosting a big pumpkin-carving party today (the 31st), which really makes me appreciate my job - walking in and seeing pumpkins and Halloween decorations was the best way to start this day! Since I waited until the last minute, I figured I would throw together a costume that didn't take too much effort, and just assumed I wouldn't have that many options about what to buy. Turns out I was completely wrong, and the costume store on the Raadhuisstraat is stocked with anything you could want for Halloween. Everything is significantly more expensive than what I'm used to paying, but they have all the right stuff. As I walked around in a happy little Halloween daze, I listened to the people talk around me in Dutch, Australian-accented English, Italian, French, and Spanish. All there to shop for Halloween. It was quite a world-coming-together moment for me.
Today my plans include pumpkin carving and party hopping (and rock climbing - which isn't particularly Halloween-themed but luckily my climbing partner is very patient with my enthusiasm for this holiday). I'm going to start at Batavia, a bar close to Centraal Station that is hosting a free-to-get-in, costume-mandatory party. The backup plan to that is Getto, a bar on the Warmoestraat. I also really like the sound of the event taking place at de Nieuwe Anita - a Texas Chainsaw Massacre "Scream a Long" screening and after party. I love having options!
Other than getting ready for Halloween, there's other things I'm ticking off my list. I finally bought myself a pair of water-resistant rain pants, which means my day-to-day life has just gotten one thousand times more comfortable. I'm also working on getting my roommate officially registered at my apartment. My landlord agreed to write a letter stating that he could stay in the apartment as my guest - according to the guy I talked to at the DPG, this would be sufficient enough to get my roommate in the system (of course, he'll also need all his paperwork and a copy of my housing contract). Once he's registered he can apply for his BSN/SOFI number, and once he has that he's able to get a bank account. I'll update more about that next week once everything is done, because it might be helpful information for someone looking to do the same type of thing.
And now, back to work/obsessing about Halloween. Thanks to everyone who has commented and emailed lately - it always makes my day to hear from a random stranger who found something I said helpful, or to just know that my friends are reading. One of these days I'm going to move this blog over to wordpress and update the design a bit. I never meant to leave this blog looking so generic - anyway, that's another thing on my list of things to do.
It's also safe to say that I am 100% in the Halloween spirit. My company is hosting a big pumpkin-carving party today (the 31st), which really makes me appreciate my job - walking in and seeing pumpkins and Halloween decorations was the best way to start this day! Since I waited until the last minute, I figured I would throw together a costume that didn't take too much effort, and just assumed I wouldn't have that many options about what to buy. Turns out I was completely wrong, and the costume store on the Raadhuisstraat is stocked with anything you could want for Halloween. Everything is significantly more expensive than what I'm used to paying, but they have all the right stuff. As I walked around in a happy little Halloween daze, I listened to the people talk around me in Dutch, Australian-accented English, Italian, French, and Spanish. All there to shop for Halloween. It was quite a world-coming-together moment for me.
Today my plans include pumpkin carving and party hopping (and rock climbing - which isn't particularly Halloween-themed but luckily my climbing partner is very patient with my enthusiasm for this holiday). I'm going to start at Batavia, a bar close to Centraal Station that is hosting a free-to-get-in, costume-mandatory party. The backup plan to that is Getto, a bar on the Warmoestraat. I also really like the sound of the event taking place at de Nieuwe Anita - a Texas Chainsaw Massacre "Scream a Long" screening and after party. I love having options!
Other than getting ready for Halloween, there's other things I'm ticking off my list. I finally bought myself a pair of water-resistant rain pants, which means my day-to-day life has just gotten one thousand times more comfortable. I'm also working on getting my roommate officially registered at my apartment. My landlord agreed to write a letter stating that he could stay in the apartment as my guest - according to the guy I talked to at the DPG, this would be sufficient enough to get my roommate in the system (of course, he'll also need all his paperwork and a copy of my housing contract). Once he's registered he can apply for his BSN/SOFI number, and once he has that he's able to get a bank account. I'll update more about that next week once everything is done, because it might be helpful information for someone looking to do the same type of thing.
And now, back to work/obsessing about Halloween. Thanks to everyone who has commented and emailed lately - it always makes my day to hear from a random stranger who found something I said helpful, or to just know that my friends are reading. One of these days I'm going to move this blog over to wordpress and update the design a bit. I never meant to leave this blog looking so generic - anyway, that's another thing on my list of things to do.
September 26, 2008
Five month review: Pros and Cons of expat life in Amsterdam (it's mostly pros)
Before I start, let me acknowledge - five months isn't a very long time to live somewhere!
What makes expat life so easy in Amsterdam?
Last night, my friend Brooke and I walked from my place to the Roti Room (Eerste Oosterparkstraat) for dinner. It was perfect - warm, spicy Indian food served by a really friendly staff who insisted we not rush, that we should ask for more if we were hungry, and instructed us about which sauces to use for which dishes. Another friend happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped by to join us while we finished up the meal. Amsterdam is like this for me - people call me when they're around. I pull out my phone when I'm riding past someone's house that I know, or if I'm in a friend's neighborhood. I like that so much, and that kind of simple stopping-by-to-say-hi thing almost never happened in New York or Philadelphia.
When Brooke and I got back to my place, I had a skype video call with Kevin, a very good friend who lives in Tennessee. Skype is an expat's best friend. Not only can I talk to people without spending any money, but we can see each other, and it makes the distance seem not so great. I carried my computer around my apartment and showed Kevin where I live - he could even watch me make a cup of tea while we chatted. Later on, I caught up with my friend/former roommate who has returned to Italy, also over skype. Sometimes I really miss not having her around so that we can share every single detail of our lives with each other (we're girls, it's what we do), but as I put away my laundry last night I got to hear her explaining what she ate for dinner in Rome and what her new bike looks like, and it was almost like having here there with me. Having good friends all over the world doesn't seem that scary anymore - though of course it's always better when they're actually there, in person.
And of course, there's just my daily routine. Standing out on my balcony this morning, drinking coffee, watching the cyclists and trams go by as I listened to a Guardian podcast. I left my house after 10am and started my picture-perfect commute to work, at times noticing that I had the entire street to myself - no cars, no other cyclists. A commute with no traffic, no stress, no running to catch the train - I can't emphasize enough how much I love that. My headphones were on, the sky was blue, the sun was shining, and there's that wonderful distinct feeling of crisp autumn air. The leaves are starting to change colors, and the temperature is just cool enough for a jacket and scarf, but I haven't had to put on gloves yet (I'm sure that's coming soon).
Even though hearing Kevin talk about going climbing on real mountains made me want to be in the US, and picturing Christine eating that amazing ice cream from San Crispino made me want to be in Italy, every day that I wake up in Amsterdam I am reminded that the very simple, natural, obvious things here make the lack of mountains and good ice cream seem like a small price to pay. The one thing I'm trying to convey, and I hope it's working and I'm not being too dramatic, is that there's nothing super-amazing-unbelievable-oh-my-god-perfect about Amsterdam. It's just consistently good. Hanging out with friends, finding affordable Indian food, cycling, staying in touch with friends from home, and not feeling oppressed or stressed out from the people, atmosphere, traffic, or surroundings - this is what I like about my life here, this is why it's easy.
What are the difficulties of being an expat?
I have to attend the wedding of one of my best friends on 2 May in Philadelphia, and three weeks later my brother is getting married on the 23rd of May in California. I can't miss either of these weddings, but how on earth am I going to come up with the money for two trips to the US in May? The Philadelphia wedding was already going to be a bit of a financial squeeze, but flying to California from Amsterdam in late May? That's just going to be insane. I still have to pay off my US student loan and credit card, but all my money is in Euros now (ok, that part is great) which means monthly bank transfers, which means extra charges (only €10, but still). I still haven't quite gotten used to the European standard of getting paid once a month (in the US, every two weeks is normal), so I find that the last 4-5 days of each pay cycle I'm practically wiped out. And of course even though I live in the Netherlands and would quite happily stay indefinitely, I can't vote here, so I still feel more invested in US politics than Dutch politics. I don't like that. On one hand, what happens in the US (politically) does affect the entire world and I think it's important for everyone to pay attention, the same way we should also pay attention to what happens in Russia, Europe, Africa, etc. But my life is here now, and if Dutch laws and policies change, my daily life could be more directly affected than if the US passes a new law. It is unnerving that I have no say in the country where I live. Let's face it, I will always have to keep part of my life in the US (ie: an address, bank account, voter registration, etc) and part of my life here. For the most part that's ok, but it can become annoying at times.
Anyway, the pro/con list is done for now. Another really beautiful weekend has arrived, and I can't wait for it to get started. The first US presidential debate is on tonight, but it will be shown at 2am here, so I'll most likely catch it over the weekend. My plans consist of climbing, helping friends move, doing a bit of shopping, a party on Saturday night, and a dinner on Sunday night. I'm also going to try to get to the beach to watch the sun set on Saturday evening before the party. These sunsets are just incredible, and it's a short train ride to the sea, and come December I'll be wishing I took advantage of the long days while they were still here.
What makes expat life so easy in Amsterdam?
Last night, my friend Brooke and I walked from my place to the Roti Room (Eerste Oosterparkstraat) for dinner. It was perfect - warm, spicy Indian food served by a really friendly staff who insisted we not rush, that we should ask for more if we were hungry, and instructed us about which sauces to use for which dishes. Another friend happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped by to join us while we finished up the meal. Amsterdam is like this for me - people call me when they're around. I pull out my phone when I'm riding past someone's house that I know, or if I'm in a friend's neighborhood. I like that so much, and that kind of simple stopping-by-to-say-hi thing almost never happened in New York or Philadelphia.
When Brooke and I got back to my place, I had a skype video call with Kevin, a very good friend who lives in Tennessee. Skype is an expat's best friend. Not only can I talk to people without spending any money, but we can see each other, and it makes the distance seem not so great. I carried my computer around my apartment and showed Kevin where I live - he could even watch me make a cup of tea while we chatted. Later on, I caught up with my friend/former roommate who has returned to Italy, also over skype. Sometimes I really miss not having her around so that we can share every single detail of our lives with each other (we're girls, it's what we do), but as I put away my laundry last night I got to hear her explaining what she ate for dinner in Rome and what her new bike looks like, and it was almost like having here there with me. Having good friends all over the world doesn't seem that scary anymore - though of course it's always better when they're actually there, in person.
And of course, there's just my daily routine. Standing out on my balcony this morning, drinking coffee, watching the cyclists and trams go by as I listened to a Guardian podcast. I left my house after 10am and started my picture-perfect commute to work, at times noticing that I had the entire street to myself - no cars, no other cyclists. A commute with no traffic, no stress, no running to catch the train - I can't emphasize enough how much I love that. My headphones were on, the sky was blue, the sun was shining, and there's that wonderful distinct feeling of crisp autumn air. The leaves are starting to change colors, and the temperature is just cool enough for a jacket and scarf, but I haven't had to put on gloves yet (I'm sure that's coming soon).
Even though hearing Kevin talk about going climbing on real mountains made me want to be in the US, and picturing Christine eating that amazing ice cream from San Crispino made me want to be in Italy, every day that I wake up in Amsterdam I am reminded that the very simple, natural, obvious things here make the lack of mountains and good ice cream seem like a small price to pay. The one thing I'm trying to convey, and I hope it's working and I'm not being too dramatic, is that there's nothing super-amazing-unbelievable-oh-my-god-perfect about Amsterdam. It's just consistently good. Hanging out with friends, finding affordable Indian food, cycling, staying in touch with friends from home, and not feeling oppressed or stressed out from the people, atmosphere, traffic, or surroundings - this is what I like about my life here, this is why it's easy.
What are the difficulties of being an expat?
I have to attend the wedding of one of my best friends on 2 May in Philadelphia, and three weeks later my brother is getting married on the 23rd of May in California. I can't miss either of these weddings, but how on earth am I going to come up with the money for two trips to the US in May? The Philadelphia wedding was already going to be a bit of a financial squeeze, but flying to California from Amsterdam in late May? That's just going to be insane. I still have to pay off my US student loan and credit card, but all my money is in Euros now (ok, that part is great) which means monthly bank transfers, which means extra charges (only €10, but still). I still haven't quite gotten used to the European standard of getting paid once a month (in the US, every two weeks is normal), so I find that the last 4-5 days of each pay cycle I'm practically wiped out. And of course even though I live in the Netherlands and would quite happily stay indefinitely, I can't vote here, so I still feel more invested in US politics than Dutch politics. I don't like that. On one hand, what happens in the US (politically) does affect the entire world and I think it's important for everyone to pay attention, the same way we should also pay attention to what happens in Russia, Europe, Africa, etc. But my life is here now, and if Dutch laws and policies change, my daily life could be more directly affected than if the US passes a new law. It is unnerving that I have no say in the country where I live. Let's face it, I will always have to keep part of my life in the US (ie: an address, bank account, voter registration, etc) and part of my life here. For the most part that's ok, but it can become annoying at times.
Anyway, the pro/con list is done for now. Another really beautiful weekend has arrived, and I can't wait for it to get started. The first US presidential debate is on tonight, but it will be shown at 2am here, so I'll most likely catch it over the weekend. My plans consist of climbing, helping friends move, doing a bit of shopping, a party on Saturday night, and a dinner on Sunday night. I'm also going to try to get to the beach to watch the sun set on Saturday evening before the party. These sunsets are just incredible, and it's a short train ride to the sea, and come December I'll be wishing I took advantage of the long days while they were still here.
September 16, 2008
More successful bike moving
I have furnished my apartment exclusively from other people giving me their stuff or selling it to me. No trips to Ikea! That's something I'm strangely proud of, and it's also the reason why the curtains in my bedroom don't really fit the window. An amazing resource for picking up free stuff is Amsterdam Freecycle.
Last night I went to pick up 2 nice black chairs from someone in de pijp who was giving them away. When I left work, I first stopped at the market to pick up some food, and filled up my bike-messenger-type bag with cans of beans, vegetables, pasta, and bread. When I got to the apartment where I was picking up the chairs, the (Dutch) guy who was giving them away said "How are you getting these to your place?"
The same way I've gotten pretty much everything to my place (including the large, heavy set of bookshelves that now sits in the living room) - my bike. So in another bike-moving victory moment, I managed to put 2 chairs (upside down) on my luggage rack and sort of just hold them in place with my left hand as I rode to my apartment while carrying a bag full of groceries on my back. The fact that a Dutch person thought I was kind of insane for tying to do all that at once made me feel a huge sense of accomplishment.
I think I'll feel even more accomplished when I finally get some proper bedroom curtains, hang some pictures on the walls, and paint some of my stark-white furniture to be any color other than white.
Last night I went to pick up 2 nice black chairs from someone in de pijp who was giving them away. When I left work, I first stopped at the market to pick up some food, and filled up my bike-messenger-type bag with cans of beans, vegetables, pasta, and bread. When I got to the apartment where I was picking up the chairs, the (Dutch) guy who was giving them away said "How are you getting these to your place?"
The same way I've gotten pretty much everything to my place (including the large, heavy set of bookshelves that now sits in the living room) - my bike. So in another bike-moving victory moment, I managed to put 2 chairs (upside down) on my luggage rack and sort of just hold them in place with my left hand as I rode to my apartment while carrying a bag full of groceries on my back. The fact that a Dutch person thought I was kind of insane for tying to do all that at once made me feel a huge sense of accomplishment.
I think I'll feel even more accomplished when I finally get some proper bedroom curtains, hang some pictures on the walls, and paint some of my stark-white furniture to be any color other than white.
August 31, 2008
Amsterdam events, American politics, and so on
The best way to do this post is a two-parter.
Part One: A proper summer weekend
This weekend was insanely beautiful in Amsterdam, and everyone rushed out to enjoy. It feels like the city has come back to life, and all the students have returned (which explains why it's now almost impossible to find a good bike parking spot near my apartment, since I live right next to the University of Amsterdam). The Uitmarkt festival, which ran this past weekend, opened up the start of the Dutch cultural season. Cinemanita starts again this Monday at De Nieuwe Anita with a screening of Faust (!! Jan Svankmajer). After a quiet August, I'm really excited to have too much to do again, too many things to choose from, and acknowledge that my biggest problem is figuring out how I can fit all this fun stuff in my schedule.
In my case, the best part of Amsterdam this weekend was hanging out with my good friend C. I fully intended to give her my guest bike while she's in town, but unfortunately, the back tire needs to be completely replaced and the bike is parked somewhere completely far from where I live or work. Luckily, our friend Mark was quick to offer his guest bike, and said it would be fine for C. to go pick it up around midnight on Friday. "I'll give you a ride!" I offered, and as we were getting ready to go I felt obliged to admit to her that I had never actually rode anyone on the back of my bike before. I have been a passenger many times, but never a driver, so to speak. C. allowed me to use her as my guinea pig, and I happily rode her from my place (which is in the Center-East of Amsterdam) to Mark's house in the Oud Zuid - a fairly significant ride! The first few minutes were a little wobbly, but we made it through crowded intersections at Leidseplein and Vondelpark without incident and both of us arrived at Mark's house safe and sound.
It was a good thing we picked up the bike on Friday night, because on Saturday the two of us spent a huge chunk of the day cycling. We used C's very helpful Voordeelurenabonnement to purchase train tickets to Santpoort Zuid at a 40% discount (tip: you can always take your bike on a train in the Netherlands, but you have to pay for a bike ticket at well). From there, we rode a few kilometers to Brederode Castle -originally built in 1282 - and admired the ruins. After a drink in the lovely little terrace, we rode through the woods for a while, going up and down what I would be tempted to call actual hills. Okay, for the Netherlands, they WERE hills. In a flat country, you take what you can get. We ended up at a lovely beach, spread out our towels, and enjoyed the sun. There were tons of dogs running around chasing balls, topless women, little naked kids building sand castles, plenty of folks enjoying a beer or sharing a bottle of wine - and I thought to myself that all these little things belong at a beach. But the beaches that I've been to in Long Island, Los Angeles, or New Jersey don't allow dogs, would charge you to just walk on the sand, many discourage alcohol, forbid dogs, and certainly don't allow topless sunbathing.
I love living in Europe.
Part Two: American issues
I'm mailing out my absentee voter registration tomorrow. It's crazy to think that in 65 days, the US will have a new President, and I have no idea what's going to happen. Everything about American politics is a mystery to me - McCain picking Sarah Palin as his running mate? Where on earth did that come from? I'm trying not to get my hopes up on two fronts. #1, I don't want to assume Obama can win. I mean, we're talking about a country full of people who elected Bush into office in 2004 (the popular vote did NOT give Bush the presidency in 2000, so I try avoid saying that the actual American people voted him into office twice). I also don't want to assume that if Obama wins, everything will magically get better and Americans will suddenly be able to have access to education and health care. So I remind myself of these two things often.
But you know what? When I voted for Kerry in 2004, I was doing it because he wasn't Bush. That was it. When I vote for Obama this November, it's because I actually think there is a possibility he could do a really good job as president. For any Americans living abroad that need to get their absentee ballots, you can go to fvap.gov to figure out what you need to do. Some states let you do everything through email, but annoyingly, California is not one of those states (and even more annoyingly, even though I spent most of my US life in New York and only 10 weeks living in Los Angeles, I'm registered to vote in California).
However, the much more pressing issue right now in the US is Hurricane Gustav. People have already died in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica from this hurricane. The devastation in Cuba has been terrible. Gustav is due to hit New Orleans tomorrow (Monday) morning, and as I watched a clip of Nagin's (Mayor of New Orleans) press conference, all I could think is "this can't possibly happen again." But it can happen again, can't it? The thought is petrifying. I'm following the Gustav Reporter twitter page this evening, and as I combed through different reports in the media, I found an article titled "In New Orleans, Blogs become crucial decision-making tool" from the Chicago Tribune. I trust blogs and twitter feeds for a more real-life account of what is happening right this minute, and it helps me feel more connected to what's going on at home.
Technology has changed the expat experience. Perhaps a topic worth going into more, but this post has gone on long enough as it is. I'm going to try to post a little more frequently this month, maybe three times a week, so I don't have to just unload everything all at once.
Part One: A proper summer weekend
This weekend was insanely beautiful in Amsterdam, and everyone rushed out to enjoy. It feels like the city has come back to life, and all the students have returned (which explains why it's now almost impossible to find a good bike parking spot near my apartment, since I live right next to the University of Amsterdam). The Uitmarkt festival, which ran this past weekend, opened up the start of the Dutch cultural season. Cinemanita starts again this Monday at De Nieuwe Anita with a screening of Faust (!! Jan Svankmajer). After a quiet August, I'm really excited to have too much to do again, too many things to choose from, and acknowledge that my biggest problem is figuring out how I can fit all this fun stuff in my schedule.
In my case, the best part of Amsterdam this weekend was hanging out with my good friend C. I fully intended to give her my guest bike while she's in town, but unfortunately, the back tire needs to be completely replaced and the bike is parked somewhere completely far from where I live or work. Luckily, our friend Mark was quick to offer his guest bike, and said it would be fine for C. to go pick it up around midnight on Friday. "I'll give you a ride!" I offered, and as we were getting ready to go I felt obliged to admit to her that I had never actually rode anyone on the back of my bike before. I have been a passenger many times, but never a driver, so to speak. C. allowed me to use her as my guinea pig, and I happily rode her from my place (which is in the Center-East of Amsterdam) to Mark's house in the Oud Zuid - a fairly significant ride! The first few minutes were a little wobbly, but we made it through crowded intersections at Leidseplein and Vondelpark without incident and both of us arrived at Mark's house safe and sound.
It was a good thing we picked up the bike on Friday night, because on Saturday the two of us spent a huge chunk of the day cycling. We used C's very helpful Voordeelurenabonnement to purchase train tickets to Santpoort Zuid at a 40% discount (tip: you can always take your bike on a train in the Netherlands, but you have to pay for a bike ticket at well). From there, we rode a few kilometers to Brederode Castle -originally built in 1282 - and admired the ruins. After a drink in the lovely little terrace, we rode through the woods for a while, going up and down what I would be tempted to call actual hills. Okay, for the Netherlands, they WERE hills. In a flat country, you take what you can get. We ended up at a lovely beach, spread out our towels, and enjoyed the sun. There were tons of dogs running around chasing balls, topless women, little naked kids building sand castles, plenty of folks enjoying a beer or sharing a bottle of wine - and I thought to myself that all these little things belong at a beach. But the beaches that I've been to in Long Island, Los Angeles, or New Jersey don't allow dogs, would charge you to just walk on the sand, many discourage alcohol, forbid dogs, and certainly don't allow topless sunbathing.
I love living in Europe.
Part Two: American issues
I'm mailing out my absentee voter registration tomorrow. It's crazy to think that in 65 days, the US will have a new President, and I have no idea what's going to happen. Everything about American politics is a mystery to me - McCain picking Sarah Palin as his running mate? Where on earth did that come from? I'm trying not to get my hopes up on two fronts. #1, I don't want to assume Obama can win. I mean, we're talking about a country full of people who elected Bush into office in 2004 (the popular vote did NOT give Bush the presidency in 2000, so I try avoid saying that the actual American people voted him into office twice). I also don't want to assume that if Obama wins, everything will magically get better and Americans will suddenly be able to have access to education and health care. So I remind myself of these two things often.
But you know what? When I voted for Kerry in 2004, I was doing it because he wasn't Bush. That was it. When I vote for Obama this November, it's because I actually think there is a possibility he could do a really good job as president. For any Americans living abroad that need to get their absentee ballots, you can go to fvap.gov to figure out what you need to do. Some states let you do everything through email, but annoyingly, California is not one of those states (and even more annoyingly, even though I spent most of my US life in New York and only 10 weeks living in Los Angeles, I'm registered to vote in California).
However, the much more pressing issue right now in the US is Hurricane Gustav. People have already died in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica from this hurricane. The devastation in Cuba has been terrible. Gustav is due to hit New Orleans tomorrow (Monday) morning, and as I watched a clip of Nagin's (Mayor of New Orleans) press conference, all I could think is "this can't possibly happen again." But it can happen again, can't it? The thought is petrifying. I'm following the Gustav Reporter twitter page this evening, and as I combed through different reports in the media, I found an article titled "In New Orleans, Blogs become crucial decision-making tool" from the Chicago Tribune. I trust blogs and twitter feeds for a more real-life account of what is happening right this minute, and it helps me feel more connected to what's going on at home.
Technology has changed the expat experience. Perhaps a topic worth going into more, but this post has gone on long enough as it is. I'm going to try to post a little more frequently this month, maybe three times a week, so I don't have to just unload everything all at once.
August 4, 2008
Case closed, start again
Every day, I try to take care of at least one unpleasant or annoying new-to-Amsterdam task. Today that task was call Telfort and figure out exactly why they can't hook up my internet service at home. The reason is ridiculous.
All around me this afternoon, my (foreign) colleagues were on the phone with their internet providers and their doctors and insurance companies, arguing charges or waiting on hold or trying to get answers to questions without success. I decided to join the club and put in a call to Telfort.
The back story is: over a month ago (I'm guessing the 25th of June, or around there), a friend of mine helped me set up my internet service online - I needed the help because the website is all in Dutch. Once everything was translated and explained, the process seemed very easy and logical, and all I had to do was wait... up to eight weeks... for my home internet service. The eight-week wait is common and I knew to expect it. Luckily I found an open wireless network somewhere in my apartment building that is almost always on, so I didn't mind the wait so much.
Sometime in mid-July I received a letter from Telfort, obviously in Dutch, and from what little Dutch I understand I could gather that they weren't going to hook up the service. It was a really vague letter (I had a colleague translate) that basically said "we can't set up your service, and it could be for any one of the reasons listed below, sorry." The only way to get a real answer was to call, so I did that today (putting it off because it just seemed like such a pain in the ass). Navigated my way through several Dutch-language menus (mostly just taking educated guesses), waited on hold for about 15 minutes (and by the way, that phone call cost something like 30 cents a minute, but luckily I called from work), and finally talked to a friendly enough guy who explained that yes, my order had been canceled.
Why?
Because I told Telfort (at the time of signing up) that I live in apartment 77-B. This is the address on my rental contract, this is the address where I'm registered with the city of Amsterdam, this is the address on my paystub, my mail, etc.
Yet according to Telfort, there is no 77B on my street. There's 77-1 and 77-2. "You must be in 77-2," the man says to me.
"Yes, I suppose that's the case."
"Anything else?"
"I'm guessing this means I have to start all over again, and wait another 4-8 weeks?"
"That's correct."
Sigh.
There's no point in arguing with them, really. The order I placed (over a month ago!) was canceled, done, finito. All I can really do at this point is double-check with my bank that Telfort hasn't taken any money out of my account yet and start over. The most important lesson I learned, should this happen again, is to call right away.
All around me this afternoon, my (foreign) colleagues were on the phone with their internet providers and their doctors and insurance companies, arguing charges or waiting on hold or trying to get answers to questions without success. I decided to join the club and put in a call to Telfort.
The back story is: over a month ago (I'm guessing the 25th of June, or around there), a friend of mine helped me set up my internet service online - I needed the help because the website is all in Dutch. Once everything was translated and explained, the process seemed very easy and logical, and all I had to do was wait... up to eight weeks... for my home internet service. The eight-week wait is common and I knew to expect it. Luckily I found an open wireless network somewhere in my apartment building that is almost always on, so I didn't mind the wait so much.
Sometime in mid-July I received a letter from Telfort, obviously in Dutch, and from what little Dutch I understand I could gather that they weren't going to hook up the service. It was a really vague letter (I had a colleague translate) that basically said "we can't set up your service, and it could be for any one of the reasons listed below, sorry." The only way to get a real answer was to call, so I did that today (putting it off because it just seemed like such a pain in the ass). Navigated my way through several Dutch-language menus (mostly just taking educated guesses), waited on hold for about 15 minutes (and by the way, that phone call cost something like 30 cents a minute, but luckily I called from work), and finally talked to a friendly enough guy who explained that yes, my order had been canceled.
Why?
Because I told Telfort (at the time of signing up) that I live in apartment 77-B. This is the address on my rental contract, this is the address where I'm registered with the city of Amsterdam, this is the address on my paystub, my mail, etc.
Yet according to Telfort, there is no 77B on my street. There's 77-1 and 77-2. "You must be in 77-2," the man says to me.
"Yes, I suppose that's the case."
"Anything else?"
"I'm guessing this means I have to start all over again, and wait another 4-8 weeks?"
"That's correct."
Sigh.
There's no point in arguing with them, really. The order I placed (over a month ago!) was canceled, done, finito. All I can really do at this point is double-check with my bank that Telfort hasn't taken any money out of my account yet and start over. The most important lesson I learned, should this happen again, is to call right away.
July 23, 2008
Address change, and all the fun that goes with it
Since all the "big" administrative type of paperwork is taken care of in terms of me living in Amsterdam, I thought it was time to tackle all that little stuff - for example, officially changing my address from my friend's apartment to my new place. Everyone said "it's so easy, you can fill out the form online!"
So I did a google search and I find this page which points me in the direction of this form, which is only in Dutch. Not wanting to lose my momentum for Getting Shit Done, I ran down to my company's HR office and asked them for help with the translation.
Over an hour later, I was finally done. It was just stupid stuff that held up the process - I needed the full names of the residents of my old place (think about it, can you really say you know the last name of all your friends, and if so, can you really spell those names correctly?), a scan of my passport (but they wouldn't accept PDFs), my phone number... except wait, I just lost my phone... that added a few extra steps. But in the end it was all done, and if you have all your shit together, it really shouldn't take that long. My (Dutch) colleague told me she didn't have to take as many steps as I was taking to change her address, so I'm guessing this is a different process for foreigners. Either that, or because I didn't have my phone on me (so they can verify things via SMS), it just meant I had to provide more information.
Once this was all done I started trying to find Dutch classes to sign up for in August, but I haven't gotten terribly far with that. The University of Amsterdam classes are expensive, and the Volksuniversiteit doesn't offer anything until September (though they are a lot more affordable than UvA). I think I might start looking for private lessons. If anyone reading has a recommendation, I'm all ears.
Next up: replace my mobile phone, figure out why Telfort can't hook up my internet service at home, change my address with my bank, properly furnish my apartment, and buy tickets to Rome for late August (to visit my old roommate). Speaking of apartment furnishings, I've actually had some pretty good luck with Amsterdam's Craigslist and Freecycle. These sites don't seem to get very heavy traffic (especially compared to the New York City version), but within a few minutes of posting an ad on freecycle and responding to an ad on craigslist, I scored a free DVD player and have a few promising leads on couches and shelves. I'm also keeping my eyes peeled on the sidewalks, which is where I got two of my dining room chairs. There's also Marktplaats, which is mostly in Dutch (Freecycle is entirely in English, and craigslist is mostly in English). I wish I could just snap my fingers and have all this stuff magically take care of itself - but I just keep reminding myself: all the hard stuff is done.
So I did a google search and I find this page which points me in the direction of this form, which is only in Dutch. Not wanting to lose my momentum for Getting Shit Done, I ran down to my company's HR office and asked them for help with the translation.
Over an hour later, I was finally done. It was just stupid stuff that held up the process - I needed the full names of the residents of my old place (think about it, can you really say you know the last name of all your friends, and if so, can you really spell those names correctly?), a scan of my passport (but they wouldn't accept PDFs), my phone number... except wait, I just lost my phone... that added a few extra steps. But in the end it was all done, and if you have all your shit together, it really shouldn't take that long. My (Dutch) colleague told me she didn't have to take as many steps as I was taking to change her address, so I'm guessing this is a different process for foreigners. Either that, or because I didn't have my phone on me (so they can verify things via SMS), it just meant I had to provide more information.
Once this was all done I started trying to find Dutch classes to sign up for in August, but I haven't gotten terribly far with that. The University of Amsterdam classes are expensive, and the Volksuniversiteit doesn't offer anything until September (though they are a lot more affordable than UvA). I think I might start looking for private lessons. If anyone reading has a recommendation, I'm all ears.
Next up: replace my mobile phone, figure out why Telfort can't hook up my internet service at home, change my address with my bank, properly furnish my apartment, and buy tickets to Rome for late August (to visit my old roommate). Speaking of apartment furnishings, I've actually had some pretty good luck with Amsterdam's Craigslist and Freecycle. These sites don't seem to get very heavy traffic (especially compared to the New York City version), but within a few minutes of posting an ad on freecycle and responding to an ad on craigslist, I scored a free DVD player and have a few promising leads on couches and shelves. I'm also keeping my eyes peeled on the sidewalks, which is where I got two of my dining room chairs. There's also Marktplaats, which is mostly in Dutch (Freecycle is entirely in English, and craigslist is mostly in English). I wish I could just snap my fingers and have all this stuff magically take care of itself - but I just keep reminding myself: all the hard stuff is done.
July 2, 2008
Amsterdam style moving
I'm just coming off what felt like the busiest week of my life. Besides work and the fact that I have zero willpower in turning down invitations to do fun things (when I should really be say, sleeping) I moved! This is my second night in my beautiful new apartment, and I love it. I've moved about one zillion times (give or take), from different countries to different cities to different everything, in every possible type of weather and environment, using planes, cars, bicycles, taxis, metros, etc. So even though the weather was great during my moving process and I mostly kept a positive attitude, moving is just never really that fun... especially early on a Sunday morning.
In theory, I could have rented some sort of vehicle and driven it myself and tried to round up some friends, but the idea of driving a vehicle through Amsterdam - not just any vehicle, but some sort of large van - sounds like the worst idea on earth. So I hired movers, which is the type of thing that always seemed like such a luxury, but was actually the best decision I ever made. Lee, the White Van Man (+31 20 4122312), was amazing. We started at my former apartment and stopped at 3 other places throughout the city (I was picking up furniture from a bunch of different people who offered it to me) before heading to my new place. Our first stop was to pick up a bed, shelves, and nightstands from a nice couple with a large apartment. Now. I can not emphasize enough that staircases in Amsterdam are narrow. I mean, narrow doesn't even begin to describe it. They're narrow and steep. I have literally, and I'm not kidding, used my hands to help me when walking up stairs here in Amsterdam. So how on earth do people move furniture? Through windows.
Again, I've moved a lot. And there has come a point in my moves when I've said "ok, this is just simply not going to fit up the stairs/through the door/etc so it goes on the sidewalk." That attitude doesn't fly here; instead it's "ok, it won't go down the stairs, so go grab the rope and put it through the window." And of course this is all being done on a Sunday morning, when everyone who helping was terribly hung over. The bed was the hardest part of the move - everything else went rather quickly, and I'm really lucky to have moved into a place on the 1st floor with wide staircases (in the US, that would be considered the 2nd floor with normal-size staircases). The entire process took about 2 1/2 hours, and I felt incredibly lucky to have amazing friends and random strangers help me out throughout the day. The movers charged me about 160 Euros (including tax), which seemed like a really good price compared to what people pay in New York City. After I was finished, a friend of mine (who had just carried most of my furniture up and down the stairs) offered me a ride, and I happily jumped on the back of his bike and got dropped off in the center. I spent the rest of the day trying to visualize how to set up the furniture and daydreaming about all the dinner parties I want to host.
So how did I get this place? The same way anyone gets any apartment in a city where everyone tells you it's impossible - through contacts. That simple. A friend of mine knew someone who was renting a place, sent me the details, I got in touch with them, and that's that. I knew that I couldn't pass up the deal, because this is a legit apartment where I can register and have a legal contract and pay a fair price, so I took it. I didn't shop around at all, but I've become familiar enough with the Amsterdam rental housing market to know that I would be insane to pass this up. So there you go - the magic solution is that there is no magic solution. It works the same way here as it does everywhere else - get to know people, make contacts, put the word out, and hope you get lucky.
I've been in Amsterdam just over 2 months now, and I love this city more and more every day. I keep thinking, okay, eventually it won't seem that great. But then I'll ride my bike home from my friends houseboat at 11pm, while it's still pretty light outside... and I still marvel at the fact that everyone (pretty much) yields to me, the cyclist. The parks don't close their gates, the dogs run next to the bikes, the buildings lean drastically to one side - and I love all of this. A really good friend from New York is now staying with me for the entire month of July, and I can't wait to show the city off to her, and hope she loves it as much as I do.
In theory, I could have rented some sort of vehicle and driven it myself and tried to round up some friends, but the idea of driving a vehicle through Amsterdam - not just any vehicle, but some sort of large van - sounds like the worst idea on earth. So I hired movers, which is the type of thing that always seemed like such a luxury, but was actually the best decision I ever made. Lee, the White Van Man (+31 20 4122312), was amazing. We started at my former apartment and stopped at 3 other places throughout the city (I was picking up furniture from a bunch of different people who offered it to me) before heading to my new place. Our first stop was to pick up a bed, shelves, and nightstands from a nice couple with a large apartment. Now. I can not emphasize enough that staircases in Amsterdam are narrow. I mean, narrow doesn't even begin to describe it. They're narrow and steep. I have literally, and I'm not kidding, used my hands to help me when walking up stairs here in Amsterdam. So how on earth do people move furniture? Through windows.
Again, I've moved a lot. And there has come a point in my moves when I've said "ok, this is just simply not going to fit up the stairs/through the door/etc so it goes on the sidewalk." That attitude doesn't fly here; instead it's "ok, it won't go down the stairs, so go grab the rope and put it through the window." And of course this is all being done on a Sunday morning, when everyone who helping was terribly hung over. The bed was the hardest part of the move - everything else went rather quickly, and I'm really lucky to have moved into a place on the 1st floor with wide staircases (in the US, that would be considered the 2nd floor with normal-size staircases). The entire process took about 2 1/2 hours, and I felt incredibly lucky to have amazing friends and random strangers help me out throughout the day. The movers charged me about 160 Euros (including tax), which seemed like a really good price compared to what people pay in New York City. After I was finished, a friend of mine (who had just carried most of my furniture up and down the stairs) offered me a ride, and I happily jumped on the back of his bike and got dropped off in the center. I spent the rest of the day trying to visualize how to set up the furniture and daydreaming about all the dinner parties I want to host.
So how did I get this place? The same way anyone gets any apartment in a city where everyone tells you it's impossible - through contacts. That simple. A friend of mine knew someone who was renting a place, sent me the details, I got in touch with them, and that's that. I knew that I couldn't pass up the deal, because this is a legit apartment where I can register and have a legal contract and pay a fair price, so I took it. I didn't shop around at all, but I've become familiar enough with the Amsterdam rental housing market to know that I would be insane to pass this up. So there you go - the magic solution is that there is no magic solution. It works the same way here as it does everywhere else - get to know people, make contacts, put the word out, and hope you get lucky.
I've been in Amsterdam just over 2 months now, and I love this city more and more every day. I keep thinking, okay, eventually it won't seem that great. But then I'll ride my bike home from my friends houseboat at 11pm, while it's still pretty light outside... and I still marvel at the fact that everyone (pretty much) yields to me, the cyclist. The parks don't close their gates, the dogs run next to the bikes, the buildings lean drastically to one side - and I love all of this. A really good friend from New York is now staying with me for the entire month of July, and I can't wait to show the city off to her, and hope she loves it as much as I do.
June 23, 2008
The biggest difference
When you think about the entire globe, the cultural differences between people in North America and Europe aren't that big of a deal. But the one thing that separates specifically the United States from say, the rest of the developed world, is lack of affordable health care. I can not emphasize enough how huge of a deal this is, but I'll try by way of example.
I moved to NYC from Paris in October 2006, and a few weeks later I accidentally cut my finger pretty badly while I was at home in Brooklyn. I was working full time, but I didn't have health care, which is entirely normal. I bandaged it up myself, but later in the evening the wound opened up again while I was out at a bar. It looked worse than it was, honestly, but blood always freaks everyone out. I was shuffled outside, and a nice Scottish girl demanded that I go to the hospital right away for stitches. It was pretty obvious that's what I needed - again, the cut wasn't going to kill me or anything, it just was too deep for a simple bandaid. The thing is, I didn't have health insurance. So I couldn't go to the hospital. That was that, there was no "well maybe I should anyway....," the fact was that there was no way I was willing to pay hundred and hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars to get stitches in my finger - and also wait for hours in the emergency room until someone could see me. I just couldn't afford that. Every single one of my (American) friends that I was with understood that, but the Scottish girl just kept saying "but this is crazy, you need stitches, then you'll be fine, why won't you go to the hospital?" as though I was trying to prove something about how tough I was being. It wasn't about being tough, it was about reality. In the US, just because you happen to live there and work full time and pay taxes, that doesn't mean you have the right to get stitches if you cut yourself. This is the way I was raised, this is what my society taught me. This seems normal to me.
Anyway, I bought a huge pile of supplies from a pharmacy, bandaged myself up properly, and my finger healed slowly - there's still a scar, and the inside knuckle of my left pointer finger is still incredibly sensitive, but that's all fine. I don't have a big, scary story about getting hit by a car or breaking my leg without health insurance, because honestly, if something like that happened, there's no way I would be in Europe right now. I would be in debt for the rest of my life, like millions of Americans are right now.
I mentioned a few weeks ago in this blog that I fell off my bike, right? I was pretty banged up, but it didn't occur to me to go see a doctor, even though a couple different people told me I should just get myself checked out. First, I thought "it's nothing, I just scraped up my leg." But second, I still have this American mentality in me that says "you can't afford it, and you don't deserve it" - even though I know both of those things aren't true. So I didn't do anything about my cuts and scrapes, I just tried to keep everything clean and bandaged. Then, a few days ago, I noticed that shit, my right ankle was still swollen, it had been over two weeks, and it seemed to just be getting worse. The wound on the top of my foot wasn't scabbing up the way it should have been (which meant it wasn't healing), and this was becoming not only painful, but annoying. I haven't been able to wear heels in over two weeks! I would avoid running after a frisbee if someone threw one my way! Not good. So I finally freaked out and went to talk to a pharmacist in my neighborhood this past Saturday.
The pharmacist took one look at my foot and told me to go see a doctor right away, because I had an infection. Since it was a Saturday, I had to make arrangements to go to the hospital, rather than just go see my doctor (I actually haven't picked a doctor yet). Just the words "go to the hospital" scared me to death, though I kept telling myself, "okay, this won't be like it is in the states, it won't be like it is in the states," but I still took 200 Euros out of the ATM machine. The thing is, I do have Dutch health insurance, but I just literally signed up for my plan and I don't think I'm in the system yet, so I had to do the whole thing as if I'm not insured. This wasn't a problem, and I kept getting assured that I would be reimbursed by my insurance company.
When I got to the hospital, the American in me expected to be there all day, which was a bummer, since I had been planning on enjoying my Saturday. Instead I waited about 3 minutes before someone called my name. I wasn't asked to fill out forms or show ID. The doctor took a look at my foot, said "yup, you have an infection, but it appears to just be local and you simply need to treat it 3 times a day with antibiotics." The entire process took no more than ten minutes, he wrote me a prescription, shook my hand, and sent me on my way. And that's... it? Does anyone need to see my passport? Anyone want to charge me 50 Euros just for walking in the room? No? Right... because... this isn't the US.
The pharmacy was just down the hall from where I saw my doctor. I handed the woman my slip, give her my phone number, and waited for it to be filled. Ok, my brain is thinking, this is where I get charged. This is the scary part. Five minutes later, my prescription was ready. "That will be 9.70 Euros please. And keep this receipt, be sure to use it to get reimbursed from your insurance company." And that was that. Less than ten Euros. That's what the entire process cost me, and if I feel like it, I can get that 9.70 reimbursed. At no point did anyone ask me for ID and make photocopies. At no point was I ever given a different type of treatment because I'm a foreigner who doesn't speak Dutch. It's very simple, very obvious - but so incredibly foreign to me. Imagine that, Americans. Health care being a basic human right.
I've been using these antibiotics for just a couple days and my foot is almost totally fine. After 24 hours, the wound started shrinking and the swelling went down significantly. If I had just done this when I fell off the bike, I would probably would be walking around in heels right now.
I'm sure that somehow, in the US, there are clinics and doctors and special programs that would provide something somewhat similar to what I described above. But I'll tell you something: I wouldn't really have any idea where to find them, and I have tried. I went to a public clinic once in New York for an exam - the type of place that exists specifically for people who don't have health insurance. It took me about 30 minutes to fill out all the forms, I had to provide my ID, social security card, pay stubs, and some other paperwork. Then they charged me $175 USD and required me to pay up front (before I even saw the doctor) and in cash. When I told them I only had $100 on me, they gave me directions to the nearest ATM machine. I had to leave the office, walk down the street, get more money, and hand it over before anyone would see me... and this was, again, a "public health clinic." The actual exam took about 10 minutes, and I was in the office for over 2 hours. I spent most of my time looking at advertisements for different drugs, which were hanging all over the walls.
It's not about the language, or the food, the religion, the time we eat dinner, or even the legal drugs and prostitution that really create such huge differences between the Dutch and Americans. It's not a Dutch vs. US thing at all, it's a US vs. The Rest Of The Developed World type thing. And I've got to say, I just don't see myself ever being able to give this up - this amazing privilege of being treated like a human being if I'm sick. There will always be a part of me that sees this as really special, and not just the way everyone else is doing it. I hope so much that Europeans fight against the privatization of health care, which is slowly starting to happen (but is nowhere near what it's like in the US), and pressure their governments to keep health care affordable for everyone. No matter who wins the next US presidential election, I'm not holding out hope for universal health care in that country anytime soon, and that is just simply a disgrace.
I moved to NYC from Paris in October 2006, and a few weeks later I accidentally cut my finger pretty badly while I was at home in Brooklyn. I was working full time, but I didn't have health care, which is entirely normal. I bandaged it up myself, but later in the evening the wound opened up again while I was out at a bar. It looked worse than it was, honestly, but blood always freaks everyone out. I was shuffled outside, and a nice Scottish girl demanded that I go to the hospital right away for stitches. It was pretty obvious that's what I needed - again, the cut wasn't going to kill me or anything, it just was too deep for a simple bandaid. The thing is, I didn't have health insurance. So I couldn't go to the hospital. That was that, there was no "well maybe I should anyway....," the fact was that there was no way I was willing to pay hundred and hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars to get stitches in my finger - and also wait for hours in the emergency room until someone could see me. I just couldn't afford that. Every single one of my (American) friends that I was with understood that, but the Scottish girl just kept saying "but this is crazy, you need stitches, then you'll be fine, why won't you go to the hospital?" as though I was trying to prove something about how tough I was being. It wasn't about being tough, it was about reality. In the US, just because you happen to live there and work full time and pay taxes, that doesn't mean you have the right to get stitches if you cut yourself. This is the way I was raised, this is what my society taught me. This seems normal to me.
Anyway, I bought a huge pile of supplies from a pharmacy, bandaged myself up properly, and my finger healed slowly - there's still a scar, and the inside knuckle of my left pointer finger is still incredibly sensitive, but that's all fine. I don't have a big, scary story about getting hit by a car or breaking my leg without health insurance, because honestly, if something like that happened, there's no way I would be in Europe right now. I would be in debt for the rest of my life, like millions of Americans are right now.
I mentioned a few weeks ago in this blog that I fell off my bike, right? I was pretty banged up, but it didn't occur to me to go see a doctor, even though a couple different people told me I should just get myself checked out. First, I thought "it's nothing, I just scraped up my leg." But second, I still have this American mentality in me that says "you can't afford it, and you don't deserve it" - even though I know both of those things aren't true. So I didn't do anything about my cuts and scrapes, I just tried to keep everything clean and bandaged. Then, a few days ago, I noticed that shit, my right ankle was still swollen, it had been over two weeks, and it seemed to just be getting worse. The wound on the top of my foot wasn't scabbing up the way it should have been (which meant it wasn't healing), and this was becoming not only painful, but annoying. I haven't been able to wear heels in over two weeks! I would avoid running after a frisbee if someone threw one my way! Not good. So I finally freaked out and went to talk to a pharmacist in my neighborhood this past Saturday.
The pharmacist took one look at my foot and told me to go see a doctor right away, because I had an infection. Since it was a Saturday, I had to make arrangements to go to the hospital, rather than just go see my doctor (I actually haven't picked a doctor yet). Just the words "go to the hospital" scared me to death, though I kept telling myself, "okay, this won't be like it is in the states, it won't be like it is in the states," but I still took 200 Euros out of the ATM machine. The thing is, I do have Dutch health insurance, but I just literally signed up for my plan and I don't think I'm in the system yet, so I had to do the whole thing as if I'm not insured. This wasn't a problem, and I kept getting assured that I would be reimbursed by my insurance company.
When I got to the hospital, the American in me expected to be there all day, which was a bummer, since I had been planning on enjoying my Saturday. Instead I waited about 3 minutes before someone called my name. I wasn't asked to fill out forms or show ID. The doctor took a look at my foot, said "yup, you have an infection, but it appears to just be local and you simply need to treat it 3 times a day with antibiotics." The entire process took no more than ten minutes, he wrote me a prescription, shook my hand, and sent me on my way. And that's... it? Does anyone need to see my passport? Anyone want to charge me 50 Euros just for walking in the room? No? Right... because... this isn't the US.
The pharmacy was just down the hall from where I saw my doctor. I handed the woman my slip, give her my phone number, and waited for it to be filled. Ok, my brain is thinking, this is where I get charged. This is the scary part. Five minutes later, my prescription was ready. "That will be 9.70 Euros please. And keep this receipt, be sure to use it to get reimbursed from your insurance company." And that was that. Less than ten Euros. That's what the entire process cost me, and if I feel like it, I can get that 9.70 reimbursed. At no point did anyone ask me for ID and make photocopies. At no point was I ever given a different type of treatment because I'm a foreigner who doesn't speak Dutch. It's very simple, very obvious - but so incredibly foreign to me. Imagine that, Americans. Health care being a basic human right.
I've been using these antibiotics for just a couple days and my foot is almost totally fine. After 24 hours, the wound started shrinking and the swelling went down significantly. If I had just done this when I fell off the bike, I would probably would be walking around in heels right now.
I'm sure that somehow, in the US, there are clinics and doctors and special programs that would provide something somewhat similar to what I described above. But I'll tell you something: I wouldn't really have any idea where to find them, and I have tried. I went to a public clinic once in New York for an exam - the type of place that exists specifically for people who don't have health insurance. It took me about 30 minutes to fill out all the forms, I had to provide my ID, social security card, pay stubs, and some other paperwork. Then they charged me $175 USD and required me to pay up front (before I even saw the doctor) and in cash. When I told them I only had $100 on me, they gave me directions to the nearest ATM machine. I had to leave the office, walk down the street, get more money, and hand it over before anyone would see me... and this was, again, a "public health clinic." The actual exam took about 10 minutes, and I was in the office for over 2 hours. I spent most of my time looking at advertisements for different drugs, which were hanging all over the walls.
It's not about the language, or the food, the religion, the time we eat dinner, or even the legal drugs and prostitution that really create such huge differences between the Dutch and Americans. It's not a Dutch vs. US thing at all, it's a US vs. The Rest Of The Developed World type thing. And I've got to say, I just don't see myself ever being able to give this up - this amazing privilege of being treated like a human being if I'm sick. There will always be a part of me that sees this as really special, and not just the way everyone else is doing it. I hope so much that Europeans fight against the privatization of health care, which is slowly starting to happen (but is nowhere near what it's like in the US), and pressure their governments to keep health care affordable for everyone. No matter who wins the next US presidential election, I'm not holding out hope for universal health care in that country anytime soon, and that is just simply a disgrace.
May 22, 2008
One month down, and I've finally gone to the post office
The first time I was in Amsterdam was back in the Spring of 2005. I hardly knew anything about the city before I arrived, and I remember being surprised by two things - 1) that it was so beautiful and 2) that it seemed really diverse. I still think these two things almost every day. This past Monday night, I rode my bike home from the Lloyd Hotel after a great evening of free music - European musicians performed with artists from all over Africa and Europe as part of the Virus Free Generation Tour. The (South African) host of the night spoke English to the room, the artists performed in English, Slovak, Zulu, Swahili, Sardinian, Italian, and probably a few other languages that I'm forgetting. I sat with a group of new friends - Dutch, Croatian, Austrian, etc - and as I looked around the room I realized that out of the 100 or so people, we could have probably come up with at least thirty languages, easily. Every Monday night, the Lloyd Hotel hosts these free events, completely open to the public. You're not even obligated to buy a drink, though there is a nice bar. This Monday there's even a Tango Orchestra performance!
So the diversity, the combination of people who end up in Amsterdam from all over the world - this really appeals to me. In some ways, it reminds me a bit of New York City, just in the way that everyone seems to be from somewhere else, but every so often I'll run into a born-and-raised Amsterdammer. This makes for good stories, but at the same time everyone has heard all the stories... so one more foreigner showing up here from somewhere else really isn't that big of a deal.
And then there's the beauty, and this is me still being in the honeymoon phase. I still simply just love riding my bike across the city late at night, when it's quiet. On Monday night, my roommate and I rode home together, side by side, and only occasionally saw a car on the road. We crossed canals and rode past the windmill and the beautiful homes along Koninginneweg, not too far from where I live. It was such a great night, and to end it with the ability to cycle so easily, riding next to a friend the whole way ... it's just very special. Spring is in full bloom, and everything is so green and alive. I know I sound like a big hippie here, but whatever.
I've been trying to make myself take care of some of the more practical matters, like getting a printer cartridge refilled, going to the post office, and picking up a few things for my apartment. On the advice of practically everyone I've met I finally went over to the Albert Cuyp market and was successful getting just about everything I wanted. This is where you want to go to get everything from new bedding to envelopes, bike locks, food, clothes, etc - and at very, very affordable prices. However, if you plan to buy a mattress topper, I would advise you to maybe put some thought into how you're going to transport it home if you go via bike. As I rode home I just had to hope that I wasn't going to need to use my brakes or bell, since my hands were completely full holding the mattress in front of my handlebars in a very specific way (I got home without incident, fortunately).
It's really exciting to be in this phase, where there's still so much to see and discover. However, in the next week my first priority will be to spend as much time as possible with my current roommate, before she takes off for Rome. After spending over 8 years in Amsterdam she's leaving for a more southern climate. It will be great to gain a friend in Rome, but I'll miss having her around. Because of her generosity, I had a place to stay when I arrived here... but I also gained so much more than a bedroom, I gained a friend that I'm sure I will have for the rest of my life. And I can't thank her enough (though I'm going to try!) for making me feel so welcome here.
So the diversity, the combination of people who end up in Amsterdam from all over the world - this really appeals to me. In some ways, it reminds me a bit of New York City, just in the way that everyone seems to be from somewhere else, but every so often I'll run into a born-and-raised Amsterdammer. This makes for good stories, but at the same time everyone has heard all the stories... so one more foreigner showing up here from somewhere else really isn't that big of a deal.
And then there's the beauty, and this is me still being in the honeymoon phase. I still simply just love riding my bike across the city late at night, when it's quiet. On Monday night, my roommate and I rode home together, side by side, and only occasionally saw a car on the road. We crossed canals and rode past the windmill and the beautiful homes along Koninginneweg, not too far from where I live. It was such a great night, and to end it with the ability to cycle so easily, riding next to a friend the whole way ... it's just very special. Spring is in full bloom, and everything is so green and alive. I know I sound like a big hippie here, but whatever.
I've been trying to make myself take care of some of the more practical matters, like getting a printer cartridge refilled, going to the post office, and picking up a few things for my apartment. On the advice of practically everyone I've met I finally went over to the Albert Cuyp market and was successful getting just about everything I wanted. This is where you want to go to get everything from new bedding to envelopes, bike locks, food, clothes, etc - and at very, very affordable prices. However, if you plan to buy a mattress topper, I would advise you to maybe put some thought into how you're going to transport it home if you go via bike. As I rode home I just had to hope that I wasn't going to need to use my brakes or bell, since my hands were completely full holding the mattress in front of my handlebars in a very specific way (I got home without incident, fortunately).
It's really exciting to be in this phase, where there's still so much to see and discover. However, in the next week my first priority will be to spend as much time as possible with my current roommate, before she takes off for Rome. After spending over 8 years in Amsterdam she's leaving for a more southern climate. It will be great to gain a friend in Rome, but I'll miss having her around. Because of her generosity, I had a place to stay when I arrived here... but I also gained so much more than a bedroom, I gained a friend that I'm sure I will have for the rest of my life. And I can't thank her enough (though I'm going to try!) for making me feel so welcome here.
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