25 Things About Me – With a Twist

OK, about 42,000 people have tagged me on Facebook to do this ‘25 things’ meme, so I’m gonna do it here and not tag anyone.  If you read this and want to do it yourself, by all means – meme your little heart out.

Since I’ve been in winter hibernation and feeling a little Fuck You about all things Netherlands, as I usually do at this time of year… I’m going to do a bit of a twist on the usual meme and list 25 things that have changed for the better since I moved here.  Basically, 25 things that don’t piss me off that used to after I first got here.

*Cracks Knuckles*

OK …

1. I can finally find NORMAL mustard here.  Not French Mustard, not Dijon or BBQ or English mustard.   Just plain ol’ yellow American mustard.   This probably makes all you North Americans who are still IN North America raise an eyebrow but this actually was an issue for a lot of us expats for many years.
   (If you are an expat and haven’t found it yet, it can be found at both Albert Heijn and JUMBO supermarkets).   I need my mustard.
2. I love my house.  Ok, so we plan to move soon because we have outgrown it and need a bigger place, with a garden and all that other grown up stuff… but looking at our flat now compared to what it was when we moved in 8 years ago.   It’s a world of difference.
3. I can finally speak enough Dutch to be able to say “I speak Dutch” without feeling like I am lying, and I understand enough to really know what is going on around me.
4. After some rocky periods where I’m sure we both wondered if I was going to make it here, my marriage is rock solid and getting better and better every day.  Even on days when I am sure it can’t even GET any better.
5. I have good friends, a best friend even!  I may not be a social butterfly out mixing it up every weekend but I feel like I have some good friends that I really care about, and that feels great.
6. I have learned to quilt.  I probably should do more of it, and plan to in the future… but it is something I didn’t know before I came here and probably never would have taken the time for if I was still living in Canada.
7. I now know that keukenstroop is the same as molasses.  After about 5 years of thinking the Netherlands didn’t have molasses at all.
8. Public transit is no longer the bane of my existence.  If it’s raining I am not forced to stand outside in the rain or carry groceries home on my back.   We have a car now and I love it so much I could hump it.
9. With the exception of the usual Jan / Feb blues I am no longer plagued with depression and uncertainty and I’ve figured out that Anti-Depressants (for me) are the devil and will avoid them forever.
10. I have someone who I can talk to now that I can rant to, complain to and pour my heart out who is completely uninvolved with my life and my family and can give me objective and unbiased opinions, which helps a LOT.
11. Having someone I can talk to like that has helped me see some people in my life for who they really are and that I shouldn’t place so much value on their opinions.
12. I feel more ‘worldly’ than I did when I was in Canada.  I have been to England, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Germany, France and have seen places I never thought I ever would.  Some that I never even knew existed!  I’ve stood in the Dom in Cologne, Germany and explored the Gorges du Tarn in France.   I’ve ridden a double decker bus in Dublin, I’ve had dinner in the Eiffel Tower and walked along the canals of Amsterdam.   I’ve been on the Tube in London and spent three days in Oslo, Norway without seeing the sun even once!
13. Having been all these places makes me excited for all the places I will see in the future.  We talk all the time about where we want to go next and our next plans are to visit Switzerland, Iceland and for me to finally see Auschwitz in Poland.
14. After years of doing without my ‘Newfie Steak’ I finally figured out that Boterhamworst and Konflookworst are pretty much the same as baloney! … or close enough for me to think I’m eating baloney anyway.
15. I’ve become a lot more adventurous with food.  Before I came to the Netherlands there were so many things I wouldn’t eat.   Even though I had never tried them I was convinced I wouldn’t like them just from the sight or smell of them.   Living in a country that was completely lacking in regards to my back home comfort foods I was forced to try new things or live on ham and cheese sandwiches for the rest of my life.
16. I’ve become a much more curious person.  Before moving here I wasn’t at all interested in world news or history.   I’m far from a historian now, but having seen more places in the world does make me more curious about their past.
17. I’ve learned that fighting for something isn’t always the best way to get it.  Growing up in North America we learn that the ‘squeeky wheel gets the grease’ but in most cases that won’t work for you here.   Learning to choose your battles is a lesson most of us learn the hard way here.   Living in the Netherlands has taught me how to ‘kill ‘em with kindness’.
18. I’ve become MUCH less materialistic.   Ok yeah I still love my geeky gadgets and I like to make my house nice but I don’t have this feeling of having to keep up like back in Canada.  I like that here, nobody cares what you have or how much of it.
19. I’ve become a better housekeeper.  I’m still far from perfect but it is a work in progress.   I have never been one for housework and always sort of imagined I’d be working and someone else could do it all, but that’s not the direction life took me in.  I’m adapting, slowly but surely.
20. I’m completely computer literate.  Having so much time to myself has given me the chance to learn about things I’d not have the time or patience for otherwise.   I know more about computers than most of my girlfriends and am perfectly comfortable downloading my own torrents, editing my own photos, configuring my own programs and arsing around with the CSS code on my blog.   If something needs to be installed, I can do it myself.  I know nothing compared to my husband, mind you… and I am by no means an expert in any of these things… but I know enough and that’s more than I would have if I didn’t have this much time behind my computer.
21. I have a thicker skin than when I moved here.   I don’t think it could be called THICK, just thicker than it used to be (which was pretty much non-existent).   When I first moved here and went to a doctor and they told me ‘It’s because you are fat!”, I almost had a cardiac right there on the spot.   Between the Dutch bluntness and the language barrier causing them to use limited English, I’ve had to learn to let some things roll off and learn the difference between when people actually MEAN to be insulting and when it just seems that way to me.
22. I have found a hidden appreciation for a lot of the traditional Dutch food.  Stamppot Boerenkool, mmm heerlijk!!  Draadjesvlees met rode kool en witlof met ham en kaas – LEKKER!!  I’ve even started cooking some of it myself!
23. Living away from home has made me realize, more than ever, how important my family is to me.  Living away from them is hard but distance really does make the heart grow fonder.
24. I have almost mastered the art of Dutch customer service, or rather… how to get some.   Need info on something?  Call three times, if two of the people agree, go with what they say.  If you have three differing opinions call back a fourth time and see if they agree with any of the previous people.   Keep calling until you have at least two people who agree, then do what they say.   Need something replaced? returned? fixed?  Call and BE NICE and sound pitiful until someone agrees to help you.  Getting angry will only make them think “FUCK YOU” and you’ll never get any help – EVER –.   If the first guy won’t help, try the second / third / forth day until you find the sexually satisfied, pot smoking, easy going, don’t give a shit about his job dude who says screw it and gives you what you want.  OH, and always … ALWAYS get names.
25. The 25th thing that has changed for the better since I’ve moved here?  The fact that I can actually list 24 other things that have changed for the better since I’ve been here!

Whew, that took a while.   I shit you not, I’ve been writing this for almost a week.  So it took a while, at least I got there in the end and in the process of writing it I’ve reminded myself that things really are getting better here.  It may be a long hard road but I know deep down the destination is worth it.