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Published: January 31st 2009
So as many of you know, I'm finally back in Europe, and actually have been since Oct. 27, 2008...its only taken me 3 months to get my butt in gear and finally start up my blog again. Better late than never though I say! However, with all that's happened in the past couple months, I'm left wondering where to even begin!
I guess first of all, I'm living in Wageningen. A little city known for its international university and research centre. I'm here on an AIESEC traineeship for one year and am working for a company called SHR (Stichting Hout Research)....its a wood research company. To be honest, its not my dream job, but realistically, do most people find their calling on an internship? Its still a lot of little odds and ends jobs that I've been doing but there's promise that things will improve. And honestly its not in my nature to complain (though some of you may beg to differ :P ). In general, I'm happy; I have a job, which some people would kill for, let alone a job in the Netherlands! Plus I love the two coworkers I work closely with so there's always a certain element of fun to be had. I live with 5 other Dutchies and a South African. We had a wonderful housemate who sadly had to return to California as her semester abroad was over. It was a tearful goodbye and I miss her dearly, but I'm trying to take a page out of her book, "keep my head high, put on a smile änd keep saying YES to life!".
So what can be said about the culture? Well to be honest, I wasn't expecting to go through the culture shock phase. I thought, yah, I've been to Europe before, I can handle it, and I totally thought I was ready for big change and thats what I was looking for. And it was what I was looking for, I just found some extra obstacles to overcome along the way. But the main point is I overcame them! I learned it can be very depressing when you buy your cell phone and have only 2 or 3 numbers to put in. My advice to those in these shoes: give it a month, then look back and see how far you've come. One thing I'm still dealing with is "finding my place" here, as cliché as that may sound. I've met tons of people and I am definitely busy and doing things and going out to activities and what not, but I still don't feel like I have my "clique" or group yet...but hopefully that will come. And a funny thing that I've realized is how "me time" takes on very different feelings depending on what stage it is happening at. What I mean by that was when I first arrived here and wasn't always on the go, I looked at the time as failure almost, and it could be lonely, but now that I'm so busy, I almost miss the time where I can just sit and relax a bit and do things like write in my journal (or start a travel blog :P). Its also funny how the little things can get to you if you're just having a blah/homesick day....like walking into the grocery store and not knowing exactly what you're buying and just guessing based on the picture...or missing the bike lane, having cars honk at you and praying you don't get run over. Then I came to embrace and appreciate these little mishaps. After all if you don't have them, what are you learning? You want things to be different, otherwise what's the point of travelling. It helped me getting to this point when I saw others doing the same thing and you realize you are not alone in this small world. Another hard thing for me to get used to was asking for help. I really hated the dependence part and having to ask people for help all the time, as most of you know I can be quite the independent woman. I am learning though that it is ok to use the services others offer you. So what if someone else had to find a Dutch course for me? So what if someone had to translate something for me (all communication with the immigration department was sent in Dutch - go figure!)? So what if someone has to draw you a map all the time? The whole point of resources is to use them is it not? And wouldn't I be doing the same for others if they were in my shoes? Yes of course, so it was with that mentality that I came to accept it.
I've come to realize stereotypes exist for a reason...there's a thread of truth to them.
=> THe Dutch really are tall people....of course that doesn't apply to all of them, but in general I feel very short in this country! :P
=> They're also very straightforward. Some of the things that come out of their mouths make my jaw drop. But its accepted here and people don't get offended. I'm trying to pick up on that and I think living here will be good for me, as I find in general Canadians are ones to smooth things over and try not offend. We joked around a bit before I left here that I'd be in tears everyday from the what they'd say to me, but I'm proud to report that's yet to happen, so I must be learning to just let things go!
=> Drugs are not as prevelant here as I had expected. I had in mind that I'd get here and people would be high all the time and I'd be walking around in a permanent haze of smoke, but that's not the case. Actually it seems to be mostly tourists who just make use of the Dutch tolerance to such things.
=> The amount of biking people do here is incredible. I swear babies are born with bikes attached to their bums! At every train station there is the "sea of bikes" as I like to call it. Its like a parking garage, but for bikes. I keep meaning to take a picture of it and will eventually, but I still can't get over how many there are! Roundabouts used to freak the crap out of me, but I'm learning that if you just follow the "shark teeth" (the white triangles painted onto the pavement), they're actually pretty straight forward.
One thing I was impressed with right off the bat is how knowledgable the Dutch are. They were all following the United States presidential campaign, probably closer than some Americans even. And their level of English is ridiculous...if only my Dutch amounts to a quarter of that I'll be happy. Its very different from Spain last summer. Everyone here speaks English....and well! I'm not sure I'll ever stop appreciating just sitting with friends and how the conversation just flows in English, no hesitation what so ever, they're completely fluent. Its so hard to explain the feeling but there's something just mind-blowing to me still that I'm halfway across the world with new people and I can talk to them so easily and that they're so willing to accomodate me. It really makes communicating and getting to know people so much easier. It also makes learning the native language that much harder, but I'm signed up for my course and will see how that goes....so far I can say "my name is Megan", "I have no kids", and "Dutch is a difficult language"....haha, all so useful! I've learned though that the word for sample (as in something I'm testing in the lab) is "monster" :P. Another cute word is "winkel" meaning a store or shop. There's also something just that much cuter about saying "Oh nee" (pronounced oh nay) instead of "Oh no" even if they mean the exact same thing. My specialty though is numbers, credited to Paul's (coworker) hard work and patience in helping me learn them...and laughing at my pronounciation, forcing me to try and get it right :P Double digits past 20 are given backwards, for example 21 would be one and twenty, or 97 would be seven and ninety.
There are of course some things that drive my nuts here....like all the sandwiches! That's all they eat for lunch. I brought salads to work a couple of times and then I have to listen to how I'm not eating enough and am I on a diet. I also made the taboo of bringing leftovers and heating them up but then I was told I was eating too much. Basically unless you eat a sandwich you're not doing it right. I just find sandwiches day after day so boring! Especially theirs, the plain cheese sandwich (and not grilled, just slices of cheese between two slices of bread) just doesn't do it for me! Plus where are the nutrients?!?!? But if that's my biggest beef, I figure I'm doing well! 😊
Finally there are a couple little Dutch "quirks" for lack of a better word that I'd like to share before ending this first intro entry. 1) A lot of people don't rinse their dishes. They just wash it wish soapy water and then dry them. I thought it very wierd at first, but I figure if the Dutch have done it for so long and don't get sick form the soap residue or taste it in their food, then who cares; one less step in dish duty and it saves you precious little time that you already lack. 2) They also take wisdom teeth out two at a time, and thus only use a local anesthesia. I know this because my poor housemate has had the recent misfortune of having hers removed. Hats off to her for going back for the second round a few weeks later because I'm not sure I would, knowing what's in store from the first time. 3) On your birthday, you are in charge of supplying the goods. That means you must buy your own pie (cake's not so big here), host your own party and do it all yourself. Treating others on their birthday is not so common. And then if you're wishing someone happy birthday you also congratulate their family as well. I told a couple people the other day it was my Dad's birthday and found it odd for them to reply "Congratulations"....these differences are what makes living in another culture so fun!
Well, this had turned into a novel worthy entry....I guess that's what I get for postponing this start for so long. So at the risk of turning people off from reading the other entries, I'll end it here.
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Andrew Jones
Hi just stumbled across your post and had to laugh at some of your comments. I lived in the Netherlands for a while and if I ate a hot meal at lunchtime my colleagues would all say "so I guess you're just having sandwiches for dinner then". Never have I met people so obsessed with what other people eat and whether it's "right" or "wrong"! Enjoyed the read - keep it up!