First Impressions

It has been two weeks since we moved into our apartment here in Den Haag. After hauling up five suitcases, two big moving boxes filled to the max, a bag of records (how could I leave these back in the States?), a dog crate, and some other miscellaneous items up two flights of Dutch stairs, we finally arrived in what is to be our new home for the next few years.  After several days of jet lag, I adapted quickly to the new time zone which is 9 hours ahead of Seattle. To add a little bit of confusion we just fell back an hour into Standard Time this past week, and so for the time being we are only 8 hours ahead…

My friend Jenny came for a visit right after we arrived in Holland to help us get situated and assist with all the items we needed to get accomplished our first week. We live in the Centrum of Den Haag and parking is a premium so the first thing on our list was to obtain a parking pass, which is only 36 Euros for the entire year. To give you a better idea of how much it costs to park a car here the meters are 5 Euros for two hours and the parking meters run until midnight. Crazy! Most people use car parks which are underneath the city center. We are grateful to have a parking pass for sure. Also, it’s a good thing we only have one car as it is an additional 400 Euros to add a second automobile. Again, crazy!

So far I really like it here. I have been taking our corgi, Sele, out around town for several walks a day. On foot I have become more acquainted with where things are and have yet to get really lost. As Jenny says, “All roads lead back to the Taylor pad.” The standard of living is fairly high in the Netherlands and the city is very clean – even in the main square by our house. Broken glass is swept up and trash is not left on the ground. It is a bit unusual for me to walk everywhere even though I lived in Ballard and was used to doing this often. But I am also used to just hopping in my car and driving ridiculously short distances. Here I walk to the grocery store, pharmacy, restaurants and beautiful park that is only 5 minutes away!

After reading a great deal on the manners of the Dutch, I have been pleasantly surprised at how kind and helpful those I have interacted with have been. The Dutch are often described as impolite and rude. All stereotypes have some truth to them, but I will give two examples that illustrate the Dutch going out of their way to assist us, realizing we are new to their country and don’t yet know all the ins and outs of their culture and procedures.

The first was the woman we spoke with at the parking permit office. We had a rental car for our first week since my VW Golf is currently on a container making its way across the Atlantic. We had to drive to the parking permit office twice since we had left the rental agreement papers at home. Once we arrived at the office for the second time (after getting lost through the city) the woman said she needed a copy of our NL resident cards. Oh no!! We told her that they were in Amsterdam and we’d be getting them the following day after we picked up a friend at the airport. We were expecting a curt no and to come back once we had the cards. But she seemed to understand our plight. If we didn’t get the pass that day, we’d be paying an exorbitant amount for parking on the street or in a car park. Instead she gladly wrote down her email information and asked that once we obtained our cards to send her scans. She even pulled out two different maps and explained what parts of the city our permit would be valid in. We couldn’t have asked for better hospitality or service!

The second individual also went out of his way to accommodate our needs. After being told at the information desk at The Hague’s City Hall that the next available appointment to register in the city wouldn’t be until December (whaaat?) we were feeling pretty discouraged. I decided to head over to the expat center where the Netherlands has one of the best rated organizations for foreigners in the world. The first woman I talked to was not very helpful. A man who was sitting close by overheard our exchange. He immediately walked up to Ryan and said “You’re tall enough to be a Dutchman” and from there was friendly and a wealth of knowledge! After finding out that Ryan had a special visa, he looked on the list to see if Ryan’s company was qualified for expedited registration in the city. His company was on the list (Hallelujah!) and the guy made copies of all of our information so that we could submit it quickly and be on the fast track to getting ourselves registered here. Without this it is difficult to get a bank account and without a bank account you cannot get a cell phone plan or anything else for that matter! He sat down and had tea with us and gave us a general overview of other helpful information including websites to look at, employment advice for me and gave us some books and literature to read about the Netherlands. Just what we needed on our second day living in a different country!

These meetings were a God send. I truly believe that. God is, indeed, guiding us step by step on this new road we are travelling. Perhaps one that is a little less traveled by, but I am looking forward to the scenery along the way.