Kansas or Oz?

Today marks exactly one month that we have lived in Holland. Wow! Where has the time gone? It seems like just the other day we were going through all of our belongings and deciding what to sell, what to bring with us, and what to pack up in storage.

We recently attended a networking event that brought together both local and international businesses in the Netherlands. I was introduced to many different people and the question that I got asked over and over was “How do you like it here in Holland?” My response was that so far I like it. Then they’d say “It’s really not that different, is it?” Well I suppose people are people no matter where you are in the world. People here go to work, they walk their dogs, they sit and eat at cafés, they go out with friends for drinks, they read the daily newspaper headlines, they watch the evening news. It’s the same, right?

Well, yes and no. One obvious difference is the language. They are a bilingual culture but Dutch is what I hear, or shouted, when I walk about this new and different city. I must say it is strange not to hear my mother tongue and stranger still not to know what people are talking about. Then there are the trams with tracks running everywhere. The first advice I was given here is to look both ways (twice!) before making your way across any major thoroughfare, cobble stoned side street, or even park, to avoid being squashed. They come fast and don’t stop for pedestrians! And of course there are the bicycles which well deserve a post unto themselves.

And what about grocery shopping, you ask? There is one main grocery store chain, or should I say monopoly, in the Netherlands - Albert Heijn. There are FOUR Albert Heijn stores within less than a mile radius from our apartment. I kid you not! We have yet to discover an equal competitor. Sure there are smaller stores where one can purchase a few perishable items they need, but AH, as I like to refer to it, is where we do the majority of our every day shopping. It does not resemble the supermarkets of home, but I rather enjoy shopping on a daily basis buying fresh food that is never wasted. Besides, it is all our little refrigerator can hold!

So I guess I can relate to Dorothy, when upon entering Oz, exclaims, "Toto, I've a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore." Kansas we are definitely not, but perhaps it really isn’t that different.