Twintig Ervaring Van Leven Buitenland: Deel Twee
(20 Lessons From Life Abroad: Part 2)
As promised, Part 2 of our Lessons from Life Abroad:
Nummer 11: Don’t Take Things For Granted…Like Amazon Prime
My love for Amazon Prime and the conveniences of American shopping run deep. From everyday necessities like deodorant and diapers to just in time birthday gifts, and then, of course, the items you prefer not to be seen buying…like pregnancy tests. Amazon Prime lives on my list of all-time favorite things. So, you can imagine how disappointed I was to learn that the Dutch Amazon Prime only exits for books. You read that correctly…books! Now, I am all about getting lost in some good fiction, but that’s beside the point!
After doing some research, in hopes of deeming this a myth, I discovered a few things:
- Amazon Prime NL is really only for books.
- You can use your Prime Account anywhere, which is pretty incredible, that is unless you want to buy more things than books.
- Amazon Prime Germany delivers to the NL. Pitfalls: Still not all the products and two days is a lie.
- Trying to use our US Prime Account to ship to the NL…niet goed. Let’s just say when you calculate the shipping costs, the deals are non-existent (I tried everything!).
- bol.com: the Dutch version. Pitfalls: Not as many products, you have to spend 20 Euros for free shipping, and your box doesn’t greet you with a smile.
Don’t forget to appreciate all you have…I now have to go walk to the store to get 100 diapers.
Nummer 12: Swap Your Lenses for Your Shields
Speaking of walking to the store, it took me about three weeks to master Lesson Number 12: It’s more important to grab your raincoat/stroller shield than your sunglasses. From Phoenix to Reno, it is routine for me to have a pair of sunnies with me. We learned this the hard way and now pay much closer attention to the app Buienradar, which gives the rain forecast in 5-minute increments! Lesson 12.2 – Dutch rain forecasting is accurate, take a page US meteorologists, the rain predictions are down to the minute.
Nummer 13: “If It Ain’t Broken, Don’t Fix It”
Several Dutchees say, “We’re always 10 years behind what you do… (in the States)” and in some ways, I hear and see what they mean. However, there is what is believed to be a Stone Age Phrase: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
After getting all of our paperwork in order and finalizing Visa’s etc. we were informed that the government would reach out to set up Cooper’s doctor appointments. Knowing Reno, you should have signed up before you thought about getting pregnant, so this sounded super. I was excited that I didn’t have to search for pediatricians. Also, much to our surprise, we were informed that the doctor made house calls. Not going to lie, my initial thought was, “Igh, is this like a child protective service visit?!” After speaking to a few local moms, it became apparent that is not the intent. The Netherlands still uses home visits occasionally, a newborn child being one of those reasons.
During our wonderful visit with the doctor, the thinking behind the structure was explained: It doesn’t make sense to stress a new mom and baby by making them get all loaded up (most likely on a bike) to go to an appointment, or to bring a little one into an office full of germs when the doctor can just come to your home.
Overall, this experience was extremely valued. Cooper was chill and playing with his toys while the doctor and I had a coffee and talked about Cooper’s health and his future appointments. While not every one of his appointments will be done at the flat, it’s a much nicer experience! They also gift you a booklet to keep track of all Cooper’s records and information (A bit nicer than handwritten notes on a piece of paper!).
*Additional Fact: After giving birth here, a nurse moves into your home for over a week to support your family in the transition!
My vote goes for bringing this practice back!
Nummer 14: Everyone Speaks English, But It’s Appreciated If You Attempt to Speak Dutch (So They Say)
Nummer 14, it pretty much speaks for itself. As more than tourists in the country, Andy and I decided to at least make an attempt at learning Dutch. Insert Duo Lingo. If your not familiar with this app, it’s worth checking out. Some couples struggle to find ways to connect with each other once they have little ones, Andy and I, on the other hand, find great fun in our evening routine:
- Step 1: Finish dinner
- Step 2: Find a nightcap (ranging from hot cocoa to beer/wine)
- Step 3: 7-30 minutes of Dutch Language Practice.
Here are a few noteworthy takeaways:
- Repeating the word a million times doesn’t make it easier to translate.
- No matter how many times Andy says, “I #*$%ing nailed that!”, meisje is not vrouw. (I must take pride on the few times I am right and Andy is wrong.)
- If Step #2 in the above-outlined routine has occurred for too long Step #3 is a waste of time. (Yes, sugar has the same effect as alcohol.)
- It is very easy for Engels to sound like anal if your pronunciation is not precise….(You can imagine the look you get if you ask someone to “sprek anal.”)
Nummer 15: Word of the Day Helps Nummer 14
A few days into work, Andy came home and informed me that his Dutch colleagues made it their goal to help him learn Dutch (even though the official office language is English). “How are they doing that?” He explained that they are giving him a word of the day. They will teach him the word, it’s definition, how it might vary in pronunciation through different parts of the country and then review it over time. “Makes sense, so what was your first word?”
“echtscheiden”
I’ll give you a moment to look that up…it will clarify where his colleagues now stand on my list.
Apparently, the words are selected by how tricky the throaty sound is…I’m still skeptical.
Cooper and I also work on Words of the Day, some might say we decided to take a much more family-friendly approach:
Nummer 16: Don’t Assume…Packages May Not Be What You Think They Are
We had been doing so well…finding our stride between curriculum writing, daily trips to the store, getting out, laundry, introducing solids, making sure the dishes are clean etc…and then came a little reminder…not to get ahead of myself. Or as previously mentioned: Don’t Assume. It had been a good 2 weeks or so of me frantically trying to check daily tasks of my To-Do List when I mentioned to Andy that I needed him to add dishwasher detergent to the shopping list for me. His confused expression led me to ask, “What?” “Well, I’m not sure why we need a new box of detergent tabs when there is a whole box under the sink.” He opens the cabinet and instantly I was reminded that my hair is still blonde. But in case you were wondering, laundry detergent also gets the dishes clean.
Nummer 17:
Upon moving into our flat we were surprised to see our new laundry set up. At first, I was confused because of the one tiny machine. Then, we discovered that the one machine, may be small but it has a big job, it’s both, the washer and the dryer. Wow! That’s space effective. Take a look:
As we continue to establish a relationship with one another, some keys takeaways to note:
- Small in size = small loads, therefore laundry is being done about 4 days a week
- Eco-Friendly: I need to revisit the definition because Eco-Friendly shouldn’t mean constantly running
- You can’t identify when the washer turns into a dryer: some baby toys now have new shapes
- All of the symbols are foreign and don’t mean anything. We still aren’t sure which number to put the dial on
- Dry = nonexistent, regardless of the dry time it’s still wet. (Insert drying rack into living room decor)
Andy was very impressed with himself this week, because he finally figured out how to dry a load of laundry. As he hung the final pieces, I hear, “You’re going to have to do some work on this!” holding up one of Cooper’s onesies (showing me a stain that was on the outfit, pre-wash). A few more items go on the rack and Andy goes back to throw in another load. “Hmm…” I hear from the laundry room. “I just hung up that load, yet the entire tablet is still here in the machine.” “What setting do you have it on?,” I ask. As we start putting it all together, Andy realizes, he ran the load on dry only, setting all the stains, and that was why they were finally dry. Down came the laundry rack along with our positive vibes for this machine.
Nummer 18: Kind Neighbors Exist Here Too
There is a rumor that many Dutch families like to keep to themselves. Luckily for us, this has not been the case. In fact, we continue to be pleasantly surprised at the thoughtfulness and hospitality of our neighbors, Andy’s co-workers, and those that Andy refers to as our “distant family members.” In Reno, we remain thankful for our kind and considerate neighbors, so it’s been refreshing to experience a similar feel here. From coffee dates to cocktails that turn into dinner and late night knocks for wine bottle openers, it helps to make this pseudo home feel a bit more like home. Below is a welcome gift we received from our next door neighbors:
We are slowly making our way through the traditional Dutch items. So far, nothing has been put back on their doorstep (which is what I said I would do for the items we dislike).
Nummer 19: Little Ones Are In Deed Helpful
Prior to having a little one of our own, many people were often expressing how exhausting it can be to look after one all day. After several years with 30+ 7-year-olds to call my own, I often chuckled at these remarks. I’m happy to report that I’m not sure what everyone was always talking about…Cooper is turning out to be one SUPER helpful little dude around here:
Regardless of the sarcasm behind Nummer 19, this little guy continues to bring a smile to our faces each and every day!
Nummer 20: The Number 7 Is Still My Favorite
The Number 7 has been my favorite number for several years now. The love for this number began somewhere in Junior High when it became my volleyball number. Years later, whenever asked I still call it out as my lucky number. This past week was a reminder of why I still love this number:
- Thursday, October 11th, Andy and I traveled to our 7th country together.
- Friday, October 12th, we celebrated Cooper’s 7th month birthday.
- Monday, October 15th, Andy and I celebrated our 7th anniversary.
In true Andy fashion, we celebrated the trifecta of my lucky number with an experience:
And with that… Proost to Norway, Proost to the Lucky Number 7, and Cheers to Continued Learning over the next 9.5 months!
Love this. More!