Skip to main content

Dutch Residents


Today Sam and I officially became Dutch residents (Ryan already is).  Process was pretty painless.  Except having to get up in the morning and figure out how to function in the new house.   This is an opportunity to share the initial challenges of expat life (at least for me):

- Heat:  air conditioning is rare in Amsterdam and we don't have it.  We did anticipate our needs and ordered an air conditioner for our bedroom which is arriving tomorrow.  But I did struggle with the heat on night #1.  We did setup a fan but the air didn't make it's way to me (i.e. Ryan monopolized the fan).

- Shortness: I am short.  Dutch people, apparently, are not.  The bathroom mirrors are too tall for me.  If I go on my tip toes I can almost see my chin.  That makes for a challenge in getting ready in the morning.

- Electricity:  there are European plugs here, which we prepared for with converters.  But some things we have already have a European plug.  So it's a fun game of matching US plugs to converters and Euro plugs to Euro outlets.  This was a challenge today related to the hair dryer which I decided to use since I am getting my photo taken for the residency process.  In the end, doing nothing to my hair probably would have looked better.

- Disorganization:  due to jet lag and other reasons, we haven't unpacked too much yet so my clothes, toiletries, etc. are strewn about (Sam's too).  I could not find anything.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Broken Bones & Dutch Healthcare

  It seems inevitable that we would have a medical emergency while living here resulting in a test of the Dutch healthcare system. The image above accurately reflects the perception and often reality of the healthcare here. We have been lucky so far with getting the care we need by 1) being prepared with medical records from the US to prove our case, 2) researching and advocating for ourselves and 3) annoying the huisart (primary care doctor) enough that she gives us what we want so we stop asking. 😝 During recess at school, Sam fell while playing a game with his friends and another friend fell on top of him. I was told that he initially wanted to keep playing but the teachers had him go to the nurse, who then sent him back to class. His teacher reached out to me since it seemed like he was in pain and I picked him up.  I spoke to the nurse when I picked him up who said he seemed fine and to monitor him. Fast forward to us realizing he was not fine. We called the huisart (a r...
1 comment
Read more

Morocco

For Sam's February school break we went to Morocco.  We were looking for warmth and also ready to explore beyond Europe. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency (amazing resort) in Taghazout, a small fishing village that is south of Marrakesh and north of Agadir.  More Morocco photos here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/eATCUb6Cc4rRoyLYA February 17:  As per usual we opted for a flight that was not ideal so we could save money.  It was a later flight with a connection through Casablanca, arriving in Agadir airport close to midnight.   Sam slept on the car ride from the airport to the hotel but perked up when we found out we had been upgraded to a room with an ocean view (thanks to friend Jasper!!).  This kid continues in his quest for only the finer things. Very elaborate towel and curtain art! View from our balcony at night: View from our balcony during the day: February 18:  Today was dedicated to nothing except explo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Milan

  (Feb 14 - 17)  The plan for the February school break was to ski in northern Italy for a few days.  With Sam's collarbone injury (see separate blog entry ) we had to pivot.  We had already booked flights to Milan so decided to spend a weekend there.  Ryan and I had been before but not Sam.  More Milan photos here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/J6rzoDWXCcatyKvg8 We did our typical food tour on our first day in Milan which included Roman-style pizza. Compared to Neapolitan pizza (Napoli), which we usually have in Italy, it is thinner and crispier and has a wider variety of toppings. We had it topped with potatoes.  We discovered Rosso frizzante wine which is a lightly sparkling Barbera wine.  There was also a delicious traditional risotto for Milan.   Barbera + bubbles + thin, crispy pizza + risotto resulted in a very good tour.  Roman-style pizza with potatoes Risotto Milanese On Sunday we toured the  Duomo di Milano  inclu...
Post a Comment
Read more