We moved into the Meerhoven house a week ago last Wednesday, the 8th Feb. Until that point we’d been staying in the city in the accommodation provided by the company – Bergeijkstraat 8 – and we were permitted to stay for eight weeks. When we moved out, it was week-three in the accommodation, and there were one or two small things left accidentally which I needed to go back to get prior to handing the keys over. So that was Wednesday we moved 99% of the stuff out. On Thursday I was emailed by the Corporate Housing team saying that the services people had noted that we’d vacated. They wanted the keys back ASAP as there is such a huge influx of new-starts at the company. ‘Jeezo give me a moment guys!’. And here was me feeling like I was doing them a favour by leaving a few weeks early.
Between work, kids, and trying to build furniture, unpack boxes, finding places for things, sorting utilities, tying up paperwork from back in Scotland, organising residents and customs documentation etc. I had just not had the required hour that it would take to go back to Bergeijkstraat to get the stuff and drop off the keys. A week later I had been emailed almost every day asking when I’d be expecting to drop the keys off, ha! I guess they really do have a lot of demand.
On Friday just passed I finally had a break in my schedule at Lunchtime so decided to take the opportunity to finally make the journey into the city, get the remaining items and return the keys.
The term Tegen-wind [en:against-wind] is used to describe a head wind, and the same joke exists here as it does in Scotland, that on the way out you battle through the headwind and on the way back the other way you still somehow battle against the headwind. There is actually a Dutch championship for TegenwindFietsen [en:head-wind-cycling] where they compete over a 9km route in severity 7 winds. That’s a sport better viewed on TV I think.
Here is a similar Strava screenshot of one of the last rides I did in Glasgow. Take a look at the two entires and see if you can spot the starkest comparison of riding conditions. It rather proves the stereotype of Dutch geography. *
As it was my birthday a week past on Sunday I was required to bring in some form of cake or tasty treat for my colleagues. I decided to make tablet and bring that in. It was a hit! I actually kept some for the neighbours on either side too, putting it through their letterboxes with a note. It told them our names and numbers and said we’d love to catchup some time. One of the neighbours set up a WhatsApp group that night. We had a decent chat between us all that evening which was really really nice. We felt very welcomed. Having their numbers means I have been able to text to ask about card / paper refuse collection (and we have a lot to be disposed of with all the furniture we’ve needed to buy – It really piles up fast.)
The Coincidence
The Sunday before last we went along to a local church, De Bron, in the morning. It’s a fully Dutch service, so I have to work very very hard to keep up, but I can really feel the benefit of being in an immersed environment, linguistically speaking. It just requires me to shift gear, and that is good for the learning experience I think. I picked up various words, phrases and pronunciations both last week and today when we went again. The Church is great – lovely people and lot’s of other kids.
So, after the service on the first week that we went, I completely at random selected a guy to chat to. ‘He looks like he’ll speak english and have a conversation with me..’ was more or less the extent of my calculation regarding the selection. He did speak English, and we had a nice conversation. I spoke with one or two other people and that was that.
Skip to Wednesday at work, I’ve arranged lunch with one of the Project Leads, Pjotr, to get more familiar with the work he and his team are delivering. Mid conversations he breaks in with ‘So you met Leonard on Sunday?’. I had no idea what he was talking about. ‘At De Bron, no? You had a conversation with a young man called Leonard’. Actually yes, that was the name of the guy with whom I spoke! I’m sure there was a very puzzled look on my face as I tried to connect Leonard and Pjotr.
He explained to me that Leonard was marrying someone whose parents were very good friends with he and his wife. That afternoon after us meeting, Leonard had mentioned to his soon-to-be parents-in-law that a Scotsman who had moved to NL and newly started at ASML (the company I work at) had been at church that morning. That evening, Leonards soon-to-be parents-in-law had just happened to be having dinner with Pjtor and his family and the mention of the Scotsman was repeated. At that point Pjtor had only met me in passing once, but the information he heard at dinner was enough for him to make the connection.
In a congregation of ~200 I chose one person at random. He happened to be loosely acquainted someone who worked at the same company as me (a company where ~30,000 people work locally). He also happened to have contact with that person through an intermediary that day, and both links along the way retold of the meeting. In the entirety of ASML I had only met ~25 people at this point, and one of them happened to be this person. The unlikeliness of that event just blows my mind.
Anyway, here is me with a few people from my department at a quarterly meeting
Thanks for the update and sharing !
All the best with the Dutch life!
Lots of love!
Amazing. God is looking after you. Fancy making tablet for your neighbours and work colleagues. I can see kilt pin fling being resurrected in NL xxx.
Nothing makes an impression like sugar and condensed milk
Tablet works every time…Glad you guys are settling in well.
Living the wee updates…
SK
Aww so glad you’re reading along. Miss you guys.