The European Mama

A few days ago I was lucky enough to guest post on The European Mama, a fantastic site discussing the ins and outs of multilingual living here in the Netherlands.

I shared the story of what I call my Sliding Doors moment.  That moment in time where life could have gone one way, or in the complete opposite direction.  For me it was being dumped.  In my navel gazing moments, I sometimes wonder what would have happened to me if we had stayed together.  It by all means was not a long relationship, it was a defining one in my life.  Here's a snippet of the article:

It was December 27, 2002.  I was visiting my boyfriend, blissfully happy and looking forward to the future.  Completely out of the blue he took my heart and smashed it into a million pieces.  He couldn’t give me a reason why, but proceeded to string me along for six more months leading me to believe that there was a chance we would get back together and live happily ever after.

More than ten years later I realise that day way back in 2002 was my sliding doors moment.  Remember that movie where Gwyneth Paltrow lives two lives in parallel and sports two equally horrific haircuts?  It was the moment in time where my life could have gone in two completely different directions...... Read more

Olga is a Polish born, multilingual parent living in Holland with her German husband and three small children. I have no idea how I found Olga, but all of a sudden her fabulous blog was on my must-read list.  It should be on yours, too.

It's a Holi--holiday, Part II

I've been home from Australia almost three weeks and have not found the time to share the second half of our amazing holiday with you.

When I left you I was sitting in my TGA's kitchen just outside lovely Holbrook; famous for being the half-way point between Sydney and Melbourne on the Hume highway and oddly, for its submarine...

With many, many tears we bid my family farewell and headed off into the mountains of Australia.  That must sound a bit odd, Australia is known for its beaches and the Outback.  Mountains, not so much.  But into the mountains we drove.  Through tiny towns, shouting at bloody tourists in campervans (slow-moving caravanners and campervanners need their own roads far, far away from the rest of us), until we reached the highest town in Australia - Cabramurra.  An interesting spot, Cabramurra.  It's part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme and is now only inhabited by those who work to service the Tumut 2 power station - you and I could never move there on a whim, we'd have to get a job at the power station.

Jindabyne was our destination, and from Cabramurra we drove across would could possibly be referred to as The Roof of Australia to get there.  Areas to attach snow chains and ski areas were dotted through the landscape that hardly resembled the Australia I know and love at all.

Our first stop in Jindabyne was the visitor information centre to find out the easiest way to get to the top of Mount Kosciuszko.  Turns out that the week between Christmas and New Year is the busiest time in the high country.  Who'd have thought?  You would imagine the place to be heaving during the winter months, but it seems that more people want to see in the New Year at Australia's highest point.

It also turned out that the shortest way to the top was a "leisurely" eight km hike that I just couldn't face.  Of course, because I was on holiday, I had to get Strep Throat.  So instead we drove over to Thredbo, which is one of the most famous ski resorts with the intention of taking the cable car to the top and taking in the views.  We paid $16 to get into the National Park (which was a bit steep in my opinion, considering Uluru Kata Tjuta NP was only $25 for three days when I worked there) and when we searched for prices for the cable car we discovered that it was $40.  Each!  There was no way on this earth we were going to pay $80 (plus whatever it would have cost for Raina) to take a cable car to the top of a hill, so we settled for a capuccino instead.  I was flabbergasted at how expensive Thredbo was, and how they could possibly justify that expense.  Again, I kept making the Uluru comparison.

Because we wanted to at least see Mount Kosciuszko, we drove on to Charlotte Pass, which is the main departure point to hike to the top.  We walked to the look out and picked out Kosciuszko in the distance, while trying not to be blown off the side of the mountain and slapping each other to avoid being stung by the March flies.

The scenery though, was absolutely breathtaking.  The azure blue sky was stunning and the geology spectacular.  Australia may not have the famous human history of Europe (although Aboriginal  history is rich, diverse and not to be ignored), but the geological history is to be seen to be believed.  Some of the earliest fossils are found in Australia (stromatolites), some of the oldest rock formations can be found in the Pilbara and other parts of Western Australia and millions of people visit Australia each year just to see the natural wonders of The Great Barrier Reef and Uluru.

Sorry about that.  A bit of "I'm a proud Aussie" thrown in there for good measure.

We left the Snowy Mountains for the coastal town of Eden.  We had initially tried to find accommodation in Eden, but the entire south coast of NSW was fully booked for school holidays, so we booked into the Hotel at Mallacoota, a very tiny beach town in the south east corner of Australia.

This town is one of the untouched gems that we as tourists love to find. While the town is growing, there is not much there except a pub, a couple of small supermarkets, a takeaway shop, a bakery and a couple of cafes.

We hired a boat and went cruising into the lakes area, spending the morning puttering along admiring the view. Well, that's what we did in theory. In practice I spent most of the time trying to keep Raina under control. It was also scorching hot, so I was trying to keep Raina out of the sun, make sure she had enough to drink, all the while trying to stop her from climbing overboard. Not that you would know it to look at the photo:

On our last morning in Mallacoota, because we were all awake at stupid o'clock, we jumped into the car and drove out to a gorgeous location called Secret Beach for a swim. There was not a soul to be seen, it was magical to have the whole place to ourselves (and the lovely biting flies).

It was a bit cold for me to take a dip, but Maarten went in properly and we just had the best time wandering around being alone.

Our trip was starting to wind down, I was feeling the melancholy of having to leave soon, but there were still a few highlights to come! Our next stop was Lakes Entrance, and while underwhelming after the wonder of Mallacoota, I caught up with a dear, dear friend I haven't seen for a long time. Let's just say, two marriages, two kids and a divorce have taken place since we saw each other last!

We made the final push up through Melbourne and onto Mount Macedon to stay with Maarten's relatives for a few days before flying home and it was the perfect end to a wonderful trip. We spent more time with family and friends and visited Hanging Rock.

Have you ever heard of Hanging Rock? It was made famous by the book and movie Picnic at Hanging Rock, based on the mystery of a group of school girls disappearing in 1900. There are a load of interesting happenings going on and we experienced one phenomenon ourselves, where we stopped at a particular stretch in the road and the car started to roll uphill! While we can insist that it is an optical illusion, I'm telling you, we rolled right uphill, back towards Hanging Rock! It was like the the rock never wanted us to leave...

As we stood at the airport saying goodbye, I realised that this time it was the hardest. I spent time with so many of my beloved family and some of the best friends a person could ever want and I really didn't want to let them go. This time I really felt that I am missing out on so much. My cousins are almost all grown, my grandma just turned 80, friends are getting married and I feel deeply saddened not to be able to share every moment with everyone. I remind myself that I will return soon and I won't miss everything forever, but I have to keep convincing myself of that.

So, it was a bittersweet end to one of the loveliest trips of my life.

Thank you so much to the Gorgeous Kylie and her amazing father David for lending us their "spare" car for the trip. And to Lovely Brone for organising the hire of the car seat. We wouldn't have had such a wonderful experience if it wasn't for those guys.

If you haven't already, don't forget to read It's a Holi-Holiday, Part I!

I'm a Dutch Australian!

Late last year at the Expatica I Am Not a Tourist fair, I had the good fortune of meeting the lovely Renee Veldman-Tentori who is a multi-talented social media expert and who runs the wonderful community Dutch Australian.

Renee has a similar (if you use your wild imagination) story to my own.  She met her husband when he was a backpacker in Australia (as did I), she connected with him in the UK (as did I) and moved to the Netherlands to be with him (as did I!).  That's where the parallel lives end, however.  Renee has two gorgeous daughters, is a dual Dutch/Australian citizen (something I never seem to get round to organising...) and moved back to Australia for several years before returning to South Holland early in 2012.

Why am I telling you all about Renee?  Well, I have been spending quite a bit of time hanging out on the Dutch Australian Facebook page, which is an excellent resource for anybody with Dutch and Australian connections (as well as a lively place to just hang out).  Plus, Renee recently featured me on her wonderful Dutch Australian site, which you can read all about here:

Image from Dutch Australian

Right now Renee is in the middle of what is probably the single most irritating factor about being an Australian living in the Netherlands: getting her driver's license.  Like me, Renee has a perfectly good Australian driver's license sitting in her purse, but after living in NL for six months, she is no longer allowed to drive using it so has to exchange it for a Dutch license.  That's where the problem starts.  An Australian license is not recognised as one of the chosen few that may be exchanged.  Instead she has to go through the painful and expensive process of "learning to drive" before sitting exams at €250 a pop.

Wish her luck and join me at Dutch Australian, you'll love it.

Counting Down

At about this time in seven weeks I will be jetting off to Australia for Christmas.  It will be the first time I have been back since we were married in 2010, the first time Raina has been to Australia (her visa is all ready to go!) and the first time that I will have spent Christmas with my own family in eight years. I can’t believe how long it has been.  More about that in a later post.

I have been thinking recently about what I miss about Australia.  I’ve had an Aussie-filled year, with my parents visiting and a very good friend has just left us after spending a few months as our house maid guest.  I haven’t really thought about all the things I miss for a long time.  To be perfectly honest, the longer I’m away, the shorter the list becomes.  This is a common theme among expats.  And a common post among expat bloggers I’m certain!

It seems that instead of missing things, I miss places, people and experiences.  I don’t yearn for pizza shapes like I used to, and even though a chicken parmy will be top of the menu, I don’t dream about it any more.

Here’s how my dream day in Australia would go: 

Wake up at Grandma’s house in Robe.  I don’t even mind if I’ve been sleeping on the crappy 50 year old squeaky bed.  Then I would stroll down the street for a cheeky eggs benedict brunch with a gorgeous cappuccino.  Coffee in Australia is sooooooo much better than here.  So good that Starbucks couldn’t stand up to the competition and left the country.

The sun would be shining and there would be no wind and I’d wander to my favourite beach.  It’s not a swimming beach and is a bit rocky, so there are almost never other people there.  The memory of it has actually become my happy place that I visit when I’m stressed, upset or unable to sleep.

I’ll climb out onto the rocks and sit in my perfectly moulded seat and watch the sea and the sky.  Because it’s a perfect day, the local sea lion will appear and play amongst the rocks searching for fish.

I love this beach so much that we took many of our wedding photos there

In the afternoon I’ll meet up with my favourite girlfriends and we’ll have scoff wine and eat goodies and while away the day.  A bit later someone (most likely my mum) will start cooking a bbq and there will be eight different cuts of steak to choose from, all cooked to perfection (ok, I’m tripping into fantasy territory now...).  There will be crayfish (for everyone else) and noodle salad (for me).

Eventually I’ll crawl back into the squeaky bed and sleep like the dead.

No dreams of grandeur, just comfort. This perfect day is even possible, and in just over seven weeks I'm going to have it.

What’s your dream day in your home country like?

The Expat List

This morning I opened my blog reading list and first stop was Our Big Expat Adventure, a blog written by a fellow Australian, living in Singapore.  The author, KJ and I connected over a mutual love for mamamia.com.au and now chatter away on Twitter fairly regularly.

Today’s post is titled The Expat List and just reading it made me become excited.  I’m certain that every expat has their list filled with weird and wonderful items that only fellow country(wo)men can relate to, I know I do.  I have found that over the years as I get used to living abroad my list has decreased somewhat,  However, my mum is coming to visit in a few months with a luggage allowance of 30kg (bless you Emirates), so I’m in the process of putting together the full shebang.  She’ll regret offering by the time she has no space left for her own clothes!

Here’s my list of essentials:

• Arnotts Pizza Shapes.  If you don’t know what pizza shapes are, it’s probably a good thing.  They are good enough to consume my thoughts for days on end.  Really.
• Chickadee chicken salt.  I’m sure the ingredients aren’t only ‘chicken’ and ‘salt’ but it’s so damn tasty that I could cover anything with it.
• De Jour tampons.  I don’t know why, but tampons outside Australia just aren’t as good.  Plus it seems women in the Netherlands prefer sanitary towels, which are just not for me.
• Tea bags.  English breakfast is my flavour of choice, and the blends here in the Netherlands are just not up to scratch.  I love Twinings, Tetley and the best:  PG Tips.  I usually put in an order for those when I know someone going to the UK.  I have found them in the Black Market in Beverwijk, but that’s an hour’s drive, just for tea...
• Chocolate.  It’s weird what you miss.  Belgium is as close to Almere as Mount Gambier is to Lucindale, but when all you want is a Violet Crumble or a block of Cadbury Snack Godiva just doesn’t hit the spot!
• Heinz (or home brand) cheesy tinned spaghetti.  Love it.  I can also get tinned spaghetti from the UK, but the Australian version is just that much better.
• Crumpets.
• Cotties apple and raspberry flavoured cordial.  This is a new addition to the list.  I really miss ‘proper’ cordial.
• DiGiorgio Family Wines sparkling pinot noir chardonnay.  My all time favourite bubbly.  Helps that it’s from my home town!
• Bundaberg rum.  This is for my husband.  The smell takes me back to too many nights of obscene drunkenness, and these days it’s only after I’ve drunk my body weight in beer or wine that I think rum is a good idea.
• Vegemite.  Of course.  What I would really love is a cheddarmite scroll from Bakers Delight.  Yum!
• Promite.  I prefer it to vegemite actually.

Notice that Tim Tams are missing? I love them, but they don't quite make my essentials list. Chuck in an extra box of pizza shapes instead.

What about you?  What’s on your list of items from home when someone comes to visit?

It's that time of week

Expat Blog Hop time, that is.

This week's topic is:

What was the hardest thing for you to adjust to when you moved to your new country? What tips would you give for new people arriving?

The obvious answer is of course, having to make new friends.  But, I bang on about that old chestnut all the time, so instead I'll think of something else.

Erm...

The weather?  No.  Again, too tiresome to read about, especially after we've just gone through the wettest summer on record here in the Netherlands.

Although it was not necessarily the hardest thing to adjust to, driving on the opposite side of the road has been a big challenge.  Not that I drive.  I'm too tight to fork out the thousand plus euros to start again when it comes to getting my driver's license.

Working as a tour guide it would  crack me up every single time a European tried getting on the wrong side of the bus, until my very first trip to the Netherlands where I stepped off the plane and tried to get into the driver's seat of Maarten's car.  He *might* have fallen over laughing at me.  It took me a while to get used to, and then the first day on the road back in Australia I managed to pull up at a round a bout on the wrong side of the road!  And, what actually made me think of this topic as a major challenge:  yesterday evening I tried to get into the driver's seat again!  I haven't done that for about three years!  I'm putting it down to being a tired, pregnant woman.  That'll work as an excuse, won't it?

Then came the next weird concept - giving way to the right.  Hang on, in Australia we drive on left and give way to the right, but in the Netherlands we drive on the right and also give way to the right?  Absolutely doesn't make sense.  Surely the rules should be opposite, right?  Right?!

Image

Instead drivers are always (supposed to be) on the look out for cars and bicycles who will nip around a corner in front of them at any given moment because they have right of way (except in controlled conditions, of course).  Being a nervous passenger (it's the cause of many, many arguments, poor Maarten) I'm always stomping on my imaginary brakes and grabbing whatever I can to brace! brace!  Maybe the fear would go away if I drove, but I think it has more to do with us owning such a small car.  There's no way that it would come out of any crash unscathed.

And then there's the freeway antics!  The tailgating, swerving in and out of lanes, cutting people off, the excessive speed, the horrendous traffic jams.  It astounds me that the road death toll is so low.  Having said that, I think Dutch drivers are all in all more competent than their Australian counterparts.  More vigilant, don't hog the middle/fast lane unnecessarily, can handle more varied situations better.  Until, of course they find themselves on an open road in The Outback....

So, whilst not the hardest thing to adjust to, being on the wrong side of the road has been a big adjustment.

My big tip for newbies (from countries unused to driving on the right side of the road, or from outside Europe), don't panic when a car suddenly pulls out in front of you, chances are they actually have right of way!

Expat BlogHop - False Expectations

This week has flown by and it's already Thursday and time to post in Windmill Tales'
regular Expat BlogHop.  Here's this week's theme:

Before you moved to the country you are in now, whyat expectations, ideas (things you though happened, things people did, etc) did you have then, that proved to be not true at all?

I think that I was pretty clued up about the Netherlands before I moved here.  After all, I had been commuting backwards and forwards for a year before I made the jump.  I knew almost nobody wore clogs any more and that tulips are not actually Dutch (just ask the Turkish, they'll tell you) and that hardly anybody is any sort of drug user.  One thing I did believe however, was that Dutchies would be the same as Australians.  You know, easy going.

Ah, no.

In my years of tour guiding I had met (and loved) countless Dutchies.  In fact, if you ask any tour guide in Australia, almost every single one will tell you that Dutchies are THE BEST passengers to have on tour.  Flexible, fun loving, enjoy a drink, and have a get on with it mentality.  Just like most Australians.  So, I thought it would be a walk in the park and moving to the Netherlands would be just like coming home.

Except it wasn't.

Honestly, I was expecting to have myself a new Dutch BFF within three weeks of landing.  I was expecting to go out for Friday night drinks with my colleagues every week.  I’d be hosting regular dinner parties.  I didn't realise what a rude shock I was in for.  I'm still looking for my Dutch BFF three years later.  I've had drinks with colleagues only a few times, and always at organised events.  Making dinner plans is always such an ordeal.  

Having to make dinner plans a month in advance with friends is just not for me.  I refuse to believe that a person is so busy that the only free evening they have is a Tuesday in five weeks time.  Absolutely refuse to believe it.  Special events I can absolutely understand.  but a casual evening with a bowl of pasta?  Ah, no.

Don't for one moment think that this is an "Australians are better" post.  I'm not so naiive.  I realise that Australians can be so easy going that it's almost impossible to make a decent plan.  Traits that I was perfectly used to when I was living in Australia are now almost unbearable.  Waiting until you get somewhere to make a plan?  Changing your mind fifteen times before choosing a place to eat?  Behaving as though running a half hour late is ok and acceptable without a phone call?  No thanks.

Now I'm used to the differences and understand that I should not have based my expectations of a couple of hundred people on holiday.  Something interesting that I’ve noticed however:  many of my other lovepat friends met their husbands whilst on holiday and have also struggled to adapt here as the people are so different to what they expected.  So is it our fault that we have these expectations, or are the Dutch just so good at integrating into their location at any given time, they give a false expectation as to what it’s like at home?

Just sayin’...

Back my tour guide days

Weekendje Weg - Berlin

Ah, Germany.  How I love thee.  Before I packed up and relocated to Europe, I swore black and blue that I would never go to Germany.  Why not? you ask.  Well, in my past life I worked as a tour guide based in Alice Springs (taking trips mostly between Uluru, Kings Canyon, the Flinders Ranges and Adelaide).  It was a job I absolutely loved.  I was fortunate enough to visit some of the most beautiful and ancient places in Australia once or twice a week, for which I am eternally grateful.  I also met hundreds of fantastic people; some of whom I still keep in contact with, and one of which I actually married!

Gorgeous, hey?

Did I mention before that Maarten was a passenger on one of my tours?  Yep, he saw me at my absolute best - in my very feminine uniform of brown shorts, green shirt and hiking boots.  Covered in red dirt and a mouth like a rude version of Steve Irwin.  Cooking damper in a camp oven and rambling about rocks.  And he still managed to crawl into my swag on the last night of the trip expecting a bit of romance.  Obviously I should have realised then that he was the perfect man for me because the person I was in that place was exactly who I am.  With no pretenses, no makeup, it was me pure and simple.  I kind of miss that Nerissa.  Haven't seen her for a while.


But I'm wandering off track a bit here (I never seem to keep the one train of thought for very long).  Not only did I meet some wonderful people, I also met some shockers.  Among those shockers were English gap-year girls (horrible high maintenance daddy's girls looking for power points for their GHDs everywhere) and Germans.  We all know that Germans have a horrible reputation abroad as terribly behaved tourists.  And they didn't disappoint.  My worst passenger ever was a middle-aged German man who ruined an entire tour, made the group hate me and nearly made me quit the job.  One particular comment that has stayed with me was "When are we eating" (as a demand, not a question.  Nevermind that I'd just driven 700+km and taken them on a 6km hike).  But in hindsight, the Germans were never problem passengers aside from their general attitude, and of course it wasn't everybody - I met some wonderful Germans on tour, even got tattooed with one.  The were never late, and never whined (hello gap-year girls, I'm looking at you).

So, I'd sworn off Germany because I wasn't fond of the tourists I'd encountered.  Sweeping judgements abound.  However, I have seen the light, and am now a borderline evangelist for Germany.  Love it.  Love how it's such a beautiful country, love how everyone obeys the rules (we were told off for crossing the street on a red man), but most of all I love love LOVE the food!  I'm glad I don't live there because I would eat everything.  There's always a dilemma when I go to Germany - do I have the bratwurst or do I have the schnitzel.  When really in my head I'm wondering if I can have the schnitzel with a side of bratwurst.  And the bakeries!  Real buns and pastries, which is something that is very disappointing here in Holland.  No good bakeries.

In February we went to Berlin for a long weekend.  Everybody I know who has been absolutely loves Berlin, so I was very excited to go.  We had an amazing deal with EasyJet - we booked return flights for €85 for the two of us, and stayed in the EasyHotel for €75 for three nights.  The accommodation was fantastic - brand new, clean and cheaper than a hostel!

After a delay at Schipol we arrived at Berlin and caught the train into the city.  We took an S-bahn train, but I would recommend taking an RER - two and a half times as fast as the S-bahn and also lovely and quiet and clean.  The NS here in Holland can certainly use a few pointers from their German counterparts, that's for sure.

The Clock @ Alexander Platz

We bought a Berlin Welcome Card valid for three days, and that gave us unlimited public transport access in Berlin and Potsam.  Let me tell you, you really need the public transport in Berlin.  Unlike Amsterdam, it's just too massive to walk around and see all the sights!  Just be prepared to climb a lot of stairs.  And I mean a LOT.  Between the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn is what feels like about 4 stories, so it's a great workout.  Not so much fun with a belly full of schnitzel and sausage though...

We travelled all over the city.  On the first day we went to the Holocaust Memorial near the Brandenburg Tor.  What an eye-opener that was.  I couldn't read all of the stories, it was just too traumatic.  One room is devoted entirely to reading the names and a brief history of each known victim.  It was very confronting and brought home the devastation of 6 million murdered Jews.  Remembering and acknowledging past horrors is something that the Germans do very well.  I appreciate the way that the country does not shy away from its atrocities in the way that other countries do.  The German people are willing to stand up and recognise their past and use that to remind themselves and the world what can happen if we allow it.

Holocaust Memorial

Holocaust Memorial

On the first day when we were walking around (we walked from the Central station to the Brandenburg Tor to Potsdam Platz) I kept wondering about the wall.  Which side was I standing on, what did it look like, what it must have been like knowing that there was a different world right on the other side....  There is a whole restored portion near the Oostbahnhof that is covered in art.  It's awe-inspiring and worth it to walk the entire length.

Checkpoint Charlie

Of course we also went to see Checkpoint Charlie.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was a bit surreal to read the signs and see that just over there was a completely different country!  There is a museum right by the checkpoint filled with tales of daring escapes from the East.  One of my fabulous aunts told me that her sweetheart was posted in Berlin on the wall at Checkpoint Charlie, which I really didn't know.  He's one of these guys who keeps his cards quite close to his chest and you can know him for years and then have a good think about it and realise you hardly know him at all.  He's a highly decorated Vietnam Veteran and was the first Australian to be posted to West Germany since WWII.  Just between you and me, he's my real-life hero.  A few years ago I went to Gallipoli for the Anzac Day memorial service and he was kind enough to let me take some of his badges (not the medals of course), so I took him along with me in spirit.  I was so honoured.

But back to Berlin.  One of the biggest highlights was going to the zoo.  Apparently it is the largest zoo in Europe, and it was just fantastic!  All of the outdoor enclosures are built around the animal's indoor houses, and you can go inside and see the animals up close!  I was thisclose to a lion and a rhino!  And we saw Knut the Polar Bear.  If you haven't heard of Knut, you have obviously been living in a (bear?) cave.  He is a polar bear that was rejected by his mother, so was raised by one of the zoo keepers.  He might actually be more famous than my twitter friend @mistershuffles (a baby elephant who zookeepers thought was dead when he was born at Taronga Zoo)!

Knut!

On our last day we took the train out to Potsdam.  Maarten had heard that there were lots of castles (Castle Alert!), so thought I might enjoy it.  As it turns out the city is FILLED with castles!  There were a couple of homes of Frederick II of Prussia, who was one of the coolest emperors in history in my opinion.  Not only did he win the land version of the Seven Years War, he introduced the potato to Europe (he was sneaky enough to encourage his subjects to 'steal' the potatoes from his private garden) and he was such a strong commander that he is regarded as one of the best in history, up there with Napoleon and Charlemagne.  I absolutely loved seeing Potsdam.  I could go on and on all day about the castles and palaces, but I probably lost you at Castle Alert...

See?!  Damned
Television Tower

I really thought Berlin was an incredible city.  It was so easy to get around, and there were endless places to eat if you're on a shoestring like we always are.  The monuments are huge in scale, but beware:  you can't take a photo of anything without the bloody television tower in the background!

I think the biggest highlight was the zoo.  I loved that you could get so close to the animals and they all look so happy to be there, unlike Artis where you can just see that the elephants are very unhappy.  It's not a visually stunning city like Paris or Brussels, but there is so much going on that you it is impossible to run out of things to do and see.  Just don't forget to take your appetite with you, you're going to need it!

Back and straight into it!

So, we're back from our "Trip of a Lifetime."  We had the most wonderful four weeks in Australia!  The wedding was fabulous, we had the best time and it was all over in a flash - thank goodness for photos to help me remember it all!

As I've mentioned, we went to Western Australia for our honeymoon, spending 10 days basking in the sun.  Well, it wasn't exactly like that, we did drive 4000 km, snorkel with sharks, saw all sorts of amazing wildlife and marine life (hammerhead shark, humpback whales, dolphins, dugongs, turtles, tropical fish, and of course kangaroos!), had a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere, got a sunburned butt, all while sleeping 9+ hours a night!  Absolute bliss.

So, why are you still reading and not booking a WA holiday??

Well, I'm having mixed feelings about being back 'home' now.  Returning home really gave me a lot to think about for the long term.  The biggest being: how long do we stay in the Netherlands?  It's not an easy decision, and not one that can be made quickly.  We have too many commitments to up and go, plus Maarten's parents (mum especially) would freak out if we did!

In all honesty, Australia is just so much easier than the Netherlands.  Bureacracy is not such a fight.  It was a relatively simple process to change my name (I'm now a Muijs) - I just had to apply to get a legal copy of my marriage certificate.  From there I could go to Transport SA and change my drivers license (I didn't even need a new photo, they could use the one on file!) and then the bank with the same certificate.  I also have the paperwork to change my passport, which is free to change within the first 12 months of getting married, and can be done via post/Australian Embassy.

However, to make our marriage legal in the Netherlands I needed to get the marriage certificate apostilled ($60 thankyouverymuch) and to register the marriage internationally at Den Haag I needed my birth certificate apostilled (for the second time as they won't accept an apostille older than 6 months and I already had to supply it to the Gemeente 2.5 years ago).  That was a cool $80 as they needed to attach a second sheet to my birth certificate as they can't apostille the same page twice...  But, it's done now and I've been to the Gemeente to register the marriage.  And, I could use the registration process for my portfolio!!

On that note, big news.  I'm scheduled to have the exams on the 1st of December.  1st of December!  That's less than a month away!  I'll be doing all three tests on the same day.  If I pass, Ik ben geslaagd!  But if I fail one of the tests, I can redo that test only.  I don't need to redo all three.  I'm a bit concerned about the toets gesproken nederland exam, but I've been doing the two main practice exams, the Elektronisch Praktijkexamen and the Kennis Nederlands Samenleving from the inburgeren.nl site that I've already shared with you.  I have cracked the 90% mark for both tests, so I'm not terrified any more.

My portfolio is also almost done!  I had hoped to be able to post that I was klaar, but I still have two portions to complete (hopefully before tomorrow).  It's been a real thorn in my side.  I started collecting situations way back in March, and it's taken me until now to get a handle on it.  It's something that you must be motivated to do.  If I had done what I said I would do way back in my earlier posts, this would have been out of the way months ago!

If I pass, and get the portfolio and it's panel interview out of the way in the next few weeks, I can enrol in the Staatsexamen level course so I can then go on to study at university level (if I choose to).  I'll especially jump on this ship in case all the rules change next year and the price goes through the roof.  I've missed all of the drama with the new government and what the planned integration policies are, so if anyone has a clue and would like to enlighten me, please feel free!

In the Beginning...

It began about three months ago. I received my very first summons, or "Intakegesprek" from the Gemeente Almere. I would be expected to present myself to the Sociale Afdeling at 11.00 on a Thursday morning to begin my integration process. Clearly this was not possible. I had to work.

Now, before I get into this, as my very first post in the blogosphere, let me give you some background information about me and my situation...

I met Maarten in 2005 while he was backpacking in Australia. He took a tour from Alice Springs to Uluru and Kings Canyon and I was his tour guide. I'm not sure if I need to expand on that... Fast forward two years, I had relocated to Edinbugh and Maarten came to visit. We had not seen each other since our Central Australian Adventure, but had stayed in contact via email and phone calls fairly regularly. So we took another tour, this time both as passengers, to the Isle of Skye and were joined at the hip from that point forward. We commuted back and forth between Edinburgh and Almere for almost a year, desperate to make the relationship work. It became very clear that the long distance relationship was not going to work and someone had to make the leap. That someone was me. Almost two years later we are planning a wedding, own our own home (well have a mortgage), and are arguing about whether or not we can get a cat (I want one, he doesn't). All in all, it is domestic paradise and we make each other very happy. But, it has taken a lot of effort to get to this point. Let me explain.

After much hoop jumping and a lot of money out of pocket later, I finally earned my residence permit as Maarten's "spouse." I initially arrived with a Working Holiday Visa, which for Australians (under 31) is the easiest and cheapest way into the country. The information on obtaining a Dutch residence permit can be obtained here. You will need your birth certificate when you arrive. Not for the IND (immigration), but for the Gemeente (City Council). They need it to register you in their system, but you can be registered without it, as an incomplete registration. From memory, the Gemeente does not have my birth certificate on file. Not because I didn't have it, but because I had not had it apostilled by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia. I assume it is a similar department in other countries.

You must be prepared to jump through quite a few hoops and run around in circles to get where you need to be amongst the bureaucracy in the Netherlands. You need to be registered at the Gemeente to obtain a visa, and you need to have a visa to register at the Gemeente. Before arriving, I prepared myself by obtaining a Schengen Visa, however as an Australian I don't believe this is necessary. I think we can come and stay initially for 90 days without any visa. This I found out afterwards, but because I stress very easily (you'll see later if you follow my inburgering process, I'm sure) I was pleased that I arranged it before landing. Because the information from the IND is quite often inconsistent, it can be quite a struggle to find your feet. The Schengen stamp in my passport informs me that I need to report to the "Aliens Police" within three days of arriving. This quite misleading. I interpreted this as being the Gemeente, when it actually means an IND office. You must make an appointment with the IND to obtain the visa. Because I did not know that the IND is the Aliens Police, I found out from the Gemeente that I was in the wrong place. Thankfully they could give me an incomplete registration which actually helped my cause! The earliest appointment I could make in Amsterdam was more than two weeks later, which was a problem as I was supposed to report within three days of landing, so we found an appointment in Zwolle, about an hour's drive north west of Almere the next day.

When we arrived in Zwolle, the process to obtain the WHV (working holiday visa) was very straight forward and cost me 20 euros (from memory, but it may have been 30). I was then able to work immediately and complete my registration with the Gemeente and obtain my BSN (burgerservicenummer), which is like a tax file number or National Insurance number or Social Security number. Without it you cannot be paid by your employer. Once your registration at the Gemeente is complete, the BSN comes through within two weeks. Note, you can work while you wait for the number, but you cannot be paid for it.

Fast forward six months we began the spouse permit application (as we were informed that we should expect the visa to take six months to process), so we headed back to the IND with our 830 euros in hand and submitted the application. You should note that it is important to bring all documents to the appointment. You will need to ensure you have a "No Recorded Result" notification from your home country's Department of Births Deaths and Marriage. You will also need this certificate to be apostilled the department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the same as your birth certificate. This apostille and certificate must have been issued within the last six months prior to lodging the application, and in Australia, it is not cheap. Be prepared to part with almost $100AUD for the certificate and apostille.

There is also a condition of obtaining Dutch Health Insurance. We found it was not necessary according to our consultant at the IND, only that we must have it before renewing the visa in 12 months time. Do NOT fall into this trap. I had travel insurance from World Nomads which was valid for a further six months, and according to the consultant, this would be OK. This is not true. Once the insurance policy ended, we applied for Dutch Health insurance via Zilveren Kruis only to be told that I must have insurance from the start date of my permit (six months previous) and that I would be expected to back pay to that date, with a discretionary 30% 'fine' on top of that amount. All in all, about 1000 euros. I am still watching the post every day, because this bill still hasn't arrived, more than six months further down the track!

On waiting for the spouse residence permit to come through, we found that rather than the six months we were expecting to have to wait, it came through in under six weeks! And that is including the Christmas and New Year period. Lucky me!

This has become much longer than anticipated for a small introduction to the Inburgering experience! We are now uptodate on my personal situation, and now ripe to be integrated. As I said earlier, I received my summons, and it was time. But time for what? Hopefully we can find out together....