Monday, September 20, 2010

Feeling at home in the Hague - almost!

So it has been six weeks and a day since we got off the plane to start our new life in the Hague. A very hectic 6 weeks full of lots of new tastes, sounds, smells, sights and emotions.

Bitterbollen - should I be worried when Dutch people tell me its better not to ask what its made of? Is it the Dutch equivalent of Haggis?

Slagroom - Another one of those Dutch words that doesn't translate well into English.

We seem to have slowed down in comparison to the manic London lifestyle, yet I have done more in the last 6 weeks that I have done for ages.

  • Moving house twice,
  • learning how to assemble flat pack furniture, that's if you can carry it up the 3 flights of spiral stairs which seems to be a normal feature of Dutch houses!
  • An intensive 2 week course in Dutch which ended with a trip around the Marithuis museum to see a girl with a pearl earring.
  • Expat fair - feel at home in the Hague
  • discovering an English supermarket and paying a ridiculous amount of money for Yorkshire tea bags
  • an interview - and a painful wait to see whether or not I got the job

Some frustrations, mad as it may sound I hate not having a job, not having the responsibility, not having colleagues, not speaking to the public and answering what at the time seemed like ridiculous questions, not getting up and feeling smart in my nice suit and purple high heels.

Having to reinvent myself to some extent has been a challenge, why did i come to the Hague? why now? what sort of career do I want? do I want to work full time? part time? What do I want to spend my time doing? what do I want to get out of this experience? Who do I want to spend time with?