{"id":1939,"date":"2009-01-28T18:05:01","date_gmt":"2009-01-28T16:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.breigh.com\/wordpress\/?p=1939"},"modified":"2010-05-26T21:05:03","modified_gmt":"2010-05-26T19:05:03","slug":"25-things-about-me-with-a-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/archives\/1939","title":{"rendered":"25 Things About Me – With a Twist"},"content":{"rendered":"

OK, about 42,000 people have tagged me on Facebook to do this \u201825 things\u2019 meme, so I\u2019m gonna do it here and not tag anyone.\u00a0 If you read this and want to do it yourself, by all means – meme your little heart out.<\/p>\n

Since I\u2019ve been in winter hibernation and feeling a little Fuck You about all things Netherlands, as I usually do at this time of year\u2026 I\u2019m going to do a bit of a twist on the usual meme and list 25 things that have changed for the better since I moved here.\u00a0 Basically, 25 things that don\u2019t piss me off that used to after I first got here.<\/p>\n

*Cracks Knuckles*<\/p>\n

OK \u2026<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I can finally find NORMAL mustard here.\u00a0 Not French Mustard, not Dijon or BBQ or English mustard.\u00a0\u00a0 Just plain ol\u2019 yellow American mustard.\u00a0\u00a0 This probably makes all you North Americans who are still IN North America raise an eyebrow but this actually was an issue for a lot of us expats for many years.
    \n(If you are an expat and haven\u2019t found it yet, it can be found at both Albert Heijn and JUMBO supermarkets).\u00a0\u00a0 I need my mustard.<\/li>\n
  2. I love my house.\u00a0 Ok, so we plan to move soon because we have outgrown it and need a bigger place, with a garden and all that other grown up stuff\u2026 but looking at our flat now compared to what it was when we moved in 8 years ago.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a world of difference.<\/li>\n
  3. I can finally speak enough Dutch to be able to say \u201cI speak Dutch\u201d without feeling like I am lying, and I understand enough to really know what is going on around me.<\/li>\n
  4. After some rocky periods where I\u2019m sure we both wondered if I was going to make it here, my marriage is rock solid and getting better and better every day.\u00a0 Even on days when I am sure it can\u2019t even GET any better.<\/li>\n
  5. I have good friends, a best friend even!\u00a0 I may not be a social butterfly out mixing it up every weekend but I feel like I have some good friends that I really care about, and that feels great.<\/li>\n
  6. I have learned to quilt.\u00a0 I probably should do more of it, and plan to in the future\u2026 but it is something I didn\u2019t know before I came here and probably never would have taken the time for if I was still living in Canada.<\/li>\n
  7. I now know that keukenstroop is the same as molasses.\u00a0 After about 5 years of thinking the Netherlands didn\u2019t have molasses at all.<\/li>\n
  8. Public transit is no longer the bane of my existence.\u00a0 If it\u2019s raining I am not forced to stand outside in the rain or carry groceries home on my back.\u00a0\u00a0 We have a car now and I love it so much I could hump it.<\/li>\n
  9. With the exception of the usual Jan \/ Feb blues I am no longer plagued with depression and uncertainty and I\u2019ve figured out that Anti-Depressants (for me) are the devil and will avoid them forever.<\/li>\n
  10. I have someone who I can talk to now that I can rant to, complain to and pour my heart out who is completely uninvolved with my life and my family and can give me objective and unbiased opinions, which helps a LOT.<\/li>\n
  11. Having someone I can talk to like that has helped me see some people in my life for who they really are and that I shouldn\u2019t place so much value on their opinions.<\/li>\n
  12. I feel more \u2018worldly\u2019 than I did when I was in Canada.\u00a0 I have been to England, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Germany, France and have seen places I never thought I ever would.\u00a0 Some that I never even knew existed!\u00a0 I\u2019ve stood in the Dom in Cologne, Germany and explored the Gorges du Tarn in France.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ve ridden a double decker bus in Dublin, I\u2019ve had dinner in the Eiffel Tower and walked along the canals of Amsterdam.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ve been on the Tube in London and spent three days in Oslo, Norway without seeing the sun even once!<\/li>\n
  13. Having been all these places makes me excited for all the places I will see in the future.\u00a0 We talk all the time about where we want to go next and our next plans are to visit Switzerland, Iceland and for me to finally see Auschwitz in Poland.<\/li>\n
  14. After years of doing without my \u2018Newfie Steak\u2019 I finally figured out that Boterhamworst and Konflookworst are pretty much the same as baloney! \u2026 or close enough for me to think I\u2019m eating baloney anyway.<\/li>\n
  15. I\u2019ve become a lot more adventurous with food.\u00a0 Before I came to the Netherlands there were so many things I wouldn\u2019t eat.\u00a0\u00a0 Even though I had never tried them I was convinced I wouldn\u2019t like them just from the sight or smell of them.\u00a0\u00a0 Living in a country that was completely lacking in regards to my back home comfort foods I was forced to try new things or live on ham and cheese sandwiches for the rest of my life.<\/li>\n
  16. I\u2019ve become a much more curious person.\u00a0 Before moving here I wasn\u2019t at all interested in world news or history.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m far from a historian now, but having seen more places in the world does make me more curious about their past.<\/li>\n
  17. I\u2019ve learned that fighting for something isn\u2019t always the best way to get it.\u00a0 Growing up in North America we learn that the \u2018squeeky wheel gets the grease\u2019 but in most cases that won\u2019t work for you here.\u00a0\u00a0 Learning to choose your battles is a lesson most of us learn the hard way here.\u00a0\u00a0 Living in the Netherlands has taught me how to \u2018kill \u2018em with kindness\u2019.<\/li>\n
  18. I\u2019ve become MUCH less materialistic.\u00a0\u00a0 Ok yeah I still love my geeky gadgets and I like to make my house nice but I don\u2019t have this feeling of having to keep up like back in Canada.\u00a0 I like that here, nobody cares what you have or how much of it.<\/li>\n
  19. I\u2019ve become a better housekeeper.\u00a0 I\u2019m still far <\/em>from perfect but it is a work in progress.\u00a0\u00a0 I have never been one for housework and always sort of imagined I\u2019d be working and someone else could do it all, but that\u2019s not the direction life took me in.\u00a0 I\u2019m adapting, slowly but surely.<\/li>\n
  20. I\u2019m completely computer literate.\u00a0 Having so much time to myself has given me the chance to learn about things I\u2019d not have the time or patience for otherwise.\u00a0\u00a0 I know more about computers than most of my girlfriends and am perfectly comfortable downloading my own torrents, editing my own photos, configuring my own programs and arsing around with the CSS code on my blog.\u00a0\u00a0 If something needs to be installed, I can do it myself.\u00a0 I know nothing compared to my husband, mind you\u2026 and I am by no means an expert in any of these things\u2026 but I know enough and that\u2019s more than I would have if I didn\u2019t have this much time behind my computer.<\/li>\n
  21. I have a thicker skin than when I moved here.\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it could be called THICK, just thicker than it used to be (which was pretty much non-existent).\u00a0\u00a0 When I first moved here and went to a doctor and they told me \u2018It\u2019s because you are fat!\u201d, I almost had a cardiac right there on the spot.\u00a0\u00a0 Between the Dutch bluntness and the language barrier causing them to use limited English, I\u2019ve had to learn to let some things roll off and learn the difference between when people actually MEAN to be insulting and when it just seems that way to me.<\/li>\n
  22. I have found a hidden appreciation for a lot of the traditional Dutch food.\u00a0 Stamppot Boerenkool, mmm heerlijk!!\u00a0 Draadjesvlees met rode kool en witlof met ham en kaas \u2013 LEKKER!!\u00a0 I\u2019ve even started cooking some of it myself!<\/li>\n
  23. Living away from home has made me realize, more than ever, how important my family is to me.\u00a0 Living away from them is hard but distance really does make the heart grow fonder.<\/li>\n
  24. I have almost mastered the art of Dutch customer service, or rather\u2026 how to get some.\u00a0\u00a0 Need info on something?\u00a0 Call three times, if two of the people agree, go with what they say.\u00a0 If you have three differing opinions call back a fourth time and see if they agree with any of the previous people.\u00a0\u00a0 Keep calling until you have at least two people who agree, then do what they say.\u00a0\u00a0 Need something replaced? returned? fixed?\u00a0 Call and BE NICE and sound pitiful until someone agrees to help you.\u00a0 Getting angry will only make them think \u201cFUCK YOU\u201d and you\u2019ll never get any help \u2013 EVER \u2013.\u00a0\u00a0 If the first guy won\u2019t help, try the second \/ third \/ forth day until you find the sexually satisfied, pot smoking, easy going, don\u2019t give a shit about his job dude who says screw it and gives you what you want.\u00a0 OH, and always \u2026 ALWAYS get names.<\/li>\n
  25. The 25th thing that has changed for the better since I\u2019ve moved here?\u00a0 The fact that I can actually list 24 other things that have changed for the better since I\u2019ve been here!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Whew, that took a while.\u00a0\u00a0 I shit you not, I\u2019ve been writing this for almost a week.\u00a0 So it took a while, at least I got there in the end and in the process of writing it I\u2019ve reminded myself that things really are getting better here.\u00a0 It may be a long hard road but I know deep down the destination is worth it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    OK, about 42,000 people have tagged me on Facebook to do this \u201825 things\u2019 meme, so I\u2019m gonna do it here and not tag anyone.\u00a0 If you read this and want to do it yourself, by all means – meme your little heart out. Since I\u2019ve been in winter hibernation and feeling a little Fuck …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[54,9,218,33,3,52],"class_list":["post-1939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","","category-life-in-nl","tag-dutch","tag-homesickness","tag-memes","tag-netherlands","tag-quizzes","tag-xander"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1939"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4724,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1939\/revisions\/4724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}