Count your blessings

This post is for my lovely colleague, Aileen, who thinks that I might have something interesting to say. Come on Aileen!

My love/hate relationship with Holland is not a well-kept secret. In the early days, after the excitement wore off and there was no backing out, I made lists of things I liked about Holland to psyche myself out of scraping the whole experiment.

Here are a few of those things:

1. Flowers
2. Bikes & biking everywhere
3. Convenient shopping with cheap, high-quality wine!
4. Safe, clean public environment (spittle, dog poop and graffiti not withstanding)
5. Public transportation (four years without a car)
6. Inexpensive health insurance and care ( a double-edged sword)
7. Flex-time
8. Direct/No-nonsense communication (also a double-edged sword)
9. The sacredness of vacation
10. The sharing of domestic duties (A Dutch partner worth his weight in gold)

These things, here in black and white, make a pretty good argument for sticking around.

Thanks, Dear Aileen, for getting me back on track.

It is none of my business and I am going to tell you anyway

A few weeks ago, Rob & I had dim sum with some friends in Amsterdam (a fantastic day that involved day drinking Belgian beer and another great meal at Gandhi). Two of the women at the table, both ex-pats, work for the same Dutch-based international electronics company. As you can imagine, there was a good bit of BM&G-ing (Bitch, Moan & Groan) happening around the lazy Susan regarding work life in the Netherlands.

This discussion got me thinking about what I have learned in my four years working in Holland and how this might help those of you currently suffering the culture shock of the Dutch work environment. Here are four things to remember about your work environment in Holland. They also apply to life in general as an ex-pat in the Netherlands.

1. No one will welcome you

2. No one will adapt for you

3. If you want something, you must ask explicitly

4. Pro-active means to complain

Do not expect a welcome or an introduction from Dutch colleagues. If you are lucky, someone will ask you a lot of personal questions, but don’t mistake this for caring, she's just curious. The Dutch do not like foreigners and they have no problem expressing this fact.

Don’t expect to be included in coffee conversations, unless you are already fluent in Dutch ( don’t worry, they are just chatting about the weather and knocking each other down, since this what most jokes are based on). Tact and social graces are not a part of the working culture; get used to it.

Don’t expect your manager to pick up on subtle clues. If you want something or need to right a wrong, you must explicitly discuss it. Do not expect your manager to ask how you are getting along; she assumes that if something is wrong, you will come to her ( I use the pronoun "her" ironically here, since there are zero lady managers around here).

If you are wondering how to get promoted, don’t worry, it is easy, especially if you are young. Go to your manager and tell him you don’t like your current project. He will find another one, usually better and with more responsibility, to keep you happy, since you are young and valuable…oops, this only works if you are Dutch.

On the upside, the coffee is always flowing!

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Seth Godin keeps asking me to poke the box. I am not too sure if this qualifies, but I have been wanting to learn how to post a video on YouTube.

Yesterday was an absolutely fabulous day in the neighborhood, so we seized the day with an impromptu BBQ and some Chard. I shot a little VID of my favorite guy, RK and successfully uploaded it to YouTube (turns out to be pretty darn easy) a few minutes ago. What do you think Seth, does this count?

Heiloo Harvest -Haarlem Harvest

Tender leaves from our garden- destined for an omelette

As I re-potted my new tomato plant, these little guys fell off-they are now ripening happily on my window sill

Chello (Iranian style rice)

This recipe is for my fellow foodie and vegetarian extraordinaire , Ms. Monique Rijks-Surette

Chello (Iranian style rice)

Ingredients:

· ½ cup per person of high quality Basmati rice, long-grain and fragrant

· Salt

· ½ cup neutral oil (sunflower is nice)

· butter

Tools:

· a large pot

· colander

Procedure:

· Soak rice in large pot with water and plenty of salt for a few hours

· Drain water and rinse rice

· Fill pot with fresh and boil the rice until it is just one degree softer than al dente

· Drain rice into colander and rinse with fresh water

· Heat oil (it seems like a lot, but it is important for the creation of Tah-diq, the crunchy part) in a heavy-bottomed pot making sure to coat the sides of the pot up about 2 or 3 inches ( Note: if you use the same pot, be sure to wash and dry it very thoroughly)

· When the oil is hot, spoon the rice into a volcano shape in the pot and poke 3 or 4 holes (about an inch in diameter) in the rice

· Pour a tablespoon of water into each hole and place several pats of butter on top of the rice

· Place a clean dishcloth (paper towels also work, careful with gas burners as they can catch on fire) and place the lid on top

· Steam the rice on medium-low heat for about 45 minutes until you see that the cloth is soaked with water and the pot passes the spit test (when a moist finger causes a sizzle at the top of the pot)

· This is the tricky part, flip the whole pot upside down on a large platter so that the Tahdiq is on top

Serve and enjoy with friends!

My Hero! Another Guy Who is Doing it

With a name like Reinhardt Smit you'd expect this guy to do something big, like abolish world hunger, suspend global warming or annihlate cancer. Well that is just what he is doing- 5K at a time.

Last Sunday , I had the privilege of joining Reinhhardt and his crew for the inaugural race for the launch of Run for Them, a hip new nonprofit organization for racers in the Netherlands. RTF matches runners with their favorite charities and makes giving a breeze.

Please check out his website at http://www.runforthem.org, lend your support and , if you are a runner, take the survey.

Spring is finally here