abqtoadam: A Dutch Pastime

My good friend Kat Cox got me in touch with her Dutch friends Huub and Martijn. Huub lives in Amsterdam, so he invited me over for dinner last Thursday. We talked about many things related to Dutch culture. One of these was the Dutch pastime of complaining. In the spirit of integrating into the local culture, I’ll detail some of the frustrations of an international move to the Netherlands.

I went on a series of errands on Monday, including buying some soccer cleats for an ultimate frisbee game I’ll be playing in next week, buying a backpack, and going to a cell phone store inquire about getting a SIM card for the phone I brought over from the U.S. The first two errands were successful; I got a great pair of cleats, and a large backpack. The cell phone missions, however, failed. The clerk told me that it will be impossible for me to get a cell phone contract* in the Netherlands without three pieces of documentation: a residency permit; a bank account statement; and a rental agreement and address. Rhetorical question: how does one acquire these things?

Glad you asked. It's goes something like this: to get to point A, you need to first get to point B; but to get to point B, you must first get to point C; but getting to point C is a huge pain in the butt without first having made it to point A. More concretely:

To acquire a bank account, you need a BSN (kind of a social security number), which you can only get after receiving your residency permit. You need to show documentation of a rental agreement to get your BSN. To get a rental agreement, you need to pay a rental agency a large sum of money approximately equivalent to three month’s rent (an agency fee, a deposit, and the first month’s rent). However, if you don’t have a Dutch bank account (which you can’t obtain without a BSN, which you need a rental agreement to get), it’s difficult to transfer money to the rental agency. For example, if you have a Wells Fargo account (like, say, I do), you need to make the transfer in person in the U.S. Fortunately, my mother does have a Wells Fargo account, and she was able to transfer the money to the Dutch bank (with a dollar to Euro conversion rate about 5% less favorable that what I’ve been getting at ATMs, along with wiring fees), and I can reimburse her Wells Fargo account with my Wells Fargo account online. So, with a little bit of finagling, I’ve navigated the first step of this convoluted maze.

Another unfortunate aspect of international travel is exposure to international germs (though not necessarily of the e. coli variety). After nine days of inconsistent sleep schedules, moving between residences and beds, eating irregularly at restaurants and takeout joints, and probably drinking a bit too much alcohol, my body succumbed to whatever local germs cause a head cold. And so my first official day at the VU involved an utterly miserable three mile bike ride on cobbled streets and along lovely canals that sparkled in the sun.

All that said, my heart is not really into complaining at the moment. Yes, I feel like crap, and yes, the hoops one needs to jump through during an international move are annoying. But it still feels pretty sweet to be in this liberal land of bike riding, public transportation, and lack of violent crime.

Oh, but before I sign off on that positive note, I should also complain about feeling short. This Dutch height thing is getting a little ridiculous. Wikipedia reports that the average Dutch man is 5'11". I'm not buying it. Feels more like 6'3".

*I haven't checked details of a prepaid phone. I would guess I could get one of these without a residency permit, lease, and bank account. But I think I shall deprive myself in defiance of this silly system.

Pictures:

This is the Albert Cuyp market just a few blocks from where I'm staying and where I'll be living when my apartment is ready. Vendors sell clothing, accessories, tools, and a variety of foods, including fish, other meats, fruits and vegetables, nuts, and chocolates. It's been busy every time I've passed by.