I'm finally here!

Well it’s been a long time in the works, but I’m finally in NL. This week has been very overwhelming, but in a good way. I left the Chicago house on Tuesday morning and arrived here on Wednesday morning with about 4 hours of sleep. Getting the rental car took a bit of extra time because they weren’t sure they had an automatic vehicle available. After about 45 minutes, they put me in a rather large Corsa. It’s about the size of a small mini van, so I’m kind of afraid to drive it and parking is challenging. But it’s a very nice car and I think the size will be useful as I need to do some serious shopping.

At the hotel, they weren’t sure they had a room available (seems like a theme). I reminded the guy that my reservation was for Tuesday night so I wasn’t checking early, I was checking in late. He looked again and lo and behold there was a room available. Hm, I thought so. After a very quick change of clothes I hurried over to the office to meet with the HR Angel. I was already an hour later than I expected to be, but that’s what happens when you travel.

Angel took me immediately to the town hall to register for my residence permit. They gave me the document that’s needed for the customs declaration and the rest will come in the mail. After that, we stopped at ABN-AMRO bank to see if I could open an account. They wouldn’t do it because I’m an American and still own a house in the US. I’m not sure what that has to do with anything, but they wouldn’t even allow me to be on a joint account with my company. The fact that my company does all their banking with ABN-AMRO didn’t matter. Without even a complaint, Angel led me out and told me she’d call every bank in town if she had to, but she’d find a bank that would give me an account!

We went back to the office, had lunch, and I checked out my new work space. The folks in my area have been expecting me and they decorated the office to welcome me. Several of them stopped by to introduce themselves. In my jet-lag fog I couldn’t remember their names, but I really felt their kindness. I’m going to be just fine here!

Thursday morning, the real estate goddess met me at the house to give me the keys and walk me through. Remember, when we were looking at the house, the agent wasn’t able to get the keys. All we could do was look in the windows. So, this was my first time actually being in the house for real. I was very happy with the size. There are two good sized bedrooms upstairs plus a small one that I think can be converted into a walk-in closet. On the top level, there is another good sized room, plus a loft space that will be the laundry room. There is space for a washer and dryer (smaller than American size, of course), but all plumbed in so it’s ready for installation. In the kitchen, the new oven was installed and working. The owner did not skimp – the oven is huge! It’s a 5-burner gas cook top with an electric convection oven. Cool!

The house has a couple of down-sides, though. The bathroom on the bedroom level is totally weird. The toilet is in a separate room from the shower, tub, and sink. I guess I can get used to that. But the main part of the bathroom has no towel racks and no cabinet space at all. There is a pedestal sink, so there are no drawers or cupboards, or anything. I bet Ikea has something that will work, though.

The kitchen has barely any cabinet space. There are some cabinets in the dining room that will have to be used for dishes and a pantry. There is also absolutely no freezer. The little refrigerator in the kitchen doesn’t even have one of those little freezer shelves in it. There is another little refrigerator in the cellar (both the cellar and the refrigerator are kind of creepy), but again, no freezer. The agent was going to call the owner back about the freezer and also about getting a lawn mower for the overgrown patch of grass in the front yard.

For the rest of Thursday, I checked out downtown Bussum on foot and I didn’t get back into the office until Friday. On Friday morning, I met up again with the HR Angel who told me that Rabbobank will let me have a bank account, but I have to wait until I get my Dutch social security number. That should only take a couple weeks. She signed me up for phone and cable and internet service, so that will all be functional in about 10 days. Too bad I don’t have a phone or a TV! The real estate agent called and the homeowner agreed to get me a lawn mower and a freezer – hopefully next week. And finally, I heard from the movers about my air shipment. They will deliver it on Monday morning! So on Monday I can check out of the hotel and move into my new Dutch house! I think you tell why I’m feeling overwhelmed.