8 Exploring The Hague

The days are getting shorter, the leaves are falling of the trees and the temperature is dropping…. It makes me realise that we have been living in the Netherlands for almost a year! Time for an update I would say! 

Getting a job in the Netherlands
In November and December 2014 I flew to the Netherlands for a couple of interviews at different universities and a learning centre at a hospital. I remember my mum traveling from the middle of the country all the way to The Hague to have coffee with me after one of my interviews at a university. Andrew was in South Africa that time, because his grandmother had passed away. I clearly remembered warming ourselves up with a lovely cup of ‘Douwe Egberts’ coffee and a typical Dutch ‘Appeltaart met slagroom’ as it was very cold outside. Then I received a phone call from the university congratulating me. Yay! I whatsapped Andrew with a picture of my mum and I celebrating and so he replied by sending me a picture of him sitting with his parents at a sunny beach restaurant in Port Elizabeth with a t-shirt and slops on, toasting on our new adventure: The Netherlands it is! 

Moving to the beach
We first moved from the big city London to a small country side village consisting of 3 streets and a church. Lots of cows, mills, farms and a flat scenery. Quite a contrast to living a world famous and crowded city! We stayed with very close friends there. This would give us some time and space to find our own place. What a privilege it was to stay with this amazing family! We spent a lot of time together and did so many fun and typical Dutch things such as visiting Dutch cities and events, walking through lovely nature areas, watching people with funny clothes on passing us at the annual carnaval parade, celebrating my birthday at a typical Dutch pannenkoekenboerderij and on and on. We did so much together, even getting the flue all together at the same time. Haha. Back then I already started my job and travelled by public transport to The Hague and Rotterdam. As a graduation coordinator of three studies at two campuses, I had to travel a lot. In January and February Andrew went to have a look at several appartments. He found a lovely apartment in Scheveningen, a suburb of The Hague. Right next to the beachfront. We decided to rent it. I never went to have a look myself, come to find out that the furnished apartment had Riverdale accessories and very high quality furniture. Andrew had never heard of the famous Dutch brand Riverdale before, so when I walked in there the first time I thought: Good choice Andrew! Looking back, I realise that a lot has happened in our apartment. We already had many people round for lunches, dinners, high teas, ‘borrels’, sleepovers and parties. We really love our apartment but even more all the social events we have had there so far. 
It has been such a wonderful year exploring all typical Dutch things, food, trips and so on. We joined a lovely Dutch speaking church in Scheveningen where Andrew has had the opportunity to serve and be a support in variety of roles. It is a church linked to an international network where Andrew knows quite a lot of people from. Most Dutch people in that church have been to South Africa themselves and know people who Andrew knows very well. This gives it a nice ‘flavour’ to us. It makes us feel at home, just like having a Marks and Spencer here, where we can enjoy typical English food. South African food also has quite some English influences. So I can have my Dutch breakfast with broodjes and Andrew can have his sausages, eggs and bacon! We host an “@home” community (homecell) at our place and  often have people round for dinners and enjoy making them Sunday Roasts, something that is not very common in the Netherlands. A great introduction for Dutchies to the English and South African kitchen! 

Exploring the Netherlands
One of the things I really enjoy about working in a university environment, is working with students. Another great benefit is that I almost get 3 months leave a year! 6 weeks in July/August, 2 weeks in December and a lot of other weeks/days throughout the year.  So we have really travelled around the country like crazy, visiting family and friends and exploring all 12 different provinces. For example, my parents took us to the Disneyland of the Netherlands: The Efteling! That was great fun! They also showed us around where my dad grew up in Brabant. We discovered the ‘Markthal’ in Rotterdam, a beautiful market where my previous boss opened a restaurant recently, called Jamie’s Italian. We went to the Sail event in Amsterdam. I studied up in the north of the Netherlands, in Leeuwarden and Groningen. What fun it was to show Andrew around (mostly by bike!) all the places where I had created great memories.  This Summer, we also enjoyed the hilly area close to the border of Germany, Belgium and Luxemburg called Limburg province. We stayed in a lovely village called Valkenburg. My parents came back from their Switzerland trip and stayed over in Maastricht, so we met up for a boat trip along the river Maas and a visit to the caves. Then we went to a few concerts and festivals. There is always something going on here, especially in The Hague.  For example an annual international firework festival on the beach (4 Saturday nights). Before I moved to South Africa I used to live in Zwolle. I have taken Andrew there a few times as well. It has been great visiting friends there and showing Andrew around. We have been to a couple of concerts and conferences. Canadian friends of ours recently moved to Delft. We are helping them to settle in and show them Dutch culture as well. For example the other day Sinterklaas and his Pieten came to visit Delft. It was great fun. Unfortunately pouring with rain. Luckily I know this lovely chocolate shop with little coffee place where you can try all chocolates. We had a lovely view of the soaking wet Sinterklaas from our window, enjoying a warm cup of tea  with those amazing chocolates. I enjoy listening to Andrew explaining ‘what the Dutch are like’ and ‘how we enjoy life’ to our Canadian friends. It is funny to discover the things he finds ‘interesting’ about the Dutch whereas I am thinking, oh really? That is so normal to us. What else did we do… We were invited to two Dutch weddings this year, in Kampen and Groningen. Dutchies know how to dance and so do we! For our wedding anniversary Andrew and I went on a cruise through the harbour and city centre of Rotterdam with a fun night of dinner and dancing. We met a nice couple there, come to find out that they were from South Africa too, in fact even from Port Elizabeth! What a coincidence. One thing we enjoy as well, are those big wellness centres. Especially when the weather is not so nice outside! Because we live in Scheveningen, we have many hotels around us. One has a lovely wellness centre. If we can’t have a swim in the (way too cold) sea, then we’ll have one in the indoor heated pool! We have had many family and friends from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, South Africa, Qatar, Canada and Singapore coming to visit us. Whenever they would plan a visit, we would make sure we would take them to typical Dutch events such as Kings day, Museum night of The Hague, ‘Prinsjesdag’, Veterans day, Open Monuments day, Liberation day, ‘de intocht van Sinterklaas’ and so on. But sometimes we would just take them out to spend the day on the beach, as the beach is just 2 minutes’ walk from our apartment. 

A new challenge
I must say, I am amazed how Andrew is adjusting to this culture. He is very involved with our church. I small but strong recently planted church. He meets the pastor one morning a week, attends the staff meetings and we are a part of the core leadership team and we also have a home group at our place. He is asked to lead worship and this Sunday he is going to preach as well. He has networked extensively around the Netherlands, attending conferences and involving himself in various pastors’ networks. He has made friends with some of the strongest pastors and churches in The Netherlands. I am very proud of him. And further he is applying for jobs and working on his life coaching. He had a couple of interviews, unfortunately without a positive result yet. I am very proud of how he deals with the situation of moving countries, settling in, adjusting to the culture and looking for work. I have been in a similar situation and therefore understand him very well. We keep our hope alive, knowing that every ‘no, sorry unsuccessful application’ is another ‘no’ out of the way to our ‘yes’.
I recently got a new job at The University of The Hague, closer to where we live. Even though I had a great performance review at my previous job, it was quite unsure if I was able to get another temporary contract for a year. When I got offered a job at another university that suited my background and passion better, I decided to resign and go for my career.  The position is lecturer and curriculum developer for the study pedagogics. I have studied pedagogical and educational sciences and after that, I did my teaching degree. I can’t think of any better suitable job as this job is about teaching in a field that I studied myself and am very passionate about. Then I am also busy working behind the scenes working on curriculum development which suits my educational sciences-qualities. The job is quite similar to the job I had when I left the Netherlands and I am really loving it! I had a very warm thank-you-drinks with colleagues at my previous university. I was overwhelmed by the encouraging words of the team leaders. One of them ended their speech with we also realised how impossible your job was, therefore we are going to split it up for two people. 

Cycle to work
Since I have a new job, I change my cycle-road. It is a 6,5 km ride to the university. Good and free exercise, no need to get a gym contract! Let me share with you my route. First of all, I  start at the beachfront, right where we live. The beachfront has a nice pier with some restaurants and even a high tower that you take the stairs to the lovely view point or even the bungee jump. During Summer, it was quite busy around the beach area and Andrew and I went for a lot of beach walks and some swims.  Unfortunately most of the beach clubs are not there anymore, as the sunny season has ended. Well, we checked almost every restaurant out! We had one favourite place, where we took all our friends and family to. It had a lovely atmosphere, beautiful fires and the interior looked very nice! It had a kids play area as well. We’d often pop in for a drink after my work, to watch the sunset or to come for a barbeque. One of the waitresses appeared to be a student of mine. She would sometimes serve us. Because we became regulars, she gave us a special key ring. Whenever we would come there for a barbeque-it-yourself, they would give us a discount. So from status regulars, we went to status braai masters! Boy we braaied a lot at that restaurant.So to get back to my cycle route. I start at the beach. Then I cycle past a street full of cosy Winter-lights hanging above the street. Then I take a turn to the left and I find myself in a forest area that looks absolutely beautiful. Especially now we have entered autumn. Every day the colours keep changing. Andrew and I enjoy cycling in nature. During Spring and Summer we went to explore the outskirts of The Hague as well as the lovely parks and nature areas in the city. We also cycled to Wassenaar, Delft and Leiden. One day we even cycled 20 km all the way to Hook of Holland (entrance of harbour of Rotterdam) and back again, to enjoy some drinks on that beach.
Then I cycle past Mark Rutte’s house, our Prime Minister. Andrew and I recently saw him standing next to King Willem Alexander. This was at the ‘veteranendag’. There was a march of all ex-soldiers. The Prime Minister was standing opposite the road from us. The NOS broadcast station was there as well, they were reporting it live on tv. We were standing next to them.Then I go past the Peace Palace and Palace Noordeinde. This is where we were waving to King Alexander and Queen Maxima as they were waving back to us on the balcony. We had our neighbour from Port Elizabeth, staying with us and we took him along to show a real Dutch cultural event. This time, we were standing in front of the NOS broadcast station. So we had a couple of seconds of fame on TV! I often see fancy cars with AA number plates driving past this palace, which means that some of the royal family are sitting in there.
Then I cycle past the luxury shopping street of The Hague (the Oxford street of the Netherlands). The street is decorated with crowns, they light up at night. It looks amazing. Then I cycle past some squares with terraces where Andrew and I enjoy to ‘terrasje pakken’. There are many shops, such as Bijenkorf, V&D, HEMA, Marks and Spencer.... That last one is our favourite shop. There is also one in Amsterdam. 25% of The Hague are expats so  we are probably not the only ones who often pop in at M&S. Here, Andrew can get his British tea (I have never enjoyed that one and as a Dutchie I will probably never enjoy it…) and we sometimes have our 4 o’clock British high tea at their restaurant.  
Then I cycle through the lovely gate of China Town, especially in the evening when I cycle back there is a lovely atmosphere. All those red Chinese lanterns hanging over the street are switched on. And the flavours from the restaurants really bring me back to all those great South-East Asia trips that I made. Cycling through the next China Town gate makes me enter the Turkish area with all the Turkish butchers and bakeries. Some different flavours that remind me of our trip to Turkey a couple of weeks ago. Andrew and I love Mediterranean food, so I enjoy smelling all these flavours. Then I go past a typical Dutch street with bridges and a canal. Ahead of me I see a big tower. It is called ‘Haagse toren’. A friend of ours from church works at the top floor restaurant and we will most certainly soon visit here. Every time I notice that bar in the sky, I remind myself that I have put that on our bucket list.And then, I cycle underneath the old train station that was built in the 1840s. There is a big shopping mall on the right and there I arrive in front of the university. There is a bicycle-only underground parking of the university where I go park my bike. I need to remind myself where I park it as there are just too many bikes parked there. They even have put sings with letters up the ceilings so I often put it under the same letter so I won’t spend hours of trying to find my bike back. Then I take the stairs up and I arrive at the entrance hall of the university. All of this I do in only 25 minutes. 

South African Christmas
In one weeks’ time we will exchange the Winter weather for Summer weather in South Africa. We will be going to SA for almost one month catching up with family, friends and exciting ministry opportunities we will be involved in... This year it will be a warm Christmas. My parents will come join us for almost two weeks as well and Andrew’s brother and sister in law will fly from Singapore to spend Christmas together with the two families. We are both very excited to see everyone again.  Looking forward to it!