Hiking!

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Email to someone who was helping me learn Dutch

I got a job yesterday! I'll be a telemarketer with Tele-Sales Direct here in Den Bosch, and while it is by no means an ideal job at least I'll be getting paid to do something that is only biking distance away! :) Also, Katie, another girl from the HIWC works there too, so we can bike together and spend the day as direct colleagues! I'm actually pretty excited.

So I'll now have less time to work on my Dutch (and perhaps a bit less motivation now that I've found an English-speaking job?) but I definitely still want to work on it.

Thoughts on my new job

I do think it will be useful for a couple of reasons. First, I'll be earning money! Second, if I'm successful at this job, it will show other Dutch employers that I'm a good employee, even if I hope to have nothing to do with telemarketing in the future. It's not a super impressive reference, but any Dutch reference is better than no Dutch reference when looking for jobs here. Third, it gives me a better position from which to look for jobs. I think I'll seem less desperate looking to change jobs while employed than just grabbing at anything that comes my way which I've done now. I would also like to think that accepting this position means that this is the worst job I will have, as anyone else who wants me to accept their offer will have to either pay me more or give me a better job. It feels good to know that the worst case scenario for me in terms of what job I end up with isn't actually all that bad. :) Two months between jobs wasn't so bad actually! It's also really nice that the job is so close to home. I had resigned myself to looking at jobs in Amsterdam and now instead of thinking I might have a crap job with low wages in A'dam, at least I now know that for me to commute all the way there, it would have to be a much better job or much better pay for me to consider it. At least my low paying non-engaging job is right in our town!

Moral of the story, a bad job is better than no job! And I also intend to be the best telemarketer ever. :)

News...emailed to my aunt...

.I'm employed! :) I'm going to be a telemarketer! Haha. Did I mention to you my friend Katie who has a horrendous job? Well I'm going to be working with her! So we can bike to work together! The hours are 9-5 M-Th with a .5hr break each day, and I only have to work until 3 on Fridays. I'll be paid 10E/hr, but with taxes here, I'll only take home 6-7E/hr. It's only supposed to be for 2 months, though Katie has been there longer than that and she was told the same thing. Also, within that two months I can leave at anytime if I give 1-2 days notice, so there's really no reason for me to not take it and therefore be paid while I'm searching for a "real" job. On top of the 10E/hr an additional 8% of what I earn goes toward vacation money, so it's not like I have a certain number of days I can take - I can take as much as I want, but the amount of money the company will put toward it is essentially 8% of what I've earned up to that point, and beyond that it's unpaid. It's nice that I will therefore be able to determine on my own how important vacation is to me and to take what I want rather than be stuck with a certain number of days. Also, they will pay for me for any time I spend at the doctor or dentist (not the fees, but rather for my time while I'm there), and they will pay unlimited sick time, but if I take too much they'll just fire me.

So I'm excited! I'll be calling businesses in the UK.

Emails with my mom about my rejection letters...

I've received so many of these I'm starting to think they're kind of funny. This woman really gave me LOTS of feedback...

Dear madame Hansen,

Thank your for your interest in MVRO.

We will not invite you for the job.

Greetings,

MVRO

Els Korsten

Secretaresse

Mom's reaction: Oh dear. I won't invite her to dinner then!

My response: Yeah, seriously. Wenchity wench wench. I actually laughed out loud when I got that one. At least I know I could write a better rejection letter than she can...
xx

Dishwasher troubles...

The plumber is supposed to come by today "before 2" to take a look at the sink. I hope he can fix it! When you have neither a sink nor a dishwasher, the dirty dishes really start piling up! Our half bath that's on the same floor as the kitchen has a teeny tiny sink that you can barely fit your hands in and it only has a cold water tap, so that's not helpful for washing dishes. The only other sink is upstairs by our bedroom! So it's pretty inconvenient...But, we have all sorts of fun plans this weekend (starting on Thursday!) that will help us take our minds off the sink. And hopefully it will be fixed today!

Another email to Aunty Pat!

Our Groupon lunch was really good. Great value for only 9.50/person! It was super tasty. At the same time there was a Champagne tasting going on, with oysters and caviar and such, but that was 29.70 per person and we didn't feel the need to do that. We just stuck to our original plan and had lunch there. But I bet it was really good champagne! There was also wonderful live music - just one man playing guitar and singing, but he was really good. It was a great afternoon! Next weekend we get to use our massage groupons! :)

Our bad news is that our dishwasher, or maybe kitchen sink, is misbehaving! When we turn on the sink, water comes out from the bottom of the dishwasher and onto the floor! We've emailed the owner, so we'll see what he says. We've never even used the dishwasher! If he doesn't respond by this afternoon I think I'll call him. It's such a pain to not be able to use the sink at all!

Email to my aunt!

Terry's workload is finally more reasonable, though we still weren't able to go to trivia on Thursday, mostly because he got home a little late for it, and then he didn't feel like going out, which is fine. We went out both nights this weekend with new groups of people that we've met in online communities such as InterNations or Couch Surfing. It was lots of fun, and hopefully we've made some contacts we can spend time with in the future!

We're going out to lunch today at 2pm because we bought a Groupon for a restaurant in town to try. It's a 3 course lunch with soup/sandwich so we're excited! It's actually one of the cafes that's on a street that we almost lived on, so it will be fun to try the place for lunch!

Here's what we can expect over Xmas!

Getting excited! This is from one of the websites I most heavily rely on for relocation advice.
http://www.expatica.com/nl/lifestyle_leisure/lifestyle/christmas-in-the-netherlands-116_12287.html

Lots of thoughts to my daddy

This is in response from me to my loving father who was making sure I'm not getting too discouraged about the job hunt and reminding me that the hiring process will pick back up in the new year.

From me:
Yep Yep. I've been told to stop looking until after the holidays. But I've also read articles (I've read lots of advice articles on everything associated with relocation...) that say giving up the job search during the holidays is silly because during this time of year, my competition will all be "at the mall" and also, it's not like ALL people who hire people ACTUALLY take the entire month of December off. If there's a contact to be made, it can't hurt to make it even though it may be a few weeks before the hiring process picks up again! The other thing the article mentioned was that the holidays are also a great time of year in terms of networking, because you never know who you're going to meet at a holiday party! So their advice was to treat everyone like they could have an impact on your future career success, to mind your manners at parties, and to not drink too much! And therefor to accept every social invitation that comes your way! I can do that!!

The other thing the article warned about was not having your expectations set on suddenly seeing a flood of new jobs come January. There really aren't any jobs for anyone right now, including for highly educated Dutch speakers, so I was told while making my rounds at recruiting agencies yesterday. And it was then suggested that I go work in a factory, because there ARE jobs on the production line... Excellent. I didn't jump on that opportunity... Perhaps I should have majored in Assembly Line studies.

Speaking of which, I went to a "speed date" career fair today that was pretty good, and we're going to a get-together in Utrecht, organized through an online community I've joined called InterNations that is geared toward "globally-minded people," which I consider myself to be! There are already 48 people signed up to be there! It's a situation in which it would be totally appropriate to network, but I think a lot of people also come just for the social aspect. The profile you create on the website has you put what you're looking for and what you're offering, so it does have a bit of a networking focus, but it's also just to help expats/international people connect with each other. I will definitely be on my best behavior, but I won't be disappointed if I don't get any job leads out of it. I don't want people who are there to be social to think I'm just there to find a job, and also it gets tiresome treating everyone like they might know someone who might give me a job, when I actually just need friends too! Also, I'm not "giving up" my Friday night just to network. If I'm at an event that starts at 7pm on a Friday, you can bet I'm there to be social as well!

I'm not feeling too discourage, but boy is this tedious. I wish I could be all done with this dumb job search, but it's different than anything I've ever experienced before because it's not like a project where I have a goal and I set deadlines and I finish it by a certain time being happy with the quality of my work. It just never ends! Bah humbug! I don't like this one bit! And I don't even feel like it's in my control! Obviously the more I try the better my chances will be, but it's not like I can just DECIDE to be hired. We'll see how it goes...

Why is it so hard for me to find a way to Save the World?? LOTS of people and places need my help, and all I want to do is make a difference because I know I CAN! I'm just being picky about the fact that I need to pay rent too. Pish posh, rent schment. I can't even make donations because I don't know when I'll next get a paycheck. :) 

So I'm not getting discouraged, I'm just growing less pleased with the process, that's all. Thanks for making my employment your Xmas wish. I think it will be mine too. That's a good wish. Terry was complaining about his boss last night (not actually HIS boss, but close enough), and I was complaining that I don't have a boss! We both would probably actually really switch places right now if we could. I think he would be perfectly happy to quit and start the job hunt all over again and be unemployed and not paid for a few months (never mind that this isn't a real thought because that would be crap for his career), but that would require me being able to walk into a job with his salary, which I simply can't do, so we're just stuck! No switching! It's ok, we're helping each other. And you're helping us too :)

Thanks again for your input! Love you bunches!
xx

Update to my aunt

Hi Pat! Glad you like our place! We're loving it. Yes, it is really nice to have friends to do things with, and it's also great that I've been able to make friends even though I don't have a job or another organized way of meeting people!

The good news is that after this week Terry's work is supposed to become much more reasonable. I can't wait for him to not have to work an 80+ hour week!

That interview I thought I was going to have seems to have fizzled out. Once I gave them my phone number they never got back to me, so I don't know what was up with that.

As far as Xmas goes, we're looking forward to a visit from T's parents! They will spend 2 or 3 nights here in our town (at a hotel) and then we'll all spend a few nights in Amsterdam. After their visit T and I will take the train (only 19 Euros!) to Brussels for a couple nights just the two of us just for fun before flying to Barcelona for NYE! We initially were planning on going to Barca because one of my close friends from my South America trip lives there, and then it randomly turned out that Terry's best friend Nick was independently planning on being there on his own, so of course he'll be staying with us. The friend we're visiting, Tamara, lives in a flat with roommates in the city, but all of her flatmates will be gone for the holidays, so she has plenty of free space to offer us to all stay for free! And then it turns out that another mutual close friend of Tamara and me has also decided to come visit us in Barcelona for a couple nights! The friend is Gemma, who I traveled through China, Nepal and India with, as well as through South America - that one is the trip the 3 of us were on together. It's such fun that we've stayed so close after 6 years! I've only seen Tamara once since the trip, and this will be the first time the 3 of us are together since 2005, so I'm super excited! Gem and I will only overlap for 1 night, so we'll have to make it count! Luckily that night is Dec 29th, so we can stay up late on that night, and then go to bed early the next night (the night of the 30th) so we're rested for NYE!

Aachen, Germany Christmas Market and Point of Three Nations Pics!

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Life recap to one of my high school teachers

My boyfriend Terry (who I went to college with and have been with for 3+ years now) and I have moved to the Netherlands! Which leaves me unemployed in a country where I don't speak the language, but hopefully I'll be able to find something. The company he works for (Epic Systems based in Madison) transferred us over here and paid the 1250 Euro for my residence permit and everything even though we're not engaged! So we're doing well.  Terry and also I registered at the Dutch City Hall as domestic partners so that I could be the partner of a knowledge worker and be free to live and work here as long as he's employed by Epic and we're together. It's not really a big deal, but it makes me happy anyway.

The move over here was super sudden - we had actually purchased tickets for a year of around-the-world travel in 2012, but Terry's company was so desperate to keep him that they pulled this opportunity out of a hat for us, and reimbursed us the thousands we had spent on air fare. The idea is that we'll be here for a year and then do our around-the-world trip, but Epic has made it clear that we're welcome to stay as long as we want, so we'll just have to reassess at some point and decide how long we want to stay.

Since the move took place only 6 weeks after they suggested that it might be a possibility, I pretty much stopped working out so I could help get ready for the move. And by that I mean do EVERYTHING associated with the move. Terry was going back and forth between the two continents in the month prior to the move, alternating each week where he was working, and with him being that busy I basically gave my 2 weeks notice at work, had my last day on a Tuesday and packed/got rid of ALL our stuff! There wasn't even time to drive our car back to CA. It would have been fun to make a US road trip before heading over here, but instead the car transport was a tag team effort between Terry's Madison-based aunt and uncle driving the car to Denver, and Mom and my cousin Sophie flying to Denver to drive it back the rest of the way. So it was pretty crazy.

So we moved here on Oct 15, but only just moved into our permanent apartment last Saturday, which means we never fully unpacked, and I was looking for apartments and jobs, while trying to file for residency, set up bank accounts, cell phone and gas/electric/water contracts, find health, renter and liability insurance, etc...it just doesn't stop! And back in Madison I was cancelling dentist appointments, setting up mail forwarding and changing our addresses with banks and whoever else, cancelling car insurance.... But now that we're all unpacked and settled in I've felt able to hit the trails again, and I am proud to say that I have gone running for the last 4 days straight in the nature preserve that's a 5 min walk from our door!

A friend from Madison and I also did the WI Tough Mudder this past July which was awesome. If you haven't heard about the event, you should check it out and seriously consider doing it. It's SO FUN! http://toughmudder.com/ One of my UK travel buddies and I are doing the London one in May 2012. Can't wait! These past couple months were the first I've ever taken off from working out besides a bit of time off after a big sporting event or when traveling (which somehow doesn't seem to count), and it was weird to be living a "normal" life just minus working out. I didn't like it one bit!

Personal updates in a couple emails

I'm doing pretty well. I almost cried last night when Terry asked me how I'm doing. Like actually asked, not like, how are you, how was your day. I've just been so focused on him and how stressed he is, that I don't think either of us has actually been thinking much about me! Poor T has averaged 11 hour days over the last 2.5 weeks, INCLUDING weekends. That's CRAP! But I really am doing ok. I'm not discouraged, but rather just impatient to find a job. Which is better.

And to a mom at CLP:
The job search is indeed going slowly, but I'm at least not that discouraged (yet), I'm more impatient really. I may have to revise my commute expectations in terms of time and costs to include Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague in my search, but I'm at least trying for the time being to find something within an hour of home. Surprisingly hard to do...

Job Update- email to Dad's friend

The work visa isn't a problem since I'm the partner of a knowledge worker which qualifies me to work here. I'm still waiting for my residence permit to come through, but I already have my Dutch social security number, bank account and cell phone contract, so I'm well on my way to becoming a real Dutch resident!

The main obstacle at this point in terms of finding a job is location. We're living in Den Bosch which is over an hour from Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and even farther from Den Haag. I've known since the beginning that I may need to revise my commute expectations to include these three major cities, but I thought I'd at least try to find something closer to me before committing to the longer commute and higher transport costs, given that there are a couple big cities (Utrecht and Eindhoven) closer to me.

Contacting the US embassy to ask for a directory of American companies is a really good idea that I wouldn't have thought of myself. Thanks for that idea. Do you think the UK embassy would give me similar information? I'm just thinking that that would possibly be another English-speaking lead I could pursue.

Translation is also another really good idea as I actually have experience with that. Spanish-English is obviously easier for me, but I have done the reverse as well.

I'm already part of the International Women's Club here in Den Bosch (the city is a bit too small to have an American women's club), and so far I've made two close friends and found two job leads, one more promising than the other. The one I'm actually excited about is teaching English at a very highly regarded and actually world renowned language institute for adults who want to learn English (and Dutcht, German, French, Italian and Spanish). The clients come for 1, 2 or 3 weeks at a time and they do fly in from all over the world. Terry is learning Dutch there right now, and it's pretty rigorous. His company is paying for it, otherwise it would be way out of our price range. The wonderful thing about Regina Coeli is that they don't require any teaching credentials because they want you to learn their method of teaching. They also want people from all backgrounds so that when a client registers to learn a language, they can pair that person with someone they can relate to. Being a native English speaker, having a degree in Spanish, being willing to learn Dutch, and having been a preschool teacher make me a pretty ideal candidate in my humble opinion, though they're not hiring at the moment, so we'll see what comes of it.

The other opportunity is to cold call companies and try to sell them a forklift...in Spanish...Excellent! :( I actually don't even know the word for forklift in Spanish. In my 12 years of studying the language, it simply hasn't come up.