Celesta's Top 10

(NOTE: This is blog #2 for tonight, so don't forget to read the other one.  It's priceless!)

I've been promising this list for a while.  It's turned into a Top 10 list from my original Top 5 list.  I hope you enjoy it!

Top 10 Things I Hate about The Netherlands (so far)
10. Our washer, dryer and dishwasher are about half the size of our US versions and the cycle lengths are about twice as long, so it takes 4x longer to do our weekly laundry and dishes. Not good for two full-time careers with two kids. They tell me my clothes will last longer, but I'd rather have a bigger washer and dryer and an excuse to shop for new clothes! Luckily, this is no longer as bad as it was in the apartment. Our new dishwasher is awesome, BUT our new washer & dryer… The cycles are shorter, but you can only use one at a time! Yep, that’s right, I can either wash or dry, not both! VERY annoying.
9. The company that managed our transit apartment: They warned us that service was poor in the Netherlands, but we've really only found this company to really live up to those standards. I wouldn't call it poor service, more like NO service. It took 3 weeks to get a phone cord so that the phone would work (luckily, we had packed one in air freight).  They never did get me a key to get my new bike out of the storage room in the entry hall (we have at least 10 keys to this apt, but none of them worked, the repair crew for the apt upstairs unlocked it for us).
8. Paperwork, paperwork, oh and did I mention paperwork. You would think they would have more e-filing or other electronic versions to fill out all of the forms we have to fill out, but I think the only one we've found is the US Embassy. Not only do you have to fill out hard copies, but 75% of the time you have to go somewhere in person to turn them in. Like I have time for that!
7. The Dutch safety/security paranoia: If there is one thing that the Dutch will pay for, it's security. Maybe this stems from years of them getting their bikes stolen one after the other, but really, should I need my own credit card reader, PIN, and randomly electronically generated 2nd PIN to log on to online banking? Probably explains why I had 10 keys to our tiny transit apartment and why I have to show up to everything in person. Oh, and all of my credit cards (personal, work, gas) have there own PINs that I can’t set. I’m never going to remember these!!
6. Flu season: I thought it would be nice to move in winter... the weather can only get better from here. What I didn't consider was cold & flu season. They tell me it's the worst year for this ever. Over 50% of the population were ill in January/February when we arrived. Children (including mine) got hit the hardest. There was an "epidemic" chest infection going around, which of course Avery caught. Bryan and I avoided it for a while, but that didn't last. Bryan just got over a cough that lasted 4 weeks. Hopefully, Swine Flu doesn’t make it here! Oh wait, there’s already a case of a 3-yr old here. Cross your fingers we don’t get it too.
5. Stairs: Because of the lack of land, everything is built UP, which means stairs, stairs, and more stairs. We’re on the 2nd floor (Floor 1 here), Kaeli and Avery are on the 3rd floor (Floor 2), and the kitchen, living area etc are on the 1st floor (Floor 0). So, when Avery wakes up hungry at 2:30AM, one of us has to go up one floor to get Avery to stop the crying, down 2 floors to get a bottle, back up two floors to feed her in the glider, and back down one floor to go back to bed. Now that we’re in a bigger house, hopefully, I’ll be able to let her cry a little. Though, after my friend Misty’s incident, I hesitate slightly to do this. (Since I wrote this the first time, we have since purchased used microwave and fridge for the 2nd floor. This has been great!)
4. The Dutch lack of modesty. (This should probably be #1) We went to the pool this weekend and were in the “family changing room” to change the girls. Bryan and I went to the private changing rooms to put our dry clothes on, but most mommies & daddies just changed in the family room. So, there we were, changing our little girls while a Dutch couple were completely naked and in no hurry to put any clothes on. It was all I could do to just keep my head down and not freak out in front of Kaeli. There are some body parts of people that I just DO NOT want to see!
3. The birds: Sure, I like the sound of birds in the morning, but come one, not at 5AM and not until 11PM at night. Shut up already!
2. Day and Night are really messed up here! In the winter, it’s dark 18 hrs a day. In the summer, the sun is up 18 hours a day. This really messes with me and my sense of when I am supposed to be awake and when I am supposed to be sleeping!
1. Everything is so darn expensive! There are a few exceptions (see #10 of the things I Love), but for the most part, it is extremely expensive to do anything here!

Top 10 Things I Love about The Netherlands (so far)
10. Cheap flowers, cheese, and wine! At least something is worth what you pay for it!
9. The international community here is amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I totally miss my friends, family, and colleagues back home, but there is something to be said when you are in a meeting with 6 people and none of them are from the same country!
8. Dinner out: So I don’t like the fact that very few people go out to dinner with their kids (read, no booster seats or high chairs most places), but it does make for an amazing date night! If you like to eat and leave, you wouldn’t like this place, but if you like to sit and enjoy several courses and a few glasses of wine, then you would love it here. We sat for 3 hours at a restaurant (we had the table for 2 in the corner by the window!) and noone was trying to push us out the door to let then next customer sit down.
7. The spring weather: They tell me this weather is not normal and that it’s been 3 years since they had weather like this, but it has been absolutely beautiful here since the first week of April.
6. Bicycles: I have fallen in love with cycling. It will probably be one of the few things I miss when we move back to the States, but we bike everywhere! I take the girls to day care on the bike. We picked the girls up from school on Friday and rode our bikes to Pizza Hut for dinner. We even took our bikes to the restaurant last night for date night!
5. The flowers: Even in winter, there are flower shops all over the city with the most beautiful flowers, and they’re one of the few things that are actually cheap here!
4. Public Transportation: It's not always as convenient as we'd like (it still takes Bryan an hour to get to work), but at least it exists and it can get you just about anywhere you want to go.
3. Everyone actually follows traffic laws and uses their turn signals! Need I say more?
2. Lives don't revolve around work. People actually work 40-hour weeks. Noone ever comes in early and leaves late unless it's part of a flexible work arrangement that they have developed to help them spend more time with their kids.
1. SNOW!! OK, so it did snow in Pearland this December, and it snowed during Christmas a few years ago (which we missed... By the way, Luis & Alexis, we finally had to throw our snow ball away when we sold the house. Very sad day). But, it snowed on my birthday and several other days as well. I'm going to enjoy having 4 seasons again!!