Worldly Chatter

Oh bloody hell! What a way to start your day! All was well, had a good morning with Dutchie, we were in pleasant moods. We had some errands to do so we got ready and walked out the front door. First thing you see is out small purple car and then you see the bike rack with the bikes. I stopped dead in my tracks and asked the question I never wanted to ask! WHERE IS MY BIKE!? It was sitting on the bike rack with the other two last night when I came home from work! It is where I left it, where I always leave it! No, no bright yellow bike with the neat little saddle bags I got for my birthday. The whole thing is gone! My bike was stolen!

When we got the bike Dutchie insisted I have two locks; one that locks the wheel in place so you can’t ride off with it and another so you can lock the bike around a poll, tree or bike rack. Well, the one I had to wrap around stuff wasn’t working right. The key whole would either not give me my key back or not let me put the key in at all so I stopped using it. I never replaced it; I simply stopped using a second lock thinking the one would be sufficient. My ignorance and stupidity is pissing me off. It wasn’t sufficient; all they had to do was pick it up and bring it with them. They can strip the lock off later.

I really never thought someone would steal my bike. What an ignorant thing to think. Like the receptionist at the police station said to me; there are 20 million bikes in Holland and roughly half is stolen. My bike just became a statistic! I told her I felt so stupid and ignorant about the whole thing. When she handed me the forms to fill out she said don’t lose your innocence. Why? My bike got stolen by bike stealing bastards who probably think it’s funny as hell that I now have to walk home at 11pm tonight now! Not that they care, my bike is probably in a pawn shop or at a train station somewhere waiting for some bum to sell it for €50 to someone who hasn’t a problem paying for a stolen bike! I want my bike back! I want my saddle bags I got for my birthday back! Ik wil mijn fiets terug! Damnit!

My short time with the yellow bike… here and here…

bike theft in Holland, Bycicles in Holland, Worldly Chatter, cycling in Holland

There was an accident with my bike and a car and yes, I was on the bike. Oh my goodness! My first accident with my bicycle, for that matter, it is the only accident with any bicycle! I was riding home from work; it was a long day, 8-5:45, so I was excited to get home. I was on the Koningstraat, our street is right off it. I had one more street to pass before my own and I was home. Now the street slants slightly and before I hit the street before our own, I start to coast so I can glide nicely into our street and on into home. Before I hit the street, I glanced down it and saw no cars coming so I continued my coasting and nearly made it across the street when I saw a car coming fast and about to turn! I prayed he would stop because I was more than three quarters across the street already but he did not. He attempted to turn when he hit me! He stopped and I stretched out my left leg to balance my butt and my bike.

I didn’t fall off so that was a plus. It was more of a hop I did when he hit and I tried to steady myself. I never saw him coming until he was nearly on top of me and apparently, he did not see me until he kissed my front tire. Now you see, according to the law if the car is coming from the right, he has right of way. I was going straight and he was coming from the right so he technically had right of way. I truly did not see him and he said he did not see me but in order for him to not have seen me coming, with absolutely nothing obstructing his view, he must not have even looked to his left. But I can’t split hairs on it because if I did I would still be at fault according to the law. He got a scratch or two because of the tire and I have to replace my front tire. The frame wasn’t bent so the bike itself is fine, thank goodness!

After we hit and I got off the bike he moved his car back, he was actually partially in the road when he hit me and my bike, I moved to the curb. I was only a foot and a half away from completely crossing the street when he hit me so I didn’t have to move it far. I called Dutchie because she was at home and that was about three houses and a corner turn away from where we hit. Since he was coming from the right if we exchanged info and involved the insurance companies I would be at fault and have to pay whatever was needed. Since it was only my tire and a few scratches on his bumper, he was fine so we all parted ways.

I was so shaken by all of this and the man who just hit me was so nice to me! He ran out of his car, helped me off my bike, and asked how I was doing. He hung around until Dutchie got there and knew I would make it home all right. He apologized and said he really didn’t see me and continued to ask how I was doing. He really looked worried and sorry for all of this. There was someone in their home across the street from the accident who saw it and ran out of his house to see if all was ok. Both men were very kind to me and I appreciated it greatly. He didn’t want to hit me any more than I wanted to get hit and he really was great. He could have been freaking out and bitching it was my fault and I fucked up his paint but he barely looked at his car, only when Dutchie asked him if there was any damage done. Sucks big time that I have to take the bus to work for the next few days until I can get the tire replaced on Thursday night and that I have to replace the tire in the first place but I am trying to look at it this way. It could have been my leg that got bent to hell instead of my tire so, yeah, I am glad it was just the tire.

Dutchie asked me how I was doing and if I was all right for a while after we got the bike home. I was worried about her because I called her frantically and had her come down when she has been so sick. Then I was worried about the man who hit me because I must have scared the hell out of him with all this! The only thing wrong with me is when I hopped trying to balance myself I must have put my leg down wrong or too hard because the top of me knee is sore and I pulled a muscle on my side. I will be going to work tomorrow so I can’t be all that banged up right.

My first accident on a bike… I love how Dutchies handle things and I love how kind they can be! Oh lessons learned! Lessons learned! When coming from the right, you have the right of way!!!!

Worldly chatter, Bike accidents

It is the weekend and I am giddy! Today was a particularly long day for me. I was in Bussum again but in a different part that I was unfamiliar and it was pouring out most of the day so I wasn’t exactly thrilled. Of course we have had really strong winds this week and peddling with three boxes full of mail in it was an interesting experience. I learned a great deal about the winds this country can get and do not understand how Dutchies everywhere continue to ride their bikes in it!

But no matter, my ten hour day is over and Dutchie was so sweet to have coffee and dinner ready when I came home! Plus she booked us a hotel in Eindhoven so we don’t have to drive back to Hilversum then to Den Haag and back to Hilversum. It’s closer from Eindhoven to get to Den Haag so we are having a weekend away from home! She said it’s for my birthday and I am so happy! In addition, speaking of which, Dutchie gave me my birthday present yesterday! Well part of it anyway, it was a basket for the front of my bike and saddlebags for the back! Now my bike is set for shopping and whatever else comes my way! I was putting the grocery bags over my handle bars and it was getting banged around with my knees and since I deliver mail and am used to the weight on my bike I can go grocery shopping and fill it up and be fine! Corny but I am a happy, happy camper about all this!

It’s a short piece today. I am tired and too excited about this weekend to concentrate. Please forgive me my dear readers! I promise to post when we get back on how the dress and rings shopping went! Enjoy your weekend!

Well today I had a run in a town called Vreeland and Nederhorst den Berg. These are two small towns, one is a fishing village and the other is a mass of farmland. I am not a girl who grew up with cows, coats and chickens all around me but today when I was delivering mail with a coworker in the van I nearly kicked a chicken because a bunch of them were moving about the front door! Yet my day ended with the cows sleeping alongside the road and goats eating while we drove to the next house. It started with the little village and these roads; tiny crazy loopy roads. Vreeland is a village in the province of Utrecht. It sits on a river and has farm land surrounding it. According to Wiki the village has 1600 inhabitants. This is a well to do area and the cars and homes are rather large in some areas. It is also a very old village. It received city rights in 1265 so you can imagine how this place was designed. The roads are curvy and strange and are very narrow in most places. While I was delivering my mail today I came across a maze of streets! I had one street where others went into it… but behind this street were streets that twisted into each other, some no more than a few homes in it while others were long enough to cover two blocks worth and wrapped around other streets! I admit right here and right now that the one thing I cannot stand about this country are its roads! I miss the grid system and I do not know how to get my brain to wrap around this twisty maze like streets that I just do not understand! I have a map of the place I am to ride through, it has most of the names on it and I think I can do this right. Well for one thing, half way through my run, my bike got a flat so I walked a good chunk of it, another thing was that despite having a map I couldn’t understand where one road ended, and another began. Where one road was when according to the map as I was reading it, the street I was on should have been something else!
With all the things I love about this country and am excited to learn about, their roads leave much to be desired! I am trying to follow it, make sense of the maze I have found myself in for the third day now and I still get frustrated, stand their irritated and feel lost and alone. For example, Koeidijlaan is a street I do not understand. You have street A going —— and Koeidijklaan runs south of street A. But! And this is an interesting but. I ran out of house numbers for the mail I still had. I went through the whole street and couldn’t find it. Where are these houses? I will tell you where they are; they are the next street over! It runs off street A just as the first one but the next street over where to my brain should be an entirely different street name! How do you get used to where streets are if they follow no pattern?
When I was done with Vreeland my coworker picked me up with the company van and we headed to Nederhorst den Berg. These are roads that are so long with houses so spaced that it’s ridiculous to ask any cyclist to run it so we head down the roads and drive the mail house to house. Cows, goats, chickens and farmland as far as my eye can see! It’s a good thing I took my allergy pills! I have never been so close to farmland before in my life! Cows in abundance! Absolutely beautiful, like right out of a painting it was that beautiful and picturesque. We would drive a few minutes before we found the next house and then we had to drive 5 kilometers to get to the next street. My day was long and tiring; beautiful but aggravating. I really do like my job it’s just these runs that we have to do that get me so flustered! I simply cannot get the layout of these towns! Chaos, just chaos to my brain!

Vreeland, Netherlands, Dutch Roads, worldly chatter, Nederland, Nederhorst den Berg

Oh how I love Google and the things you can do on it! Today I had my first delivery! I have been sorting for the past two weeks now and today there was nothing to sort so we all have to deliver. Into our not so little yellow vans we went with our boxes of mail and bicycles to truck it all throughout the town we were going to. Two others and I to one part of Bussum, a town next to Hilversum, I have never been to Bussum. I know nothing of Bussum other than it is a really old town, a really small old town.
Now our postcodes are different from those of America. For example, I used to live at zip code 06810 in CT, now I live in 1211ND. See the difference? I had to get used to it myself. So, when we sort we go by number first, 1211, 1212, 1214 and so on. Then we sort that particular postcode into letters and after that we sort it down to streets and further still into odds and evens, house numbers. We write it all down, rubber band it together according to street and odd or even and stick it in the box. Once we get to the town we get to our destination and set up shop with our mail and bikes. The bikes are really heavy durable bikes designed to carry the weight. On the front of the bike there is a metal rack for the box as well as one in the back. We have our maps and scatter throughout Bussum. Now apparently I got an easy route because it was my first time out. Now look at the map and all those streets. That is the route I had! I did one side, met back at the van to pick up my second load and did the second half of the map.
Now do me a favor and look at the map again. The streets are not like American roads. You know the block form that, say, New York or CT has. These are different. They go anywhere and some roads even change names in route! I had N’Gravelandseweg where it changes to N’Hilversumseweg and N’Gravelandseweg makes a right! I have roads that when faced with an intersection of any kind, instead of the road continuing across the way it goes over to the next block over to continue and the road across the way is something completely different!
I can accept change, really, I think I can. I am in a new country, new language and customs and get on pretty well. Yet when it comes to Dutch roads, I can get so lost! I actually got lost in that mess for a full half hour! I was going in circles before I finally got to a road I was familiar with and made my way back to the van! I was on a road that wasn’t on my map! The roads ended here and continued there and turned into a completely different direction! I am definitely a girl who is used to straight lines and a clear direction of where a street starts and stops! I like the block format in America. I can’t help it!
How I know that this country is super old and some of these towns are over three hundred years old in design so things are one way, narrow and strange. Bussum is nothing but one ways it seems! I was going with traffic one way and then against it another. There are cars parked on the side of the road everywhere and car traffic and cycling traffic is trying to squeeze by! I tell you this much. My first experience delivering was at times hellish and scary! I got lost and had a few close calls with cars because my America butt is not used to cycling with such narrow roads just yet! I made it through however without falling down and only once did I lose the box of mail to the ground my feet stood on! Not too shabby! Now I imagine you are giggling at all this but if you haven’t driven on Dutch (or European) roads, you simply do not understand how crowded it can get here! And if you aren’t used to it and quick, it can be a scary place for anyone on two wheels!

Cycling in the Netherlands, mail delivery, worldy chatter, Dutch Roads

I was chatting it up with Dutchie after I received my bike on some of the things one can find in, let us say, Amsterdam for tourists. What could I recommend to those who are interested in vacationing it in Amsterdam? Well for one, stop at the one of many tourist booths throughout the city and two is get a bike or a strippenkaart. You could easily find a bike rental place; you can even make reservations for bike rentals on line much like a hotel, car or flight. A strippenkaart is a strip with slots on it for stamps. When taking a bus or tram in any city in Holland you bring this card and either have the bus driver stamp it or punch it on a machine available on the bus. Each destination can cost you one, two or three slots to get you on your destination. What I find easy is this: if you are not sure of how many slots, have the driver stamp it for you. This and a bicycle is much easier driving in Amsterdam, or any city in Holland for that matter. Being an old country the city and residential areas were designed with bikes and feet in mind. In some of the much older cities such as Utrecht or Amsterdam, car traffic is bumper to bumper because the streets are so narrow. Newer cities such as Almere, only 30 years old, or Rotterdam, rebuilt after the Second World War, the streets are a bit wider but also one has to keep in mind another thing narrowing the already small roads: cyclists and pedestrians. There are bike paths and pedestrian paths on either side of the road, in most cases, so most of roads are one way. Its one-way country!

France, Belgium, the Netherlands or even Germany are older countries with cities developed in the age of horse and buggy, the first bicycles and when the automobile was a rich mans toy. Their buildings were closer together and the roads were narrower making it easier for more buildings and whatever else was needed to make a city flourish. Walking around Amsterdam or Utrecht I can tell you how narrow some side streets and main roads are! I can recall one side street where it would be too small for three people to walk side by side through it! These very same countries use cycling as a major mode of transportation to school, work and leisure. At any bike shop or tourist location, you can find a map of the city or country and a person there to give you the run down on how the bike roads work. They can get you back and forth in the city or recommend a great trail to take to get to know the countryside a bit better.

In my first week of getting to and from work, I have learned a lot about one-way streets, road signs, street signs and traffic lights. While riding in traffic, yielding and stopping I remember these things! One is there are ground markings, street signs and traffic lights; street signs trump ground markings and traffic lights trump street signs. The other is this; the bike is bigger than the pedestrian is and the car is bigger than the bicycle! It keeps me alive and traffic flowing! Now really I have to remember when I have to yield and when I have right away; I have to remember where my wheels can go and when I am off limits. I love that Holland is known for having the most traffic signs in all of Europe! It helps me to remember all this with little trouble!

So, if you are curious I have some links to guild you along your way. Some are for European travel and others are strictly the Netherlands. Check them out and plan your trip! Come see Germany, Holland and Belgium on two wheels. Travel like the French do and see the country of your favorite places!
First we have a site to show road signs in Europe. I know, common, but not all American cities have some of these.
European based cycling and backpacking Here and Here!
Here is a good article on Holland cycling on an idependent travel website and something Dutchie found of interest on Wiki here!
And finally, the kiddie exam I took before I headed on open road! (in Dutch)

backpacking in Europe, Cycling in Holland, Cycling in Europe, Netherlands, Worldly Chatter, bike tours, bike rentals

Well it is Thursday and I have neglected my post! After having to wait on the Dutch government to allow me to work for so long my body felt like it was being run over after working 8 hours a day for four days. I know people do it every day; believe me, I did too but I was out of it for a while with this waiting game. I gather that after the middle of the week I will be fine and kickin’ butt all over! So I promise to write more frequently regardless of my hours. If others can do it, then so can I!

I have my first contract in Holland. It is through an agency but I have one all the same! I play with mail all day and its cool. I also got my letter from the sociale zaken, finally! Monday I am being ordered for an appointment at noon. Ik wil Nederlands leren! I am told that if I have any classes to let them know and bring the certificates. I am seeing them BECAUSE I need Dutch lessons, what certificate am I going to own, really now! In any case, that starts on Monday! I am stoked! Working and my integration will be starting; finally everything falling into to its place ever so nicely!
In other news cycling in Holland is a definite advantage! It takes me 15 minutes of bike riding to get to work every morning; it takes me twenty on the way home. If it was a rough day on the legs I am not pedaling like I should, no need to rush! I mention this for a good reason you see.

It doesn’t matter if it is here in the Netherlands, Belgium, France or any other nation with a fairly large number of bicycle owners you can do bike tours. Rent bikes to check out the country side or get around the center a lot smoother. I recommend this over a car any day. It can be like driving through NYC when you enter the center of Amsterdam. Some say worse so I suggest a bike but do something for me if you will. Take five minutes to wiki it. Learn the lingo as far as bike riding goes for that country. It makes your life a lot easier. I did and I live here! Besides, it makes the natives happy when you show up knowing your stuff! I will get into this tomorrow as there is much to discuss on the subject. Since I write about travel, lifestyle and all that jazz this is tomorrows!

Well, I left you all thinking I would be starting work in Amsterdam, a little Italian place on Damrak. That has changed completely. I went to this agency Olympia on Friday morning after receiving an email from Olympia about a job Dutchie had seen for me. I handed in the email and inquired about it. It wasn’t going to be right for me but there were other positions available would I be interested. Always inquisitive I said sure. She offered me a seat and began telling me about a position here in Hilversum with Selektmail. I would be sorting and delivering mail around Hilversum via bicycle. It pays more, the hours are from 8 until I finish my deliveries which would run between 3 and 5 and I wouldn’t have to lay out travel expenses to get there plus I would get paid weekly and not monthly. It would have cost fifty euro a week just to get to work in Amsterdam! This felt right; it was something that would be better for me without a doubt. So I accepted and she offered me coffee; there was paper work to fill out and go over!

There was just one thing. I did not own a bicycle.

So after I told Dutchie about the job, which was even before she got home from work, we agreed to get me a bike. I can always put it back in the account once I get paid a week from Wednesday. So that is what we did Saturday, bicycle shopping! Yet, this isn’t just the bike you see. I now have a pump and two locks for my bike. I kid you not; two locks. One, which is in chain fashion so I can lock it to something such as a bike rack the other is a smaller lock which rests around the protective rim and the tire itself. When the key is in it the teeth are open so I can use the tire. When the key is out the teeth wrap around the tire and it isn’t going anywhere. Were two necessary? It is Dutchie states. Bike theft is something that cyclists have to combat regularly. Locks get more and more elaborate and difficult to break into all to save the cyclist from having to buy another one. The locks can cost up to and more than the price of the bike you bought!

I have my bike! I have two locks and am ready to conquer the bike paths. Almost.

I haven’t been on a bike in years! And before that several more years before that! I imagine you get the picture. So I was less than steady and needed to practice; badly. I had to find out where Selektmail was located so Sunday Dutchie was on foot and I was on my new bike with map in hand located my place of employment. After we found it and headed back I went back out to ride it on my own to see how fast I could get there so I knew what time to leave in the morning. It only took fifteen minutes by bike so I headed home. By the time I got to the bike rack in front of the house I was more steady and confident that I could handle the bike and traffic signs throughout Hilversum. Yes there are that many residents in our 7-appartment home that we need a bike rack to lock them all up and they still don’t all fit. Tells you how many Dutchies have a bike now doesn’t it. Picture China and all their bikes and you have a good idea of how many we have in Holland. Surveys suggest that one out of three have a bicycle and there are 17 million people in Holland.

Soon I will have a basket for the front of my bike and saddlebags for the back of my bike. Believe me when I tell you it is normal to have saddlebags and baskets on your bike. I have also been studying the traffic laws when it comes to cycling in Holland. I even took 3 kiddy tests on the rules to the bike path. It is just as common to ride a bike as it is to drive a car. There are three sets of laws when it comes to the road. Car, bike and pedestrian and you need to know them all. Markers on the road, signs and traffic lights are all over the place, and this is for the cyclist! I have a lot to learn here.

Yet now I feel a little more average here in Holland. I am just one more person out of millions who have a bicycle to ride to work or school, another person who has two keys on their key ring just to ride it. I am becoming more Dutch all the time!

Bicycle, Bike laws in Holland, Cycling, Worldly Chatter, Expats