So far so good

It’s my third day in Haarlem. So what about those facts I had gleaned beforehand from my research, have they proved helpful?

The Dutch are very house proud

We’re renting a 1930’s house that has been very lovingly restored by a couple of guys who have now headed off to Africa. I have inherited an instruction manual on how everything should be cleaned and cared for. I will naturally do my best to respect their wishes – after all I know that handing over your most precious possession to complete strangers is a daunting prospect.  I am beginning to wish I’d left my tenant a similarly precise to-do list rather than the hastily written  note detailing very little but what day of the week the bins are collected (and I only left him this when I realised our over-zealous packers had removed the council’s waste collection schedule from where I’d stuck it in the kitchen cupboard and shoved it in a box to be shipped it over to Holland.)

The Dutch are very tall

Yes this one is true too. When we moved to Los Angeles five years ago we acquired a family mantra to help us through the initial period of adjustment: it’s not bad, it’s just different. For Holland I have decided I need a different kind of coping strategy – I need to grow a foot taller.

A cheap plastic step has become a permanent fixture in our luxurious high-end kitchen. The wall cupboards were obviously designed for someone with an average height of 6' 7". The counter top is chest height. Even the cat struggles to jump on to it - not that he is encouraged to do this, of course.  

I’ve no idea how we're ever going to change a light bulb. We did bring a step-ladder with us but that has to be kept in the closet so that I can reach my clothes....

The Dutch word for today is Droogautomaat - tumble dryer. This has been placed on top of the washing-machine which incidentally is situated in the attic – as is common in all Dutch houses (as are the very steep, uneven, twisting stairs that take you up there).  I discovered today after downloading an English version of the instructions for the dreaded droogautomaat that there is a water-reservoir that must be emptied after every use.  The reservoir is the size of a petrol can and can only be reached when I balance tip-toe on top of a chair. When we viewed the house the agent told us the owners disapproved of tumble dryers as they were bad for the environment. I can only assume they purchased this particular model on our behalf to ensure I was similarly deterred from using one.

The weather?  We were prepared for the worse, and  it's as bad as we feared.  Mr T and I have not yet ventured out on our bicycles.  I’d rather walk with an umbrella than cycle in the rain.  I’m not quite ready to succumb to a full-length rubber cape, which I can see far from being an article of ridicule is a daily essential.

But so what? It rained in England too and I didn't have a view like this from my bedroom window. I can cope.