Tot gauw!

As my departure date draws closer I have been scouring the internet in an attempt to learn as much about my new homeland as possible. I have been looking for blogs - surely there must be another English middle-aged housewife who has made this move and posted her opinions and thoughts on line? Apparently not, although this does bode well for promoting my own blog in future (Exclusive! It's a First!)

I have come across articles by bright young things heading to Amsterdam for work - extolling the nightlife and the social scene and I've found blogs by ex-pat American stay at home moms who look at things from a totally different perspective.

So far I have gleaned that a Dutch huisvrouw will spend a great deal of day cleaning - apparently the Dutch are extremely house proud, and also that the average washing machine cycle takes at least three hours to complete.  I can understand an American's frustration at this - my mega top loader in California could complete a wash in 20 minutes flat (although it did manage to rip most of the clothes to shreds in the process).

Mr T - the font of all knowledge after only one month on relocation - reports that the Dutch are the tallest nation in the world. This is (apparently) due to the vast volumes of milk they consume. The Dutch also have a reputation for a rather 'wacky' sense of humour and for calling a spade a spade. Apart from the height issue (friends in the know tell me I will end up buying my clothes and shoes in the children's department) the Dutch sound like my kind of people.

My aim over my last couple of days in the UK was not only to grasp a few basics of Dutch language - ie general pleasantries and knowing how to ask for directions back to my new house, but to convince Ed the cat that sitting in his swanky new cat carrier for the seven hour car journey on Sunday will be fun. The carrier has been strategically placed in the bedroom for the last week in a 'familiarity' exercise and is currently home to several cat toys in an attempt to capture his interest. So far he has ignored it completely.

So we're all set. Just the final goodbyes - always the difficult bit - to get through, and it doesn't seem half so bad this time. We're an hour's flight away, minimal time difference and no jet lag. We could just as easily be heading for Newcastle or Edinburgh, so we're hoping for lots of visitors.

In fact it's not so much a case of goodbye as tot gauw (see you soon)!