Meet the Neighbours

Since we arrived in the Hague I have to admit I haven’t exactly gone out of my way to make new acquaintances. There are plenty of ex-pat groups available, but with old friends just a train ride away in Haarlem and Amsterdam, it all felt like too much effort to start all over again – especially as I always knew my stay in the Hague was due to be short-term. Making new friends on the ex-pat circuit is relatively easy – as long as you are prepared to put yourself out there and join in.  However, after eight years of travelling, having to tackle another round of ‘first dates’ to introduce myself to a new friend set just seemed one hurdle too many.  

I was hoping that living in an apartment block might provide some sort of social hub – after all we made good friends living in a similar complex in the US.  I suppose a communal swimming pool and endless sunshine does increase the opportunity for social-action with the neighbours.  Here we’re not quite so lucky. I‘m not naturally the most out-going of people but I will generally smile and say hello if I pass someone on the stairs or in the corridor. It still surprises me that there are people who can stand next to you in an elevator and pretend you don’t exist, but it happens. I could blame it on the language/cultural barrier. The Dutch are not known for their small talk, or their manners (twice last week in the supermarket I was the victim of trolley bashing by the boy filling the shelves – no 'excuse me', no apology) but the majority of our immediate neighbours are not Dutch. The Hague has a huge international population.

Fortunately, having set myself the target of cracking on with novel number two while novel number one does the round of publishers, I’ve been quite content to hide myself away with my computer. When I need a break I head out to track down the evening meal at Albert Heijn, when I need the exercise I head off to the gym for a swim.  It’s a lifestyle that would have sent a social butterfly completely bonkers, but fortunately I am not a social butterfly, although the insanity issue is still up for debate.

So anyhow, the whole purpose of this post is basically to show off a photograph of our more friendly neighbours – a pair of swans who have built their nest in the middle of a nearby canal,

and a mother hen, spotted not nearby, but wandering around a park in Breda. We visited Breda over the Easter weekend, mainly to tick it off the list.

The Dutch do like their captive animals. As I said in my last post, most towns will have a deer park, and many neighbourhoods will have a small city farm with goats, cows and hens. Presumably this little family of chickens have escaped from some such establishment – so good luck to them.

As for the pony in the next pic, we came across this on the beach, in a pizza restaurant. In my opinion there is definitely a place in society for ponies, but not as an Easter display, and definitely not when I’m sat in eating a restaurant.