Settling in (reluctantly)

It makes no sense at all. Here, in Washington, D.C., the same resume/CV is getting interviews and calls for appointments. I'm the same person that I was in Holland. The economy is drastically worse here than there. I'm not complaining, certainly. I'm thrilled to think that I'll likely soon have a job, after three months of fruitless applications in Holland. I have a small network within law, and that is helping. The only difference I can think of is that here it's illegal to ask one's age, and as a citizen, I'm legal to work here. There, they can and do ask age. One's age is linked to salary levels. Being a non-EU citizen, from the start, any employer would have to pay me more than a younger employee and also pay for a work permit (a few hundred Euros). So, that's employment. I have one telephone interview this week and another 'get-acquainted' chat and an invitation to audition for a singing job, so this is great progress and some testament to both the legal staffers' network and also to the singer's network.

I know that I sound ungrateful, and that's not it. It's just culture shock. One can't have it all, and I've had a choice made for me, and just have to deal with it. I do miss speaking Dutch, though! And having fresh, CHEAP flowers each week. And paying almost nothing for a beer. And riding my bike everywhere.

Right: this is boring and not productive. I'll stop.

Rushing, roaring cars; new planet?

Well ...

I knew it would be different. On the one hand, I am an American. I was born, raised, mostly educated and mostly have lived in the U.S. Having now lived for just over three years in Holland and having travelled a little around there, a little more in the UK and a little more in Lebanon and to Greece and Barcelona, it is not logical for me to miss my adopted country. I had issues with it (working there was a pain; most of the weather was pretty bad), but I miss it horribly.

The noise (lack of it there, the inundation of it here) is the biggest shocker. A close second is the mad dashing around here (Washington, D.C.). In Leiden, at least, the only rushing one sees (and that only occasionally) is bikes. In 10 minutes I could be anywhere in Leiden that I needed to be, by bike. Here in Washington, it would be truly life-threatening to ride a bike most places, and this is not due to crime, but to the car traffic. I miss biking horribly. When I have my own place, I will get a bike and make due with some riding. Washington being hilly is another issue, but that's well down the list.

Then, there's food: its cost and its freshness. One of those three-packs of bell peppers (red, yellow and green: the stop light) was priced at the nearest Safeway here at $4.99. In Leiden, at the corner Aldi, the same thing was under one Euro. At the Saturday market, it was well under one Euro -- FIVE times the price. And the tomatoes! My hothouse "Tasty Tom" tomatoes were so delicious,12 months of the year. Granted, that their price varied a bit through the winter months, but they were superb. Here, even the organic ones I bought have little taste. I haven't bought meat yet, but produce is a LOT pricier here and has a fraction of the taste. America desperately needs to move quickly in the direction of slow food, which will reduce the cost and improve the quality dramatically. I realize that I now sound like a rabid environmentalist, but it's so simple, and one feels so much better! Garbage in, garbage in how one feels.

I've only been back a week, so am trying hard not to complain, but the clash in cultures is strong. Food here is laughably expensive. We all need to eat! The stores have lots of food. Somebody is making a huge profit.

I am staying for a bit with my wonderful former (and future) real estate agent, the incredible Lucy. My remaining cat, Miss Dorabella, is coping admirably. She longs to sit outside on the window sill, but the traffic noise would be untenable, so she keeps watch from inside. I guess it will suffice to say that the basic quality of life here could be improved so much with small changes (less traffic in the city, slower food, and some old world ideas in the new world), but it won't happen. As time wears on, I will adjust a bit, but also will work on returning to the old world as soon as I can. It's where I bloom.