Patience Grasshopper.... Patience

Well, less than two weeks to go before I head to Minnesota. I'm starting to get really impatient right now. Partly because moving is a lot like being in limbo, I'm neither here nor there. That's one of the reasons I haven't blogged much as of late. I just can't concentrate on anything long enough in order to write anything sensible. I'm also a bit nervous. As of the moment we don't have jobs, a car, or a place to live once we get to Minneapolis. Awesome... and it will be the beginning of the REAL part of winter, less than two weeks before Christmas. All this and a bank account that contains about as much as the space between my ears. If you seem me ringing a bell on the side of the street, have a heart, and toss us a few shillings...
In the meantime I'm going to be pooping myself with anxiety.
Happy Holidays!

Dutch Customer Service: an Oxymoron

It seems next to impossible to find a resturant in this country where having a meal isn't a completely exhasperating event. I went out to eat the other night with some friends visiting from Scotland and for what seemed like the millionth time had to deal with crap service. I don't think it's too much to ask that the server comes back to your table within a half hour of taking your drink orders, but I'm a little strange like that. You see, here in the Netherlands it's vitally important that one clearly outline one's intentions when the waitstaff first arrives. That means placing your drink orders, informing them that they should stop back in a few minutes to get the food order, and that eventually you will want to pay the check and leave. Otherwise, you're likely to be sitting around for quite some time with an empty drink glass in front of you, wondering if your server is ever coming back, and/or whether you might have suddenly become invisible. I guess I'm just assuming too much when I think that the waitress will, on her own accord, stop back by my table to ask me if I'm ready to order. But now I almost expect that they drop the drinks off at the table, turn abruptly at the heel, and dissappear before you are able to ask anything more from them. If you do manage to flag the person down again at some point don't be surprised if they just wave back at you. When I think about it, I'm really not surprised that Rip Van Winkle was Dutch, in fact, he probably fell asleep waiting to order a drink.