Friday, August 19, 2011

Ally in expat world


Yesterday I met a really nice girl in order to discuss whether we can support each other in our expat  business. She works for SPOT Relocations. SPOT Relocations helps expats moving to Amsterdam. She explained to me what kind of things need to be arranged before you are settled over here. Not only here, but everywhere in the world you must think about your work permission, housing, insurances, school for children, transportation, etc. These things are fact based and – you would say- quite straight forward to arrange. Well, it’s not actually. Especially when you don’t speak the native language. Even here in this international country where we are dependant of worldwide business and are global oriented, the Amsterdam community still offers some services only in Dutch. Not quite convenient if you have your origin in India and this is the first time you are abroad. No worries, SPOT Relocations can help you and they have contacts with all kinds of organizations, authorities, real estate brokers, etc. She even mentioned helping a lady with her groceries in the supermarket. 


And in that part of the story where I come in - I am always in to meeting new people and to find new ways of improving my workshop Dutch habits & traditions. The most difficult part of the workshop is to find enough participants to go ahead with the workshop. SPOT Relocation has the same, they are also seeking for new clients to support. How can we help each other - a cultural workshop organizer and a relocator. How SPOT can help me is perhaps quite obvious: they can provide all their customers with a flyer of the workshop and my contact details. But how can the workshopper help the mover? Obviously, the participants of the workshop are already located in The Netherlands. Actually, to get the most from the workshop it is important that they have a few weeks/months experience with Dutchies. Perhaps the participants themselves are not the best target, but they might work for an interesting company. Besides that, quite some friends of mine work for an international organization. There is always a way to help each other, as long as you are being creative. And sometimes it is even easier than you think. 


Interested in more information about SPOT Relocations? Please go to their site  www.spot-relocations.com and contact Henriette or Cathinca. 

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Cross boarder cuisines and table manners

How important is food? In general, Dutch do not attach much importance to food. Although the essence of food differs in the south from the north (The south is more exuberant set) compared to other countries in the world, the Dutch table manners are not as specific or related to food.  To me that's a shame - I love food! During my traveling I got interested in the different habits & traditions concerning food and manners. I always try t learn the most important habits.


In Morocco people share their dinner on one big plate. Men and women eat separately. I really enjoyed the Tajine - earthenware pot in which food is cooked. Moroccan use a lot of delicious ingredients and dried fruit. They eat a lot of sweets after dinner, but their meals are pretty healthy.
Italians love food! The Italian kitchen is famous for the freshness of the ingredients. What I really like about the Italian kitchen is the simplicity and pureness. Not that all dishes are that easy to prepare actually. Italians live to eat. They have contributed enormously to the culinary world: pasta, pizza, ice-cream. If I think of Italy and dinner, I see a big table with more than one family around it. Grandma has been in the kitchen the whole day and she is the best cook there is.
The Jordanian cuisine has many influences from the Arabic cuisine. Hummus, mansaf are popular dishes. Like in Morocco, people share the food on one plate. Do not expect culinary highlights of the Jordanian, although they do know a lot of variety in vegetables and lamb dishes. For more complicated meals you should go to restaurants. 
The Indonesian kitchen knows a lot of own recipes, which are prepared with special spices.   It is important to know with which hand you should eat - the left hand is unclean. To eat with your hands is very common in this country. The same as in the Arabic countries. 
The Spanish with their tapas are of course a population pre-eminently who share their food. Their main meal is lunch. during the evening they have a light meal. And the Spanish love to linger. 
Also in Surinam people love to eat. Every event is an opportunity to cook extensively. The difference between population groups you'll find again in the diversity of the Surinam kitchen. Surinamese love to share the food with everybody who is passing by. They always prepare much more than needed, But this phenomenon is also know in Asia and in the Caribbean for example.
Thai don't eat (as we used to) three times a day. Thai eat when they feel like it. Usually in small portions but about seven times a day. Thai food is a delight. There are no strict rules that you need to consider. Thai don't not use the knife. They always eat with a fork (left) and spoon (right hand). I love the coconut and vegetables they use. Their dishes can be quite cheap and easy to prepare but so tasty. 
In France, there is almost nothing more important than food. For the French, a meal is not only to still hunger but also to relax and extensive conversation. After a good meal and a glass of wine each topic can be discussed and every favor asked.


Dutch have some own dishes and I'm convinced that we have our own kitchen; all kinds of variety in mashed potatoes for example. We know cold winters so it's important to have  solid food that keeps you warm. The table manners we know are more about politeness than that there are stories and history behind them. Where in China it is acceptable and even polite to burb, in NL that is very intolerant. And even very difficult to adapt to I must say. Where in the USA people eat only with their right hand and leave their left one on their lap, it is impolite in NL to not eat with both fork and knife. Or at least keep both hands above the table.


I could go on for ages, but this was just a trigger to go and find out yourself. As mentioned different countries and cultures know comparable table manners, but if you take a closer look and dive into the history you'll find different interesting stories. 

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Right time, right place, right people...

.. and a  little bit of guts. These are the ingredients to meet new people. Some people have it in them, some people need to be challenged and others probably will never get it. And sometimes, in some of my cases, a bit of naivety comes along i'm afraid.

Last weekend it was pouring like crazy in Amsterdam. That afternoon there had been the Gay Pride. City was a mess and I was walking home along one of the canals. Alone, in the rain, no jacket, on foot.  Suddenly two men, in a very petit boat, together under one umbrella with a glass of wine in their hands and a cute big dog on board, were floating by. I had to laugh at that picture and obviously they saw me struggling in the rain, since they asked in which direction I had to go to. They invited me on their boat to bring me home. That evening ended in a bar with the three of us, after having had dinner together and a lot of nice, interesting conversations and a lot of laughter.

I had ignored all the wise lessons everybody learns as soon as you are able to make your first steps: do not go with strange men!!!

First, the setting was perfect (in my opinion) - timing couldn't have been better since it was raining like hell. Place was perfect, because I had to walk for at least another 20 minutes. And also the combination of people was interesting - two big guys in a small boat trying to fit under one umbrella and a big dog looking  how dogs look when they are standing in the rain. Girl dressed like it was max sunny summer season with 30 degrees.
And that is when the guts came along. They asked me, a girl who they totally didn't know, on their boat, what is a bit weird here in NL. Talking OK, but inviting people to come close and a bit into your life, is not that normal. And from my part, to accept such a nice, but still tricky offer, without being suspicious is also not vey Dutch.

No Guts No Glory!