The Dutch have a word– inburgeren – which roughly translates as settled but which also has the specific meaning of citizenship training. In recent years it has become obligatory for non-EU citizens seeking a residents’ permit. It involves a large element of language training together with training in Dutch social conventions.
I went to a year of language courses – the most memorable feature of which was the unbelievably beautiful eastern European girls who got picked up after class by Dutch guys twice their age in sports cars (go figure). Many of the classes had not-so-subtly disguised elements of citizenship training – explaining that your children have to go to school every day, you put your litter bins (carefully sorted into biodegradable, non biodegradable and paper waste) out on specific days etc.My inburgeren process has always been a source of amusement amongst my university colleagues. The biggest challenge continues to be me receiving a thimble-sized glass of beer – consisting of 50% froth and resisting the temptation to say ‘Call that a beer lad?” I’ve countered this teasing by buying a bright orange jacket to wear on my nights out (and of course on Queen’s Day)– so as to out-Dutch the Dutch.
But last week I went through a quiet and personal inburgeren experience. For the last five years I have been running my stereo off of a five-gang British extension lead. I just couldn’t be bothered to change all those plugs. But with the addition of a TV and UPC box to my media system there wasn’t enough capacity to plug them all in to the five gang extension. It seemed stupid to convert Dutch plugs to UK ones, and messy to run both Dutch and a British extension leads around the room. So I decided to go native and spent the best part of two hours (and more than €30) rewiring my remaining British cabling (with earths and fuses) into Euro plugs (without the above). My inburgeren is nearly complete and I have now joined the C21st. With 99 TV channels, interactive viewing, and innumerable radio stations, I feel a bit like grandma wondering what happens when I press THIS button on the remote.
Click to enlarge cartoon. Cartoons courtesy of the Holland Handbook (2003) and The New York Times (Feb 2008)
2 comments:
Of course you realise there's no going back now. This officially makes you Dutch :-) Gefeliciteerd!
Nothing is irreversible - I just need some rewiring and to ditch or dye the jacket. But with a flat and an office full of fittings and furnishings it becomes progressively more difficult to consider going back or moving on.
Post a Comment