These days, I have been spending most of my time finalising my post-traineeship travel plans. I will be visiting Russia from February 22 until March 1. I am almost prepared for that - I only need to collect my passport (with visa) from Den Haag on Monday. Then, I shall visit Helen in Paris for a few days. I will buy the bus ticket while I am in Den Haag. After that, I will stay at my sister's place, in England, for another few days. Finally, I will be flying back to Auckland.
Actually, I had been concentrating on these post-traineeship travel plans so much, that I had neglected to prepare properly for moving out of my room. The contract for the room ended last Monday. I hadn't received any letter from the agency about what would happen, so I called them during the week to find out. I learnt that there were no students waiting to move in and that I could stay there for longer - I would just pay a higher rent calculated on a pro-rata basis. I am concerned about saving enough money for spending during my travelling, so I decided to move out on Friday.
I packed up all of my stuff and cleaned the room. I had a room inspection on Friday morning (which took about two minutes!) and then I handed over my keys. That was the end of my stay at Hasseltstraat 65.
Gorken is hosting me until I leave The Netherlands. I moved all of my bags to his place, last night, with the help of Marton and Agnieszka. It was a big task. I seem to have a lot more stuff compared to what I brought here. There is too much to take on a plane (without paying a big excess baggage charge) and certainly too much for one person to lug around by himself. I am going to post as much as I can before I leave.
We had our work dinner on Thursday night. It was attended by all of the people who worked at Bridge Consulting Group in the past year and also those who are about to start. So, both Ben and I were there. There was a meeting before we went to the restaurant, but it was almost entirely conducted in Dutch. I hardly understood anything and Ben understood less, so we just wrote notes to each other on our agendas.
Ben brought Paul a bottle of wine. I think Ben expected that Paul would bring it to the restaurant for us to have with dinner. He just put it on his desk for later. Different cultural practices.
At dinner, Ben and I sat at a table with two Dutch students who are just about to start working on a project at the office. Their English wasn't very good, but still much better than our Dutch. Ben and I had fun practicing our Dutch. The two girls said that the evening had been good for their English too.
We left just before 9:30pm because Ben was meeting an Australian friend at Tilburg station. I didn't mind going home earlier, because I had my room inspection the next day and I still had some tidying up to do. Our timing was perfect. We arrived at the station just as the train bound for Tilburg was about to leave.
I have now been here for one year and one day. I have a definite feeling of counting the days down, until the end. It feels close. This time, next week, I will be getting ready for my last sleep in The Netherlands before going to Russia.
On Wednesday, Agnieszka asked me how I was feeling, coming to the end of my time here. I replied that I was more excited than sad about leaving The Netherlands. I think this was because of a combination of things - work hasn't been exciting and I don't feel that AIESEC has been helping me much at the end of my traineeship.
I have been more reflective when I have been saying goodbye to people that I know I won't see again. Each time that happens is a reminder that I need to cherish each moment of this last week.
posted by James 9:32 pm
I wish people would walk faster than walking pace.
posted by James 1:39 pm
I went to Den Haag on Friday, last week, to apply for my Russian visa. The Russian consulate was easy to find - close to the Vredespaleis (Peace Palace) that I saw when I visited Den Haag with Wei Jian and Bregje.
The consulate is open for visa applications only between 10am and 12pm every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Nevertheless, I was still surprised to see about 20 people milling about the steps of the consulate building, waiting to enter. It was already past 10am and the doorman was letting in only a few people at a time. I'm not sure what most of the people were there for, but because I was applying for a visa, I was able to jump to the head of the "queue".
I was afraid that my proof of travel insurance was not going to be sufficient to meet the visa application criteria. It was really just a line on my invoice from the travel agency that detailed the insurance type and that I had paid for it. Luckily, there was no problem, but my timing was good - apparently, the criteria become more strict next fortnight.
All of my documents were in order. I left my passport at the consulate and I will collect it on Monday week, complete with the coveted visa. This means that I need to take another day off from work, but it at least I get to visit Den Haag again. There are still a few things that I would like to see there and I can visit Acco, in Rotterdam, on the way home.
I spent the weekend doing some preliminary packing up of my room. I filled a big box with clothes that I am unlikely to wear over the next month and posted it (the cheap way) back to New Zealand. That, in itself, was a minor mission. The first time I packed the box, it weighed 22kg - just over the 20kg maximum to post a parcel abroad. I didn't learn this until I was at the post office counter and the clerk refused to compromise. The only option was to catch the bus back home and repack the box. I removed my summer sandals and about six books. This took the weight down to a more manageable 13kg - an acceptable weight for the post office.
(I have no idea why I brought my Public Law textbook to The Netherlands. Perhaps for some sleep-inducing reading material during the flight over here? In any case, it is now a small burden and I'm not sure what to do with it. I don't really want to throw it away, though. Sigh.)
Now, there are no posters on my bedroom walls and everything that I might take back to New Zealand is on my table, or sitting on a shelf in the wardrobe.
I am not totally sure when I am supposed to be moving out of my room. Earlier, I heard that I would have the room for a year - if that is so, then I can stay there until February 16. But, Lia has told me that my room contract expires on February 9, i.e.: today. Ideally, I would like to stay there for as long as I can, but I am also concerned about spending more money. If I do have to move out early, Ben has offered to host me at his place.
Agnieszka, Ben and I went to Kandinsky on Sunday evening for their beer tasting. We stayed there for a couple of hours, sampling the five beers that were served to us. Afterwards, Ben and I tried the "Bush" beer - the strongest one on the menu, with a 12% alcohol percentage.
posted by James 9:23 am