Author Archives: Niki

About Niki

I run the blog http://www.lifeinthehague.com

Hmmm (Or: Dutch health insurance)

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Niki

Next thing to work on: figuring out Dutch health insurance. Actually, I don’t have as much to figure out as I thought. I had mentioned the predicament to Marco and this morning I woke up to a PDF from Oom Verzekeringen (Oom insurance) that Marco had thoughtfully sent to me.

According to their page it seems that the best fit would be Global Visitor Insurance, since in the end this is really just short term insurance until I can secure a residence permit and find a more permanent solution. The page specifically mentions it works until you can get a residence permit, so yay. If anyone over in America is wondering, it’s illegal to not have health insurance in the Netherlands if you live there. I like not getting fined. I am not completely clear if you need it as soon as you set foot in the country, but you definitely do on the day you get your residence permit.

I still remember Marco explaining Dutch health insurance — it’s not tied to your job at all. Which is in some ways nice, since right now my work decides which health insurance is best for the college, and you only have a few tiers of coverage to choose from. There’s usually a lot of grumblings from my coworkers, but I have been lucky enough to not have been turned upside down and shaken so all my money falls out… yet… (some of the stories my coworkers tell me sound like downright highway robbery).

Mind you, I am not a user of health insurance in general. So far under this job I have not used anything from my health insurance, though I have faithfully visited the dentist every 6 months for a routine checkup (dental coverage is separate from health insurance for me).

But I am glad to see it doesn’t seem to be that difficult. Though if you’re an expat with a Dutch health insurance horror story, feel free to share!

Categories: Forms, etc. | Tags: Expat | 7 Comments

Squares (Or: A Chicago pizza pie)

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Niki

This past Christmas, Marco and Roger came with me to meet my parents in Chicago for the first time. The very first night we were there, we ordered pizza.

It’s a family sized pizza, since we wanted leftovers the next day (of which there were plenty!). And the pizza made Marco drool. He was reminiscing about it a week or two ago, specifically that the pizza was cut into squares not slices.. If you look closely, you can see the square cuts.

Of course, I had no idea that about 36 hours later (give or take a few) I would be engaged. The proposal happened while unwrapping gifts Christmas morning. I really had no idea. Even when someone at church accidentally almost gave it away at the Christmas Eve service… I was totally clueless and said “No…? We’re not getting engaged until later in 2012.” Oh how little I knew.

As Marco mentioned, there was a lot of scheming going on. He actually called my parents a month or so prior about the upcoming engagement, and my parents actually wrapped up the ring box in a stocking for the dog. They knew I’d help unwrap the dogs present. And then of course there was also the scheming being done for my mom’s Christmas gift – a new netbook. It was very hard to concentrate on her unwrapping her gift, since I was spending too much time staring at my new ring!

Categories: Marco&Niki | Tags: Chicago, Vacation | 3 Comments

Procrastination (Or: Get a move on)

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Niki

The interesting thing is that the closer my move gets, the more I seem to procrastinate. Things were very frenzied in July and August, but it has become a slow simmer…

Things seem to be going slowly, but at the same time quite fast. I only have 9 weeks of work left. Soon we will start scheduling interviews for my position — of the 25 or so resumes we received, we will likely interview 5 of them. It does cause a bit of trepidation, as it does show that people are desperate to get a job and why am I leaving mine again?

But only a bit of trepidation – things will work out. They always do (after I freak out a bit and Marco rolls his eyes and tells me to calm down ;p).

The main things I have to get figured out are related to health insurance, and eventually finding a doctor (huisarts) to go to. The rest just seems to be waiting, although Marco, Roger and I have started to make plans for the December trip when they come to party in New York City and then take me back. The days are slipping past.

Categories: Moving | Tags: Expat | 2 Comments

Jackets (Or: Statue of Liberty in October)

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Niki

The air is getting cold here. (Well, we’ll ignore the fact that it is forecast to be pretty warm Sunday, comparatively.)

I didn’t wear a jacket today. (But I definitely pondered one.)

I didn’t want to put the heat on. (But I did.)

At some point during my videochat with Marco today, I was reminded of the October 2010 trip with Marco. He visited me while I was studying at Rutgers and we went to New York City a few times. Including my first time seeing the Statue of Liberty.

Of course, I forgot how much colder it is out on the water. Marco asked me if I wanted a jacket a few times, but I said no. And then we got up on the ferry…

and yep, I sheepishly asked if I could borrow his jean jacket (and he said yes!) So I spent most of the ferry ride wearing an oversized jacket. It was nice, if I do say so myself.

And here is a view of the New York skyline from the ferry. Good times.

Categories: Marco&Niki | Tags: New York City | Leave a comment

July (Or: Crowds, police, and heat)

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Niki

Lately it seems that it has gotten colder. October is definitely here. I even had to pull out my jacket once this week, as the mornings are getting rather cold. I suspect by next week I will be wearing it every day, unfortunately.

So I was looking at the July 4 pictures Marco and I took of NYC in 2009 (previous post). Heat! Warmth! …and way too many crowds.

See? I wasn’t joking about the crowds. This is part of Times Square, after the fireworks ended.

This was one police meeting area in the early afternoon of July 4. All I remember about this picture is right before that, Marco had made a joke about donuts. 😛

Categories: Holidays, Marco&Niki | Tags: New York City | 2 Comments

Influences (Or: Pennsylvania Dutch bread)

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Niki

Similar to the post I wrote yesterday about the Dutch influence on the land (in Blauvelt, NY), I decided to share with you some pictures of the type of bread I eat. Of course both types are listed as “Pennsylvania Dutch” rather than true Dutch, but one of them states it much more clearly than the other.

Still, it was quite strange to see “Dutch” written on my bread bag.

Above is my favorite bread, and I have been eating it literally since I moved to the east coast. It was the only whole wheat bread at the deli I frequented (there really was no “grocery store” within walking distance in New Brunswick) so I ate that one. And then I lucked out because the Shoprite here in New York also has the same brand.

The bread above is a bread I have only had a few times. I only grab it from the nearby deli on the way home when I forget to get bread at Shoprite (which is about a 1 mile walk each way, so it would be too crazy to go back just for bread).

It’s actually potato bread, which I decided is okay if it’s toasted, but otherwise kind of odd. I don’t really like sweetish bread, so there you go. Also, I believe my bread should not be a pale yellow color…

Categories: Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Blauvelt, NY (Or: Dutch History)

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Niki

Dutch influence can be found all over the New York area. (Case in point – New York City used to be called New Amsterdam.)

One of the things Marco and I saw on the way to Bailey’s Smokehouse was this sign in front of a home:

You can read more by going to the Rockland Historical Society‘s page about the house. Apparently the first Dutch settler arrived in the area in 1683. Here is a quote from the page about the name “Blauvelt”:

“There are many guesses as to why the name Blauvelt was chosen. Some suggest that it is because in English, Blauvelt means blue field, this stemmed from the blue flowers which abounded in Gerritt Hendrickson’s grain fields. Another possibility is that Blauvelt originally was Gerritt’s family name when he arrived from Holland, but he just did not use it when he arrived in America. The blue field refers to the predominant color in his family’s coat of arms.” – read more

It really is all about the Dutch! At least on the east coast…

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Dutch history | 5 Comments

Blue art (Or: The Hague pre-dawn)

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Niki

Marco took this picture on his way to the airport to catch his flight to the States. As you can tell, he was up early to make sure he did not miss his flight! I believe the art is/was near the public library (Openbare Bibliotheek Den Haag).

Categories: Culture | Tags: Libraries | 2 Comments

Five Guys (Or: Hamburgers in Times Square)

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Niki

During our most recent trip to New York City, Marco and I decided to try out Five Guys, a hamburger joint. We had heard about it a few years before but we never made it around to visiting one (even though there was one on a bus route we take to the Palisades Center). They also sell hot dogs and a few sandwiches – see their menu. We visited the one in Times Square right next to door to Roger’s favorite restaurant, Chevy’s.

It’s slightly pricey, but when you consider that their default hamburger is a double it works out. Also, all toppings are free. I was holding down the fort and securing us a table to sit at so I just told Marco to go on ahead and order me a hamburger. He did great, choosing “mustard and jalapenos” for me. (Occasionally I like a tiny bit of ketchup, but it’s not required at all and I’d prefer no ketchup to letting someone else choose how much to put on there.) The only crazy thing was that it seems to come with barbecue sauce even if you don’t ask for it… but it was pretty good as well. I think they put the barbecue sauce on the other side of the patty so it wasn’t completely combined.

The biggest tip I have is that unless you love lots of french fries, if you go with two people just get one order. They give you a lot for your money. (Marco got the cajun style fries… so good and spicy! He said they were a bit too salty, but I tend to love salt.)

The other thing that they have (which we did not try out) was a freestyle coke machine, as referenced in the front sign of the restaurant photo above, and as shown in this internet picture. You choose what flavor you want based on touching the screen and then (at least at Five Guys) it asks you another question and then dispenses it. It was a fully electronic screen, not just one screen with the flavors displayed.

This particular location had a bulletin board and colored pencils for you to write a message. You can see our message on the left side of it (hanging off the edge).

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: New York City, Vacation | 2 Comments

Setting up (Or: Town festivities)

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Niki

Today when I went to Shoprite, I was greeted with the setup for the annual “town day” that we have each October. This year I will have to miss it as I have a prior engagement – if I get some good pictures of THAT unnamed event I will post them as well.

Here are some of the pictures I took on the way to and from my weekly groceries chore: