First year in Nederland — September

After viewing more than 20 houses we have found the perfect place and have taken the leap and bought it. Now looking out over the park in front of our new home I feel truly happy… and very tired. I suspect I have finally settled in. Must have, since I am spending much more time at Gamma and Praxis than at home.

Unpacking the 'spullen'

For the big move we planned everything down to a tee. The shipment with all our spullen (stuff) arrived on cue. The transfer went smoothly. Two month’s kennisgeving (notice) was given to our landlord. Everything went like clockwork… except when it came to the klussen (DIY).

Somehow we had grossly underestimated the amount of time involved in fixing up our new place. In South Africa I always rented a team of people to do the work I needed. We soon realised that labour in Holland is much more expensive and much more regulated – not a bad thing, since using an expert for the job guarantees expert craftsmanship and labour (or so the theory goes). But after my first attempt at painting I’ve realised how out of my depth I am when it comes to getting my hands dirty.

People in Holland do a lot more home decoration, renovation and revamping themselves than we do in South Africa. They paint, glue wallpaper, tile and even build their own bathrooms and cupboards. Furniture arrives in a box and is carefully and craftily assembled. Large stores (such as Gamma, Karwei and Praxis) cater for all DIY projects and have vast ranges of information brochures available on any task imaginable. They also feature detailed help pages on their websites and most of them offer the large equipment needed for hire at very affordable prices.

"They've moved" (courtesy neighbour's kid!)

So last week I spent a few days removing the wallpaper to discover what lies beneath. Don’t know why, but I thought it would be brick and mortar. No such luck. Some of our walls are built from huge blocks of pink plaster. Other walls are covered by cardboard. Others are assembled from massive blocks of moulded concrete. Not one measly brick in sight… rendering the little experience I do have of painting completely useless.

So the painting saga continues… with an added layer of structuurverf (a type of paint that gives a texture to the walls) now added to the mix. Luckily (?) the new carpets and laminates are already in, so the floors are covered so to speak (and will remain covered until the painting is done).

Which means we are currently living in what looks like a building site. I have heard some people move out of their homes until work is completed. We’ve decided to do it ourselves, and our neighbours have taken an active interest in the slow metamorphosis. They have been exceptionally friendly right from day one when one family strolled over to say hello. Shortly afterwards the other family popped in with flowers and handy tips on our slow metamorphosis.

Unpacking my stuff from South Africa and placing it in my brand-new Dutch house has somehow merged the two realities of being South African in Holland. I feel like a new, more complete person looking forward to a brightly-coloured, freshly-painted future.

Tags: buying a house, diy, expat life

This entry was posted on 12 Oct 2009 at 13:15 and is filed under Lizelle in NL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.