I'm going to ride all those bikes without permission!

Today, despite its amazing begining, I feel horiable!

My tummy is reaking havoc upon me and all I want is to leave work and lay on the couch in some comfy

clothes. The good news I received this morning is probably the only thing keeping me going (1.5 more hours then I'm off work!)

Speaking of work....

My mom asked me a very important question when I informed them that I was officially moving to holland, "Do you have a job?" Now I can officially say, "Yes, and it will be legal!"

This morning Bryan called the IND, as planned. I rushed through getting ready because Im a control freak and HAD to be a part of the phone call. As soon as I heard him say "Hoi, Ik heet Bryan -insert dutch words I do not yet know here-, sprek u engles?" I smiled, giggled a bit from excitment of the situation and told him "its so hot when you speak dutch!" I love the sound of the dutch language, spit flying all around in the back of your throat and the reason why I say Goeden Morgen, in the morning when my throat is all phlemmy...

Anyways. We asked all of our questions, including the ones about the misdomenor and GUESS WHAT! Because its not a crazy bad offense, I dont need to worry about it. I do think however, that they may look at the "Misdomenor for riding a bicycle without permission" and say (possiably sarcastically) "Oh My! She is going to ride all of our bikes without permission!"

Having learned my lesson 5 years ago, when i discovered that, even if your intent is to put the bike back, you dont touch it. Especially if its not locked up and telling your drunk friends to add it to their bicycle gang!

On to the work permit, the other exciting part of this conversation. Legally, because Bryan will have a work permit, will be able to prove he can support us (an income of at least 1200 euros a month, is all it takes), and at least a one year contract of work with his father, I not only will be able to get residency, but his work permit extends to me. If he is allowed to work anywhere, so am I. If he is only allowed to work for his father, so am I. Regardless, Ill be able to work.

New list of things to do;

Get my fingerprints taken to obtain a copy of my criminal record

Get a copy of my Criminal Record with apostille

Get an apostille for my Birth Certificate

BUY MY FREAKING TICKETS TO THE NL!

Happy Day!

2 Months Notice

Last night I informed my (soon to be) step-dad/boss and my mom, and his mother of the fact that Bryan and I would be leaving for Holland in June. My step-dad, Steve, didn't take it very well. My mom says it is because he is protective of me and hurt that I want to leave his company, but honestly, I need to do what I need to do for myself, and learn those lessons I am set to learn. I had spoken to my mom of our plans previously so she had some questions ready for me also. "We have to ask the hard questions, Kathryn..."

During our usual Tuesday meeting today, I informed my other boss, Darren (my step dads partner) that I would be leaving. I was so nervous, I was shaking on the inside, I think I was nauseous as well. Finally I got the nerve up to tell him and he took the news surprisingly well. He began planning with me what I needed to finish based off of Steve's instruction and what the other employees needed to begin doing because of my leaving. I was stunned. Following the meeting, while I was having some down time because my co-worker was trying to do some IT work on my computer, Darren began asking me about the logistics of my leaving. He then began informing me of the conflicts between the different countries of the European Union and asked if Bryan's dad, Dutch (aka Arie) harbored any sour feelings towards the Germans. I explained to Darren that because of Aries business where he has to communicate with different people from all over the world, he is very tolerant with the other nations over there. In my experience with Arie, (which isn't very extensive, mind you) he is okay with everyone, but despises stupid people. For example, let me tell you about the money "that doesn't exist."

Dutch, being the international business man that he is, would carry all of the different currencies in his wallet. This was necessary because he was constantly driving between Germany, Belgium, Holland, Poland etc. etc. When all of the Europe decided to become the European Union they also went under the currency of the Euro. Upon arriving in Belgium one day about a month after the change over Dutch went into a gas station to pay for gas. When he placed the note on the counter the attendent said, "I'm sorry sir, but this doesn't exist."

Dutch replied with surprise, "What do you mean, 'It doesn't exist,' its right there in front of you."

"It doesn't exist sir"

"How can it not exist, your holding it!"

"This is not valid currency, sir"

"Oh, I see, but that doesn't mean, it doesn't exist"

Dutch paid with Euros. We all laugh at this still. There are tons of other stories and I'm sure I will have some of my own once I begin living with him.

So, today every time I think of two month from now I am filled with excitement and calmness. Bryan called the Dutch Consulate in San Francisco today and they informed him that his questions need to be answered by the IND (Immigratie en Naturalisatiedienst). They are only open from 9-5 Netherlands time... (12am - 8am PST) so Bryan will be calling while I get ready tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Bryan directed me to a site he found http://www.expatlaw.nl/, this is the website for an immigrations lawyer, but he gives a ton of information on his website about moving to the NL.

Like for a Residency permit you need;

a Specific reason, common ones include:

1. Family Formation

2. Paid Employment

3. Self Employment

4. Study

(which I am not really of any of these)

A large number of Residency permits are not accepted because these things are not taken care of:

1. Valid Passport

2. No Criminal Record (crap...I have a misdemeanor from stupid drunk friends!)

3. No Risk to Public Order, National Peace, or Security

4. Sufficient means of support

5. Health insurance with Dutch Insurer (does this include expat? I looked into this a bit more info later)

6. Meeting the requirements associated with your reason for visit.

So, It looks like I have a few things to take care of. My misdemeanor, in Santa Barbara and getting Health Insurance.

About the Health. I went to look for different sources of health insurance and found this website which I had completely forgotten about since my research a year ago, http://www.justlanded.com/, or for me www.justlanded.com/english/netherlands/netherlands-guide/health/healthcare. This site talked about all the different ways that health care are provided in the NL and listed a few insurers that you can take advantage of. Too bad they are completely in Dutch and I need Bryan to help me with that. Good news is, basic health care generally doesn't go above 93 Euros a month!

The next website I explored was one that justlanded refereed me to. http://www.togetherabroad.nl/. This website has listings for jobs and internships, where you don't necessarily have to speak the native language! Right away I found a job teaching English to kinderen (children).

I have so much more to do now, but thanks to Alicia, who is an expat in Leiden that I connected with, I remembered I will need my birth certificate with an Apostille. This wont be difficult for me, because I have already done the whole process with Bryan, because he needed to renew his residency when we went to see his dad a year ago, the only thing they were missing in the first place was his Birth Certificate with an Apostille. If you do not know what this is, it is a certificate that the office of the county clerk gives you which basically tells any European country "this is a legal document in the United States, and you may recognize it as a valid document as well" They are basically an international notary. I remember reading the history of it, and its pretty interesting!

Now, in dedication to my mother, the one who taught me to be prepared no matter what and always write pros and cons lists of whatever I am making a decision on, regardless of my mind being made up already or not, HERE is my "Moving to Holland" Pros & Cons List....

Pros -

Being Closer to The BBC, who I would like to work for.

Being Closer to Africa

Being Closer to those who study Africa

Living in Europe

Being able to start a life of my own

Being stripped of everything

Ability to explore Europe on the weekends

Having someone there willing to set me up on my feet

Already having contacts over there for photography positions

Cons-

Being stripped of everything

Not having a legit job

Being away from Family and Friends

Loosing contacts here (though most are like family and I WILL NEVER LOOSE THEM...Muhahaha)

This is all I can think of for right now, but the pros are out weighing already.... I love you mom, and I know this will be difficult. Nothing worth while is ever easy!

Changing plans and so much to do!

I have a running list in my head of the things I want to do before we leave and things we have to do before we leave. Right now, if I dont get it out of me, I think I shall burst or forget it all....probably the former rather than the latter.

I want to finish some projects before I leave;

My band T-shirt Quilt
My European Album (from the first trip)
A photo album of friends and other things

I want to finish business projects I have started;

Maria's Herritage Project
- writing
- photo editing

I want to have a benefit party that my aunt has offered to host;

When?
What type of photos?
How many and what size?
Theme?
How to promote it?

Savings Bonds
What to do with them? Invest?

Bryan and I also have had to push the date back to late June, early July to be a part of some family events. Bryan's family will be taking a trip to Disneyland and Sea world in June for about a week. So we need to account for that when I work out my money.

I have to admit Im suddenly not in a very good mood because of expenses. I recently had to change the fuel pump in my car...$500.00, a few months previous I had to have the intake cleared and all the filters changed....$450. I need new tires...$240.00 and what happened today? Oh my registration is due along with a test only smog check. Registration - $85.00, Smog Check - $92.50. Im mostly upset because I thought the place I directed B to take my car was cheaper than the estimate I recieved over the phone of $69.00....Obviously it was not. So how much does this all ad up to? $1367.00, and what is the worth of the car? Kelly Blue Book - $1500.00, but the state wanted to buy it off of me for $1000. I dont know what to do anymore about my car. How did my parents not tell me about all the expenses!? Im so glad I wont need a car in Holland.

So when it comes to money...What do I need to take into account?
Plane Ticket to Newark - Leaving Oakland...(June 22nd) $213.00
Plane Ticket to AMS - Leaving Newark (June 29th) found on Vayama $624.00
Gas Money for trip to LA - $240.00 +
Food money for LA- $250.00
Accomidations for LA - (Case and Phil, Bryans Uncles, might let us stay with them and we have a 2 night stay for free at ..the disney hotel, I think, that I won durring the holidays. Not to mention, if all else fails his parents will have the motorhome we can all squeeze into) -$?
Disney Tickets (3 day pass) - $184.oo
Sea World Tickets - (so we can go for 0ne day) -$69.00 (seven days) - 69.00 (or we can get the 3 in one pass and go to Seaworld, San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Life park (5 days)) - $121.oo...

So much to do so little time...

Ik Spoor Niet

Okay...So its kinda true. I'm not really all there. "Ik spoor Niet" is kind of a joke statement meaning "I'm not all there (in my head)." However as much as this may be true...

So in light of the words in this statement I wanted to teach you a trick for spelling dutch words. When I was writing "niet" I almost switched the i and the e...which isn't hard to do when writing dutch words. So many of them have the "ij" "ei" or "ie" it can get confusing. Bryan taught me a very useful trick for spelling though. When saying the word, you will hear the last letter as the dominate E or I sound. Ni"E"t the 'E' is the more predominate sound so its the last letter, sounds a bit like "Knee-t". Any long "i" sound like the word for rice - Rijst (sounds like RIIIst) is going to have the "ij". Now for an example of an "ei" word.... Egg is a perfect example for this one. The Dutch word is ei, making it sound like the English word eye (ogen in dutch). When you make eggs plural however its eieren, which throws the extra "eh" into it, "eye -eh-rah."

Back to my search for Health Care.

Today I did some more exploring on the website http://www.expat-blog.com/ that I mentioned before. I found it to have SO MUCH information. There are also people from all over the world that are registered with the site, and now...so am I.

Upon registering I was presented with a warm welcome and a number of things I can do on the website. They advertise the Health Provider Aetna so, I clicked the link and was presented with an easy form to fill out, a way to request a phone call from the company and a 4 different quick quotes.

Because I only think I need what the first two offer, I'm only going to go over those.

Aetna
http://www.aetna.com/

Major Medical Plan
-In-patient and day patient
- Follow up treatment
- Evac
Annual - 958. Euro
Monthly - 84.93 Euro

This plan looks great, but what does it not cover? What could happen that I may need? Dental? Vision?

Foundation Plan
Includes other things like refund for emergency dental, MRI & CT, Pregnancy Complications, Ect.

Annual - 1473. Euros
Monthly - 130.59 Euros

Still not too bad, and it includes other things that might be needed.

Finally, today I filled out an application with ACS which will be calling me. This was a quote service provided by http://www.expat-blog.com/. The health insurance link is on the first page and easy to find. I have a feeling this is a kind of generator that goes through a number of different places to find the best deals. I'm still not sure what I definitely need, especially since insurance is about protecting yourself for the unforeseen!

Hope this is helpful!

My Specifics and More Health Insurance

I am a 24-year old woman from Danville, California. I grew up in California but have visited Mexico, Hawaii and the East Coast. 2 years ago I met Bryan, an American whose father is a Dutch national. One night Bryan romantically claimed my first European trip. 5-months later, I was on a plane to Holland and my life changed forever. I didn't go to the coffee shops, in fact I just passed right by them because for me Holland wasn't about the legal marijuana. I had absolutely no interest in it. I explored the whole of the country and had amazing native tour guides at that. We visited Madurodam, (www.madurodam.nl) a miniature replica of all of Holland, the Apenheul, (www.apenheul.com) a monkey zoo where the monkeys are not limited to cages but roam freely around the grounds and of course we explored a bit out of Holland, to Germany and France. Upon my return to SFO I was happy to be home, but three weeks later after getting back into the American swing of things and I was ready to return to Holland.

I was set a year later to move there with Bryan. When we spoke with his father about it though, he wasn't ready for us. "Try to wait a year and then Ill probably have work for both of you then. The economy is really bad everywhere, and its no better here." Disappointed Bryan and I still talked about moving to Holland for a few months. I had even applied to some schools in Amsterdam and Utrecht. Things got hard though, Bryan couldn't find a job here in the states and stresses from my family made me angry with him about it. We broke up.

7-months later, Bryan's mom, who I was still very close with, called me. I was traveling from Oregon to Chico so I missed the call. When I returned her call 10-minutes later I was informed that she wasn't home due to Bryan being involved in a car accident which she needed to bring him home from. I was told I could call back in about 20 minutes and they would be back. I was worried about Bryan. When I called back she told me that they would be in my town later that week and wanted to see me. I told her I would try to work it out and that we could stay in touch but asked more about the well being of Bryan. This was the night we reconnected, I spoke with him until 4 am when my train arrived in Chico. January 1st Bryan moved back into my house, and tried to transfer from the Best Buy in Carson City to the one here. That plan didn't pan out as expected and the job search continued.

The end of January, almost a year to the date, Bryan's dad calls us up and asks how we're doing, where Bryan is working. When Bryan tells him that he isn't working but has a good prospect Dutch says, "Well if you are still wanting to move up here, I might have some work for you soon." I just about jumped for joy and lost my breath. A week later, Bryan had a job with Verizon as a Flex-tronics Tech. He was given about 2 weeks before he would go to training in LA and three days previous to leaving, his manager calls and says the position is closed indefinitely. This brings us to today.

And I'm still searching for Health Insurance....

Because it is 21:49 and I want to go to sleep soon, I'm not going to research tonight.

How many Blogs Can I start in a Year?

My god, this year I have tried a number of different blog subjects to get my creative writing juices flowing, but I didnt seem to have the time to keep up with it....

This one however, this is a necessity. Not only for me, but for my friends and family I will be saying "tot ziens" to on June 8th. Though the farewells will be more like "I love you, and Ill see you soon! I will miss you so much!" -even thinking about it makes my emotions go haywire...though I know this is something I need and want to do.

On June 8th 2010, Bryan and I will be leaving for Holland. My mom and her new husband will be leaving for Barbados the same day for the Segway Polo Woz Cup. It will be nice because we can all be at the terminals together. So far the plans are not finalized but I want to start logging this journey and the prelude to it now. So far we are trying to work out a plan where we stop in Newark and drive to Toms River, New Jersey to visit my 95 - year-old great-grandmother, my great aunts and uncles with my dad and sister. From Newark Bryan and I will continue our journey to Amsterdam where we should be picked up by his Dad and Step-mom.

We would have our best friend over there, Hanneke, pick us up but we have decided to keep the news a secret from her. We love and miss her so much, so this is not an easy feat. It may be a bit selfish too, but seeing Hannekes reaction when she sees that we are there and hears will be staying, is something we dont really want to miss out on.

I am so extremely excited and definately ready to start this adventure in my life, but I only have 2 month to plan and so much to do! I tried doing some research as to what you should do before moving to another country, but there arent very many lists...and I kind of work best with lists. Dont get me wrong, there are lists about who to use for moving and how to plan for your house to be sold, but im not really in that position. So maybe my notes and lists to get moving out of the country will help others as well.

I will also be starting a short continuous list of things that Im not sure I will be able to find in Holland...Though Im sure if I look hard enough, I will be able to find ANYTHING! I mean Holland is a modern country!

Lastly I decided to start looking into expat health insuance becuase recently I found out that the insurance my current employer provides me with, has not been active for the past 3-months that it was supposed to have been. I need to have a doctors apointment before I go out of the country and because of medical reasons, I need to have a regular doctor while I live out of the country. Not to mention...What if I get ill? Ive never been without insurance and dont want to be stuck with crazy bills if I do get sick. I suppose the fact that its a Law in Holland for everyone living there is required to have health insurance matters too.

So...My Lists of WHAT TO DO!?

Packing
- Clothes/ Jackets (I have an obsession with coats and jackets...but its chilly in Holland a lot so why not?)

- Shoes (cant live with out these!)

- Most Important books (I am not allowed to bring all of them...I love books and practically have a library)

- Photo Equiptment (Umm, Im a photographer...So I definately need this stuff!!)

Flight Plans (yeah I know...I need to get on this!!)
- SFO > EWR > AMS

- SFO > AMS

- Pick up Plans

- Uncle Allen

- Lora and Arie

Shipping plans for belongings

- Freight Quote (this is much cheaper most times for large loads you are shipping, I have learned this from my current employer...But its always a good idea to check all your options)

- UPS/ FedEX

Belongings to Sell

- Garage Sale Plans

- Benefit party (My aunt wants to throw this for us, where I can sell my photography and we can raise money for Bryan and My new life! She is so awesome to want to do this for us!!)

- Selling items on eBay, Amazon and Craigslist

- Selling my Car

Finances

- Contact loan companies about student loans and paying internationally
- $ for a car, Do I need a car in Holland?

- $ for ticket

- $ for other expenses like health

- Changing Banks

Personal Things

- Health Insurance, Dental and Vision ( I will explain my research of this later.)

- What do I do now that I need to find there?

- Photo organizations

- Scuba Organizations

- NILMDTS

-What do I want to do that I don't do here?

- Join a Gym

- Try to go to HogeSchool?

Miscellaneous
- Informing post office of move

What I may want to bring (that may be expensive there)

Ive read from some of the other "living abroad" blogs that sometimes specific brands or food items that are readily available in the US are not available in Europe or can be VERY expensive. Much like some European items are expensive here. So this will be a running list, as I come across things everyday that I don't remember seeing in the stores while I was visiting Holland 2-years ago. For example, I was making my new Wasabi-honey mustard vinaigrette today and it occurred to me that Wasabi powder may not be available in Holland.

- Wasabi Powder

Health Insurance

So a basic google search of "expat health insurance" brought me to a website where I was able to get a quote right away, but it threw me off a little because it was travelers insurance. So my question now is, Is Travelers Health Insurance different from Living Abroad Health Insurance? Hopefully with my research I will come to the conclusion of this matter.

HTH Worldwide

http://www.hthtravelinsurance.com/

Quote : $213/ month (includes US Coverage)

Quote: $107/ month (excludes US Coverage)

Not too bad for a monthly fee, but what about deductibles, you know what you pay upon an office visit to the doctor? Do all international doctors (in any country?) take this insurance? and again, is Travel different from LIVING abroad?

When I did a basic google search with the terms " Expat Health Insurance Holland" I found this site;

www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-netherlands-holland-insurance. Now this may be different for you based on where you will be living, but try doing your search like I did, with the country name last. With this search a number of different sites came up. The link above is just the first one I checked, but it brought me to an informational site about choosing Health insurance while living abroad, which helped me out a little, as well as listing 3 or 4 different Insurance providers. I only had time to check one today, but it was very detailed.

Bupa International

http://www.bupainternational.com/

They had me fill out all my information and informed me that they would be calling to see if I needed more information or if I had any questions. I thought this was nice because...well sometimes it helps to talk to someone who knows how to answer my questions.

-Worldwide medical $792.37

- Worldwide medical plus $486.71

- Worldwide medicines & equipment $377.83

- Worldwide well being (dental and vision) $500.00
- I opted out of evacuation and US coverage....

I also was able to choose a deductible as well as a how I wanted to pay, I choose the lowest amount for the deductible and annually.

Annual Grand Total: $2156.91 (Uh....Can I make monthly payments? and how much is that?!)

When I went back to look at more of the sites that were pulled up with that google search of "Expat Health Insurance Holland" I saw there was a lot more information than with the first search. One of the sites that looks like it may be helpful is; www.expat-blog.com/en/insurance/europe/netherlands.

I will be including more information on what I find for Health Insurance in my next blog. A quick note on help from others who have "done this before" remember that you need to take their situation into account. Did they do it with work? a church? did these entities provide the insurance? It doesn't hurt to ask someone who has done this before (and everyone has a different situation, but truly, I know I'm not the first and wont be the last to make a move like this, even with the unique aspects, someone, somewhere has to have done it before.)

I hope whoever is out there reading this, finds it helpful. Please leave me comments and questions.