Inburgering pt. 3

This week i learned the results of my assessment test that I took a couple weeks ago (inburgering pt 2).  Turns out I don't know any dutch.  I'm at level -A1.  The levels are labeled 0 to -A1, A1, and A2. I need to get to Level A2 to pass my inburgering test in 5 years.  Even though I don't know much dutch, the test did say I was a quick learner.  The tester person thinks I can get to level A2 within 12-18 months.  

But I have to wait for another letter from a language company before I can start taking classes.  The bureaucracy is fun!  I get to get nice letters in dutch telling me to show up at a place at a specific time. It's nice to know that the taxes that will be taken out of my paycheck are going to keep lots of dutch people employed.  :)  

reggae

John and I went to see "The Wrestler" Saturday night.  It was a little bloody, but really good. I can see how it's getting the Oscar buzz.  Afterwards we went to a jazz club hoping to hear some nice cool jazz.  Instead of jazz, we happened upon this reggae band.  Everyone in the band was groovin' to the music except the keyboard player ( right side of pic).  He looked like he belonged in church or in a band concert. At times it looked like he couldn't believe that he was there playing in a reggae band. The mismatch of styles was amusing.  But they did jam and we had lots of fun!

Disappearing Kitchen

This past weekend a family came and took our kitchen.  They took it out and away and even paid us for it!  That was a sweet deal, since we would have to pay for the disposal of it.  We should get our new kitchen Feb. 27.  Until then we're making use of a small convection oven and the rice steamer.  John has to reroute the plumbing, electrical and gas lines.  We also have to cover up the tile and make it better.  It sort of reminds me of when my family remodeled our house.  

Here's a view from our kitchen window.  The new kitchen will have the sink, dishwasher, and a cupboard here.  the other picture is where our cabinets were.  Approximately where the water pipes are will be the recirculating vent hood.  We'll have a cook top here along with cabinets.  the fridge and combioven will be in a corner opposite this wall. 

   

Some kitchen destruction:

remodeling update--living and diningroom

We are almost done with the living and dining rooms.  We just have to put the baseboards on, and i think we'll be done.  I helped john lay the laminate flooring.  We really like the laminate, it's so much better than the carpeting we had. I posted pictures of our apartment in earlier posts.

  

View of the dining room towards the living room.  We changed our couch to a white slip cover, so now we never eat on the couch.    
  

Here's the view from the living room to the dining room and a closer view of the living room.  over all the apt looks tons better than it did in November.  It took a lot of work, but it was worth it.  I feel like i'm living in a "grown-ups" apartment now. :)
  
 

Inburgering pt. 2

I had my dutch assessment on Wednesday.  John didn't have to come with me after all to translate.  The person doing my test spoke good enough english that we could figure it out together.  They wanted to evaluate how well I could listen, speak, write, and  read dutch.  I didn't really do too well on that part, but that wasn't a big surprise.  

They also wanted to find out what I knew about dutch society.  Most of those questions were about how to set up your house; like who do I call for telephone, gas and electric, schools, driver license, and all that sort of stuff.  Most of it was pretty logical. 

I also had to take an intelligence test of sorts.  Each part had an example question and answer and then I had to figure out each problem.  Most of it was about finding the pattern in a series of numbers or letters and then filling in the missing piece.  It wasn't too difficult.  

My assessor will write a report and then send it to my contact at the inburgering office.  He will then send me a letter telling me what to do.  I have no idea of what the time line is. Hopefully I can start pretty soon. 

Inburgering

The Dutch government passed a law in 2007 that said that foreigners  that don't have a European Union country citizenship and who want to live in the Netherlands for a long time (like 5 years or more) has to be integrated into dutch society.  This is called Inburgering. I have   5 years to pass a dutch language exam.  I also have to prove that I know all about dutch culture and society.   I have to take classes to pass the tests.  

A couple weeks ago I was "invited" to go to city hall and meet with someone who would explain the process to me.  I met the guy and he started talking dutch to me.  I asked if he could speak english, since i don't know enough dutch to have a conversation.  He appeared rather frustrated that he had to speak english.  I was very surprised.  I figured that since I'm a foreigner in need of integration, they would speak english. All the literature about inburgering is in dutch (including the website).  On the english version of the website, it tells you to find a dutch person to read it and then translate it for you.  i think that's pretty ridiculous.  

Tomorrow I have to go to a company to take an assessment test.  Since i don't speak dutch, John has to come with me to translate.  I think that is also pretty stupid. I don't think it's fair that John has to take time off work. 

I'll update my progress on inburgering when I know more about it.

First day of work

Yesterday was my first day at work.  I'm working at a contract research company in Groninge called Syncom.  Pharmaceutical companies (like Wyeth, Pfizer, etc) ask Syncom to make compounds for them.  Syncom is about a 1/2 hour bike ride from our place.  It's a pretty ride along a canal.  I get to see houseboats and a old water tower along the way.  I'll post some pictures later.  

The first day of work went pretty well. My new boss, Minse, introduced me to all 140 people who work at Syncom. I think I remember the names of 4 people. I also figured out how to get from my lab to the storage area, canteen, and coffee machines.  

Adjusting to work at Syncom will take some time.  I'm used to the modern pharmaceutical lab with lots of automated equipment for my personal use.  Syncom doesn't really have that. I will also have to get used to sharing a computer with 3 or 4 other people. I was pretty shocked by that.  I can't even do literature searches on my own.  I have to submit them and some one else does them.  It also seems I will have to do a lot of paperwork as well.  I will focus on learning all sorts of different chemistry and try to develop my career that way.  

The people are really nice and friendly.  Everyone speaks english, but usually for only chemistry related things.  During the breaks and lunch most everyone speaks Dutch.  I hope I can learn dutch fairly quickly.