Today is the last day of zomervakantie.

Finally. *grins*

Tomorrow the world will right itself as husbands go off to work and children go back to school and mothers across the region will wave everyone off with a tear in their eye and when the door is closed…they will dance down the hall and enjoy the first solitary cup of tea of the new school year.

This has been a great summer. The weather has cooperated for the most part. We spent two weeks in the south of France, enjoying the beach and the sun. It was a nice resort but I think that next summer, we’ll go to Croatia.

I’ve been pretty busy with J’s football team and the football club in general. We’re all working hard on recruitment, training and the not so fun behind the scenes stuff that come with any organization. I’m having a great time and J is having a blast playing. It’s a really good thing for both of us.

Knitting is knitting. I’m working on a pair of socks for an old friend from high school’s wife. He saw  them on my Facebook and thought his wife would like a pair. Of course I said yes! Any wife with a husband that thinks of her like that deserves the joy of handknitted socks. I’m also working on an Alice Starmore sweater for both E and J. I love her patterned stuff and her colourwork stuff is just inspiring. Between her and EZ, I’m wanting to become a better knitter. That’s not a bad thing.

It doesn’t matter how long I’m here, the entitlement attitude and general whiny-ass outlook of some expats never ceases to amaze me. One thing I’ve learned is that our own attitude towards life determines our success and/or failure in life. Life as an expat/immigrant is hard. No doubt about that. Especially when you move to country with a different language than your own mother tongue. Cultural differences can be frustrating and confusing at best and maddening at worst. If you are invited by a country to come work there, I think it’s only right to expect that country to sweeten the pot a little. After all, they need your skills and expertise. So yes, tax breaks and usually economic perks are the norm.

But if you move for a relationship, then no, you’re not going to get those breaks. You choose to come here for love. You’re not actually bringing anything to your new country of residence. That’s especially true if you refuse to learn the language. And if you refuse to learn the language or accept that things are not ‘just like home’, don’t be surprised if your life here is extremely hard. Furthermore, if you can’t be bothered to do those things, don’t be shocked when finding employment is even harder. Companies don’t want people that reek of negativity and loathing for their surroundings. And if it’s a matter of survival for your family that you work, you walk into every interview radiating hope and enthusiasm, no matter what the position is.

I know I complain sometimes about the long hours E works. It gets lonely sometimes and frustrating. But at the end of the day, I’m proud of him. He works hard and provides for his family. I’m a lucky woman to be married to such a man. I may not have everything my heart desires but I have everything that I need and a good bit of what I want. And at the end of the day, my washing machine works, if it breaks, I can replace it and I’m not getting cash advances off our credit card to go to the laundromat.

I’ve always been a firm believer in following your life dreams, but at some point in time, if you have to choose between your dreams and supporting your family, you choose your family. Doesn’t it just suck being a grown-up?

Tomorrow we’ll take J to his first day at his new school. Then I’ll bike over to the gym to register my fat tookus and hope that by Christmas, I’ll have lost some of this extra baggage I’m carrying around. Then I’ll come home, work on laundry and see if I can get this house back into the school year routine. It’s going to be a bit different this year, since J won’t be coming home for lunch. I’ll miss him but I’ll also cherish the quiet time to get things done.

In which our heroine attempts to explain the ins and outs of governing, Gone Dutch.

The Netherlands is a bit weird. It’s both a Constitutional Monarchy and a Parliamentary Democracy. The government here tries to get a broad consensus from both the parliament and the people on important issues. It’s not for nothing that the Netherlands was voted 3^rd most democratic country in 2007.

Our official head of state is Queen Beatrix. She does have actual government powers. She approves a new cabinet, accepts the resignation of a cabinet if the government falls, and can veto laws. She is not allowed to propose laws or amendments. I have a lot of respect for the Queen. She’s a very intelligent and politically savvy woman. She holds double degrees in political science and law from the University of Leiden and speaks 6 languages fluently.

The head of government is the prime minister. Right now, that’s Jan Peter Balkenede or Harry Potter if you ask the Belgians. The PM is usually the head of the largest party of the current coalition. He doesn’t have anymore powers than the rest of the ministers.

The vice prime minister is usually the head of the second largest party in the current coalition. Right now, we have 2 VPMs.

The Cabinet is usually 13 to 16 ministers, a bunch of secretaries and a couple of ‘members without portfolios”. Pretty much the same departments that the US has. State, Interior, Transportation, Education… you get the general idea. More on the formation and functions of various people later.

The Cabinet answers to Parliament. Parliament is made up of 2 chambers. The First Chamber, or upper house is 75 members chosen by the provincial assemblies. They can only veto laws and they can only veto a law 3 times. If it passes the lower house a fourth time, they have no choice but to pass it onto the Queen. The people have spoken. However, if the Queen vetoes it, it’s dead. It has to be reworked and repassed until she’s happy.

The Second Chamber, or lower house, has 150 members that are directly elected every 4 years or whenever the cabinet falls. The cabinet falls if a vote of no confidence is carried by the lower house. The cabinet then submits it’s resignation to the Queen. She either accepts its or tells them to go back, put on their grownup under-roos and fix it. We’re on Balkenende 4 and none of his parliaments have ever made it the full 4 years. Take from that what you will.

Because we have so many different parties, no one party has controlled the government since the 1800s. The three main ‘families’ of political parties are the Christian Democrats, the Social Democrats, and the Liberals. Currently, there are 10 different parties in parliament, ranging from the Christian Democrat Appeal, to the Labor party (PvdA), to the Liberals(VVD) to the Party for the Animals. Ok, so the last one only has 2 seats out of 75 but the animals have representation.

Now, I hear you asking over there, “How in the name of Pete does this work? How do things ever get done?” Well, the short answer is, “Slowly”. Let’s talk about the long answer, ok?

First, everyone runs to the polls and votes. The number of votes needed to win a seat in parliament changes every election. It’s based on the total number of votes divided by 150. A party figures it will get X number of seats this election and puts it’s top people in those spots. With the party leader at #1 of course. You can either vote JUST for a party or for individuals in that party. If no-one gets the required number of votes, then the first X people get the seats. With me so far? Good, because here is where it gets fun.

Now let’s say it takes 50,000 votes to win a seat. Party ABC gets 345,000 votes. That’s 6 seats and change. What are we going to do about those 45,000 ‘extra’ votes? Just throw them away? Of course not! This is the Netherlands, we don’t throw anything away. Ever. So we wait until everything is counted and look, we have a few seats left over! So we go down the list. Who has the most ‘left-over’ votes? First in line is party ABC. One seat for you. And so on and so on until all seats are awarded.

Ok, voting over, all seats awarded. Now what? It’s coalition time, baby.

(TO BE CONTINUED…)