It's been a great day for the most part (except for the little incident I had on the phone with regards to the level of my Dutch competence earlier on). Well you see, I'm after one of these babies.
A Dutch one to be exact. Now let me mention that this whole Dutch passport application saga has been haunting me for months on end. Strangely, I've felt a lack of confidence and fear of failure. It's quite an ordeal, as it's all done in a foreign language, I HAVE to apply for this and get it for fear of continuing on a South African passport for the rest of my life and denying my children the opportunity of EU citizenship. We (the girls and I, as Bryn already has a British passport) qualify for this application due to the length of time spent in the country. Time is ticking as we won't be here forever and the pressure is most certainly tangible. Today was the day I had decided to get the process in motion....and the lady on the phone was NO help at all and did her best to make me stumble upon my (Dutch) words and feel like a failure before I actually had a chance to prove myself. I wasn't going to allow her to get me down or break my spirits. I kept going all day; visiting the town hall, crying on Fiona's shoulder, attempting another few phone calls to town hall workers, saying a few prayers, and sobbing some more on the phone to Bryn, and then finally managing to find the right forms on the internet. I downloaded them, printed them, filled them out and sent them on their merry little way. That's just the beginning of quite a drawn out process--an exam, then the paperwork continues for a good few months and then it's up to the Queen to decide whether I qualify or not. Then I attend a ceremony to become Dutch. This is proving to rock my comfort zone boat just a tad, which is not a bad thing. I have the confidence to go through with it and am not too concerned about the contents of the exam. I've lived in Holland for nearly 6 years and know the in's and out's of Dutch society and culture now. Afterall, we've rented a few houses here, eventually buying one of our own here, renovated it here, had a baby here, and are bringing up a family here. I know what I'm doing! I can do this. In Dutch too:)
No comments:
Post a Comment