Back Again

Vautrin · 01-18-2006, 04:12 PM

Had a wonderful time with my gf, who was here for almost a month. And of course the less joyous aspects (3 tests) I had to take care of as well.

Now, I am aware there will be a zillion posts for me to read - so what did I miss here? And how was your trip to Europe DA?

Merika · 01-18-2006, 09:17 PM

I didn't see you. Gave you a big welcome back on another thread. Hope you run into it.

I knew you were planning another trip...I just didn't think you were staying so long. Are you going to tell us about your journey???

DA should be back posting in a day or two....he went to Europe and met up with Meanon. Isn't that cool?

Vautrin · 01-19-2006, 03:56 AM

This time my girlfriend came over to the Netherlands. To freeze her butt off (it was about 35 degrees centigrade = 97 degrees Fahrenheit in South Africa). Over here it was freezing, and we even had a bit of snow.

We have been to a lot of cities, she has met my parents (and wants to adopt them

). Visited a lot of museums. Sadly my exams interfered painfully, so that took away quite a bit of time for us.

Europe is totally diffferent from the US, barring a few towns that have not been completely revamped since colonial times.
Different from South Africa, if we except Cape Town. So there was a lot to see, as the atmosphere in the smaller towns (anything but the four major cities in the Netherlands) is quite calm.

It is cool that DA met up with Meanon. Hope he had a great time

Merika · 01-19-2006, 08:44 AM

I think they met in Brussels and he met both Meanon and her sister.

I'm glad she has met your family and all went well with that. If you decided to live together or marry....where do you think you would live as a couple or later -as a family?

Man, you guys must have gobs of money getting to travel like that. NO FAIR!

Vautrin · 01-19-2006, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merika

Man, you guys must have gobs of money getting to travel like that. NO FAIR!

Not really. My "income" is only a few hundred Euros a month (it is a loan at 6% interest). Tres exciting.

And she makes decent money, but that is in South Africa. Not much by American or European standards. So we save quite rigorously to allow travelling back and forth.

Have not decided yet. But probably in the US.
I imagine the bureaucracy being involved in such matters to be terrible. And as we do not share a same nationality, it might create a lot of issues with immigration and such.

Yesterday heard a story of a girl (17 years of age) who will be deported to Turkey because her father (who is Turkish) had paid a fee a bit too late 4 years ago. She was born and raised in the Netherlands, and does not even speak a word Turkish. But that is the Dutch Immigration Service. So you can imagine that I am far from optimistic about the Dutch system. As for the US and South Africa? Only time will tell.

Merika · 01-19-2006, 09:42 AM

HAHA....the US has illegal immigrants who live and work here for generations. You wouldn't have a bit of problems.

I think the US advantage, and perhaps the same is true in South Africa...don't know.....but we have a vast amount of land which isn't even developed. I live in a city of 1.8 million people and they decided we needed more room. They simply began to develop hundreds of acres they had on the outskirts by building a ton of office parks, condos and a European style mall. People are moving in there by the hundreds daily.

I can drive to my parents house and go 50 miles without seeing a house or any development. And this is Florida which is considered a well populated state.

Vautrin · 01-19-2006, 09:48 AM

Hope you are right Merika. But if I were to practice as a psychologist, I would need to be registered by a ton of authorities, hence at least I should be there legally. And registration is compulsory in the US, unlike the Netherlands. So I have no choice.

I am not suited to do the cleaning of a congressman and have sex with him (or her) for $30 a day. Although I am not happy with US politics and political climate, at least culturally speaking it has many things to offer, that are not available in Europe.

Merika · 01-19-2006, 09:56 AM

Good Lord...you are Dutch. You shouldn't have a problem whatsoever in immigrating here legally.

You can even do it ONLINE.... http://uscis.gov/graphics/

All you need is a green card and you can do anything here but vote.

Vautrin · 01-19-2006, 10:02 AM

Thanks for the link. I am always paranoid about bureaucracy. Probably because the Dutch excel at bureaucratic idiocy - they have made it into an art, as the example of the 17-year old girl earlier in the thread shows.

Merika · 01-19-2006, 10:08 AM

I've spoken with both Meanon and Twinkle about how difficult it is to even purchase or lease a place to live in Europe. That would drive me insane. Here....you give them the money and move in the next day. For $10 extra bucks...you can also get all your utilities turned on same day. No papers, no filing.... the government has nothing to do with it.

My Dad lives on about 80 acres. He can build, put in a pool, make any improvements....if he's got the money.....it's all good.

Duke · 01-19-2006, 01:24 PM

So are you going to post a picture of you and your gf?

Merika · 01-19-2006, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duke

So are you going to post a picture of you and your gf?

Did ANYONE invite you to post on our private thread here?????

:P

Duke · 01-19-2006, 02:26 PM

No but that's never stopped me before ;-)

Merika · 01-19-2006, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duke

No but that's never stopped me before ;-)

Did you notice the colors in your car and in your avatar are the same?