Rotterdam again & again

or how come I became a constant visitor to Holland...

Life really is full of surprises. Since I went to Holland for the first time (in August), I have landed there another five times (in 3 months!).
I didn't really like the city when I first saw it. But it seems, it really has some charm. Spacious parks, the old colourful harbour, and a small old town, full of narrow streets and artistic shops... The most beautiful parts of the city were damaged in the WWII, and afterwards only new, modern buildings were built. Fortunately, Rotterdam is not only about high glass buildings and frightening skyscrapers. There are nice and cosy places, too. The top of my favourits' list are the traditional Dutch houses. I just love them!

But that's of course not the reason, why I keep visiting Holland so often. It turned out sometimes you find the special person far away form your home. And the you suddenly change all your plans. So I'm moving to Holland in 2 weeks!
During my visits I met many locals, although it's not easy to get to know a Dutch person in Rotterdam. The half of the citizens are emigrants or people from emigrant families. Walking down the streets will provide you with a real mix of many nationalities from around the world. And the Dutch language is not the one you here most often. English, Arabic, German or even Polish are sometimes more noticeable then the local language. Together with the mix of nationalities came to Rotterdam also a mix of various cuisines. There are plenty shops with Chinese, Moroccan, Indian or Polish food. Very popular are also shops with traditional wedding clothes from India or Morocco.

Soon I will find out more about the culture and local people, things I like and don't like about living in this country. So far there's one thing that definitely puts me of – the local bureaucracy! If you are a new-comer, you need to wait ages before you get the necessary documents. Queues, complicated forms, multitude of documents that has to be deliver to the local offices... Well, I hope I will be ready with that soon.