One of the hardest things about leaving the world of work and moving to Amsterdam has been adjusting my personal expectations about time and productivity. While I stake no claim to the mantle of efficiency expert or workaholic, I think I’ve always been a get things done kind of person. I love making to-do lists and probably get way too much satisfaction from crossing things off. There is undoubtedly something Freudian about that, but what it is slips my mind. That’s why it is a bit frustrating to come to the end of a day and realize I’ve only completed a third of my list. Where did my day go? Why did it take so long to do so little? Does Dutch time work differently than it did back home? It’s not like I’ve been sitting at home eating bon bons and watching Days of our Lives with Dutch subtitles.
What I’m trying to accept is that it just takes longer to do things here. A recent trip to the post office, for example, took an hour and half. It’s not that the Dutch are inefficient. Far from it, the postal clerks were speedy and helpful. And there wasn’t a long wait in line; I was able to get in and out in less than ten minutes. But being in a new city and country, it was necessary to first find the post office. Then it was necessary to walk the seven blocks to get there — with only a few stops to admire the vibrant stained glass in a doorway or the interesting architectural details on a row of gables. It was an enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes. At least it was until I checked my list — no wonder I’m not crossing much off!
Earlier this week I thought my time problem may have been solved. With the arrival of our sea shipment, we started using our old alarm clocks. I plugged them in with the appropriate adaptor, set the time and went off to unwrap another 900 dishes — I never realized just how much stuff we really have until now. Walking by the bedroom a few hours later, I noticed that the clock was 20 minutes slow. “Must have set it wrong,” I muttered to myself. I fixed the time and returned to my boxes. As I was stumbling to bed an hour later, I saw that the alarm clock and my watch were ten minutes apart. Certain I had set the alarm clock correctly this time, I compared a minute on my watch with a minute on the clock and learned that an alarm clock minute was equal to a minute and twelve seconds on the watch.
For a few sleepy moments I envisioned a day filled with extra time. The proper calculations eluded me, but I figured the alarm clock would give me at least a couple of extra hours every day. I could sleep a little longer, run an errand or two and still have a full day to do all the things on my list. Or I could fill the time with reading and going to museums and have no guilt over not getting the housework done. Oh the possibilities!
As I set the alarm, it dawned on me that my magical clock wouldn’t help much if all the other clocks in the world didn’t keep the same time. The girls wouldn’t get to school on time, lunch would turn into dinner and my extra time would be wasted trying to explain why I was always late for everything. I grudgingly spent the next five minutes trying to calculate what time I needed to set the alarm clock that would conform to the rigid strictures of standard time.
That night I dreamed of setting up a new time system where everyone adds ten minutes to every hour. If we can arbitrarily change time twice a year with daylight saving time, why can’t we add some time to each hour? If everyone agreed, we could all enjoy the benefits of more time. Simple, right?
I have since purchased a new Dutch alarm clock that keeps the same time as everyone else. But I think I need to work harder to recognize the value in the journey, not just the destination. I need to relax and let the girls stop and examine things along the way and not just focus on where we are going. I’m sure the next trip to the post office will take less time, but I need to stop and enjoy the view of that tree lined canal and not just rush home. I’m close, but I still hear the siren song of that to-do list. I’m not ready to give up my list yet, but perhaps I can start by putting less on it.
February 16, 2007 at 9:44 am
You could go with Douglas Adams’ (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) “Time is an illusion; lunch-time doubly so” philosophy. That’s probably not practical, though.
I believe you’re in the right frame of mind and location, however, to especially enjoy a delightful book, “Einstein’s Dreams” by Alan Lightman. This is a seductive little work of imagination that supposes that the young Einstein had a series of 30 dreams leading up to his publishing the Theory of Relativity, with each dream picturing a world in which time operates in a different way and the subsequent effect on people. The dreams are recounted in the book with each a separate, evocatively-written “chapter”, usually only a handful of paragraphs each. Despite the brevity of each entry, you can easily spend the rest of the day after reading one, simply absorbing and pondering the glimpse of an alternative reality. I think the book will especially resonate with you in your current transition to a different type of structure in your life.
Additionally, Lightman’s lovingly detailed descriptions of street scenes in Bern are marvelous and your descriptions of your new city remind me of these.
You can find “Einstein’s Dreams” here on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Dreams-Alan-Lightman/dp/140007780X/sr=8-1/qid=1171639940/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-9833981-8644962?ie=UTF8&s=books
February 16, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Ahhhh, You learned about the other difference between European power and USA power. It’s not just a voltage difference, it’s a frequency difference as well. In the USA, it’s 60 hertz, or 60 cycles per second. In Europe it 50 hertz.
Why the difference? Thought you would never ask. The USA is supposed to have picked 60 hertz because it seemed to make sense that if our clocks have 60 minutes with 60 seconds, that 60 Hertz was the logical standard to use.
The down side was that from a “Danger” side of things, it’s supposed to be easier to be electrocuted by 60 Hertz as compared to 50 Hertz. This has to do with the human bodies muscle response to electrical stimuli at different frequencies. As it turns out, at 60 Hertz, our muscles tend to contract with more force and our own body signals to “Let Go” get overridden.
So, you grab a 60 hertz electrical wire, you have a harder time letting, then if it was 50 hertz.
Is the difference day and night; well no. Both can be dangerous. But then, I am sure there was someone one on one side of the pond that said, “We don’t have to be just like them doe we? No, we will be different”. Or then again, maybe it was mistake in the instructions.
Anyway, keep sharing, and if you ever want to know why 220 Volts verse 120 Volts, just let me know.