Work Travel Chapter 1 of many, or: An Australian in Amsterdam … and Madrid, Stockholm, Brussels, Oslo, Milan etc.

Over the next nine weeks, I am traveling all over Europe for work, conducting workshops to determine the impact of new technology and processes on my client’s different offices. I am sure to run into a few adventures along the way, so here we go…

Hola Madrid! Y Buen Provecho

When it comes to European cuisine, Spain’s is probably close to the top of many people’s lists, while the Netherlands’ is … probably not. So in my first trip traveling with Dutchies, it was interesting to see the difference in cuisine quality coming into play …

I flew to Madrid with one of my favourite work colleagues and friends, Arno. Arriving a few hours before our session started, we stopped in a shopping centre close to the office for lunch. We went to a little restaurant – so this wasn’t the food court, but it was hardly a Michelin Star restaurant.

Nevertheless, when the food came out and Arno tasted it, he was delighted. “This is delicious!” he said. “It actually has some flavour in it, which is nice.”

Yep. That’s a direct quote. I wrote it down as soon as he said it.

He went on, “I wonder what it’s like for guys like Santiago [Spanish colleague working with us in Amsterdam] who come to the Netherlands and have to eat our tasteless food?”

“Umm … it’s not just guys from Spain,” I explained to Arno. “It’s pretty much every expat. In fact, at most expat get togethers we find ourselves falling to this conversation, much the same way the Dutch like to talk about the weather.” [Saturday night drinks – case in point.]

Service with a Smile

Then came the next astounding thing about Spain: customer service! I had ordered a salad, but when it came out, it had croutons all through it. While in Amsterdam I would have sighed and thought, “Why bother?” I turned to the waiter, and in Spanish apologised I hadn’t realised there were croutons in the salad, and I was gluten intolerant, would he mind taking it back and giving me one without croutons?

Done! Didn’t even bat an eyelid! Only Arno did;-)

I don’t know how they do it!

Plaza Mayor - late at night

After a full day of workshops, from 9am – 6pm, the foreigners and Madrileños agreed to head out for dinner together. I was really excited until they suggested our meeting time be 9pm.

9pm? That’s time to wind down and get ready for bed! They want to meet then, AND go out for dinner? What time would we finish up? How could I get eight hours of sleep in, and still be at work by 9am the next day?

Apparently, I couldn’t. People came late, and we didn’t eat until 10pm (by which time, I was STARVING) and it was later still by the time we got back to the hotel …

Impressing Dutch People with my Language Skills

The Dutch are renowned for their excellent language skills. Most Dutch people I meet are completely fluent in English, and often know a few more languages too. But in Spain it was my time to shine:) Finally, when my colleagues were talking about my language skills it wasn’t, “Monica, you need to practise your Dutch!” rather, “Wow – I’m really impressed with your Spanish! Without you, I might have been stranded at the airport or starving in a restaurant!”

I think we’re all going to be in the same position when we go to Stockholm this week though …