... the Netherlands!

We're finally kicking off the next phase of our global HR system deployment, and will be having the kickoff meeting at our office in Leiden in the Netherlands. Which makes it my first business trip of the year, my first trip out of country in over a year, my first visit to mainland Europe, and my first visit to a country that doesn't (officially) speak English.

The trip, in March, will be about a week's worth of time, on paper -- leaving Monday morning, arriving in the Netherlands Tuesday morning, meetings Wednesday-Saturday, official sightseeing Sunday, flying home Monday (and arriving home Monday, thanks to the wonders of time zones).

I fly via O'Hare, alas, with a plane change. 

Various questions I need to get resolved:

• Will my Blackberry work (voice, data)?
• Need a quick touring/translation book (yes, they mostly all can speak English, and yes, I'll generally be with other travelers. It's both polite and safe to have something that I can use to speak/decipher Dutch, other than three years of German in high school).
• Need to figure out my adapters for using whatever they use for power outlets there.

That all said, my biggest irk is that, since I really have to use the company travel agency, it's like pulling teeth to do an upgrade, even with all my travel miles, other than at the gate. So I'll likely be crushed into steerage during the trip, both ways.

Still - exciting!

Filed under :: Job Jollies :: Travel
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Dutch is very simular to German in structure and if you understand English, Latin, and German you should not have to much of a problem navagating signs and such. Like German, Dutch gloms a bunch of words together to make one big word for something(My fave was seeing the Dutch version of Sewage Treatment Plant which was all one word).

Numbers sound like German.

English is the second language of the Netherlands and it was not an issue talking to folks though it sounds like you may just want a basic primer of the Dutch (again, listening to it it will sound like Shakespearian English in how the sentence is structured, but it won't take that long get it) and the "Pleases" and "Thank Yous".

Go out and buy a universal adaptor plug kit, should be cheap.

Europe uses a Different Cell Phone protocal, but if you have a Phone with a Chip you can pop it out and get a rental for the few days that you are there.

Blackberry makes a Uni adaptor.

I actually know a number of Dutch (worked for one at one point), and I know that it's a Germanic tongue -- and that most Dutch have English as a second language. I tihnk it would still be at least polite to have a simple phrase book, on the off chance it's needed.

I have a universal plug kit (from my Palm days). Thought I'd do some research to figure out which adapter they use.

I'm told my BB should be okay, but I have the Network / Telephony Elves checking it out.