holland

i have actually spent quite a lot of time in this country over the years. added all up i am sure it would be a fairly substantial number of months. but i dont ever really "get" holland. being here feels normal, i know my way around the major cities, i know the food and I have a surrogate home to stay in. Yet i could never imagine living here. i think it is just far too clean, that is surely the big difference between here and england. holland is clean and orderly, and the people are friendly and polite, but (like in england) you never seem to really get to know them, they are somehow always a step removed, and distant.
my days here are always the same, they are spent chatting with people who have known me since birth, eating, and watching roland garros. For some strange twist of timing, i happen to always be here while the great competition is taking place, and as the people i stay with are major tennis fans, who always spend some time watching the matches, especially when Rafael Nadal is playing. Despite several years of exposure, I barely understand the complex scoring system and need it explain to me yet again, every year. i dont know exactly why i am so slow on this matter, but i have given up worrying about it.
then, after tennis, i go for a walk along the canals and marvel at the incredible planning that must go into building these houses on the narrowest of land bridges, and on mini islands separated from the road by draw bridges and moats. the gardens are pretty and immaculate. i appreciate them as an outsider who doesnt understand about such matters can, with learned understanding. i throw bread to the cute ducks on their water nest and observe their peculiar method of communication. the canal in the backyard is patrolled by an authoritarian goose who quickly informs me that i have stepped to close to the nest, and i am obliged to take a step backwards. the after saying hello to the cats, i go back inside to play wordoku.