I am a lonely PhD sitting in Holland and just today the rainy season started again - having experienced Scotland i can say, Holland is even worse. Rain, rain, rain and more rain for days .... nonstop. I have no car, the public transport system is not that good, hence i have to bike to the office every single day in that weather. Which in turn makes me miserable, and when i am miserable i cannot work. so i dont get any work done, my supervisor gets miserable about that, i get even more miserable because the boss is on my back and so it goes on until spring comes :(

any suggestions how to survive the winter depression?

cheerio, charlie

i am a girl - does it make any difference to the rain? ;)

hot chocolate would be great, unfortunately the Dutch are such coffee junkies that it is really difficult to find good hot chocolate. Something like flavoured hot chocolate (i love the white chocolate flavour of the Oreilly(?? something with a big O, in every British supermarket)) is unknown. A trip to Germany to get some would be the only option :(

I just started cycling to uni. It's a new experience arriving at work simoultaneously cold and piss-wet-though from the rain and sweaty and hot from the exertion. I look lovely, I can tell you.

And I just moved into a new flat where I have to pay the heating bills, so I've bought myself

a) a hot water bottle, and
b) a nice fleecy blanket to wrap up in while I'm watching telly.

goretex

Or failing that, a hip flask of whisky. Quick snifter banishes the chills remarkably well. I work at home, but still find a little tot of something about this time helps to cheer things up, I just have to pretend I've been out in the rain.

If you work at home though, you have to pay your own heating bills. I prefer keeping warm at the university's expense.

@juno
at home i have the same problem - just moved into my own flat and everytime i switch on the heater i cringe internally about the heating bill.

maybe getting hot chocolate is worth a trip to Germany, that sounds more delicious by the minute :D

why should i know anyone by this name? holland is quite big you know :P

well to answer it: no, i dont know anybody personally of that name ...

Monkey: I know, I suddenly understand why my mother would always moan about lights being left on. I recommend the fleecy blankets though, they make all the difference when you're curled up on the sofa. I got mine cheap at Woolworths. Do you have Woolworths in Holland? I understand the HEMA is the shop of chioce for household stuff there.

Next purchase for me is some of those woolly bedsocks.

Off topic, sorry... DanB, how do you make this mint aero hot chocolate that you mentioned up there?

@juno
well i dont have a sofa yet (furnishing an entire flat including the kitchen was wayyyyyy over my budget), but i do have a big cuddly blanket, that helps a bit. unfortunately, lying on a carpet all the time is not an option.

yes, we do have HEMA - how come that you are so informed about holland?

regarding the bills: my dad is loving his head off at the moment, because i am complaining now about he used to complain all the time :D

OOH, that must be expensive having to furnish a whole flat. Luckily mine was furnished, though the fridge freezes all my food and the TV reception is crap so I have no choice but to read all evening.

I know about HEMA cos I'm trying to learn Dutch, although my last attempt to write it caused some amusement to another Dutch girl on the forum. I'm reading a book at the moment called "Ik mis alleen de HEMA", which is very good for learning about Dutch habits as well as the language

@juno: why would anyone want to learn dutch unless he is living in the netherlands? it is not spoken by that many people ... i am really curious, maybe you can increase my enthusiasm for that language ;) - i do speak it now after one year of learning, but all the coughing sounds are not good for my ears.

in the netherlands you NEVER get a furnished flat that is affordable to normal people. a renovated flat is already an exception (mine didnt even have a floor ....), actually getting a flat is already a hassle as you have to play the lottery to get one.

Seriously, no floor? How are young people supposed to afford to set themselves up in a new home? That seems harsh.

Actually after a while the coughing sounds break down and you can discern proper words...my mother is Welsh so maybe I have a head start with the necessary phlegm. I read a great description on a website: "Dutch is surprisingly easy to learn. Simply fill your mouth with crisps and then speak English and German simultaneously without breathing".