Weekend adventures

Last weekend was again quite interesting. It started Friday night, when my colleague celebrated her birthday in a bar in Philly. The most ‘Americanized’ conversation of the evening occurred when a girl entered, who had just had surgery to get new boobs and she was in the middle of a divorce. It was like Sex & The City was being recorded next to me!

Our ING Direct soccer team had to play against Bank of America on Saturday evening. On the road towards the game I realized that I am actually a little Americanized, because it was more then an hour to drive which is long for a 50-minute soccer game, but I thought it wasn’t that weird. Unfortunately, we lost, basically due to our chaotic strategy… I still have to get used to the ‘American Football’ strategy (run towards the ball, no matter what), the mandatory shin protectors for indoor (where sliding is prohibited) and the indoor field which is round, like a Ice Hockey Field).

While driving home, I was on a road of which I thought the speed limit was way too low... until I crashed into a huge water pool – so big you could sail in it. This was a good test for my new car, only two wheel covers were damaged. After the car was done recovering from his swim, I realized that it’s kind of strange how bad the road maintenance is in this country. It is the richest country in the world, and almost everyone has a car (I have seen how difficult it is to live without a car here!), but one of the first thing you will notice when you arrive in this country is the bad road maintenance – holes everywhere. It differs from state to state (like I said: the US consists of 50 countries, but the 11 states I have driven trough barely had any good roads. Last week I was in a traffic jam towards work (which is an exception) which was caused by remainders of a car accident … but the cops and involved cars were long gone. Some parts were moved to the crash barrier (under which the entire bumper) but many parts just lay on the road. I understand that it must be difficult because the country is extremely big and on some point ‘empty’, but lives are at stake… however, this keeps the taxes down. And I’ll try to stick to the speed limits!

The next road is well maintained:

I finally got a decent car!

After two months filled with bad luck and time-consuming car searches, I finally got a decent car. Last weekend wasn’t very successful: after going to the DMV last Saturday (it’s almost like a tradition) where I passed my Leaner’s Permit test, I was told that the state of Pennsylvania had changed the law the day before, meaning that I was no longer eligible for a Driver’s license! In other words, this is going to cost me about 30% more on car insurance.

Bureaucracy is the only factor in the way here. Insurance companies think I am more dangerous than a 16-year old native American, who has to pass 18 simple questions and a short driving test (to give an example: what should you do when you want to make a left turn, but there is oncoming traffic? (a) hit the gas; (b) make a u-turn; (c) make a left, hoping that everyone stops; or (d) yield.

Saturday afternoon seemed more successful: I found a very nice Honda Civic, it only had to get detailed so I could pick it up Monday morning at 9:00 am. When I arrived at the dealer, he told me he sold the car to someone else!!

Tuesday night: another try. This time it was really successful, I found a very nice Honda Accord! After two months, I know how to play the game here: check the Carfax report, check the VIN Number on the car, and if the dealer doesn’t agree with your price, just drive away (he will jump for your car to get you back!). I could pick up the car on Wednesday night, but colleagues were sure something had to happen to keep my bad luck in shape: a plane will probably fall down from the sky on my Honda. However, it was still there, and I really like the car! So what have I learned in these two months?
• Don’t trust any car dealer!
• If you want to go live in the US, please don’t move to Pennsylvania – they make insane laws and hire retarded people to execute them
• Keep smiling – after rain, the sun will come up! (literally translated from a Dutch saying)

I also realized that I am not yet Americanized: I went shopping at the IKEA (exactly the same as in Europe), I bought clothes at the H&M and Zara instead of the Macy’s, and during lunch breaks I still don’t eat chips or pizza. And, I don’t drive an American car anymore, but most of my colleagues don’t do that either!

This weekend, I have a birthday party in Philly, an ING Direct soccer game and next week I’ll be watching the Philadelphia Flyers again! I’ll also have a dinner with some Dutchies in Philly and Friday my parents are coming. Time flies!

Check the Honda pictures! And there’s also a picture of my new shower curtain – bright orange :)

From Winter to Summer...

Over here, it's only a matter of waiting three days!

The Philadelphia Flyers

Last Thurday, I went to a Philadelphia Flyers game to see my first Ice Hockey game in the US. However, before I talk about this experience, let me share the coolest word in the American language with you: To Fatfinger. This word is used (even in business) when someone made a typing error! “Yes, there is an error in that document;. Someone fatfingered it!” and I know what you are thinking now: yes, there are enough fat people in this country that would make a lot of these errors… the word can also be used as in fatfinger dialing (calling the wrong person: “Sorry, I fatfinger dialed you!”) or fatfinger text messaging for typing errors in a text message.

Back to business. Last Thursday, the Philadelphia Flyers played against the San Jose Sharks. A colleague of mine has season tickets, and he offered to take me once for a ‘true American experience’. This experience starts when you enter the stadium: entertainment everywhere! Live music, TV’s everywhere, food everywhere (of course) and many excited fans. At 7:00 pm, we walked towards our seats – they were at the top of the stadium, providing an amazing view! So far, no real difference with a Dutch soccer game… until, after about 10 minutes, something happened that characterizes Ice Hockey: out of nowhere, a fight started. Usually, there is a small reason such as a tackle. Two referees stand next to the fighters, to prevent other players from joining the fight. However, the fighters can continue for a few minutes! The audience (20.000 people) stands up to encourage the fighters to go on. Fighting is illegal; however, the penalty is very low compared to Olympic or European rules (where they eliminate fighters immediately). Most teams even have one or more fighters in their selection (called Enforcers)!

In general, what I noticed about American’s popular sports (American Football, Basketball, Baseball, Ice Hockey, Golf, and Boxing) is that the focus is more on short, powerful moments and physique power, than technique and endurance. It is off course possible to use your technique to get the puck from the opponent; but isn’t it much easier to give him a body check, so you can just walk away with the puck? Moreover, the substitutions go on and on (soccer has a maximum of three per game) and the games have many time outs, next to two or three longer breaks.

In the second and third period, we were able to get some seats next to the ‘field’ which gave again some unique views. Another fun fact: a colleague of mine thought a Flyers game would be so romantic, he brought his wife to a game… on Valentine’s day!

Unfortunately, the Flyers have been playing pretty bad this month – they lost this one (1-3), it was the 10th loss in a row after a very good start of the season. The following movie shows a few body checks, encouraging fans, and the amazing tune that they play before the game starts after a time-out – you’ll recognize it!




And click here for the pictures of the Flyers! (a diashow will start)

South Philly

On the third Monday in February, people in the US celebrate Presidents Day: the birthday of George Washington. His actual birthday is February 22, but over here they thought that the third Monday was easier to remember. Being American or not, this means: a long weekend!

This gave me some time to check out some places in Philly, and, since I finally got my Social Security Number: get a PA drivers license! Last Saturday, on my way to the DMV (where they give away licenses, once you have all the administration) I thought: what is going to go wrong this time? Maybe they don’t understand my VISA status, maybe I do not have enough prove that I actually reside at my current address? No, it should all be set. Then I arrived at the DMV office… closed. Simple, it’s Presidents Day next Monday, and we feel like having a long weekend but we are too lazy to put it on the DMV website. Thanks guys! Well, the longer I don’t have a car, the more money I save, let’s stay positive…

I was glad to live in the center of the city: it gives me the opportunity to walk to nice places. Last Sunday I scheduled a walk to see some interesting places in South Philly. Close to my apartment is ‘Camac Street’, which completely changes the street image: from a busy street filled with people, cars and even bikes, you walk into a quiet European-look-a-like street, with old houses and beautiful architecture. Camac Street's nickname is ‘Avenue of the Artists’, because the artists used to live here. Today, it is filled with restaurants, bars, and even a law office!

From Camac Street I walked to South Street. This street is familiar because of the wall paintings and other forms of art. Walls are filled with art to prevent graffiti, which gives a unique street image! With a unique store: ‘Utrecht Art Supplies’ (Utrecht is a city in the Netherlands). You can also see artists opening up their garden with different forms of art; a brand-new condo building next to an old, closed house; and many sport fields.

I walked on to 9th street, also known as the Italian Market. This is the oldest and largest outdoor-market in the US! Like the ‘Albert Cuyp’ in Amsterdam. After walking around (I didn’t really need anything, except for a car but unfortunately they didn’t sell them) I walked to the end of the market towards one of the most famous places in Philly: the corner of Pat’s and Gino’s. Two Cheesesteak rivals, always challenging each other to make the best Cheesesteak – which is simply a sandwich with steak, melted cheese, and (optional) onions. Sounds simple, but it is very famous over here! (and very tasty!!!!) Last summer I visited Pat’s, so this time I went to Gino’s.

The way of ordering this Cheesesteak is just as famous as the Cheesesteak itself. Choose your cheese, and with- or without onions. For example, a Cheesesteak with American Cheese without onions is an ‘American without’, and that's all you should say. If you make a mistake while ordering, or you don’t do it fast enough: no problem, just go to the back of the line, practice it, and try again. Both places were extremely busy. Conclusion: bad service, long waiting times, and it wasn’t cheap ($ 7,50); in other words: name branding is a great business model!

Camac Street:



You think you arrived in a European city...


Until you see those flags again!




Camac Street: Law Office


Camac Street: Law Office


Utrecht Art Supplies!




Art on South Street:














A brand new condo building... next to this old, closed house


The Italian Market


Philly Cheesesteak!


How to order a Cheesesteak


Geno's








And it's rival Pat's


Sport fields in South Philly




They can also be art!

ING Direct Soccer Game

Last Monday, I expected a Dutch experience: my first indoor soccer game. However, this wasn't what I expected; more Americanized than this is impossible.



It started with the ride towards the game. A colleague offered to drive me there, which was in a Hummer H2. Once I arrived, I met the team. I did not speak to everyone yet, but I haven’t even seen one American: people came from Norway, Germany, Jamaica, Curacao… And now a Dutchie as well! “No pressure Daniel, just play like Kloif!” “You mean Cruijff?”

When the game started, I was on the side for a few minutes to analyze the strategy of this team. In the first moments I thought I watched an American Football game: everyone ran towards the ball with no strategy at all. When there was a little space, someone would try to shoot on the goal like crazy! One of the reasons causing this behavior was the extremely small room we played in. Despite the amateurish level, everyone was very fanatical and really tried hard to score. The referee was a volunteer but hard-working, serious ref. They know what authority is over here: when the referee whistles, he is right about his decision – period. However, the referee was too lazy to take the basketball net out of the way, which led to funny situations.

After the game a teammate asked me if the story is true: “can you really legally buy and smoke weed in Amsterdam?” When I told him about the menu that you get in a coffeeshop (indicating all the types of weed and magic mushrooms), what you can find in the red light district, and the amazing parties in Amsterdam, he suddenly understood why the Netherlands had never won the World Championship Soccer! Maybe he’s right…

Another nice quote about soccer: "It's one of the simplest games you'll ever play (a ball, a net, and you!). ING DIRECT is one of the simplest concepts in banking--no headaches, no branches, great rates. And you'll get a kick out of both!" You can see the result of our game below. I assume I don’t have to explain that we were the visitors! See more pictures by clicking here!

Bad things come in three’s

There is this saying in the US: Bad things come in three’s. In my case, I have had bad luck two times since I arrived in the US: in my second week, my notebook broke down. In my third week, I bought this huge lemon (which completely broke down in the fourth week). So, what was about to happen next?

Last week, I woke up in the middle of the night by a loud noise and streaming water. Still half-asleep, I walked to the bathroom where I found a huge hole in the ceiling, two layers of the ceiling had crashed on my toilet, and gallons of water covered the floor. After reviewing this for a minute and wondering why this had to happen to me (instead of one of the 240 other apartments in this building), I walked to the concierge to close the water supply in the apartments above me. Everything got fixed within a few days; all that’s left is a hole in my ceiling. And the damage wasn’t that bad, which is the benefit of renting a furnished place: all I brought is clothes and a notebook.

Last Saturday, I was ready for another try to buy a car. This time the search focused on guarantee instead of a nice looking car. After founding one (a strong Mazda), it seemed as if moving to PA wasn’t a good idea: you can’t register a car without a driver’s license from PA, and because I don’t have a social security number yet, I can’t get a driver’s license. Welcome to the bureaucracy.

Sometimes, on moments like this, with all the bad luck, you wish to be back in the Netherlands where you know everything: make a Dutch meal, watch a movie on my own TV set, negotiate with car dealers in my own language, and go to a local club, without all the trouble: next to the full time job, I have to speak in a different language 24/7, I have new people around me, live in a new city, in a new apartment, and hundreds of other small differences between the US and the Netherlands. But then, I realize the amazing experience I’m enjoying, which will stick with me the rest of my life. Laughing about this bad luck is the best solution, it can always get worse. Last Friday, I had lunch with a colleague from another office. When I met him, he said: “Someone told me you should tell me two stories: something about your car, and something about your ceiling!” After a short summary of my first month we laughed about it and had a nice lunch.

50 United States

The 50 United States are together one country. However, sometimes it seems as if the US consists of 50 small countries, that coincidently speak the same language and have the same president.

There are numerous differences among the states. For example, in most states it is allowed to make a phone call or send a text message while you're driving, but if you do it driving into New Jersey you might end up paying a $250 fine. When you leave New Jersey, you have to pay $3 toll everytime. Moving from one state to the other can be a huge administrative step: re-applying for a drivers licence, renewing licence tags on your car... And even the most serious laws like gun posession, taxes, and the death penalty differ from state to state.

All the 50 states have a unique nickname. Florida is called ´The Sunshine State´, California is `The Golden State´ since people used to find gold there, and New York is 'The Empire State´. Not many people know anything about the State Delaware, because it's so small: after Rhode Island, it is the smallest state in the US. The biggest city is Wilmington, with approximately 100.000 habitants. Delaware's nickname is 'The First State' because Delaware was in 1787 the first of the (at that time) 13 states to ratify the US Constitution. (This was done in the capital of the US, which was Philadelphia at that moment.) The main reason why Delaware was so quick with this ratification: it wanted to be independend and get free of the countries that had conquerred Delaware at that moment: Sweden, the UK, and the Netherlands!

No matter how small this state is, Delaware is is very important for banks. Thanks to a very attractive tax system, many banks have their main office in Wilmington. But, when you combine this with a quiet nightlife, and it gives a strange feeling: Wilmington is not a small city, with a nice skyline. However when you walk or drive throughout the city at night, all you see is empty bank offices, making it a huge ghost town! The first visit is also very strange: hundreds of bank branches, for just 100.000 people.

Reasons enough to switch states. Last week I moved to ‘The Keystone State’: Pennsylvania, getting this nickname from the central, wedge-shaped stone which holds all the other stones of a structure in place to form an arch. This nickname is based upon its central location among the original Thirteen Colonies forming the United States. I choose to live in the biggest city: Philadelphia. In the heart of this city , I found a studio apartment, between the high buildings. I'm still working in Delaware. And I'm still shopping there, because the sales tax is 0%!

In the meantime, Joran Vandersloot is big news over here as well as in the Netherlands. And I finally said goodbye to my lemon, when the entire transmission broke down... Still looking for another car!

Click here to check this weeks pictures!

Dinner, Dance, Party!

Last weekend ING Direct US arranged a dinner dance party in Longwoord Gardens, PA, ‘only’ 30 minutes driving from where I live. Since my lemon had been checked and fixed three times already, I could trust on this car to take me there (I changed its name from Mercury Mystique to Mercury Mistake). The arrival at the party location was unique: from the parking place, we had to walk four minutes to the party location. But, we’re in America... so no walking! 8 busses were ready to pick us up, drive 400 yards and drop us:



On the inside, you could see that people over here know how to organize a large party: the service was great. Food was delicious (a lot of meat), just as the drinks (Heineken! Unfortunately I had to drive back home). Knowing ING Direct US, at some point there should be saved: the music was made by colleagues! The pictures are at the bottom of this message!

By the way, almost daily, someone asks me what I like and what I don’t like about the US so far; apparently, people are curious to know how a European guy looks at the US. To show you my answer:

• What I love the most so far, is a TV channel (one of the 140) called Tru-TV: this channel shows nothing but car chases, COPS and similar programs. Amazing! (and addictive!)

• One thing that I particularly don’t like is the fact that a lot of products are combined with peanut butter. Last week someone offered me a chocolate cookie… at least, that was what I thought. It was peanut butter surrounded by a chocolate layer!! And when I went to the grocery store the other day to buy some Noodles, the only Noodles left were Noodles with peanut butter flavor… I wasn’t hungry anymore.

Click here to check the pictures from the party!

Weekend in Philadelphia

I spend last weekend in Philadelphia to go over some social activities! Last Saturday I had a ‘Potluck’ party, which meant that all the guests brought along something to eat or drink. Combine this, and you get a buffet with some interesting combinations!

On Sunday, I checked out the city center and some interesting shops, like a large store selling all kinds of meat, fish and vegetables from all over the world, a Belgium lunch restaurant, and some nice small parks. In the afternoon, a colleague gave a housewarming party in New Jersey: watching the American Football playoffs! This picture shows the small TV:



The big TV was a wall filled with a projection… That’s the American lifestyle!

On Monday, a friend came over from New York City. We explored the city center of Philadelphia. While Philadelphia is a large metropolis (1.5 million people live in the city, but 5.8 million people live in the metropolitan area), the center city is quite compact, just like Amsterdam’s center. But it was cold… So we stayed more in the Starbucks than on the street 

Last weekend was also the first weekend in my new studio-apartment in Philadelphia’s center city. It is small – small for an American house, but I’m kind of used to living small in Amsterdam. Next week I’ll be moving all my stuff to Philadelphia and I’ll make some pictures!

Last Tuesday gave me another new experience. As part of ING Direct US’ introduction period, every employee should work one day as a volunteer instead of working in the office (also called habitat). Our assignment: building new houses! This project is executed by volunteers, who build houses for people with low income, proven responsibility of home ownership and a stable job situation. Why does ING Direct US do this? Two reasons:
• ING Direct US ‘does things different’ by supporting the community (read more about it);
• ING Direct US wants to market their good name and during these community affairs, they teach people about how to handle money.

In the end, we had a great day: instead of meetings with colleagues, we were working on drywall. In the meantime, the news is about the economy and the government’s intension of refunding taxes to the lower- and middle class. This is going to be an exiting year: presidential elections, and a economy that might go into recession!

Daniel

Click here to check the pictures from Philly!

When life gives you lemons... Make lemonade!

Some markets turn out to be very interesting. Last week I talked about banks and mortgages in the U.S.: consumers need to be Masters in Law to understand which mortgage is the right one for them. An other interesting theory that can be applied to many markets is ‘the market for lemons’.

There are four type of cars: new cars and used cars, good cars and bad cars. A new car can either be a good car or a bad car, just like a used car. In the U.S., bad cars are called lemons (which comes from the said “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”; or: when life is turning sour, find something sweet to make the best out of it). A buyer of a car does not know whether a car is a good car, or a lemon; the buyer is only able to estimate the chance that a car is good (based on previous experience or information from other people).

Let’s take for example a dealer that has two cars, that look exactly the same: a 1999 Mercury Mystique. The value of a good make would be around $ 3.600 (KBB.com), while the value of a lemon would be around $ 1.500 (you might be able to drive it for a while). However, when a car dealer wants to sell both models, he’d probably never get rid of the lemon when he uses these prices (the buyer would know that it’s a lemon) so he would try to get the most out of it: he sells both cars for $ 2.900. This is called information asymmetric: the seller knows more than the buyer knows. This theory can be applied to many markets, e.g. MP3 players that are hacked so they look like they have more memory, they are sold on the internet and the buyer finds out that he can’t use all the memory when he first tries to copy music to the player.

When I got at my car dealer last week, the $ 1.500 Mercury Mystique from 1999 looked pretty nice! (forgetting all the lessons I learned about lemon markets in University.) Indeed, it turned out to be a lemon. $ 800 repair costs fixed the major problems, hopefully it will run for a while. Pictures coming soon! Some other updates from my personal life:
• Starting February, I will be part of the ING Direct soccer team! Only the outdoor season doesn’t start until June (!) so we’ll be playing indoor till then.
• The weather changes a lot over here: on one evening you’re walking outside in a shirt feeling like it is the end of a nice summer day, the next day it snows…
• This weekend is filled with some nice parties: Saturday something called ‘Pot Luck’ (everybody brings some food or beverages, they are combined for dinner) and Sunday I’ll be watching an American Football game (not to be confused by Football – they call it soccer over here), as a housewarming party of a colleague.

Thanks for all your e-mails, unfortunately my notebook crashed last week so sorry for the late replies!

PS. Do I belong to the target group of this video?

How can I help you save your money?

The US has a huge consuming culture: everybody always wants a bigger car, expensive clothes and 5 credit cards to go shopping whenever they like to. This often results in financial problems with individuals (next to the mortgage crisis). With the amount of commercials and billboards, people do get into the confrontation with stuff that they can buy (financing is always available). While most people sense that $299 a month for a brand new Porsche is impossible, people from a bad neighborhood will imagine the Porsche on their driveway for only a couple of dollars a month. So they think it's a good deal; however, after 5 years, he notices that the $299 interest was only 2% for the first years, after which the interest increases to 15%. The Porsche has already become a wreck. What to do with the $2250 bill each month? Let's get a loan to pay these bills!

ING Direct entered the US in 2000, after a few successful years in Canada, as a 'simple' bank and it has been very successful keeping things simple. The US especially has a huge potential market because of all the hidden fees and unreliable intermediaries in the banking sector. Quoting the ING Direct CEO: "It is my right in America to own and carry a gun. It is a privilege, however, to have a bank account" (aiming on the difficulties of opening a bank account when you have bad credit history or a low income)

"Basically, it's an evil world out there. Brokers and banks try to sell you products you don't actually need, which leads to individuals with debts they can never pay back. There are enough problems in the world: earthquakes, floods, wars... Why should we add financial problems to this list? We live in the richest country in the world!"

ING Direct US grew to a huge direct bank (with the mission: lead Americans back to savings!), and it also offers checking accounts and mortgages nowadays. ING Direct US is successful because clients get what they need: a simple internet bank without hidden fees or minimums on a savings account. ING Direct US also hates the waiting times at call centers: when you call 1-800 ING Direct, you'll soon be speaking to a real person (answering the phone with "Daniel speaking, how may I help you save your money?")

This is a summary of what I have learned in my first week! In the meantime, the news is all about Britney Spears, the pre-elections, and Britney Spears. I'm still looking for a car & apartment and I'll keep you in touch!

Daniel

Check a few pictures of this week...

Or view a recent ING Direct commercial:

I have arrived !!

After my flight last Wednesday, I arrived at 3:00 pm (local Philadelphia time) on the airport of Philadelphia. Thanks to some nice movies & nice people around me, the flight was not so boring this time! I sat next to a girl from San Francisco, who told me about the tiger that had escaped from the Frisco Zoo (after which I told her about Bokito in the Netherlands). After immigration checks at the airport (sir, what are you going to do again?) I was able to get my rental car: a Chevy Cobalt! Nice car.

With the car and some short driving directions I drove to my apartment in Wilmington, DE. The car drove perfect, however I was extremely surprised to see the apartment: full of luxury! HD-TV’s, walk-in closet, washer, dryer, dishwasher, fitness, a large garage and concierge services. However the balcony is not of good use: despite the sunny-looking pictures, the wind makes it very cold over here.

The first days are scheduled to arrange a lot of stuff: get a social security number, open a bank account, buy an American SIM card for my phone, and doing some groceries. Doing groceries is completely different than the Netherlands: you park your car next to a large grocery store, which is a bit hard to find between all the McDonald’s and Burger Kings, and if you found one they often don’t even sell fresh fruits or vegetables. Thank god I love chicken wings. And Starbucks is always here to save me!

The people are very kindly, they are often surprised by the idea of me coming all the way from Amsterdam for a job. In the meantime, the TVs are focused on the pre-elections of the 2008 Presidency elections; the first pre-elections were in Iowa last Thursday. They used to interrupt TV shows for the last news about these pre-elections. Small detail: often, the two winners of the first pre-elections have to fight for presidency in the end of the year.

I will start with my job next Monday. I am curious about what to expect, now that I have been preparing this for so long… I’ll keep you informed!

Daniel

Check the pictures!

Welcome !!

This site is my blogging place where I'll share my experiences in the United States. On January 7, my job as Business Analyst starts at ING Direct's head office in Wilmington (DE) (Philadelphia area).

The American culture (business and 'casual'), the trips that I'm about to make on the East Coast, and diffences between the States and Europe will be the main topics of my blog. Besides, 2008 is the year of the US elections, the European Championship soccer that I'll be missing :( and maybe the year of the Google / Linux cell phone !

If you have any comments, questions or just a reaction, do not hesitate to send me an e-mail!