Another reason to learn the language

Here is something you may not think about before moving overseas. I know I certainly didn’t. Calling a Dutch customer service phone number will inevitably lead you to a phone tree., like in the States. Unfortunately, all the options are given in Dutch. I typically end up pressing numbers until the computer gets so frazzled it just puts me through to a human being. (Zero doesn’t seem to work here.) Or else I press the numbers I think I should be pressing, and then get bounced around to 12 departments when I finally speak to someone. Even though it’s frustrating at times, I can’t help but laugh at myself. I mean, who knows what all I’ve agreed to by pushing “een”, “twee”, “drie” when I don’t know which numbers I’m supposed to be pushing!