Now, while I am sitting at home typing these moments, I can laugh about them.
However, it was a difficult period with many feelings of helplessness as people repeatedly cheated us and abused the fact that we were foreigners.
A professional Skype meeting experience
Each time we sought a certain professional, it took an exhaustingly long time to find one. When we finally found them, we always scheduled a Skype meeting first. All professionals we found this way were always punctual, respecting the day and time we agreed upon.
However... every time we wanted to actually start the call, there was always 'something'; the secretary did not connect him, or said professional had an incoming call he just had to take right when his call with us started. It just never went swimmingly!
With one such a professional, an accountant, we had a funny moment: the first attempt to connect failed in the middle of our introduction. We reconnected and restarted the introduction. Then a call comes in… I wait patiently. Restarting the introduction again, a second call comes in. Again, I wait patiently. We must restart the introduction again, but first we get to hear what all the calls were about - a cute anecdote about the accountant’s wife who had to know where his daughter’s glasses are, maybe he [the accountant] knows or remembers?
:) Funny moment - I do have empathy for such happenstance, but I just cannot imagine it happening in the Netherlands. Having an appointment while someone interrupts our meeting... Moreover, it concerns a family issue, not a business issue. The latter may be accepted with many polite apologies, but a ‘family issue’? “Nee mevrouw, dat kan niet.”
