So these drivers over here are quite serious about their treads. Most people have both summer and winter tires. After much shopping, John bought us this fun little Volvo, and I had the pleasure of getting the summer tires switched out for the winter tires yesterday.
You need to know that one can either store the opposite season tires or elect to have them kept at a tire shop. We chose the latter and needed to make arrangements.
On Monday, after mustering up my best "guedemorgen," to greet the other end of the phone line, I dialed ProfileTyrecenter in The Hague which was recommended by two friends. My greeting was answered with a cheerful "guedemorgen" and it went downhill from there. The receptionist and I had quite a time since my Dutch is, well, non-existent beyond good morning and about 10 other phrases and her English is, well, a bit difficult to understand. After much verbal maneuvering, she offered me Thursday at 9 or 11:30. I hung up the phone thrilled that we had an appointment on Thursday at 11:30. When John had tried to visit other tire shops closer to home in Wassenaar, they had two week lead times for appointments. Further, there are no walk in opportunities. If I haven't mentioned that before, I should now. Walkins are "not possible" for pretty much any service.
Arriving at this impressive shop on Thursday, Joshua and I were a bit overwhelmed by all of the construction around the shop and the tiny roads we had to traverse to reach the front door. But, we made it at 11:25 and were quite proud of ourselves for being early.
After offering our "goedemorgen" to the reception desk and giving our name, we realized quickly that there was a problem. Through the fluster of papers and mad typing on the computer, we were told that there was no appointment for us. A technician stepped into the fray and said that he would try to help. He couldn't find our appointment either. My heart started beating fast since our 4 seater had been relegated to a 2 seater since our purchase because the tires were currently stored in our back seat and trunk. The place was a 30 minute drive from home, and if I had to start all over, it was going to be very frustrating. After whispering a little prayer for divine intervention, we were reservedly pleased that the technician agreed to try and sort out the problem and sent us to the waiting area.
About 5 minutes later, the receptionist whom I had spoken to on the phone swept into the waiting area to give me an "update...." She informed me that I had an appointment on Thursday April 9th at 11:30. She apparently had made that clear to me on the phone. Oh boy.....now I was sweating along with the racing heart. "Please Lord work this out for me."
Grace came next......to my pleading eyes and apologies for misunderstanding....she agreed to "work it out."
With prayers of thankfulness, we pulled out 45 minutes later with our summer tires proudly rolling us home and our winter tires securely tucked in for the next 6 months to their new tire bay.
Whew......Thank you Lord for patient people who take care of us despite our misunderstanding of the language. We have vowed to continue to try learning more and more Dutch.
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