On Vacation

I am on vacation until mid-July.  I'll write more then.

Pinksteren

This weekend the Dutch celebrate Pinksteren or Pentecost, on both Sunday and Monday. Sunday is 1e Pinksterdag or Eerste Pinksterdag, and Monday is 2e Pinksterdag or Tweede Pinksterdag [English: Whit Monday]. In the more Catholic regions it is still a religious holiday and the day that churches conduct first communion for children and other important church matters.  For everyone else it is simply a four-day weekend; nearly everyone in the Netherlands has Monday off.  Just a few years ago all businesses would be closed but today, in search of the almighty Euro, many stores will be open (Koop Zondag).

Pinkster, or Pentecost, ("the Fiftieth day") is one of the prominent feasts in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection. The feast is also called Whit Sunday, Whitsun, or Whit especially in the United Kingdom, where the following Monday was traditionally a holiday. Pentecost is celebrated seven weeks (50 days) after Easter Sunday, hence its name. Pentecost falls on the tenth day after Ascension Thursday (Hemelvaartsdag in The Netherlands).

Many Dutch and Belgian churches will conduct special services on Pinksteren and many small towns and villages will have processions, usually to one of the hundreds of roadside chapels or crosses.

Pinkpop Festival, or Pinkpop for short, is an annual rock festival held in Landgraaf, The Netherlands. It is held annually during the Pinksteren weekend.

Banking in NL

If you have never done an OCONUS tour before you might be worrying about banking and bill-paying while you are out of the US.  Like anything else on an overseas tour some things are easy and some things are not so easy.  You should maintain your state-side bank that your direct deposit currently goes to and make sure you establish on-line bill paying for all your recurring bills before your leave the states.

You can do some very limited "banking" type activities at the Cashier's Cage at the Schinnen PX.  This includes cashing checks, exchanging dollars for Euros (and back), and purchasing money orders, postage stamps, and gas coupons.

There are two US banking facilities on USAG Schinnen; both have somewhat limited hours due to Schinnen's schedule but outside ATMs are available.  This is not an endorsement of either.

The Community Bank is operated by Bank of America and it is a full-service American bank.  They offer checking and savings accounts, CDs, loans, currency exchange, automatic bill pay services, and one-time Euro Bill Payments.  The One-Time Euro Bill Pay service can be used to pay specific Dutch or German bills such as traffic tickets (yes, you will probably get one if you drive here), telephone and cable bills. Community Bank facilities can be found pretty much anywhere US forces are based overseas.  You can go to their website at www.DoDCommunityBank.com.

The second banking facility is Andrews Federal Credit Union.  Andrews Federal CU is somewhat hidden from view but easy enough to find.  It is located in the lobby of the USAG Schinnen Headquarters building. Andrews Federal CU offers Youth accounts, Euro Bill Pay, Free Checking, savings accounts, loans, Online Bill Pay, and free access to Investment advisors and Debt/Credit management programs.  They have branches and ATMs in The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Andrews Federal Credit Union is based out of Suitland, Maryland.  Andrews Federal CU members never have to close their account due to PCSing or any other move.  Their services extend internationally, not just within Europe.  Hours of operations are based on serving the military including later branch hours every Thursday.  All branches are open the first and third Saturdays of the month.  Additionally, all uniformed military personnel will be served first between 11:30 to 13:00 to ensure a quick return from their lunch break. The Andrews Federal CU website is at http://www.andrewsfcu.org/ or you can email them at branch62@andrewsfcu.org.

If you live in The Netherlands you will need to open a bank account in a Dutch bank.  This is the easiest way to pay your Dutch bills.  You can use the AFCU or Community Bank Euro Bill Pay service but most Dutch companies charge an additional fee (two euro fifty at Ziggo for example) if you don't use their automatic bill pay service.  That adds up to a considerable amount of money over time.  I use ABN-AMRO simply because I used them the last time I was assigned here and I was familiar with the bank but all Dutch banks offer similar services.  The best thing to do is to find a bank that is convenient to where you live or work.  You can only deposit Euros (using the self-service banking machine) so you will need to exchange dollars to euros at Schinnen each time you want to make a deposit.  For my bills I try to keep a balance of about 400 Euros in my account.  That gives me a two month buffer in case I can't get to the bank or I get a big traffic fine.

Most Dutch banks will have a self-service banking machine inside the lobby.  They highly encourage use of the machines; in fact most of them charge a fee if you want to do your transaction through a live bank teller.  The machines are easy to use.  Insert your card and input your PIN.  Usually from here you are given a language option; choose English and continue from there.  You can do everything except deposit cash at a bank ATM and these will be outside the banks.  In a pinch, you can get cash from a Dutch ATM using your Credit Card or stateside debit card but you will pay additional fees.



Dutch ATM

The Dutch do not routinely use credit cards (Dutch people abhor debt; they are a nation of savers not spenders.) and many Dutch merchants do not accept credit cards.  The Dutch stereotype of being tight with money is based in fact; Dutch merchants are not willing to pay the fees associated with credit cards.  Be prepared to pay in cash or with your Dutch bank card. In the most popular tourist areas you will be able to use your US credit card but you will pay extra fees and your bank will charge you a "foreign exchange" fee as well.

The two most common methods for paying routine and recurring bills is by use of the Accept Giro Kaart or by Direct Bill Pay. Most companies prefer that you set up an automatic bill pay with them.  It saves them time and money (you too because you don't need to drive to the bank to deposit the acceptgirokaart).  If you do pay by the acceptgiro (such as for a traffic fine), all you have to do is fill in a few data fields and drop it in the slot at your bank.

The euro amount is usually already entered in this section of the form.  If not, fill it in.

Then fill in your bank account number in this space on the form. (The black bar will not be on the form, this is just a safety feature of the site I copied this form from.

Last, just sign your name here.

Paying cash or using your bank card are the two most common means of making smaller purchases.  When you open your Dutch bank account you will want to get a bank card with Chip. The bank cards are multi-purpose cards.  They are used to access your account at the bank self-service teller machines, to use the ATM, and to make small purchases as Debit Cards. I'm sure you already know how to use an ATM card and a debit card but have you ever used a "Chip" or "Pin" card?  As you can see on this

 sample card there is a small computer chip embedded in the card (the gold square above the word "Card").  This allows you to load cash value directly onto the card for making quick, small purchases.  This is especially handy when paying for parking.  You load cash value at any "Chipknip" machine, such as the one shown here.  It can be from any bank and there is no charge.  These upload points (Oplaadpunt) are everywhere in the shopping districts, tourist areas, and train stations.  The cash value is taken out of your bank account and placed in the chip.  If you lose or damage your card you lose that money.  There is no record of what is on your card and the banks will not refund the money.  So, you only want to load the chip with 10-15 euros at any time.  You will see signs at the entrance or at the cash register (NL- Kassa) if they accept this type of payment.  It will say something like, "Je kan hier pinnen".  If you aren't sure, just ask, "Kan ik hier pinnen?" (pronounced - Cahn eek here pin-neh?).  Then ask for help if you haven't done it before.  You don't enter a PIN or anything so it is pretty simple.

NOTE: The Dutch reverse the use of commas and points when it comes to numbers.  For example, €1.000 means a thousand Euros and €10,50 means ten euros and fifty cents.  This could be pretty important if you make a mistake!

If you have any specific questions please use the Comments Box and I will get you an answer.