Uh oh?

I was scheduled to start work on Tuesday, which left me with a free Monday. I had grown tired of paying my bus fares with the bank card, so I decided to get myself an ov-chipkaart - it works much like any other bus/ public transport card, you transfer money to it and you're free to travel. Although unlike with most other bus cards I've used, with the chipkaart you have to tap it into the reader both when you get in and when you get out. Apparently you could use the card on trains as well, but I haven't tried that yet and, knowing myself, I might just stick to buying train tickets the old-fashioned way.

Buying the card was easy, too, a lot of local kiosks sell them for 7,5 €. And admittedly, it IS very handy to have, and looks pretty cool too.

Unfortunately, now we come to the (almost) only complaint I have about the Netherlands (or at least Groningen area, but I imagine the problem is nationwide): almost no place will accept Visa Electron. And as Finns know, Visa Electron is the only bank card many young people here have.

So far, the list of places/things that actually DO accept Visa Electron:
- ATMs
- buses (the ones where you pay with a card)
- the ticket machines at the central station

I stopped trying to pay anything with the bank card after the fifth time when an apologetic Dutch cashier told me my card had been declined. Even IKEA declined my card, and I figure that if a shop that size won't accept it, the chances are pretty slim everywhere else. By now (2,5 weeks later) I'm used to just carrying cash so it doesn't bother me anymore, but it took some getting used to - back in Finland I hardly ever had cash on me.

And now basically when I want to put money on my travel card, I have to go all the way to the central station to do it. Maybe there is a way to do it online, but I have what they call an "anonymous card", so that might complicate the matters as well. Still, I'm now used to that as well, and luckily the bus that stops at the nearest bus stop also takes me conveniently to the central station.

Other than the troubles with Visa Electron, that Monday was pretty chill. I visited the local tourist information centre (and IKEA, as mentioned above), did some walking and went grocery shopping. Of course I felt a little bit nervous about starting at the new workplace, but luckily my calendar had a very nice message for that particular week:

                                                                     (don't panic, everything will be okay)