Hi ho, hi ho, i'm in need of work, I know....

Work, work, work, it's all I ever think about! As I wait for my So-Fi (tax number) to come in (you need one of these if you're going to be hired anywhere in the Netherlands - legally), I reflect upon my rapidly dwindling savings account and ponder the fate of my research and my life here in the Netherlands if I am unable to find a job. My ability however to acquire gainful employment rests on my capacity to speak Dutch in most situations so even when and if I do obtain a So-Fi number, I will also have to look a little harder so that I can find a job that will take me in all my English-ness. But life goes on and I need to eat, pay rent, and buy new scribbling books so that I can continue jotting down my ideas while on the train, at a coffee shop or when I meet someone in the street. I'm not in red flag zone yet, and hopefully I'll have something that helps pay for food soon enough, it's just something niggling, nagging and prodding me constantly in the recesses of my mind. Always lingering like a festering sore eating away at the silver lining of my days here in the Netherlands. A bit too melodramatic? I know, it's not a life or death situation. But it makes doing fieldwork at home or in a place where one can barter for food/work a little more appetising. I wonder if someone here will barter for maple syrup…hmmm.