Final lessons Canada and New York

Today is my first day in the editorial office after a week in New York and a a little week in Canada. Time for some reflection because these kinds of trips are always incredibly educational.

Never trust the weather report
As you know, I hang my entire life happiness on the weather report and I don't take a step before I have checked the weather report in detail. So when I was packing my suitcase for NYC, I checked after every skirt or sock whether it was indeed still going to be a week long bright blue and sunny And it was. So off went the suitcase full of summer stuff and light clothing, only to arrive in a totally rainy and quite cold NYC for a week. Okay, okay, I had one nice day, but other than that it was just really autumn and cold. The exact same thing happened in Canada. Sun blue warm, that was supposed to be it, cloud gray and mwaw it was. Luckily both destinations are already incredibly cool in themselves and I lacked nothing, but still, a little sunshine is always nice.

Rain boots
Both in New York and Toronto, I noticed this: women in regular clothes with big Hunter boots on their feet. Because it rained quite a bit there and instead of commuting in their ballerinas, everyone pulls out the Hunters. Not a pretty sight, but so totally normal and, I admit, quite smart. Heels in the bag, Hunters on the feet, and upon entering, switch it all around.

Naming brands
So not done in New York. If someone says, “Oh my goooooosh I LOVE your coat!” you don’t automatically say, “Oh well thank you it’s Zara,” but you just accept the compliment and nothing more. I wore a beautiful trench coat from H&M Conscious Exclusive Collection and when I went to lunch with Nish, a colleague praised my coat, he really scolded me when I said it was just from H&M. ‘That’s so typically Dutch, to modestly say it’s not an expensive coat.“

Skip the taxi
During fashion week we always jump into taxis without thinking that tear through the whole city. Often that’s just the most convenient, because we wear high heels, are always in a hurry, and figuring out how the subway works is more work than just jumping into a taxi. During this NY trip, I had more time between appointments so I took the time to figure out the routes so I could either take the subway or walk. Especially the latter became hugely popular, I really walked all over NY and only took a taxi once ’at night.. So walking or the subway, it’s faster, more fun, and cheaper, so you can spend that money at one of these places. If you’re there anyway, you get it.

Dutch people are everywhere
But especially in Toronto. Of the 1 million Dutch people living in Canada, half live in Toronto. The ties with the Netherlands are also very close, because, fun fact, Princess Margriet was unofficially born in Canada, in Ottawa to be precise. In 1940, the royal family fled to Canada because of the Germans and the room in the hospital where she was born was temporarily declared “extraterritorial.” In layman's terms: the room was briefly dubbed as non-Canadian territory and thus Margriet could take on Dutch nationality. I find these delightful facts and you never know when you can give that know-it-all father-in-law of yours a run for his money with this.