I was staggering like a sleep deprived zombie strolling through Schiphol this morning on my way to my weekly UK flight when I noticed a cluster of plant pots.  On each pot there was a sign (please don't ask how I retain such useless information or why I notice these insignificant things - its a sickness):

"These are water catchers.  We apologise for the inconvenience"

Tsk, my translators brain thought, what sloppy translation.  It was an accurate translation from a structure point of view from Dutch to English but for me, appeared to have entirely missed the intention of the phrase which in English I would have translated along the lines of:

"These are water catchers.  We apologise for any inconvenience they may cause you"

Granted I was tired and in a hurry but it started me thinking, in the Netherlands I frequently come across examples of people doing things to a "just good enough" level and being perfectly satisfied with it whereas I, a die hard perfectionist spend most of my time beating myself up for tiny imperfections which noone else appears to be aware of.  This is in no way meant to imply that people in the Netherlands don't have high standards or are disorganised - that is absolutely not the case, it is more of an observation that the balance of attention to detail versus job done-ness seems to be much healthier.

Which is not to say that this applies universally, sometimes the sheer staggering incompetence of some humans leaves me breathless.  In case you are wondering, chair company, I am absolutely talking about you.  I understand that we have agreed not to talk until October since the last phone call where I had been waiting in all day for you to deliver the chair, as promised, only to finally call and have you tell me that it was on a boat back to China due to a problem with the entire shipment.  It wasn't a pretty call.  Believe me, when I finally trade in my current temporary chair for the chair I actually bought from you I am so naming and shaming you.  You have been warned.

I am wondering therefore, given that I have this inhibiting need for things to be perfect, which inevtiably leads to disappointment, how do I go about achieving a better balance between maintaining high standards and not berating myself for every tiny slip up.

In other words, when is good enough, really good enough?

This is something I need to consider at the moment as I have just signed up for a 5 week intensive Dutch course.  I've tried both evening classes (good for counting and basic phrases) and individual lessons (excellent for grammar) since I moved here but still don't feel that I have fully engaged with the language.  I still can't speak more than a few words of Dutch, although my reading has improved.  Much of this is due to the fact that I work in English and do not have a workplace where I interact with Dutch colleagues.  I have very little exposure to Dutch on a day to day basis and arguably could get (and have got) along quite happily with only the few stock phrases that I know.

The problem is that as it says at the top of the screen, we are building a home here and to really be at home here I need to speak the language.  Of course I could rely on the language skills of the Dutch people around me but that doesn't sit well with me.  I have always been able to communicate in the language of the country I am living in to a greater or lesser degree and I really feel that if you are going to live somewhere you should make the effort to integrate as much as possible.  More than that though, I truly love our life here and I want to understand more about how this country ticks and why it has such a draw for me.

I also really want to avoid the kind of days Lily over at FatBrideSlim has been having.  I feel her pain, I really do.  I remember trying to order tea in Paris one day and totally failing to make myself understood over a one syllable word.  In near tears of frustration I finally got my order across only to have it repeated back to me as "Oh you want a "taaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy", as if I was the most incompetent creature ever to have walked the planet.  Yes, I want to extend a one syllable word to a 30 second noise, whatever...

Jess over at MakeUnderMyLife, has been exploring a similar theme on her blog recently as she reads Pursuit of Perfect by Tal Ben Shahar.  I've just ordered a copy and should get my hands on it in time for my flight home tomorrow.  I'll let you know how I get on.  In the meantime, any tips or tricks on how you avoid the perfection trap, or how you learnt Dutch, would be more than welcome.