Femke: “Since corona we have been less busy. Previously we were both at work during the day, we both played korfball two evenings a week, on different days. In addition, Janno had council meetings every week, so we didn’t see each other much during the day or in the evening.”
Janno: “Now that we both work from home and can’t go to korfball training, we often drink coffee together. We bought an Italian coffee machine, the Ferrari of coffee machines. That makes working from home a lot more fun.”
Femke: “I work as a project controller at Heijmans Vastgoed and Janno is a policy officer at the Housing Department of the Ministry of the Interior. So we are both involved in the housing market and we sometimes have discussions about that. As an employee of a construction company I want to build as many houses as possible, Janno as a civil servant has to divide them as fairly as possible.”
Janno: „I have now stopped playing korfball. It could no longer be combined with my job and my position as a councilor for the CDA in Pijnacker-Nootdorp. I now cycle much more intensively than before corona. Then I drove about 5,000 kilometers a year, now 15,000.”
Femke: „I will also stop with korfball, also with the treasurership. Because I hardly play korfball, it takes too much energy to keep in touch with the members. I will also cycle more and register with a cycling club.”
Janno: „Working from home is nice because you have more flexibility, but I do miss the buzz of the ministry. I had a hectic job with the housing and nitrogen portfolio. Sometimes I was still in The Hague at a quarter to eight in the evening. But Femke and I are not people who say they are ‘busy-busy-busy’.”
Femke: “We both don’t mind having a lot of work, we like to have fun.”
Janno“I would like to become a councilor someday. I was born with politics. My grandfather was an alderman for the CDA. Before I became a councilor, I went to look at all kinds of political youth organizations: the JOVD, the Young Democrats, but only the CDJA gave me a family feeling. I like to work for the common good. I now have waste, sports, environment, animal welfare and labor participation in my portfolio. I am a CDA member who takes the party’s green logo literally: I take green positions. For me, that fits with Christian values such as stewardship.”
Working from Italy
Femke: „After high school, I did a part-time study in accountancy at Nyenrode. Work four days, study one day. At Heijmans I keep an eye on the financial aspects of projects. I am super practical. That’s why I wanted to get started right after school. I would really like to do further education, on the other hand I am already learning so much in this job. I think it’s an advantage to start a career so young: you get into blue everywhere and nobody expects an 18-year-old to really be able to do anything. Maybe entrepreneurship is something for me in the long run.”
Janno: „After my studies in public administration I made the necessary detours. I started at the Ministry of Finance, then I became executive secretary at Economic Affairs and I was a lecturer at Leiden University. I have been working for the Interior for two and a half years. My current job suits me very well, it is a match made in heaven: I am close to politics, regularly sit down with the minister and the housing file is up to date. In the future I would like to grow into the position of policy officer at the ministry. Entrepreneurship is not for me, I value security.”
Femke: “I have that less. I would have liked to work from Italy, for example, in this corona time.”
Janno: “That would be difficult for me, because I have to go to the Chamber now and then.”
Femke: “That’s once a year.”
Janno: “I would also be afraid that I would forget to bring certain things to Italy. I also get the creeps at the idea of having to rent out our house.”
Femke: “We spend money on our mortgage and on vacations.”
Janno: “Last year we were in Italy for three weeks and then we don’t pay attention to money.”
Lake Maggiore
Femke: “We always camp, but we only used our stove three times last year.”
Janno: “Next summer we want to go bikepacking in Spain. So with all your luggage on the bike. We were recently supposed to go to Finnish Lapland, but that was canceled due to a corona infection.”
Femke: “And we buy a lot of board games. I think we have about fifty to sixty. My family is very fond of games and we often play with friends.”
Janno: “I regularly play with friends from high school. Klaverjas or Paleo, a game where you have to survive in prehistoric times.”
Femke: „We were very young when we bought our first house: I was 18 and Janno 20. We were left with money when we sold it. So I think we won’t have a mortgage at 50. That gives freedom. In the long run, we want to work less and have more time for cycling, for example.”
Janno: “I think I will have the courage to live in an apartment on Lake Maggiore when I retire.”
In Rush Hour, couples and singles tell how they combine work and private life. Participate? Mail to [email protected]