Netherlands

[gerrit]

I think this very much depends on if someone feels comfortable moving to a country with lot of similarities to their native home, or weither one prefers to be swamped in a different culture with no feeling of comfort of knowing how everything works but with a whole new way of life to immerse yourself in.

Personally, I found Turkey fantastic in every possible way and would much rather return to Turkey than to move to any other EU country. In fact, I would like to return no matter what, it's just that it can be very hard to find a job with a legal working permit arranged by the employer. I would in the first place have not left Turkey if the employer had arranged that permit smoothly. Personally I don't like the insecure feeling of having to hide that you're working illegally, so I wish to have everything neat and legal ; some others have worked in Turkey for years without a valid permit. To get a job with that valid permit is quite hard, if I'd be offered one I'd be on the first plane back to Istanbul.

In my opinion Middle Eastern architecture, music, etc is nicer than European one (but that's a matter of opinion and taste of course), I love the excitement of being immersed in a different way of life, and important as well is that I prefer the Turkish mentality rather than the one of most EU countries. Germany is very openminded in the big cities, here in Spain people tend to be quite open in urban areas as well, Holland idem dito, Scandinavia as well ... But then there's something in Turkey that I miss in Europe: solidarity. Turkish people, from my experience, will try to be helpful and always remain polite no matter what. I miss that feeling in Europe. Europeans can be very egocentric. They know the term solidarity but they seem to not know what it really means.

I miss Turkey, I miss the Middle East If only Turkey could join the EU right away so that the bureaucracy involved with such a move would be gone...

[gerrit]

By the way, returning to your initial question: you may want to know that Brussels is the capital of Europe and because of that, a wide range of English language jobs and vibrant expat community exist in this city. Belgium overall is quite cosmopolitan if you stay in urban areas, and especially Brussels is really an international city. So maybe it'll be slightly easier to jobhunt there ; but as I said, in the Netherlands it's not exactly impossible neither to find English language jobs.

Belgium is cheaper to rent and cheaper to live, however salaries will generally be slightly lower than in NL as well. In my opinion the Dutch mentality is much nicer than the Belgian one (and I say this as a Belgian native ; I'd rather move to Holland than to return to Belgium) however if you wish to stay in the area (central/western Europe) and jobhunting in Holland would be a bit tough, then Belgium can be a nearby alternative. If you have the choice between both countries, I'd advise the Netherlands but again that's a personal taste rather than stating exact facts,

[dubioustranger]

To visit NL in August is a mistake I think, because half the country is closed due to summer vacations and the sunny, balmy weather at that time of year gives a false impression of NL's climate -mostly cold and gloomy from October till April-. If you' come from a sunny state, you'll have a bit of time getting adapted to the cold, wet oceanic north european climate.

[marc1977]

Ive been living here for 11 years now and what you say about the weather is true except now the gloominess usually lasts from april till april and as for the half of the country closing down, thats not entirely true, thats mostly in the construction sector.

[nicky29]

^yes absolutely! gloomy crap weather lasts all year. Sometimes it's nice around early spring and autumn.. but summer is pretty horrid, humid, rainy and muggy. Now it's September and it's dark and as rainy as if it were December.

[DutchGolf]

Originally Posted by nicky29

^yes absolutely! gloomy crap weather lasts all year. Sometimes it's nice around early spring and autumn.. but summer is pretty horrid, humid, rainy and muggy. Now it's September and it's dark and as rainy as if it were December.

Don't be so negative. Even though the weather in the summer can be rainy, you have to agree that the past week has been beautiful.

[nicky29]

I'm not negative, I'm just stating facts. It rains here 360 days a year!
By week you meant last week? i can't remember as it was torrential rain since last thursday and it has been freezing this week. My friends in London said the weather's been great there ironically. I was in Paris during the weekend and it was summer there, came back Sunday night and almost froze at the airport!
Crappy weather is just a given in NL.Big deal, like heat is to Dubai

I can tell you're Dutch because you don't like hearing a bad word about your country, even the weather- a bit ironic considering how people love to talk about it to death.

[DutchGolf]

Originally Posted by nicky29

I'm not negative, I'm just stating facts. It rains here 360 days a year!
By week you meant last week? i can't remember as it was torrential rain since last thursday and it has been freezing this week. My friends in London said the weather's been great there ironically. I was in Paris during the weekend and it was summer there, came back Sunday night and almost froze at the airport!
Crappy weather is just a given in NL.Big deal, like heat is to Dubai

I can tell you're Dutch because you don't like hearing a bad word about your country, even the weather- a bit ironic considering how people love to talk about it to death.

Last Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday have been like summer. Sunday (when you froze at the airport) the temperature recorded was 28C with blue skies, no clouds!!! What are you talking about?

I totally do not mind people being critical about the Netherlands. I am Dutch and have lived most of my life abroad. The Dutch are far from perfect and I know it. But get your facts straight. Period. Go somewhere else and be happy.

[nicky29]

It was not 28C when i arrived ! that's crazy. so yes, it's nice to see that your measurement of 'a week' is three days worth of good weather (incidentally, those three days i was abroad). So indeed I missed them,but that is the reality of good weather here, blink and you miss it,
Again you cannot blame Holland for this- can't physically move it up the equator!.

Thanks, I'm working on it. It's not that I'm unhappy it's just that it's incredibly disappointing and frustrating, this place has a lot of potential.

[Gioppino]

Originally Posted by DutchGolf

I totally do not mind people being critical about the Netherlands. I am Dutch and have lived most of my life abroad. The Dutch are far from perfect and I know it. But get your facts straight. Period. Go somewhere else and be happy.

If you're Dutch and live in the Netherlands than you're not an expat. Can you just chill out and let other people speak their mind? You're not helping.