holland

[paddy]

Hi i have just past through holland on a long journey, and was very taken by what a lovely place it was, does any expat have any info on life in holland, is lifes paperwork made hard like in france, are the people really as nice as the ones i came across, is there much work. any info please. paddy

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by paddy

Hi i have just past through holland on a long journey, and was very taken by what a lovely place it was, does any expat have any info on life in holland, is lifes paperwork made hard like in france, are the people really as nice as the ones i came across, is there much work. any info please. paddy

Can only tell you experience of having worked with the Dutch for 15 years or so. I always found them the most friendly of folk and it was always so annoying that they all spoke English better than me.

Only thing I can say is the landscape is pretty boring unless you go up to the North.

I was at the Tall Ships Race in Amsterdam in 1995, and it was one of the best experiences of my life

[MichelleAlison]

Originally Posted by paddy

Hi i have just past through holland on a long journey, and was very taken by what a lovely place it was, does any expat have any info on life in holland, is lifes paperwork made hard like in france, are the people really as nice as the ones i came across, is there much work. any info please. paddy

Hi Paddy and welcome to the forum.

What amazed me when I visited Amsterdam, was how they all spoke fantastic English. I was told that when they leave Holland, as nobody speaks their language, they need English which they learn from a very young age. A fantastic city.

Hopefully there is someone who can answer your questions.

Regards

Michelle

[synthia]

Where are you from? That makes a lot of difference. If you are from an EU country, it would be a whole lot easier to live there. If you are from the US, it wll be hard.

Do you want to work there? Because I would assume that when working, the Dutch would speak Dutch to each other, not English. But then, the universities teach classes in Englilsh (a friend told me all of his classes were in English), so who knows, maybe all the computer programmers go to work and speak English all day.

The Dutch do speak amazing English. I have mistaken a couple for Americans. And I got into a grammar argument with a guy who worked for me long ago. I lost. Now that's something that never happened to me back when I was writing memos and manuals.

[djfourmoney]

Originally Posted by synthia

Where are you from? That makes a lot of difference. If you are from an EU country, it would be a whole lot easier to live there. If you are from the US, it wll be hard.

Do you want to work there? Because I would assume that when working, the Dutch would speak Dutch to each other, not English. But then, the universities teach classes in Englilsh (a friend told me all of his classes were in English), so who knows, maybe all the computer programmers go to work and speak English all day.

The Dutch do speak amazing English. I have mistaken a couple for Americans. And I got into a grammar argument with a guy who worked for me long ago. I lost. Now that's something that never happened to me back when I was writing memos and manuals.

That's how I found A-Dam as well when I visited for 4 days last year. I was watching TV and found that they teach their children English very early in school and since Amsterdam is an international destination, go figure English is usually used because its visited by many Americans and British.

Yeah they have English and Ebonics down too -

[Loeske17]

Hello!

I'm from Holland myself but moved around internationally alot. Also, the bf is swedish so I know what it's like to be an expat here. As (many) other countries you will encounter the paper work that goes with moving, but in my experience it's all not so bad. If you got a Sofi number (think it's called a BSN now officially) and a registered address, you're golden. Though I'll admit the housing part is easier said than done, but what do you want with 18 million people living on 5 square kilometers? Although rent outside of the bigger cities (say Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag...) is way lower and a place will be easier to find, I do suggest to focus on them. The level of the english spoken by the locals is much higher, plus anything outside the city is boring (but I guess that depends if you've got a family with children and what you're looking for). My favorite is Den Haag, because a) it's a proper city by dutch standards so stores are open on sunday b) the old 1800 houses are absolutely gorgeous c) you can have a bike for longer than 3 weeks before it gets stolen d) it's by the beach! e) rents are much MUCH lower than in Amsterdam... I got a f,g,h,i etc... but i'll leave it at that.

Jobs for english speaking expats are pretty easy to find. When my bf got laid off because the business went belly up, Undutchables got a job for him within a week. Check that website out by the way, don't forget the .nl.

Oh and one more thing, IF you decide you must move to Amsterdam, google expat rentals. Amsterdam tends to have appartments for which only expats can apply. You tend to end up with a place for a lower price in a nicer area than us domestics.

Hope this helped abit

Regards,
Loes

[Lost in Holland]

I`ve been living in Holland , near Breda since March. I`ve just had a week off work and now i`m back in Holland feel incredibly home sick. I`ve realised that the only people i know are the ones i work with and that apart from Breda and the village i live in that i don`t know anywhere else in Holland. I`m feeling very down about it all and need some advice on how to broaden my horizons a bit!!!Back home i`m a very popular sociable person but out here i`m getting a bit recluse and shy!!!Help!!!

[synthia]

Never turn down an invitation. Join a group. At least one weekend per month, get on the train and go to see another part of the country. And remember, in most of the world, most people make most of their friends at work.

[Lost in Holland]

Originally Posted by synthia

Never turn down an invitation. Join a group. At least one weekend per month, get on the train and go to see another part of the country. And remember, in most of the world, most people make most of their friends at work.

Thankyou for your suggestions.I`ll definitely try and get on a train once a month on my day off.I`m also going to have a look at what the local gym has to offer.I`d appreciate any advice frm anyone who`s currently living or working in Holland , maybe someone out there knows this part of Holland. I`m trying to find an ex pat"club" especially with Christmas approaching!!!

[synthia]

Check the websites for the US, UK, Canadian, and Austrailian consulates for information about expat groups.