LostLittleLily

Hi everyone, Well I am going through the same situation as most of you, thinking about moving to the Netherlands.
I am needing a bit of advice on everything, I plan to move over at some point next year but I need to find out about schools, health care, jobs and other things that maybe I have not thought of. If it helps I am thinking about moving to Tilburg with my dutch partner, I have read other posts and seen more negative comments than I care to read and a few great comments, I want both negative and positive, I am determined to move over and nothing will stop me but I need to have all the information that I can get.
Thank you so much for you time and your comments
Lilyxoxo

georgya

Well..we'll also move to NL this year...but we have already lived there for 5 years,in the past.

NL is ok, what can I say?
Weather sucks, people are like the weather (meaning cold), they always follow the rules and nothing is possible. But..they have nice Gym Clubs (with free babysitting), very good clothing stores and a lot of foreigners. So you can make friends easily (with the foreigners. Dutch are not too friendly).
They have great public transportation and you don't need a car. A bike would be enough. Houses are small, ugly, cold and expensive. Food is not great. The doctors will give you only paracetamol, doesn't matter if you are really ill or not.

But life is wonderful !

Anyway, if you need more (and positive) tips, let me know.

gelato

georgya - so why are you moving to NL then? What are the positives?

georgya

Gelato,
my husband got the job of his dreams there.


And the only 2 positives for me: the Gyms with babysitting and my old friends (none Dutch,of course)

HurricaneHayles

I have yet to find the Dutch "cold" I have yet to actually move there and already have a number of Dutch friends from a short research trip (3 nights).

From my moving endeavours so far I find that you reap what you sow when it comes to making new friends...

Tessa_K

Hey,
I agree with HurricaneHayles, all it takes is a little bit of effort... and as for the Dutch being cold, if you can chuck a Dutch word out, show a bit of effort, they are so appreciative, big old smiles! Its just getting past the nervous part, once you take a leap, it gets much easier.
Netherlands is a great place to live if you invest a little bit of time and effort into it.

Tess

furkew

with that attitude, you wont make many dutch friends either

My house in Holland was far from cold, small & no dearer than a house in Maidenhead, Berks where the rest of my family live.

Doctors are excellent & the health service in general knocks the Uk health service into a cocked hat.

Food. I wont comment because that is something that is very personal, but after eating in hundreds of restaurants over the years, except for Dutch style chinese (AWFUL !), you will find the general quality very good IMO.

I think we must have seen a very different side to Holland than yourselves. (I spent 21 years there BTW)

extexan68

I have been here this time for 15 years and a brief time of a year 20 years ago. I will also die here as it is my home. I love living here!!! Sure the weather can be dreary at times and the summers sometimes are depressing...however what I do love is anytime the sun is out people take advantage of it and get out and enjoy it. I was raised in Texas there it was just to hot to really enjoy the sun. Where as here we really appreciate sunny days. But I think unless you live in the tropics anywhere you live can also easily go a couple of weeks without sun.

I love the really long days in the summer!! It is light for about 18 hours a day.

I love that we do have 4 seasons. Spring is awesome.

Depending on where you come from houses may be smaller then what your use too. Coming from TX the houses here were quite small but I just LOVED our tiny little house we lived in the first time I lived here, small but ever so quaint. People often complain about the size of housing here and of course the price you pay for them but it is a small country if we all built TX sized houses their would be no country side left. They also complain they are cold...ever heard of wearing a sweater. Prices for heating here are much higher then what we paid in TX.

I have the good fortune of have a very proactive GP their are many out their in my experience it is the older gneration that are more difficult. That being said there are times I feel we need to be more cautious with health care and not take anti's for everything we feel fit for. One thing I do find slacking though is the health screenings. I feel those should start a younger ages and be done more frequently. Probably my biggest pet peeve I have in Holland.

Eating out, I have seen many people complain about that also. Depends on where you go...I have lived here 15 years and have NEVER stepped foot in a FEBO. One of the worse meals I have ever had eating out was in Italy so that doesn't mean much either. Yes, it will most likely be differnet the your use too but I find that the beauty of being in another country. I have read that they only eat cheese sandwiches, what a bunch of crap...yes bread, baquetts french bread is the standard lunch but with loads of different choices of spread. I see nothing wrong with that. But if you get lunch out you can choose more then just a sandwich, bread isn't the only thing on the menu! They only eat one hot meal a day if they have that at lunch they will have bread or soup for dinner. Again this is their way of doing things and I see nothing wrong with it.

The people, are for the most part very friendly, we live in the north and when my father-in-law visit he always comments that they are friendlier here then in the middle. Everyone says hello in my town. I have found it difficult to make real friendships, eventhough my Dutch is fluent, but I think that is more my own fault then anything as I can be quite shy as well. But they do sometimes tend to stick with the firends they have had for years. ALthough my sister-in-law makes friends when ever she has lived but she is a lot more outgoing then I am. SOmething I did come across at times is when struggling with a baby buggy and trying to open a door some people would walk right past you and not help, I still find this a strange phenomenon as over all I find the Dutch very friendly and helpful.

Employment here I cannot offer much advice as I have been a stay at home mom by choice and have only recently now my children are in HS considered that I want to do something outside the house. I do know both my sister-in laws have always worked with their children and one has a very high level position. The mothers of the children that were in my sons eleentary school pretty much ALL worked so it isn't as taboo as it once was considered...actually the oppoiste is happening and they look down at stay at home mom's.

I have had a good experience with schools, it did take some getting use to the different levels of high school though. If your a stay at home mom your children will usually eat lunch at home but all schools are required to have a system in place for them to have lunch at school, which they do bring themselves.

Bottom line is no matter where you live or have lived they are alwaysgoing to be different. I grew up in TX with British parents, have a good friend in Germany and one in Sweden family in the UK, and they also complain at times. But if someone is going to live life compairing it to what one is used to then no country will every make one happy.

Being away from family and friends was difficult at times but years ago I finally realized I made the choice to move here then I either can except that or I can move it is still a choice to make, but I feel happier here then back home so it was an easy choice to make.

Good luck with whtever you choose!!!!

gelato

That was a really nice post extexan!

I've been to Texas in the summer and I can see what you mean. Actually Rome isn't much better in the summer - disgusting! You just want to hide inside next to the fan or AC for 3 months out of the year.

extexan68

Thanks gelato!!!! I do try not to be as negative about Holland as most who post on forums can be. All countries have good and bad qualities to box them all and say one is better then the other is more a personal choice then anything. Nowhere is perfect its how you choose to deal with it while your there that has the impact on how you will enjoy it or not.

gelato

I agree, when I first moved to Italy 5 years ago I hated it. But now I really love certain aspects of Italian culture (the food, the love of children, our Italian friends). On the other hand there are other aspects of our life here which drive me bonkers and that is why I think we'll probably leave in around 5 years time and move either NL or my native Australia. What I don't like here is corruption, inefficiency, waste, familismo and the fact that there are so few opportunities for young people here (unless they're well connected of course!) I just got back from the anti-berlusconi march here in Rome and it was so nice to see so many ordinary Italian women saying "basta!" (enough)

I suspect that high school and university would be much better for our daughter in NL than here. And we as normal middle class people would probably live better too. Same in Australia though so a tough decision to make. Australian universities are very good too.

extexan68

So true! There are of course things that I do not like here same as back home in the US. I like here children can be children, and adolesence is a passage into adulthood...not horrible difficult teenagers!! 10 years ago we had to make the permanent decision stay or go. I think, like you, we actually made our decision based on what we thought was right for our children. We feel they get a better education here then in the US. But it was more the "feeling" that this is where they should be raised. Obviously, you are not in that situation, being you have to chose having not raised your children here or in Aust.

gelato

It sounds like you made the right decision. I also have US citizenship and I lived there for quite a while. I now have a very serious medical condition so I've given up any hope of ever moving to the US. I can't imagine any insurance company taking me on and if they did the premiums would be through the roof.

Harmony1000

I think healthcare has pretty much been covered on these boards, but it does depend on your own doctor, as they are the 'gate keepers' and they make the decision as to whether you need hospital treatment.

There are an awful lot of people being made redundant at the moment (my company included) so conditions are not good for job searching. They would probably choose a Dutch native over a foreigner and, unless you work in a big multi-national company, would need perfect Dutch.

I don't mind too much about the wet weather, it's the wind that we all complain about! I've seen people literally blown over in huge gusts so if you are small (like me) hang on! It's because the landscape is so flat with nothing to stop the wind. But that's just a minor issue ...

If you are thinking about a career please do some research because the job market is not good at the moment.

LostLittleLily

Hello everyone and thank you so much for your replies. They all help to make the move over easier.

extexan I've read on the forums and checked with my dutch bf to see whether it is true or not but the reason the dutch wont help if they see you struggling is you have to ask for the help first.