Category: welcome

Do not underestimate how hard it is to establish yourself in the Netherlands. It is not like how things go in for example the States. Over twenty years ago, research already revealed that it is easier to make it in NYC than in Amsterdam. This process has only gotten tougher since then.

Here is my main advice for anyone looking to move to the Netherlands, learned from harsh personal lessons in the course of my two-year remigration journey. If you’ve already gotten stuck in any of this, the least I can do is provide moral support. Never never never accept job offers that are tied to accommodation…

First of all, do your best to avoid them, period. Why? Because nowadays, they may be the fastest road into financial difficulties and other types of misery. Because one civil servant gets to determine when your bijstand gets paid and whether, and also what the amount will be.

In Utrecht, misschien? Eerlijk gestolen tekst hieronder Je bent terug in Nederland na een tijd wonen en werken in het buitenland.Ja, je geniet volop van het lekkere eten dat je hebt gemist, fietsen door de regen is ook best oké en je dwaalt een uur door de HEMA.Zeker, het is ontzettend fijn om ‘om de…

By the way, did you know that the Dutch postal services don’t deliver on Mondays (besides Sundays)?

Yes. Having a foreign-sounding name on your CV will make it a lot less likely that you will be invited to a job interview, for example. Ageism is also a factor. Unfortunately, online job applications almost always force you to enter your DOB. Dutch CV’s usually include DOBs and also often marital status as well…

Instead of Freecycle, Freegle and eBay, the Dutch go to “de kringloop”. That’s the abbreviation of “de kringloopwinkel”, which is like an American thrift store or charity shops in Britain. The site they use instead of eBay is marktplaats.nl. Dutch Freecycle groups exist, but even the group for Amsterdam barely gets any posts and they’re…

As a Dutch national who’s been using English for decades, I get it, though. The Dutch language has a much smaller vocabulary. You need about 10% more words to say what you want to say in Dutch than you’d use in English. (Well, okay, except if you’re used to a very wordy British style.) I…

It usually works. Not always. I haven’t been able to download all Dutch apps onto my Android phone, which I purchased and activated abroad. I’d get the message that the app was only available in the Netherlands, even though I was using a Dutch SIM card in it. It could be the Google account that…