Moving to the Netherlands? Any MNers there can help with questions++

[Veggiemummy]

We are possibly moving over as my DH has a possible years contract over there. Ironically we have just been there for a 2 week summer holiday. His job would be based in Amsterdam with some travel to Belgium and we are considering where we would live. I quite liked the town of Leiden but not sure of cost of rent or if it commutable to Amsterdam for DH.

We have 2 boys DS1 is 4 and attends a Montessori school here in Derby a style of education we would like him to continue and DS2 is 9 months but is unlikely to attend much more than a playgroup within the year. What sort of child care and playgroups are there in the Netherlands for under 5's and is non Dutch speaking a problem. We are planning to learn as much as we can but in a year not sure how much that will amount to.

Finally what is it like living over there, we enjoyed the time we had there and we are keen cyclists so it felt like Nirvana for us. We are both Australian but have been living in the UK for over 10 years, so are used to being expats.

dont forget there are two coasts - the north sea and the ijsel meer, so you will have plenty of choice if you want to be near water. i am actually quite envious of you!

Could do BA I've done some school nursing but with DS2 I need weekend or night work but thanks anyway. I guess that is another option for schools, was it you that said you sister is over there with her LO's at an international school.

HH don't go green yet we have to wait until weds to see of this will happen. Would you ever be able to go over to live there?

not really!! DH not really that keen, and cant see how his or my work would be transferable. but we can visit with lots for free board and lodging.

Good luck to your DP for Wednesday! Let me know if there's anything I can help with

Thanks ladies I will post on Wednesday to let you know how he goes then hopefully will have some more questions Norks.

Just seen this thread - agree with everything that has been said! I'm based in The Hague tho which I really like. Looking forward to hearing how your DP gets on!

Hi Ollie, I didn't be much of a look at the Hague except to have a look at the Escher gallery, but it was closed for refurbishment. We did go to Shevinengen on amazingly sunny day, which was lovely.

There is a massive and excellent market in Den Haag, the biggest in Europe if my friend is to be believed! Well worth regular visits!

Ooops. Den Haag = the Hague

It's ok we are up on some of the The Netherlands lingo, we had the satnav on for Europe when we went over. It was quite funny our usual sat nav lady did a tag team thing with a Dutch lady. The englush voiced one said all the directions while the Dutch lady pronounced all the names of the places.

I live in Amsterdam, have for 2 years. It's amazing and great for kids, mine are bit younger than yours tho, 3 and 5 months.. we live near the centre but I know a lot of expats live in Amstelveen. They start school aged 4. you can also get state subsidies for nurseries.

Big pluses here: playgrounds everywhere, safe cycling, playgroups and kids' activities, a more relaxed attitude to childhood (unlike the UK fear of paedophiles lurking round every corner thing), education system is more focused on arts and not so obsessed with league tables, e.g. they don't learn to read and write till 6-7, lots of social support, good job market, everyone speaks English.

some minuses: hard to make friends with Dutch, they are quite reserved, food is not great, ditto weather (strong winds and rain). but def. outweighed by pluses.

There are some European regulations about transferable qualifications, so I would definitely look it up on the net, to see if you could register as a nurse. There are subsidised Dutch classes, or you could be a nurse for an English speaking company or school, just an idea. good luck!

Thanks Gem, my DH's prospective work is actually not far from Amstelveen. It kinds depends on prices. His income should be quite good but we didn't want to spend a fortune on rental. Work wise for me though I'm not too bothered as am a SAHM anyway was going to start doing some casual night shifts as DS2 is starting to sleep through the night but was mainly to keep my skills up. DH is flying over there now so fingers crossed.

it's official we are going to The Netherlands, wow so much to get my head around now!

Going out with my boys now but will be back later with questions.

Yay! Congratulations

Gemzooks I am in Centrum, in Amsterdam and am looking after a 3 month old, I would love to meet up for strolls or coffee, it's been really hard finding other mums/nannies of little babies! Have you discovered the playgroup at the English bookshop? I just started going there a week ago. Anyway, sorry for the hijack I am just excited to find someone else in A'dam

No worries Mananny that's fine. Are you renting in the centrum then or are you living with a family? I'm all in a bit of a whirl but I need to start getting my head around all this. DH's new work are going to pay relocation costs which is good but in view of this I'm wondering whether we should go over in October for a few days and have a look for somewhere to live. Is it difficult to find rental properties is it really expensive in the centrum, Amstelveen looks good so far due to proximity, but is it expensive, ah everytime I think if questions about a million more pop into my head.

I'm living with the family I work for, otherwise I would NEVER be able to afford to live here! Rent is crazy expensive. But so far I love A'dam. It's so easy to get around, very child friendly, nice atmosphere... but it's pretty lonely at times as I have no idea where other mums/nannies of babies go to at the moment! I've only been here a few weeks so am hoping it will get easier to meet people. The Dutch language is tough, but most people speak English so that's ok. Groceries are expensive, Albert Hein is horrid! After nearly 4yrs in the US I miss WholeFoods. There are proper butchers, cheese shops (mmmmmmmmmmmm cheese is amazing!) fruit and veg shops etc, it's more common to buy bits as and when rather than do a weekly shop.

Anyway, good luck

Oegstgeest is a lovely area and there's an international school there too for 11-18 year olds - actually an international stream of a Dutch high school (the Rijnlands Lyceum) but it offers the MYP and IB. Not that you're thinking that far ahead in terms of schooling but it does mean there are a fair amount of expats who are quite integrated into Dutch life.

It's definitely on my list of places to live.

Thanks Frakkin, we really have to knuckle down and think about this now. DH found out that he doesn't really need to be close to the office he went to yesterday but he will be based mostly on the client site which is somewhere else in Amsterdam. He asked where the people his collegues live and one lived 10 mins cycle away another lived 1.5 hrs drive away near the border with Germany! So really it's just what we want I guess. So we are currently looking at Oestgeest and maybe Amstelveen. We love living in Cities and lived in London for 10 years but having lived nearly 2 years near the peak district we would quite like to be near some open spaces and being near the beach would be good. Can I ask a very Australian question, does it snow in The Netherlands?

It must be very exciting (and rather daunting)!

It snows here a wee bit occasionally, a bit less than in the UK IME.

If you like the city life Leiden/Oestgeest would probably suit you better than Amstelveen, 'tis certainly more cosmopolitan. It's closer to the beach too. TBH there isn't that much open space in the Randstad, certainly nothing that comes close to the peak distric! The Veluwe is beautiful and quite large, but a bit of a drive.

Oops, was mixing up Amstelveen with Almere. Ignore me.

my twopence worth:

We relocated to Amsterdam from London in 2005. We lived in central Amsterdam, near the museum quarter and tbh, even being in town was a bit "provincial" compared to central London .
The pace of life is much slower and commuting was very efficient.
The vondelpark was walking distance, same for the beatrixpark. It was 25mn door to door to the beach and Duivendrecht was 10mn on the tram to WTC/Zuid then 3 stops on the tube - or 20 mn drive.

I understand that it would be different from the lake district, but you are only going to be there for a year. Why not make the most of this vibrant multicultural city? It is really lovely walking along the frozen canals and so easy to get out of town.

Thanks Slim we will def consider central Amsterdam but I'm just not sure of prices of central Amsterdam places and with 2 bouncy boys we need space. Also I really liked Leiden and the Coastal area near to it, though I understand all that is close Amsterdam too. We have just found out that some of DH's work will be in Rotterdam and Arnhem so Leiden or nearby Oegstgeest is looking more attractive. I do harbour a quiet desire to live in Jordaan but that's mainly because my DS2's name is Jordan. I think if I had the choice and no children I would live on a canal boat in central Amsterdam!!! Keep suggestions coming this is all very helpful. Where are you now Slim?

We have just moved out of central Amsterdam (the Jordaan) which was just lovely, but not really compatible with having a baby (we were on the fourth floor). I highly recommend living there - however, it is a lot more expensive than other parts. The other thing is that the apartments are pretty small which might be hard with a couple of kids.

We've moved to Zuiderwoude, a little village in the Waterland area (10km north of Central station). Other villages near us are Monnickendam and Broek in Waterland but if you are at home during the day, there might be more happening in Amstelveen. I have to go into Amsterdam to get any Mums and Bubs things in English (I don't speak Dutch).

If your DH is going to be driving to work, I would recommend living nearish to his work. My DH had to commute from Amsterdam to Rotterdam for 9 months and the traffic was awful. Most days he sat in a carpark for at least an hour of the journey. The distances are small (at least if you are used to Australia!) but the traffic has to be seen to be believed. For this reason - Leiden might be your best bet.

While rents have come down in the time we've been here (expats used to buy houses as it was cheaper than renting), it still would be worth trying to negotiate a rental allowance in the contract.

The Netherlands is super - we've been here 2.5 years (we're from Australia) and very easy to get around. The Dutch are reserved so it is probably best to be near some other expats, at least initially, for company as it can take a while to get to know the Dutch.

We lived in Amsterdam (centrum) before children, and DH worked in Bijlmermeer. Lots of his colleagues with children lived in Amstelveen and it was a bit dull.

Dutch is not a hard language to learn (hard to master) although it can be difficult to practise in real life situations in central Amsterdam as people just reply in English because they can hear you are a foreigner. Some of the people on my language classes qualified for state lessons for foreigners which were very good and geared towards working. One Danish woman was a nurse and was able to work quite quickly through this. These lessons may have been cut in these days of cutbacks, though. I was about to get them when we left and moved to Belgium where I found it infinitely easier to practise.

Have fun!