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.

Thanks Expat & Thingone, I seem to have gotten more information from this thread than any expat or moving assistance thread. We have found an international school in Leiderdorp which seems to be attached to a montessori school. It is English speaking but has 2 30 min Dutch lessons a week so good for DS1. Also school finishes at 2.45pm on most days except weds & fri when it finishes around midday which is great as we will still have 2 half days a week to do stuff.

DH hates driving he would much prefer to catch trains to client sites so he avoids traffic and gets to play work on his laptop.

For those of you with small what happens with child healthcare in particular immunisations. DS1 is fully sorted until he older now but DS2 will need his MMR & pnuemovax about 2-3 months after we get to The Netherlands do they have these schedualled in for children over there? His HV said I could always just get it done if we come back over to visit but I'm not sure that we would be visiting around that time.

Expat when I come over if I'm in Amsterdam on one of the days of the english mum & baby groups we should meet up, I don't get to hear that many Aussie accents these days.

Immunisations are all sorted through the consultatiebureau (hopefully I spelled that correctly). All children seem to be registered with their local one and appointments just seem to be made for us to go for things like immunisations and weighing. I'm not sure how you 'join up' after birth (ours was all organised when the birth was registered at the town hall) but I'm guessing when you register at the town hall they will put you down for your local one (everyone has to be registered at their address). The list of immunisations is slightly different to Australia but I'm pretty sure we get the ones you list above as they are pretty standard (someone may correct me on that one though).It's all free too if you are on the local health insurance system (which I think all residents need to be).

With the working on trains thing.... it really depends what train he is catching (unless you are prepared to pay for first class travel which is a waste of money really). Eg on the Rotterdam to Amsterdam line, you really need to be one of the first to board in peak hour to guarantee yourself a seat. People joining later (eg Leiden, the Hague) never seemed to get seats in the brief time I did that commute (about a month when we first moved to the Netherlands). Trains on the whole are a great way of getting around (and much better than driving in the traffic I think) but they can be pretty full.

Also very happy to catch up when you are in Amsterdam. Just let me know. I tend to definitely be in on Wednesdays and at least one other day.

Thanks Expat, we are going to get one of those relocation companies to sort out all our settling in type stuff so I think they will sort out GP registration stuff, and we will be on DH's work insurance thingy. Thanks for all that. I will hope to meet up with you once we settle in maybe November-December.

Will warn DH of the trains but I think he'll still prefer it as he really resents anytime he is stuck in traffic. I think he may get a folding bike too so he can take it on the train, though if the trains are packed that might be tricky.

OK, just checked my immunisation chart. Definitely do MMR here (known as BMR), but cant' see pnuemovax. Or would it be the same as Pneu which is Streptococcus pneumoniae?

Also, GP is different to Consultatiebureau, but I'm sure your GP could get your sorted if the Town Hall doesn't. Your relocation agent should sort out all the registrations at Town Hall but not sure of GP (they considered themselves pretty hearty here and don't often see GPs!).

Re the trains - I agree with your DH. He can get a folding bike which is a great idea but not sure if that will mean he needs to stand (ie whether he can take it to the seats bit).

I'll be on hols in Australia for the whole of Dec but around pretty much the rest of the time.

I've been working here just over 9 years now.

For a GP, just stroll in to one you like the look of in your neighbourhood and ask to register - they'll need to see your health insurance card and they'll take care of the paperwork for you.

Yes, it snows. I'm in the south and this winter we had quite a lot of snow and temps down to minus 23 one night ! Typically the week my partner was out of town so nobody to cuddle!

Up in the north if it gets cold again this year you may be lucky enough to witness/participate in the "11 cities tour" which is where you can ice-skate over 200km through 11 cities on the frozen canals.

Minus 23!!!! I have no concept of how cold that could possibly be.

Skihorse the way you describe the registration process sounds so user friendly. Here in the UK it's a fairly easy process but they will grill you on whether you actually live close to the surgery and looked quite dismayed and almost defeated when they realize they actually do have to add you to their books.

Expat, very jealous your heading home for December, I haven't been home for almost 2 years. As we are planning on going home after this one year stint in The Netherlands I thought I'd wait until then to see it again, but feeling a bit sad that my DS2 will be 2 before he sets foot on the motherland. DS1 has been twice now.

veggiemummy My experience has been very easy, I just found one near my house - then I actually moved country and lived in Belgium for 6 years but kept my Dutch GP as I had to pay both Dutch and Belgian health insurance. I'm now back in the original area and my Scottish boyfriend just came in with me one day and said "I want to register" and that was that!

You had to pay insurance in 2 countries that's a bit rough.

Law... it wasn't much - it was "normal" price in NL and 30 euros a year in BE... so hardly causing a racket about!

Which insurance company do those of you in the Netherlands use? I am on travel insurance for another 2 weeks and then I have to get Dutch insurance. I have had Silverkruis (sp?) recommended. I want very good coverage, to include dental. Any advice would be great

All companies do good insurance including dental - however it's up to you how much dental cover you want.

Zilverkruis (Silver Cross) is the "top" insurance company in that you'll get a private room - other than that, it's the same as the rest of us get.

I'm with CZ which is 90 euros a month for the "basic" package including dental - it seems to change year to year what you get for your money. Some years it includes things like physio/mental health/dietician - although you'll always get them subsidised.

If you're not earning much you can get money up front from the tax office (50 euros a month) which will help pay for this.

You will first need to get a digital ID.

www.digid.nl

then go to the belastingdienst website for "Zorg Toeslag" (healthcare rebate)

www.toeslagen.nl/download/151.html

Did you also know that if you're a low-earner you can get a rebate back on your rent? Although I'm guessing you're live-in?

Wow Skihorse I really need to keep in touch with you, you are a fountain of knowledge! I'm not sure how long after DH starts work that our insurance kicks in as I assume they need all the info to get it started. I'd better check oh travel insurance covers until then.

I think I've settled on Leiden or close to it, I found a little football group for DS1 he plays over here and loves it, it's kind of just learning little skills the playing a little 5 a side game but it would help if he had another group to go to as soon as we get there to help him settle in. It's an English FA level 2 coach who runs the sessions for English expat kids. So that's nice.

Insurance is one of those tricky things - nobody seems to tell you much about it and yet it's illegal NOT to have it! I don't know if your hubby's company will arrange it or not... I've never heard of a company that DID arrange it. Even if you don't get around to arranging it for a few months you will find they backdate it from the date you registered at the Gemeentehuis (town hall). Also, despite the fact that we're EU and so should be covered all over europe, it's impossible to get a card to go on holiday with - so I always take out extra insurance because the health insurance companies are notoriously awful about paying out for a broken leg in Portugal for example!

On the plus side, when I phone my surgery for an appointment I can usually get one that day and they still have "open hours" rather that getting an appointment 3 weeks away in the UK. Also I found a lump in my breast some years ago and within 10 days I'd had my mammogram at the hospital and spoken to the consultant.

When DH spoke to the boss guy he said benefits included health insurance, it's a global company that he used to work for over here and got health insurance here, though obviously it's not compulsory in the UK more a perk. I think we had better make sure what they have in their benefits package is what we need.

That sounds OK then, you should be given a membership card like a credit card which you then present at the GP/chemist/hospital.

DH's company organised our health insurance - we are with VPZ and it costs about 190 euros a month for the three of us for pretty high cover. My former employer organised cover through VPZ too - I actually thought all big companies arranged it?? And thet back dated our cover to our arrival date.

So far we've never needed to pay for any medical care - including pregnancy and emerg c-sec with associated hospital stay, although we have left the dentist to trips back to Australia - don't worry, we go back at least once a year!

Oh and I got a private room for 5 days at VUMC - maybe I was just lucky?

Hi, have been living just outside The Hague for six years.
Health care here is excellent. Had a baby here and my experience was massively better than my London NHS birth.
If you're looking for English speaking education for your children, you'll usually have to pay for it and live near one of the large population centres of Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam (too far for you.) Check with your dh whether or not his company will meet that cost otherwise it will be a huge commitment for you, unless you choose to put your children into the Dutch. Bear school location in mind when deciding where to live because you don't want to spend all your time in peak-hour traffic getting the kids to and from school.
I don't know the Amsterdam international schools but in The Hague there are several well regarding english speaking pre-schools and schools.
Windmill playgroup
Red Fish Blue Fish
British School
ISH
HSV

Hey there ladies. We are still waiting on the job offer in writing. Being a big company it is likely to take a week or 2. I'm dying for it to come so we can start getting our teeth into this move.

Thanks again for all the information. School wise we have found a small international school which seems to be attached to a Dutch Montessori school. So far I've only looked at the website but it said the school fees for his year was 2700 euros which I thought wasn't too bad. I will mention to DH about speaking to his work though. I've been considering not sending him to school at all he currently goes to a Montessori nursery 5 mornings a week here in the UK. In Australia kids don't start school until they are 5 and as we will end up there I thought maybe I would keep him out until then but as we won't know anyone and he is quite a social kid and likes having little friends to play with I thought it would be difficult for him to make firm friends if he doesn't go to school. Also 2 days a week are half days so he'll only be increasing his time at school by a few hours.

Hey Skihorse, am I right in assuming you ski? Where do you tend to go during the season, what's closest to the Netherlands?

Expat we may have to save our meet up until January, when you'll have a lovely tan from back home. Do you always go over at Christmas?

Oh forgot to say thanks for that list yeahbut, and thanks for popping in. I think we should have a Netherlands meet up when I'm finally there.

This is our first Christmas home - usually my family likes to come here at Christmas time. However, DH's package includes flights home each year and so we get that trip. On top of that, it seems since we left that every sibling and very close friend has decided to get married so we seem to be going back and forth for weddings.

As for skiing - I haven't checked the flights yet this year, but Easyjet does flights into Geneva for all the resorts close to there and Transavia flies to Innisbruck. DH has just booked a week at Klosters so my job for today is to find out how we get there. Amsterdam is a pretty good airport for flights although a lot of Dutch seem to love to drive...

Veggiemummy OK, I'm not a mummy (yet) but the general consensus from longterm expats is to throw them in to the local schools when they're young and save your cash. They'll be fluent within months and it'll mean they can play with the kids in the neighbourhood. They'll speak English at home with you guys but with they're friends it'll be Dutch - "the language of the playground" they call it - where you'll end up with 2 mother-tongue english kids talking dutch when they're playing. Worth a thought if you're going to be here a while.

As for skiing, NL is home to the world's largest indoor snowdome (woohoo!) . www.snowworld.nl one at Zoetmeer and one at Landgraaf - I'm about a 20 minute drive from Landgraaf - OK, it's not the alps but I was up there a few weeks ago playing in the terrain park.

I tend to fly to Canada/US/Scandinavia but a lot of my colleagues drive to Austria or Switzerland, just load up the car and go. I drove to Italy a few years back, it was 8 hours to Geneva where I stayed in a hotel for the night then just a couple of hours from there. You can be in some areas of Austria in about 6-8 depending on how fast you drive and probably 8-10 for France... although the Dutch tend to be quite reticent about skiing with the French. If I ski Europe this year I'll probably go to Solden in Austria - and if the snow is really good in Germany then I'll go down to Garmish for a weekend.

Mmmm I have to say putting him into a local school for the language value is tempting, I worried it might be a stressful considering we are up and shifting countries on him. We don't have to decide straight away on schools as we will arrive in the middle of the term so he won't start until the new term in January. Currently we are thinking of only staying a year so that was why an international school was a good idea but I know us we will love it and want to stay a bit longer. A year isn't really very long. I think DH's original contract is for a year but there is an option to extend it depends on us really.

Oh and skiing we went to Garmisch last year and it was great not the most amazing boarding I had ever done but there was a little ski school and a bar at the end of the main run and cable car so perfect as we put DS1 into ski school and while one of us sat at the outdoor bar with DS2 and a beer warm beverage. I had read there is a snow train from Amsterdam? I quite like the idea of catching a train to the slopes, driving would be ok but rather a train. Flying is ok but with having to pay for DS1 it works out quite expensive even on the cheap airlines.

Oh and snowdome is good as DS1 is keen to do regular lessons and we were going to start him at the snowdome here in Tamworth for that.