everything in holland is near amsterdam

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any of you ever been to holland? did you like it?

― erik the only (?) non anglo-american on ILX, Sunday, 16 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

6 years ago, and i never left. do i like it? enough to apply for citizenship, though recent political developments left a nasty taste in the mouth. je bent niet de enige hollander hier erik, omar is spaans/nederlands en woont in a'dam

― stevo, Sunday, 16 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Dutch

― stevo, Sunday, 16 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

holland?

Do you mean the Netherlands?

― gieteling, Sunday, 16 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

only (?) non anglo-american on ILX

you WISH. ;-) there's loads: omar, stevo and me, all eurotrotrash. hahah and there's loads canadians and new zealanders.

i'll be in the netherlands (again) for the deus gig. yay!

― nathalie, Sunday, 16 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

you forgot me nathalie :( There are also loads of ppl at ILM. But i think Canada and New Zealand count as anglo-america. ?Eurototrash?

― Chupa-Cabras, Sunday, 16 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

sorry! SPANK ME! :-(

― nathalie, Sunday, 16 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

me too-ism: me too! never been in amsterdam but yesterday I was talking to a guy who told me that after 6 months there he'd like to go and live there, leaving italy cuz he said it's alovely and calm place, not very big.... but stimulating

― francesco, Sunday, 16 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

what exactly is eurotrash?

― francesco, Sunday, 16 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I haven't been to Amsterdam, but am curious and would like to go. If I make it over there, will you be my tourguide, Erik?

― Sean, Sunday, 16 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Sniki piki"

― Graham, Sunday, 16 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Dutch architecture is IT!

― Gordon, Sunday, 16 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I went to Holland in 1971. I do hope no one has been so foolish as to change anything since then.

― Rex, Sunday, 16 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I went to amsterdam in december last year. yeah it was fun+nice. if a little cliched. my visit.

and I think dutch architecture is I.T. too. but not all of it. thankfully.

and some belgian fellows I met a little while ago made me listen to deus and insisted I take my own copy of an album of their´s called worst case scenario? yeah.

― RJG, Monday, 17 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

oh so you've met nathalie, RJG? :)

I was in Amsterdam only a few weeks ago. Lovely city.

― Jeff W, Monday, 17 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

haha yeah jefff i get percentage on the sales. ;-)

― nathalie, Monday, 17 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I went on a singing trip to Amsterdam 3 years ago that was EXCELLENT; we were housed in Leiden and managed to tour through Haarlem, Utrecht, and The Hague in our spare time. That entire section of The Netherlands is GORGEOUS. Also, COFFEESHOPS!!!!!!

― Dan Perry, Monday, 17 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hey Dan, I live in Leiden (+ it is gorgeous).

― stevo, Monday, 17 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i visited amsterdam last year for a weekend and loved it. I have been seriously considering applying for a year working visa: how hard is it to find work etc esp as i don't speak any dutch. What is the rent like etc. ?

― Nalini, Monday, 17 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Stevo: EXCELLENT.

― Dan Perry, Monday, 17 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Nalini: providing your not too choosey about the kind of work it isn't difficult to find something at the mo, though this may change. There are dozens of Temp Agencies 'uitzendbureaus' doing a roaring trade for instance, quite used to dealing with non-dutch english speakers.

As to accomodation, the difficulty will be finding somewhere at all, housing is extremely scarce (and often cramped). Not speaking Dutch isn't a problem in A'dam in the short term (its the cities unofficial second language) but obviously limits your work options. Expect high levels of bureaucracy at every turn especially from the vreemedelingen politie 'alien police' (officially I'm an alien and have the document to prove it).

Working and Living in the Netherlands
Moving to the Netherlands?...

― stevo, Monday, 17 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I should add if you do go for it, do your homework beforehand. I've met too many hapless ex-pats who've moved over to a'dam on a whim, dreaming of coffee shops etc, hopelessly ill prepared for the reality of living in Holland. Some of them end up working illegally for next to nothing (picking bulbs etc), some end up homeless, or worse.

― stevo, Monday, 17 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

cool. thanks for the info stevo. much appreciated.

― Nalini, Tuesday, 18 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

two years pass...

revive. tell me more about holland!

― results not typical (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 1 November 2004 19:04 (twenty-one years ago)

eight months pass...

revive again, i am seriously thinking about aiming to live in holland.

this is mainly based on utrecht and bikes, both of which i love. maybe this is a silly dream....

― ambrose (ambrose), Sunday, 24 July 2005 15:13 (twenty years ago)

the food is not so good.

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 24 July 2005 15:32 (twenty years ago)

raw paaling!!

did mr digibeet desert us? :(

dr vick is mainly dutch

― mark s (mark s), Sunday, 24 July 2005 15:39 (twenty years ago)

only one A in paling

the dictonary i used played CRÅZY FRØG at me!! (B()£

― mark s (mark s), Sunday, 24 July 2005 15:44 (twenty years ago)

I liked utrecht very much

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 24 July 2005 15:47 (twenty years ago)

On the plus side, Ambrose, much better transport to plan.

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 24 July 2005 15:49 (twenty years ago)

mrs fiendish and i went to a wedding in coevorden a few years back. it remains one of the best weekends in the history of the world ever.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Sunday, 24 July 2005 15:52 (twenty years ago)

Not the best time to move here in terms of finding work. Unemployment is rising and the Dutch economy shrunk by 1.5% in the second quarter of 2005 (worse performance anywhere in the EU, incl. Malta + Italy). Consumer confidence has plummeted and my local high street reminds me or Britain in the early 90s ie loads of empty retail space to rent. The govt. seem demoralised and adrift, headed by the lacklustre J.P. Balkenende.

The atmosphere has become tense and fearful - though as yet not as fearful as in London right now I'd wager - with rising levels of Islamophobia stoked up by politicians like the appalling Geert Wilders, and high levels of social exclusion and criminality amongst certain ethnic minorities. When I moved over 9.5 years ago the Dutch were intolerably smug. No more.

― stevo (stevo), Sunday, 24 July 2005 16:21 (twenty years ago)

I've been to Flushing, it was okay. We had lunch in an empty pub.

― jel -- (jel), Sunday, 24 July 2005 16:25 (twenty years ago)

i had really really good food in holland! but i was only there 2 nights i guess.

i thought rotterdam was goign to be screwed urban nitemare, but i sort of liked it. maybe i was in the "nice bit" (we were next to this

― ambrose (ambrose), Sunday, 24 July 2005 21:36 (twenty years ago)

rotterdam was v. cold, when I was there, in, maybe, feb/mar

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 25 July 2005 02:32 (twenty years ago)

I have a photo, of me in rotterdam. maybe I will try to scan it, for fun. there isn't much of rotterdam, in it, though.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 25 July 2005 02:33 (twenty years ago)

ambrose: better don't move to our beloved country and keep your dreams intact.

― Ludo (Ludo), Monday, 25 July 2005 08:29 (twenty years ago)

I have been to Holland! I am part Dutch! (Well, a very small and sunbaked part.) I have been to Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Delft. I love the Netherlands. Well, except for the stalker I picked up there for a while.

However, my Naval Tome is going on at great lengths about the endless naval battles between the English and the Dutch which makes me not like them so much. But! It was a very long time ago. And the light there is so lovely.

― Rum, Sodomy and the LAN (kate), Monday, 25 July 2005 08:32 (twenty years ago)

The Dutch light almost makes up for the monotony of the landscape. Almost.

― stevo (stevo), Monday, 25 July 2005 08:41 (twenty years ago)

But the canals! The water! The light shining on the water! Who needs a landscape when you have a waterscape?

― Rum, Sodomy and the LAN (kate), Monday, 25 July 2005 08:45 (twenty years ago)

Some days I stare out of the train on the thin strip of countryside yet to be built on between Leiden and The Hague; the sky is huge, the clouds are voluminous, rays of sunshine hit the water and it does look lovely.

Mostly I just pine for some hills and mountains.

http://www.dkw.nl/licht/dijk/12.jpg

― stevo (stevo), Monday, 25 July 2005 08:54 (twenty years ago)

I lived in the Netherlands for nearly 6 years, the first 2 in and around Oosterhout near Breda and the last 4 in Utrecht. I loved Utrecht and miss it a lot. I was just thinking about trying to find someone for a housing swap. Anyone there want to spend 3 weeks on Martha's Vineyard next summer?

― Maria :D (Maria D.), Monday, 25 July 2005 10:17 (twenty years ago)

raw paaling!!

Rauwe paling. :-)

The atmosphere in the Netherlands is really tense, so friends tell me. It's a shame, really, but maybe the laissez-faire laissez-passer attitude was just not real. But I'm not Dutch and rarely visit the country, so I could be wrong.

But the canals! The water! The light shining on the water! Who needs a landscape when you have a waterscape?

Bah, Bruges is much nicer! ;-)

i'll be in the netherlands (again) for the deus gig. yay!

Ah the good old times. *sigh*

― nathalie's body's designed for two (stevie nixed), Monday, 25 July 2005 10:26 (twenty years ago)

The atmosphere in the Netherlands is really tense, so friends tell me

really? maybe i should leave the house more often.. maybe not. ;)

― Ludo (Ludo), Monday, 25 July 2005 12:08 (twenty years ago)

Where are you Ludo (uit nieuwsgierigheid)?

― stevo (stevo), Monday, 25 July 2005 12:48 (twenty years ago)

Woningruil! Wie heeft interesse?

― Maria :D (Maria D.), Monday, 25 July 2005 13:57 (twenty years ago)

Jullie wonen in Martha's Vinyard? Brugge is waarschijnlijk verschrikkelijk saai in vergelijking. :-)

― nathalie's body's designed for two (stevie nixed), Monday, 25 July 2005 14:13 (twenty years ago)

Is Leiden iets voor jullie? Heel centraal gelegen, maar met een kat. Wanneer precies Maria?

― stevo (stevo), Monday, 25 July 2005 14:37 (twenty years ago)

Leiden en Brugge lijken me leuk. Wij hebben ook een poes. Ik dacht misschien volgend jaar in de zomer. We hebben twee kinderen. Ons huis ligt bijna aan het water.

― Maria :D (Maria D.), Monday, 25 July 2005 15:20 (twenty years ago)

Maria ik ga je een mail sturen via gmail ok?

― stevo (stevo), Monday, 25 July 2005 16:56 (twenty years ago)

ja, doe maar!

― Maria :D (Maria D.), Monday, 25 July 2005 17:04 (twenty years ago)

Okay, I was just having a joke. I work seven days a week, no time off unless my parents suddenly return from Japan. :-(

― nathalie's body's designed for two (stevie nixed), Monday, 25 July 2005 17:24 (twenty years ago)

I wasn't trying to gazump you nath, just wanting to explore how realistic a 'woningruil' with Maria would be. BTW if I/we are ever in Brugge for a weekend could I/we buy you a beer/look you up?

― stevo (stevo), Monday, 25 July 2005 17:37 (twenty years ago)

Where are you Ludo (uit nieuwsgierigheid)?

I live in the beautiful south.. erm.. Breda! Too bad Maria preferred Utrecht. (though understandable, I was in Utrecht.. good city)

― Ludo (Ludo), Monday, 25 July 2005 18:14 (twenty years ago)

I was born

― Ludo (Ludo), Monday, 25 July 2005 18:15 (twenty years ago)

utrecht....good domkerk....good segregated busway:

http://photos16.flickr.com/22197806_6cbf82db88.jpg

― ambrose (ambrose), Monday, 25 July 2005 21:14 (twenty years ago)

Of course Stevo, don't be silly. If you're ever in Bruges, just drop by and we'll have a drink! :-)

― nathalie's body's designed for two (stevie nixed), Tuesday, 26 July 2005 06:08 (twenty years ago)

:-)

― stevo (stevo), Tuesday, 26 July 2005 16:57 (twenty years ago)

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