moving to the Netherlands

debbym

Since finding this site a couple of years ago now I have been on and off the OS wagon but have gone in a generally upwards direction thanks to the excellent advice from you all; thing is that now my husband is being posted to Holland for a minimum of two years by his firm.

We have been on a trip to see what it is like (another to follow) before moving in the school summer hols. From the limited stuff I have seen it is like going back 30 years - no real supermarkets, all specialist shops, no sunday shopping I need help to hit the ground running if I can cos we will have moving costs to pay for at first.

So anyone out there in Holland? Or in a similar situation as an expat?
Any advice for if it were you? We have three children -one of whom will only eat "proper" sausages and pasta shapes neither of which we could find last time we were there... HELP:eek:

champys

Debbym - on the bright side, food is lots cheaper in Holland! There is much less of a takeaway and ready-meals culture, so really ideal for OSers. Best thing is to make friends with the locals (other mums from the schools?) and find out how they organize their shopping and food. Most people have a good grasp of English so that should not be too difficult. Sandwiches are very important in the Netherlands, there is lots of fresh milk (unlike here in France) and dairy, and you can get Heinz sandwich spread in more varieties than in the UK. You can get Marmite as well. Yoghurt goes by the litre.
Where in Holland will you live?

champys

P.S. - Baked beans don't come in tins, but in glass jars. And they are not bad at all (again loads better than in France).

mumoftwo

I am Dutch but have been in Scotland for 20 years

They have supermarkets but not like our super tesco or Asda. Their Lidl is much better than ours though. Bread is great, Markets are fabulous on a Saturday for fruit and veg, much more choice than we have here. Also for material, fish, cheese, nuts, sewing stuff etc and a lot cheaper

I love the choice of meats too, cold meats etc. cheese. The Dutch are having an obesity problem too, and there are a lot of ready meals now as well. There will be things you miss that you are used to here. I did in the beginning and my sister used to send me parcels

Cakes and puddings are devine, really missed them, (still do) Eating out is quite expensive, I think

the main supermarkets are: Albert Heijn. good for variety but a bit pricey, C1000, good, Lidl and Aldi and my sister says that where she lives they have opened a huge supermarket(for their standard) which sells lots of American stuff, can't remember the name of it but will find out if you want. It all depends if you are going to a big city or not. My sister buys a lot from Turkish shops, cheap and she likes the bread they make. The Dutch are multicultural so there are a lot of Eastern cooking ingredients and West Indian spices and goods. I miss them too.

You will have to get used to the supermarkets shutting at 8 o'clock and no Sunday shopping, or 24 hours either. If you have any questions, I would be happy to help if I can.. going over in the summer again for holiday and see my family.. And the flights with Easy jet are really cheap

debbym

Thanks mumoftwo and champys - at the moment I'm just twiddling my thumbs and packing up our stuff here so feel a little useless - once I'm out there and can actually get stuck in I think I'll be less apprehensive:o

Thanks for the tip about the baked beans champys - tore the shop apart last time trying to find them and couldn't explain to the shop assistant - I'll have another look during our trip in two weeks

We're going to the far east of Holland - Enschede/Hengelo area of Twente which is just alongside the German border so no new Hypermarkets etc like in the west

mumoftwo what do you do for cheap and cheerful kids clothes? At the mo I'm addicted to just chucking stuff in at ASDA or Tescos as and when we need it.

adouglasmhor

No advice it's a very nice area though and the people there are really friendly,(as long as you don't do what my idiot mate from Bury did and try to speak German to them ).

Zziggi

debbym wrote: »

Thanks mumoftwo and champys - at the moment I'm just twiddling my thumbs and packing up our stuff here so feel a little useless - once I'm out there and can actually get stuck in I think I'll be less apprehensive:o

Thanks for the tip about the baked beans champys - tore the shop apart last time trying to find them and couldn't explain to the shop assistant - I'll have another look during our trip in two weeks

We're going to the far east of Holland - Enschede/Hengelo area of Twente which is just alongside the German border so no new Hypermarkets etc like in the west

mumoftwo what do you do for cheap and cheerful kids clothes? At the mo I'm addicted to just chucking stuff in at ASDA or Tescos as and when we need it.

Just wanted to say I am jelous of you being able to move to the Netherlands! I love the place. I agree with what the earlier posters have said. Being an OSer already means you'll probably find it easier as you are used to home cooking. If you are near the boarder then you may find that alot of Germans living just over the boarder come to The Netherlands to shop as the food is cheaper than Germany. Do you speak dutch at all? I've always found that almost everyone speaks English and even if the people are reluctant to speak english, they almost all understand it. I learnt dutch and then took some dutch evening courses that my local university ran. Speaking dutch certainally gets you alot further. I put this down to people being surprised that a foreigner learns dutch as it is a language that is spoken by a relative minority of people ona global scale.

adouglasmhor

My Dad worked for a couple of years in the Netherlands on and off, Speaks hardly any dutch but fluent Frisian as he boarded with a family who spoke this all the time. (You wont get many Frisian speakers outside Friesland though). Not a greatly useful language.

Beccatje

Hi all!
Mumoftwo is my sister and she directed me to this thread so I'm just gonna jump in okay?

I'm Becca... Live in Deventer Holland. Not far from Eschede actually.

Shops indeed do close for the night and for the Sunday. It's something you get used to. Saturday is THE day to do shopping so if you want to avoid the weekend crowd you choose another day

Big supermarkets are:
Albert Heyn. = good for lots of choice but very expensive.
C1000 = pretty okay. Very good for meat. Good quality and they do smashing discounts. (we call them Reclame) it's a temp. low price for just the week or the day.

Jumbo is a relatively new big supermarket. Lots of variety. Lots of american and some UK products. Not cheap! They claim to be, but they only carry brand names.
Lidl and Aldi are really good. a little limited in choice but the products they carry are of good quality.

Baked beans do come in glass jars and they are called: witte bonen in tomatensaus.

For good priced clothes I will go to: Wibra, Zeeman, Bristol, Hema or C&A.
the first three are known to be cheap and thus of a little less quality. But as my kids go through clothes like there is no tomorrow no matter what the quality.. I stick to the cheap stuff as long as they'll let me get away with it.

If there is anything else I can help you with.. just let me know. It's a pleasure

Becca

debbym

ZZIGGI - No I don't speak Dutch. That could be another reason I'm apprehensive! I have been trying to find a learn Dutch type of language course at the local library but although they do the usual French, German etc no Dutch. :mad: I've found various sites online and am getting used to reading it (I can usually work out most of the nouns and the more common verbs) but how it is spoken is still a mystery as is listening to it spoken, I'm willing to give it a go in most situations but everyone always answers you in perfect English!
Beccatje - Thanks for the advice :T It will be useful to know where to aim for when I have to take the kids shopping; the extra stress of not knowing which shops should be most useful can push a shopping trip with three kids over the top! DH is working in the same office as someone from Deventer and says it is literally just down the road - small world:j

Beccatje

Debbym:

Most Dutch people will speak English. They'll even enjoy speaking English to you! Altough it is always much appreciated when you try to speak a little Dutch.

Even something simple as: Goede morgen will bring a smile to people's faces.
(= goodmorning.. pronounced: Goodu morgun.. although g is a hard sound like you're trying to scrape some phlem from the back of your throat)

When are you moving if I may ask? It is a real nice area of Holland to move to I must say.

Going shopping with 3 kids is a test on the best of occasions!
Good luck and just let me know if there is anything else i can help you with.
(maybe translating product names? )