Java Bean
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Country of origin United Kingdom
Country of current residence Netherlands
How I came to be an international : I got fed up with the UK!
recent forum
- How bad is the traffic? - Surely not M25 bad!!From my experience, almost all motorways, main roads are bumper-to-bumper from about 4pm until 6pm. I regularly travel over to Amsterdam and Eindhoven for business and always dread the trip back home to Twente. I'd say that the west of the Netherlands is probably a little bit worse than the M25, as most motorways here only have two lanes - from what I remember about the M25, Junction 15 had four lanes on each side, so it could absorb the flood of commuters from the M4.Take my advice - buy a bike and forget about your car!Java Bean.., 11/06/2008 04:23
- British Consulate to stop issuing passportsMany thanks for the info. I was actually at the Consulate last week, as I thought waiting until my passport expires in September was a little late. Like so many things in the UK, the woman behind the counter said, "I only work until 12, and I'm off to lunch!". Needless to say, the waiting room was still full of people, and the passport section is actually open until 12.30pm (according to the rules). Anyway, after chatting with his friends, a second person came along and tried to 'log into the system'. He then told everybody that the system was playing up and that it may take up to five to ten minutes to log on. Travelling from the East of Netherlands, and finding the consulate was indeed a very time consuming process, so I was a little flustered with his comments. However, at 12:25pm (just five minutes before they should officially close, I got served and sorted out my passport issue). Don't you just love these civil servants ! , 30/05/2008 12:30
- Am I mad?I suppose a lot will depend upon what type of job you have, and the location in the UK. If you have a hi tech job, then most of your colleagues will be foreigners (that's my experience), but if you move out towards the sticks, there more likely to Brits. I would say that the working environment in Britain is a little bit more formal than NL (shirt and tie), but a lot will depend upon the type of business and the people. If you do take the job, make sure that you get a very good salary, as cost of living is much higher than NL. Regarding your comment about only liking the UK for a few days, I would say that I do agree with you. Britain is difficult country to live in, and is certainly very different to the rest of Europe. There is very much a binge drinking culture and the prices of necessities are outrageous, including food. However, several things that I do miss are the hills, the beautiful forestry (but that's just as good here) and trips to the mountains which NL falls short on. Good luck ! Java Bean.., 31/08/2007 11:55
- Don't bother bringing any food back from the UK!I just heard (perhaps it's old news for some of you) that you can't export any food from the UK because of the foot and mouth disease outbreak. There goes my chance to get some delicious Devon smoked bacon! Have a look at the report: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/f...f/fmd-flyer.pdf Java Bean., 16/08/2007 11:57
- Trapped in holland or will it get better if i learn dutch?It's really too bad about a majority of people's experiences here. Speaking for myself, I have been here for two years now, and speak enough Dutch for an informal conversation with friends. I must say, that most Dutch people's perception of me has improved considerably since I have learn't their language. However, reading Kristi Green's comments about people laughing at you or switching to English is something that is typically west Holland behaviour (I have had some experience of that -that's why I don't go there anymore). Living in the east of NL, people actually appreciate any effort that you make to speak their language - and I have never had anyone laugh at my broken sentences. Although, it's true to say that a majority of people that I 'mix with' are University educated and have travelled. Regarding the 'other people' they usually swap to German (which I don't understand), which I find rather funny . The Germans are a rather interesting group of people, as the town centre on Saturday is full shoppers from Germany. I find it sad that majority of Germans that have been coming here for years make absolutely no effort to speak Dutch. This has been commented upon by many Dutch people, as I remember during my second week in NL. I remember a waiter who was so impressed with my ten or so words of Dutch after two weeks that he decided to tell me about Dutch people's frustration with 'non-Dutch speakers' . Fortunately, he did this in English Like I said, I have only been here for two years, so I wonder what I will think after five or ten years ? Wie weet ? Java Bean, 06/07/2007 11:53
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