I didn’t know where to start,” says Jennifer from Chicago, based in Den Hague with her husband on short-term assignment. Jennifer, a journalist by profession, hasn’t found a suitable job in the Netherlands yet and felt  “like I was rattling around the house” on arrival.

“One of my husband’s colleagues suggested that I get in touch with ACCESS, an organisation which offers free help and advice for expats. I gave them a call and found it reassuring to speak to a woman who was in a similar position to me. She suggested that I follow a course in Dutch culture and I did so. It gave me some focus as well as helping me to understand the Dutch better,” says Jennifer, who has since found a job.

As well as running courses about Dutch culture, fitness and relaxation, ACCESS runs anti-natal courses for expectant parents, anti-natal yoga, a breastfeeding workshop, baby massage and a course on what to expect from the Dutch healthcare system if you are planning on having children in the Netherlands.

“One of our most popular products is our baby courses, which are nearly always oversubscribed,” says Vicky Reynolds, ACCESS volunteer dealing with the PR/Marketing issues. “We publish baby book 'Babies and Toddlers' which gives a complete overview of the Dutch maternal healthcare system and have several other publications about life in the Netherlands available on our website. Among these is our popular calendar  which has a handy reference section with useful phone numbers.”

Claire, an Irish expat who moved on her own to Amsterdam in 2007 to “start a new life” says of ACCESS: “It was great to meet new people and I was really impressed about how much the organisation really does; particularly with their workshops.”
 
The Amsterdam office has now been running since 2003 and Vicky notes that it seems to be serving a slightly different international community from that in The Hague.  

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