Just a week to go until this annual event in Amsterdam which I’m really looking forward to. Even more so that I am an entrant in their Expat Blogging Competition – regardless of the final outcome, it’s been wonderful to be a part of this and have the opportunity to come together online with 21 other great expat bloggers – and really hoping to meet many of them face to face next week.
I actually attended this fair many years ago when I was living here before (around 2006 I think) and loved having a lot of relevant expat information all in one place. I attended the Feel At Home in the Hague Fair recently too, which is a similar concept but more specific to Den Haag obviously which is where I live. Some of my expat friends from this area will be making the trip to Amsterdam, such as the lovely Lynn from Nomad Parents and it will also be great to meet others.
There is a really impressive list of Exhibitors and Sponsors as well as an interesting Programme of presentations about issues of relevance to expats such as housing, taxation, banking and education.
It’s funny as technically I don’t really qualify as an “expat” by the Wikipedia expatriate definition as I’m actually a Dutch citizen, both through marriage to my Dutch husband but as I lived here before in The Netherlands from 2003-2007. However, as a born and bred Australian, who has lived there for the majority of my life, I’ve found it crucial to my happiness and wellbeing to be able to connect with others in a similar situation of being far from family, friends and the familiar. As my blog post entry in the blogging competition explains, “this time around” I’ve actually only been living in The Netherlands for just over two months. Expatica do market it though as “The community fair for internationals” and I’m certainly an international and love being part of the expat community.
So it will be a great day out next Sunday, and if you want to come along as well, you can order your free tickets online. A big thank you to Expatica for the opportunity to bring the expat community together to network, learn and share experiences. See you there!
Oh, stop press!!! While writing this post, I discovered the amazing Win a Babboe Bakfiets competition. I would SOOOOO love one of these…especially as I have to get the kids to and from school on the bike and it’s getting colder and colder….I have actually spent the last hour trying to find and choose a photo entry, and ended up making a Facebook album so friends can help me choose! I think I like this one though that I took just a few days ago…they always race each other when I take them out on the bike, so if I have a bakfiets I can bundle them in the front and keep them safe! (from the traffic, cold and racing each other!).
Update: no prizes for me in either the bakfiets or blogging competition but it was fun to enter!
Renee Veldman-Tentori
I’m a Dutch Australian, who blogs about my Life in The Netherlands and shares information, ideas and inspiration with others through this website as well as one on work family balance (Professional Parents). I am also a social media specialist and offer consulting and training in this area through my business Zestee.
Dutch Australian 
Sadly, the bus from Revesby doesn’t do that route. 😦 Veel plezier!!