When I first moved from Australia to the Netherlands back in 2002, a condition on my partner visa was that I needed to take Dutch language lessons and sit an integration exam. In 2006, the rules changed, and you now need to study for and sit a language […]
If you are planning to study, work or live in The Netherlands it is important to consider your health coverage as you are possibly required to apply for health insurance. When is Dutch health insurance necessary? A health insurance (in Dutch: zorgverzekering) in The Netherlands is mandatory as […]
One of the most popular articles on this website has been the “Quest to gain a Dutch Passport: Kelly & Nathan’s story”. Unfortunately, I have lost touch with Kelly & Nathan, but if they are reading this, or you know them, please ask them to contact me, would […]
Hi Renee, I’m so glad I discovered your blog and FB page! I am an Aussie who has a dutch partner (met in Indonesia while travelling 2 yrs ago) and we have recently moved here so Bas (my partner) can have a bit of Dutch time with friends […]
Another visit to IKEA Delft today, where we are now regulars and supporting the wage of at least several staff members I think! Bas’ two brothers came to help us install more of the light fittings and curtain rods, and put together the new couch. Though his brother […]
Today my Dutch Australian friend Kristen came to visit. She lives about a half hour drive away, is Australian and like me, has married a Dutch man and had two little Dutch Australian children! We met here in The Netherlands back in 2003 via a ‘Aussies in Holland’ only […]
Today we had an adventure – a tram trip into The Hague City Centre. There is a great “International Desk” there at City Hall. When I first lived in The Netherlands (from 2002-2007), I spent several years as a volunteer with ACCESS, a wonderful organisation that supports english-speakers […]
I am writing this blog post much later. Today was the day we moved into our new house in The Hague. However it took us a month to get the internet connected! This was actually a huge stress, not only did it interrupt this daily therapeutic process of […]
As appreciative as I am to my schoonouders (Bas’ parents) for having us stay for almost a month, I am looking forward to getting our little family into our own place and we move tomorrow! I can’t drive here at all yet either and am missing my independence. […]
Big day – got the keys to our new house! We left the girls in North Holland with Oma and left around 11am. We first dropped by TU Delft to see if any of Bas’ old colleagues were around, but they were all on lunch break or on summer […]