Ons het ook Nederland toe getrek uit SA uit en is nou amper 2 maande hier. Jou videos het ons so baie help in ons besluit om hierheen te kom. Ek stem 100% saam met wat jy sé!
Ik vind het fantastisch dat ik toch wijs kom uit het Zuid Afrikaans. Fijn dat deze video bij jullie besluit om naar hier te komen heeft geholpen. Jullie hadden alleen wat meer 🌞mogen meebrengen. Het was inderdaad een 🤬-zomer dit jaar.😁
We moved to Sweden a bit more than 2 years ago and the feeling is the same, we miss the people and places in South Africa but love the fact that we can walk out the house and within 2 minutes we are in the woods or at the lake. Glad you guys are enjoying the Netherlands as much as we do Sweden.
As a Dutch person I think you made a good choice. Life in Sweden is mentally much better than life in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is far too overpopulated and very expensive. Also the nature and climate are better in Sweden than in the Netherlands. Congratulations on your good choice!
and it's why so much in The Netherlands works. if we aren't (completely) happy about something we complain about it, and that complaining leads to other people seeing the problem you're complaining about and realizing there's a problem that could be fixed. and so (eventually) we try to fix it. and when it's fixed we find the next thing that should be enhanced and complain about that, and the (bi)cycle goes on and on.
Hi Marte, Nice to hear you coming here. Im dutch and my wife is from SA, and we live in Amsterdam. A lot of South Africans moved here over the last few years.
I am glad you are settling in Marté. Dutch society does not lend itself for making friends outside of family. I have lived here now for sixty years. I fully understand where you are coming from. I have not made many friends at all outside of family but that is common here. The odd friends I have made have already died I am afraid and the rest have moved on. It does not upset me as I was very much a loner back in Edinburgh. I love this country and have needed the great health care system rather a lot. Thank goodness we live here as I would be bankrupt in the States. The Dutch take the safety aspect as a given and the fact that everything works also they never think about. I have a great partner who is Irish but we have both dual nationalities.
About the dust you see on the ground, or anywhere else....If you look at new houses these days in terms of ventilation, they have a recovery system in them, and that makes it so dusty. ''The abbreviation WTW stands for heat recovery and is a way of ventilation in which as little heat as possible is lost. With WTW ventilation, the used, warm air is simply discharged and the heat from it is transferred to the fresh, cold air that flows into the house through the ventilation system. A WTW unit keeps the air flows in your home in balance, which is why this is also called balanced ventilation. The system is also known as 'ventilation system D'.'' (Picked from the internet)
Domestic assistance isn't normal for ordinary house holds with able people in the Netherlands. It is more common for elderly people who need that assistance and people who can afford it (let's say rich people who can't be bothered with cleaning). Go to a social/hobby club to meet and befriended Dutch people.
I'm Dutch with a lot of South Africa in my life. Studied there, brother in law in SA and sister in law as well. I do understand the struggle making friends, real friends can be difficult, but believe me, there are people out there that are open to new friendships and love to hear Afrikaans😊. dankie vir die videos, baie lekker om te hoor hoe mense met 'n ander agtergrond en kultuur dit hier in ons koue landjie vind. Hier is beslis vriende vir die lewe te vinde, dit sal goed wees! groete Jasper
Ja Afrikaans is een soort Nederlands en het klinkt grappig, zoals wij wel grappig voor hen zullen klinken. Koud landje is fors opgewarmd en veel zonniger geworden in de laatste 30 jaar trouwens. Er is niks kouds meer aan eigenlijk, wel natter maar ook veel warmer.
Mooie eerlijke kijk op wat je beleeft... Sommige dingen die je niet passen is omdat je op een andere manier je identiteit hebt gevormd, en dat botst dan even. Tijd slijt. Als je langer ergens bent leer je vanzelf je te nestelen(lees verbinden). En geloof me, iedereen is hetzelfde, maakt niet uit waar we vandaan komen. We zijn gevoelig voor dezelfde dingen maar uiten ons op andere manieren..... Go along with your journey!
Welkom in Nederland! You may be right that it's hard to make friends here but I think that's true for moving abroad anywhere really. Please don;t worry about the language too much here, it really doesn't matter I think.
Hoorde ik dat nou goed Marthe , is Nederland geen mooi land , natuurlijk zoeen groot land als Zuidafrika heeft veel meer natuur , maar ook al is Nederland klein dan nog is het een heel mooi land , dan heb je volgens mij nog niet veel van Nederland gezien .
Good to hear you are settling in. My upstairs neighbors are South-African expats and we have had drinks and a braai or two. 😊 We're now entering the part of the year that's tough on all: dusk at 16 hours. Hang in there!
Nice to hear again from you, Marté.. Congratulations on your iron Man... quite an accomplishment! About the Dutch complaining about the Weather... well that's tradition.. and a bit of a sign of health. It just always is too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, too sunny, too cloudy, too windy... name it ! Start worrying about people when they stop complaining about the weather (joke). What I'm curious about is your work as an Attorney.. I'd love to hear more about it one day.
Welcome! We Dutch generally make friends in school and keep them all our life. New ones are rarely added. For "us" and to expats I always advise to join a club preferably where joint activities are. Teamsports is a good one, a gym is not (I only see people rushing in and out there) But it takes time. "Friend" for Dutchy is a very precious relationship. You have to "earn" friendships. Typically is "a handful", literally approx 5. The "rest" are "acquaintances" and they are NOT "2nd hand friends" but make up most of your social life. Also, per definition, co-workers will never become friends!! Keep enjoying your stay here, it is a FANTASTIC country. But I am bias, having 35 years expat experience in nummerous countries.
It might also have something to do with it being a small country. So, any family that lives in the Netherlands is close by. Even if they live on the opposite side of the country, you can still go visit them and be back home in one day. So people hang out more with family while in another country you might visit friends in the area.
Agree on most, except the co-workers statement: many of my best friends are or were colleagues ..., but that could be restricted to companies/businesses where many of the staff are non-locals (like for higher educated peeps who tend to end up outside of where they grew up).
@@grungegrumpy3585 Correct. I should have added this detail. I also experienced in all countries I lived that the easiest "friends" are made among the co-expats as you share a lot.
Welkom terug, Marté! Ik weet niet zeker of ik je al in het Nederlands kan antwoorden, zie het maar als een oefening! 😉 Zoals anderen al zeiden: Nederlanders maken hun vriendschappen in hun jeugd en daarna komen er maar zelden nieuwe bij. Mijn vrouw en ik zijn (voor Nederlandse begrippen) ver van huis terechtgekomen, en ondanks dat we hier al 35 jaar wonen en aardig wat mensen kennen, beschouwen we elkaar meestal als bekenden, niet als vrienden. Wat het beste werkt: zoek verenigingen, voor teamsport of hobby. Gedeelde interesses zijn een goede start voor vriendschappen. Als je vaker Nederlands wilt oefenen: ik denk dat je online partners moet vinden die Teams willen gebruiken.
@@ronaldv_tm My Nederlandse begrip is goed, maar ek dink dis beter as ek in Afrikaans antwoord! Baie dankie, die lekker om terug te wees. Ek kom agter deur jou en ander mense se kommentaar te lees dat ek geduldig moet wees en aansluit by ‘n sport-klub of iets soortgelyk om mense te ontmoet. Baie dankie vir al die voorstelle, ek waardeer dit opreg. Fijne avond! 🤗
As a kaaskop who moved to SA in 1998 for 7 years, I recognise your video "in reverse". I love both countries deeply and miss them when I'm not there. You touch upon the really hard things about being an expat that people who have not done it don't understand. It is really hard to miss all those birthdays, weddings etc. In the end the only remedy is to get more out of your time away from friends and with other friends to fill that hole a little bit. I've lived in 9 countries now, and spent most of the past 25 years away from friends and family, and sometimes I wonder if it was worth it. But most of the time I am thoroughly happy about the life path I've been on. So - I guess you just have to keep the chin up and make the most of it. Ek dink jy sal Afrikaner mates in Nederland he, maar as jy nuut vriende wil maak kan ek jou kontakt met Afrikaners in die Randstad. Self geniet ik die mooi lewe in Zuid Limburg. Nice video, and I hope your life in my country will be as nice as the one I had in yours. Lekkerbly.
Hello Marte, welcome in the Netherlands, and i hope you will enjoy life. This year the weather was terrible, to much rain in the summer. And about cleaning and dust, i clean with steam, is much faster and less dust. I hope you will meet a dutch friend soon. I only know, that work and prive are always seperated by the Dutch.
It is a complaint people have with northern Europeans, work and private are indeed almost strictly seperated. Most people tend to have friends they had in their youth. New friends can happen but it is not easy. She is a beautiful woman btw, so finding a boyfriend should be easy still but in these days of dating apps I think it is far more difficult since the spontenanity is not there anymore. I have heard that from other people. In my days we used to meet in disco's etc. That was easy and I think more natural.
@@Serenoj69 I believe making friends on a Dutch festival is the best way. If they are with you for a few days, they know you better, and Dutch people are easier to approach, they are more open to it. The same is for yourself, you can watch if there are some Dutch you have a click with.
@@helenooft9664 I have no such experience, so I can't comment on it. Just theoretically it seems that festivals ar emostly not held next to your door and the people you meet are from somewhere else. may be 100+ km away from you. It does seem far more difficult to keep a close friendschip let alone start one if that is the case. I think the best thing is meeting people in your town or city or at least near you so you can build up a contact. But I could be wrong.
@@Serenoj69 There are festivals everywhere in the Netherlands, but you can look to festivals that are in your Town. You can find festivals in the Netherlands on a webside, I have an Irish friend, she ask me to help here with her Dutch, and she helps me with my English, and that was fun. So she became one of my best friends.
When you meet someone, complaining about the weather is a useful conversation starter because everyone has an opinion about the weather. Making friends can be difficult for almost everyone. Everyone, including you, has built their own living environment. But the new social contacts can enrich that living environment. Make sure you get out and about regularly. For example, join a sports club or another one that suits you. Sitting at home alone rarely makes you friends. By the way, aren't we friends of yours?
Love this comment, because yes I feel very connected to lovely people like yourself who comment here. Thank you for the tips too, I’ll try them all out ☺️
Hey Marté, good to hear from you again. Totally understandable what you said about friends. And missing out on certain things/events. But keep in mind that you just can't go everywhere, even if you were nearby. Because of work or something else. Oh, and yes. The weather, this year, is/was bad. I'm born here, 61 years ago, and I still don't like it. Wishing the both of you the time of your life. Greetings from the Hague
about the weather... i recently saw a similar video or an Irishman who had moved to the Netherlands and even he was complaining about the weather. Saying something like, I know the weather in Ireland is bad, but the weather in the Netherlands is on a whole different level of bad.
May be because our winters are a lot colder than in Ireland? Otherwise our summers are a lot warmer, spring too and it is also much sunnier. The amount of sunshine has steadily risen in the last 50 years and continues to do so. The amount of days with fog is 25% of what it used to be in the 80s. The snowcover amount is also 1/4 of what it was.
And he is talking nonsense. We have 1700-2000 hours of sunshine per year. Limerick in the centre of Ireland has 1300. That is a lot less. Limreick average 980 mm of rain per year, The Netherlands only has one or two spots topping that. Ireland has many more. Dublin is probably the sunniest spot with close to 1500 hours of sunsine which is still less. The amount of rain is 775 mm which is about the same as in The NEtherlands. Summers...daytime maxima are 3-4 colder than the Dutch average and winters 2-3 C warmer. What is he talking about? Ireland has more rain, more rainy days, clearly less sunshine, clearly cooler summers and springs especially during the daytime...Even when compared to the most continental place in Ireland, which is Dublin. I mean temperatures above 25 C let alone above 30 C are so rare the records for Dublin, Shannon and Limerick are barely above 30 C. The record. We have that easily every year a couple of times. Our April and september records are higher than that.
Welkom in Nederland! It is not that difficult to make friends, you will find your way. Go downtown on saturdays, most cities and towns do have markets which attracts a lot of people, I like Saturday markets a lot. During spring and summer time we do have A LOT of festivals, always a good plan :) for the rest, well as it October and the final quarter of the business year, lot of people get a bit stressed. Targets must be secured, bonusses must be calculated 😋so we live often in rush when summer holidays ended until happy new year. You will find your way here, great advantage is that you can take a train and visit practically every city within a few hours at most. Almost in every city you can walk to see the highlights and do shopping, take a drink or whatever, it is impossible in Nederland to avoid people.
Welcome to our little country. Hopefully you will make soon some Dutch friends 😉. Dutch people can be a bit reservated but if you meet them on a festival, concert, bar, sport event or... whatever is fun they will be much more open to get in contact.
Best about Cycling is that up to 30 km an hour is that you still have eye for your surroundings. The moment i sold my car and started to go electric Cycling helped me reduce my Stress level and made me more approachable and reasonable.
My youngest daughter's boyfriend is from South Africa (Johannesburg and not safe). He became Dutch six months ago. He is actually an English speaker, but now speaks Dutch quite well. Some words are still not right, but he is doing quite well. But now a fun fact. His parents love a real South African BBQ. With wood and coal. Now they bought a Gas BBQ last spring. Well, I have to tell you: that was a challenge :-) They can't get used to it yet. I laugh my head off, because I do everything on a big gas BBQ. So funny to see that difference.
Most people I know didnt have cleaners in Cape Town unless they were upper class living in Rich suburbs. We all had our household chores to perform. And garden if we had one.
Hi, I really loved your video❤ It would be so, so helpful if you could please make more videos of this kind. Especially on how to find housing as an expat and how to settle in... I'm planing to move to the Netherlands in the summer of next year all by myself, and ngl while I'm so excited, simultaneously I'm extremely anxious... Any little bit of advice is welcomed ❤❤thank you ❤❤
😂 we will complain about anything and honestly that doesn't always say much. There could have been a heat wave for weeks and at the first sign of rain we be like "***damnit this horrid rain will it ever stop". It shouldn't be that hard to make none expat friends, but it's probably a matter of literally meeting people where they are at. Meeting new people in a bar isn't the easiest thing here, but go to a bouldering gym (as opposed to a normal gym) for instance and you'll meet people your first day there, be hanging about after climbing on week 2 and be planning a trip three months later. That's just an example, but I guess what I want to day is the where and when of when we are open to meet new people is a bit specific.
You probably live in the randstad, in the south, Brabant and Limburg it is much less complicated to live, it's cheaper and easier to make friends with neighbours, in bars and even in the parks and streets.
Domestic chores. Having some robotised vacuum cleaner, somewhat like those automated lawn mowers, doing the job 24/7 is really a big help when living alone. The ' dust problem' could have its origin in the textiles used in your house/appartment and/or the way they are washed ( agressive powders/liquids) or dried. About friends. Relax, you have a charming personality, meeting people nearby in an activity you like ( walking clubs ?) will not be that hard and perhaps you might get a friend . It's important to like the activity because people will see through it and than you'll be cataloged as 'fake'. All changes take time to appreciate, that goes for expats and immigrants but also for the locals having new neighbours from 'the far beyond'.
Hi Marte. As a 1st year LLB student in South Africa do you have any advice on ways to maximize the opportunity of finding work abroad? This excluding the obvious notion of further studying in Europe. Besides being an attorney, are there career opportunities for South African law graduates?
Great video 🙂 Well structured and explanetory, I loved it! Have you ever thought about becoming a attorney ;-) The weather 1. In every video about the Netherlands, people (that ARE NOT form the Netherlands) warn you about the weather. You must have stumbled upon them (videos).. 2. We (people IN the Netherlands) have only a few things to complain about. The weather is one of them. I am glad you are back. Missed your videos, I (educated) guessed you were training and doing the Iron Man. Flying to South Africa Tickets (in Europe) are the most expensive in Switzerland and The Netherlands. (we are the fools that buy the tickets at almost any price).| If you don't need a direct flight: - Look for (single) flights in Germany or Belgium - Fly e.g. over London or Warschau (Poland) - Buy (return) tickets in South Africa (or any country but The Netherlands or Switzerland). Nature in the Netherlands Try a weekend: - cycling in the Dutch provinces: Drenthe (heide), Gelderland (Hoge veluwe), Friesland (lakes and the islands Ameland and Terschelling), Limburg (zuid Limburgse heuvels) - visiting the Biesbosch (near Dordrecht) walking or by boat Nature nearby (distances compared to travel time in South Africa 🙂 ) - the Ardennes in Belgium - the Eifel or the Black Forest in Germany
Hello! I’m so sorry for being missing in action for so long, your assumption was correct. IronMan training, a new job and having relatives visiting meant there was no time to film and edit, but I am happy to be back 🤗 I wasn’t surprised my the state of the weather here, I think it was more like a shock on the system to get used to it coming from SA. But I have bonded with a lot of people in complaining about it hahaha, it really is a national sport! Thanks for all the tips and tricks, I really appreciate it 😊😊 fijne dag!
I don't want to start with a criticism, but the first thing I noticed about the video was that the echo in this room and the (unnecessary) music made listening a bit tiring...
Dust? Could be because you have much new clothes/linnen/furniture? New stuff often releases loose fibers for a while… could also be a bad vacuum cleaner 😬
Thank you for the nice video. I think for making friends it also depends on the person. I lived and travelled abroad a lot and I'm very open to inviting people for a drink, or hang out. Not sure where you live in the Netherlands but I would recommend Zuid Limburg, then you will see the beauty 😊 Feel free to reach out for any recommendations here
Well, since you've survived THE most depressing winter in the Netherlands since recorded history (it rained the majority of each day from September 2023 to June 2024), so I think you''l be just fine living in the Netherlands. And remember, we ALWAYS complain about the weather. Either too hot with sunburn or got too wet because of the rain, traffic was a nightmare because it was freezing. The weather is NEVER good or even fine for that matter. About making friends....that is an issue. We tend to have only few but very deep friendships. Mostly, our friendships grow over a shared live experience, like growing up together, living in a student house together, become soccer champion together, traveling together or be in a committee of some club, organizing an event of some magnitude. I can imagine you have passed the phase in live were you have time for these things. With other expats you share such a big life experience (moving abroad), witch is a blessing, but also could be your downfall in making Dutch friends. I wish you a pleasant home here in the Netherlands.
Yes, it is hard to make close friendships with Dutch people in Holland and this has a lot of foreigners perplexed because when they have met Dutch people they were friendly and outgoing, so what gives? Trust me when I say that the Dutch don't mean for it to be so hard, they don't mean to be not hospital. It is too harsh to say that Dutch people put strangers through some vetting process before they decide to be friends but a Dutch person before becoming your friend often needs to feel some reference, some reason for becoming your friend. The question ""why do I need this person as a friend in my life"" needs to be answered for them. You are a nice and great person is often processed as; there are many nice and great people in this world, they are not all my friend! The Dutch interact in friendships, as do many people in the world, in groups, a group of your old school friends, a group that you hooked into through one of your family members, a group that formed when you played sports in team fashion, a group of work colleagues. As I said this is not unique to Holland but what is unique is that The Netherlands is a small country, meaning you don't loose many friends because, like in The US for example, they end up moving far away. Many of the Dutch friends that I had when I left the country at age 22 were friends that I made when I was 6 years old and entered school. This is very common. Also family members are close not out of reasonable reach. So Dutch people have not a great need to always make new friends, they don't loose old ones. Don't under estimate the group thing power. I think that all the Dutch girlfriends that I have had as a teenager (girlfriend is a pretty close relationship I would say) I first got to know via some group that we both found ourselves part of. They, perhaps would not have dated me if meeting was some casual bumping into each other. So work at it, purposely join groups but not in a fashion that you are used to, translate it into Dutch society. Here in The US I would say "join a bowling league" or in Texas I would say "join a square dancing night" but there's not much bowling in Holland and not too many Dutch people wear their cowboy hats once a week. If a year brings a cold winter and ponds actually freeze over go to where The Dutch ice skate, even if you are terrible at it. You seem very sporty, join a group of wind servers (not in Limburg). I hear that playing darts is now big in The Netherlands. My last advise: DON'T TURN DOWN OPPORTUNITIES GIVEN! If a few work colleagues ask if you want to join for a "borrelje" after work, GO, even if you don't want to, even if you don't drink, even if you don't really like the 2 people asking because there may be 5 others going, some of who you really do like. Lastly, Dutch people are very focused people, conscious people, sincere people, what they call friends are a big emotional investment, they care about their friends, it means a lot. Focus on groups and Good Luck!
You are welcome. I would love 2 stay in Kaapstad or Anywhere in Suid Afrika for a year or so. The Netherlands are unique and therefore beautiful. Enjoy
Hello mooi mens! We are planning on moving, the only challenge is that we have 2 teens and was wondering about the education system. Do you perhaps have any information on relocating with teenagers please?
Dutch people already have their own social circle that's often not even remotely connected with their work environment. A lot of Dutch people make a strict distinction between co-workers and friends. As one of my friends put it: "I have to work with my co-workers, I choose to be with my friends. I can't imagine inviting a co-worker to my house. Who in his right mind is bringing his work to his house?"
Yes, so the major lesson to be learned here is: Learn to speak Dutch ! And especially for you: Afrikaans basically is derived from Dutch and objectively spoken English is the nearest language to Dutch and both English, Afrikaans, Dutch and German; they all came from 1 source language called : Proto Germanic. Go see the video of the langfocus channel, called the dutch language (not deutsch!) The Dutch basically have a group of friends they grew up with from the same street, the same school and the same university they went to, if they did so in the first place. So with all due respect, but we do not need any "friends" from abroad, especially not when they do not speak Dutch, or/and they are here for just a brief moment of time like expats. So if you do feel the urge to try to break in such a group of Dutch friends, you better make sure you speak Dutch, since we do no like to be forced in to a foreign language we do not control the way we control our mother language: Dutch, especially amongst friends with whom you want to be able to discuss everything, especially sensitive and uncomfortable things. This is not typical Dutch, this goes for every country with their own language. The Dutch may speak a little English, but again: English is a true foreign language to us, just like Spanish and German is, because we grew up in Dutch in a Dutch society in Dutch culture and Dutch Norms and values --> Strange...? No Obvious, this goes for you as well, being South Afrikaans, growing up in South Afrika, in the South Afrikan culture and the South Afrikan Norms and Values, right...?
Being a South African, it is not that simple. We are many cultures sharing 1 country. Marté ek dink jy doen fantasties, hou jou kop hoog, jy praat reeds twee tale en die beste manier om Nederlands te leer is om omring te wees met mense wat Nederlands praat. Hier kan jou werk dalk help (saam ekstra klasse) waar jy jouself forseer om die taal te praat. Jy weet self hoe in Suid-Afrika as jy nie Sotho byvoorbeeld praat word jy onsigbaar. As ek daar bly, is ons verseker pelle maar ons gaan heeldag Afrikaans praat😂 Ai sterkte, jy gaan nie spyt wees nie. Hou net aan en uit en leer die taal! Ons dooi hier van die hitte, 41C. Groete van Bloemfontein!
@@DesireeWilken Hey Desiree, dankie vir jou reaksie! as jy die regte ingesteldheid handhaaf, sal volledige integrasie in die Nederlandse samelewing nie 'n probleem wees nie. Om regverdig te wees; niemand, insluitend ek, sal sê dat so 'n oorgang maklik sal wees nie. Dit is regtig 'n volledige uitdaging en daar is nogal baie om aan te pak. Om so 'n internasionale skuif te onderskat lei oor die algemeen tot baie hartseer, eensaamheid en lei nie tot die beraamde resultaat nie. Om jouself te dwing om die taal, kultuur en sosiale struktuur te gebruik, is inderdaad noodsaaklik. Jy kan net ’n suksesvolle immigrant wees as jy stadig maar seker die land waarvandaan jy kom en die taal wat daar gepraat word kan los, ruimte skep in jou brein om die nuwe land en die nuwe taal te laat insink, ens. Jy kan nie met twee voete in twee lande staan as hulle duisende kilometers uitmekaar is nie. Die leuse is dus, of jy daarvan hou of nie; Keuses maak; Distansieer jou van die ou land, taal en kultuur en stel jou heeltemal oop vir die nuwe land, taal en kultuur ensovoorts. Dit is die vereistes oor die hele wêreld wat geld vir enigiemand wat na enige plek beweeg, internasionaal gesproke. Dit sal natuurlik net so goed vir my geld as ek byvoorbeeld na Suid-Afrika sou verhuis. Terloops, ek praat nie Suid-Afrikaans nie; Google translate het my hier gehelp ;-) Ek praat bietjie Engels, maar Google translate help my ook gereeld. Moet dus nie geflous word as jy sien hoe 'n Nederlander 'n redelik goedgeskrewe stuk teks skryf nie; Daar is 'n goeie kans dat Google translate van toepassing was ;-). As jy in Nederland is en jy benodig 'n sparringmaat rakende Nederlands, kan ek jou van diens wees. En dan nu in het Nederlands:-) Hey Desiree, dank je voor je reactie! als je de juiste mind-setting handhaaft, zal compleet integreren in de Nederlandse samenleving geen enkel probleem zijn. Eerlijk is eerlijk; niemand, ook ik niet, zal zeggen dat een dergelijke transitie eenvoudig zal zijn. Het is echt een complete uitdaging en er komt best veel op je af. Het onderschatten van en dergelijke internationale verhuizing lijdt in het algemeen to veel verdriet, eenzaamheid en lijdt niet tot het geraamde resultaat. Jezelf forceren in het gebruik van de taal, de cultuur en se sociale structuur is inderdaad van vitaal belang. Je kunt eigenlijk pas een succesvol immigrant zijn als je het land waar je vandaan komt en de taal die men daar spreekt langzaam maar zeker los kunt laten, waardoor er in je brein ruimte komt om het nieuwe land en de nieuwe taal enzovoort te laten indalen. Je kunt namelijk niet met twee benen in twee landen staan als die duizenden kilometers uit elkaar liggen. Het devies is dus, of je dat nu leuk vindt of niet; Keuzes maken; Afstand nemen van het oude land, taal en cultuur en je volledig openstellen voor het nieuwe land, de nieuwe taal en nieuwe cultuur enzovoort. Dat zijn over de gehele wereld de eisen die gelden voor wie dan ook waar heen verhuist, internationaal gesproken. Voor mij zou dat uiteraard net zo goed gelden als ik bijvoorbeeld naar Zuid-Afrika zou verhuizen. Overigens spreek ik geen Zuid Afrikaans; Google translate is mij hier van dienst geweest ;-) Engels spreek ik wel wat, maar ook daarbij is Google translate mij regelmatig van dienst. Laat je dus niet om de tuin leiden als je een Nederlander een redelijk goed geschreven stukje text ziet schrijven; kans is groot dat Google translate van toepassing is geweest ;-). Als je in Nederland bent en je hebt een sparringspartner nodig voor wat betreft Nederlands zou ik je van dienst kunnen zijn.
you answered my question (of antwoord mijn vraag) ((see, also broken dutch): how the language barrier for someone who speak afrikaan (see, also broken dutch) Thisn summer was awful, i almost had an hypothermia in june (fun part, the year before, week for week, it almost had a heat shock)
One source of dust we have that you might not have in South Africa is Sahara sand. But I've never heard of the Netherlands being dustier than elsewhere. 😂
I got 2 industrial electricians and the third one is coming this month, one is speaking or understanding Dutch the other one who speaks Afrikaans has more problems with it and looks like he is not really going for it. All went out of Africa for discrimination and criminality.
I would like to be your friend.And yes South Africa so different but Holland is nice 2. Beautifull nature just flat perhaps in Limburg.Don 't worry about the language we can understand you.Have a good life .❤🎉😊
Welkom in ons kleine kikkerlandje en ik wil je wel een update geven hoe het in Afrika is aangezien ik er best vaak moet zijn als kassenbouwer zijnde :)
It has got zero to do with you being a foreigner that you do not have friends. And you being Afrikaans speaker should adjust your language just a little to be fluent in Dutch. We simply keep our friends we had and rarely make new ones after college or so. The weather was extremely wet (easily) record! rainfall the past 12 months. But he....if you had come here 30-40 years ago you would have had MUCH colder summers and MUCH colder winters. Imagine 2 months of continues snowcover, daytime temperatures between -5 and -10 C. A blizzard of an on etc. You know we are the best icespeedskaters in the world for a reason....To me these years ever since 1995 and more so after 2018 are exceptionally warm. Winters is basically one long autumn to most of us now. About language a bit more: Danes learn fluent, impaccable Dutch in a matter of months. If they want to you cannot tell they are not Danes, I have had this a couple of times now. Of course, this is because Danish is very similar to Dutch. But surely not as similar as Afrikaans is. I feel if you still talk Afrikaans with a twist after 9 months you do not put in enough effort. If a Dane is accentless in months and the grammar is perfect, you should be able to do the same. I would not mind you talking Afrikaans btw I can understand 90% of it and it is funny.
To be honest, the "can't find cheap domestic help" kind of rubs me the wrong way. South Africa has had a long history of 'having cheap help' alas. In the Netherlands domestic work is work like any other and as such it is rewarded like any other hard work. I am genuinely sorry to sound so negative and I totally get the culture difference in this case. For my Dutch ears your complain however is somewhat ridiculous.
To be honest, the "lack of equality in your country" kind of rubs me the wrong way. I know the Netherlands has a history of 'having a well functioning government and society'. Alas, in South Africa, governmental corruption is abound and thus it doesn't allow for a well functioning society where people are treated as equals, especially the lowest of the lower class. I am genuinely sorry to sound so negative and I totally get the culture differences in this case. For my South African ears your complaint, however, seems a bit ridiculous.
The Dutch always complain, primarily about the weather. Nothing new. And I don't think the Netherlands is dusty. We just don't have cleaners who clean it up for you. Fun fact, most of the dust is from your skin, some is from traffic, and at the coastal zone, it can also be fine sand and salt. Just work at your Dutch, and Dutch friends will come. They are hard to get, but if you have one, it is for life and extremely loyal. As for the countries beauty, I agree with you, but it is in the eye of the beholder. Some people can get extremely enthousiastic about the fact that every "polder" is different. I don't see it.
Read some of the comments already posted. Saw that speaking Dutch is an issue for you. But, just like cleaning the house and doing rather extreme sports (my opinion), NOT EVERYTHING needs to be (near) perfect. Immigrants from all over earth have retained or adapted some quirks in speaking Dutch. Famously ridiculed sometimes is the 'fat W' some people have from the former Surinam colony, and some repatriated from what is now Indonesia had a particular way of speaking Dutch. And don't get me started on people with heritage from around the Mediterranean. Not to forget many dialects within this country that are markedly different than standard Dutch. Point is, it does not need to be perfect -- the purpose of language is to be understood. JDI (or JFDI if you're in a bad mood). People will respond if on occasion it becomes incomprehensible, but they do it to help not to criticize! FWIW, people from the UK often compliment on my very good English. Though it is usually meant truly positive, it feels like "nah, not like a native". Just push aside that feeling. It is something that only exists between your ears!
Find a nice church, Pentecostal , Vineyard for example.. or join a sport club, .... astronomy club etc.. Be a friend, and you will find friends.. Dust??? You live near the coast?
Welcome to the Netherlands, having a black person doing the cleaning for you is not how the Dutch are raised. People here will not do this kind of work for you unless you pay them properly and provide them an honest income. As a Dutchy I found that part of your video kind of concerning. Tread people with respect and theu will respect you too.
@@beeldbarista hiya! I think people are way misreading the intent of that comment. It’s just a new set of chores that needed to be added to a schedule for something we didn’t need to think about before. I didn’t mention anything about poor pay or mistreating anyone - that you inferred yourself 😉
Try to at least understand Dutch. Making friends is much easier with people who understand your language so that you can speak English and your friends can speak Dutch.
"It's not beautiful here"?!? Then you really haven't seen much in the Netherlands yet. I guess it's a totally different kind of beauty. Of course there is way more (variation in) nature in SA. The NL is very small and has other qualities like old cities, the Waddeneilanden and much more. It's rather odd to state that "it's not beautiful here".
Spreek jij geen Afrikaans? Woon je in de omgeving van Maastricht. Misschien vind me vrouw het wel leuk om eens ergens een drankje te doen. Gr van een Italiaan al 20 jaar wonend in Nederland
most native Dutch people I know have cleaners. But only a half day each week. My grand parents had at least one helper allmost full time. Ordinary middle class.
@@1aapmens Don't know, the people they get in touch with at the railways station, the people who they encounter while doing there shopping? You know, the "average" Dutch person.
Ons het ook Nederland toe getrek uit SA uit en is nou amper 2 maande hier. Jou videos het ons so baie help in ons besluit om hierheen te kom. Ek stem 100% saam met wat jy sé!
Ik vind het fantastisch dat ik toch wijs kom uit het Zuid Afrikaans. Fijn dat deze video bij jullie besluit om naar hier te komen heeft geholpen. Jullie hadden alleen wat meer 🌞mogen meebrengen. Het was inderdaad een 🤬-zomer dit jaar.😁
We moved to Sweden a bit more than 2 years ago and the feeling is the same, we miss the people and places in South Africa but love the fact that we can walk out the house and within 2 minutes we are in the woods or at the lake. Glad you guys are enjoying the Netherlands as much as we do Sweden.
As a Dutch person I think you made a good choice. Life in Sweden is mentally much better than life in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is far too overpopulated and very expensive. Also the nature and climate are better in Sweden than in the Netherlands. Congratulations on your good choice!
Locals complaining doesn't mean anything. Complaining is a national sport for the Dutch. 😂
I don't like the way you worded that!
@@skabuoy I don't like how you answered that!
@@skabuoy But most Dutch do complain to much.
and it's why so much in The Netherlands works.
if we aren't (completely) happy about something we complain about it, and that complaining leads to other people seeing the problem you're complaining about and realizing there's a problem that could be fixed. and so (eventually) we try to fix it.
and when it's fixed we find the next thing that should be enhanced and complain about that, and the (bi)cycle goes on and on.
@@ChristiaanHWje hebt helemaal gelijk.
Don't give up on finding a Dutch friend. It's hard, not impossible and once you do find one, you'll have a friend for life.
Hi Marte, Nice to hear you coming here. Im dutch and my wife is from SA, and we live in Amsterdam. A lot of South Africans moved here over the last few years.
I am glad you are settling in Marté. Dutch society does not lend itself for making friends outside of family. I have lived here now for sixty years. I fully understand where you are coming from. I have not made many friends at all outside of family but that is common here. The odd friends I have made have already died I am afraid and the rest have moved on. It does not upset me as I was very much a loner back in Edinburgh. I love this country and have needed the great health care system rather a lot. Thank goodness we live here as I would be bankrupt in the States. The Dutch take the safety aspect as a given and the fact that everything works also they never think about. I have a great partner who is Irish but we have both dual nationalities.
Uiteindelijk komen de nederlandse vrienden echt wel ;-) Groet!
About the dust you see on the ground, or anywhere else....If you look at new houses these days in terms of ventilation, they have a recovery system in them, and that makes it so dusty.
''The abbreviation WTW stands for heat recovery and is a way of ventilation in which as little heat as possible is lost. With WTW ventilation, the used, warm air is simply discharged and the heat from it is transferred to the fresh, cold air that flows into the house through the ventilation system. A WTW unit keeps the air flows in your home in balance, which is why this is also called balanced ventilation. The system is also known as 'ventilation system D'.''
(Picked from the internet)
DRAFTY !!!! Drafty country😱.
Domestic assistance isn't normal for ordinary house holds with able people in the Netherlands.
It is more common for elderly people who need that assistance and people who can afford it (let's say rich people who can't be bothered with cleaning).
Go to a social/hobby club to meet and befriended Dutch people.
I'm Dutch with a lot of South Africa in my life. Studied there, brother in law in SA and sister in law as well. I do understand the struggle making friends, real friends can be difficult, but believe me, there are people out there that are open to new friendships and love to hear Afrikaans😊.
dankie vir die videos, baie lekker om te hoor hoe mense met 'n ander agtergrond en kultuur dit hier in ons koue landjie vind. Hier is beslis vriende vir die lewe te vinde, dit sal goed wees! groete Jasper
Ja Afrikaans is een soort Nederlands en het klinkt grappig, zoals wij wel grappig voor hen zullen klinken. Koud landje is fors opgewarmd en veel zonniger geworden in de laatste 30 jaar trouwens. Er is niks kouds meer aan eigenlijk, wel natter maar ook veel warmer.
@@Serenoj69 wel als je uit zuid Afrika komt waar je gemiddeld 320 dagen volle bak zon hebt, haha
Just join a club of sports or a social club in your neigbourhood and you are making friends at ease. Good luck!
Mooie eerlijke kijk op wat je beleeft... Sommige dingen die je niet passen is omdat je op een andere manier je identiteit hebt gevormd, en dat botst dan even. Tijd slijt. Als je langer ergens bent leer je vanzelf je te nestelen(lees verbinden). En geloof me, iedereen is hetzelfde, maakt niet uit waar we vandaan komen. We zijn gevoelig voor dezelfde dingen maar uiten ons op andere manieren.....
Go along with your journey!
Welkom in Nederland! You may be right that it's hard to make friends here but I think that's true for moving abroad anywhere really. Please don;t worry about the language too much here, it really doesn't matter I think.
Hoorde ik dat nou goed Marthe , is Nederland geen mooi land , natuurlijk zoeen groot land als Zuidafrika heeft veel meer natuur , maar ook al is Nederland klein dan nog is het een heel mooi land , dan heb je volgens mij nog niet veel van Nederland gezien .
Good to hear you are settling in. My upstairs neighbors are South-African expats and we have had drinks and a braai or two. 😊 We're now entering the part of the year that's tough on all: dusk at 16 hours. Hang in there!
Nice to hear again from you, Marté.. Congratulations on your iron Man... quite an accomplishment!
About the Dutch complaining about the Weather... well that's tradition.. and a bit of a sign of health. It just always is too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, too sunny, too cloudy, too windy... name it ! Start worrying about people when they stop complaining about the weather (joke).
What I'm curious about is your work as an Attorney.. I'd love to hear more about it one day.
Welcome!
We Dutch generally make friends in school and keep them all our life. New ones are rarely added. For "us" and to expats I always advise to join a club preferably where joint activities are. Teamsports is a good one, a gym is not (I only see people rushing in and out there)
But it takes time. "Friend" for Dutchy is a very precious relationship. You have to "earn" friendships. Typically is "a handful", literally approx 5. The "rest" are "acquaintances" and they are NOT "2nd hand friends" but make up most of your social life. Also, per definition, co-workers will never become friends!!
Keep enjoying your stay here, it is a FANTASTIC country. But I am bias, having 35 years expat experience in nummerous countries.
It might also have something to do with it being a small country. So, any family that lives in the Netherlands is close by. Even if they live on the opposite side of the country, you can still go visit them and be back home in one day. So people hang out more with family while in another country you might visit friends in the area.
Agree on most, except the co-workers statement: many of my best friends are or were colleagues ..., but that could be restricted to companies/businesses where many of the staff are non-locals (like for higher educated peeps who tend to end up outside of where they grew up).
@@grungegrumpy3585 Correct. I should have added this detail. I also experienced in all countries I lived that the easiest "friends" are made among the co-expats as you share a lot.
Welkom terug, Marté! Ik weet niet zeker of ik je al in het Nederlands kan antwoorden, zie het maar als een oefening! 😉 Zoals anderen al zeiden: Nederlanders maken hun vriendschappen in hun jeugd en daarna komen er maar zelden nieuwe bij. Mijn vrouw en ik zijn (voor Nederlandse begrippen) ver van huis terechtgekomen, en ondanks dat we hier al 35 jaar wonen en aardig wat mensen kennen, beschouwen we elkaar meestal als bekenden, niet als vrienden. Wat het beste werkt: zoek verenigingen, voor teamsport of hobby. Gedeelde interesses zijn een goede start voor vriendschappen. Als je vaker Nederlands wilt oefenen: ik denk dat je online partners moet vinden die Teams willen gebruiken.
@@ronaldv_tm My Nederlandse begrip is goed, maar ek dink dis beter as ek in Afrikaans antwoord! Baie dankie, die lekker om terug te wees.
Ek kom agter deur jou en ander mense se kommentaar te lees dat ek geduldig moet wees en aansluit by ‘n sport-klub of iets soortgelyk om mense te ontmoet. Baie dankie vir al die voorstelle, ek waardeer dit opreg.
Fijne avond! 🤗
As a kaaskop who moved to SA in 1998 for 7 years, I recognise your video "in reverse". I love both countries deeply and miss them when I'm not there. You touch upon the really hard things about being an expat that people who have not done it don't understand. It is really hard to miss all those birthdays, weddings etc. In the end the only remedy is to get more out of your time away from friends and with other friends to fill that hole a little bit. I've lived in 9 countries now, and spent most of the past 25 years away from friends and family, and sometimes I wonder if it was worth it. But most of the time I am thoroughly happy about the life path I've been on. So - I guess you just have to keep the chin up and make the most of it. Ek dink jy sal Afrikaner mates in Nederland he, maar as jy nuut vriende wil maak kan ek jou kontakt met Afrikaners in die Randstad. Self geniet ik die mooi lewe in Zuid Limburg. Nice video, and I hope your life in my country will be as nice as the one I had in yours. Lekkerbly.
Hello Marte, welcome in the Netherlands, and i hope you will enjoy life. This year the weather was terrible, to much rain in the summer. And about cleaning and dust,
i clean with steam, is much faster and less dust. I hope you will meet a dutch friend soon. I only know, that work and prive are always seperated by the Dutch.
It is a complaint people have with northern Europeans, work and private are indeed almost strictly seperated. Most people tend to have friends they had in their youth. New friends can happen but it is not easy. She is a beautiful woman btw, so finding a boyfriend should be easy still but in these days of dating apps I think it is far more difficult since the spontenanity is not there anymore. I have heard that from other people. In my days we used to meet in disco's etc. That was easy and I think more natural.
@@Serenoj69 I believe making friends on a Dutch festival is the best way. If they are with you for a few days, they know you better, and Dutch people are easier to approach, they are more open to it. The same is for yourself, you can watch if there are some Dutch you have a click with.
@@helenooft9664 I have no such experience, so I can't comment on it. Just theoretically it seems that festivals ar emostly not held next to your door and the people you meet are from somewhere else. may be 100+ km away from you. It does seem far more difficult to keep a close friendschip let alone start one if that is the case. I think the best thing is meeting people in your town or city or at least near you so you can build up a contact. But I could be wrong.
@@Serenoj69 There are festivals everywhere in the Netherlands, but you can look to festivals that are in your Town. You can find festivals in the Netherlands
on a webside, I have an Irish friend, she ask me to help here with her Dutch, and she helps me with my English, and that was fun. So she became one of my best friends.
When you meet someone, complaining about the weather is a useful conversation starter because everyone has an opinion about the weather.
Making friends can be difficult for almost everyone. Everyone, including you, has built their own living environment. But the new social contacts can enrich that living environment. Make sure you get out and about regularly. For example, join a sports club or another one that suits you. Sitting at home alone rarely makes you friends.
By the way, aren't we friends of yours?
Love this comment, because yes I feel very connected to lovely people like yourself who comment here. Thank you for the tips too, I’ll try them all out ☺️
Hey Marté, good to hear from you again. Totally understandable what you said about friends. And missing out on certain things/events. But keep in mind that you just can't go everywhere, even if you were nearby. Because of work or something else.
Oh, and yes. The weather, this year, is/was bad. I'm born here, 61 years ago, and I still don't like it.
Wishing the both of you the time of your life.
Greetings from the Hague
I watched all you videos and excited to move ther in January from South Africa
about the weather... i recently saw a similar video or an Irishman who had moved to the Netherlands and even he was complaining about the weather. Saying something like, I know the weather in Ireland is bad, but the weather in the Netherlands is on a whole different level of bad.
May be because our winters are a lot colder than in Ireland? Otherwise our summers are a lot warmer, spring too and it is also much sunnier. The amount of sunshine has steadily risen in the last 50 years and continues to do so. The amount of days with fog is 25% of what it used to be in the 80s. The snowcover amount is also 1/4 of what it was.
@@Serenoj69THE HOUSES ARE DRAFTY. Makes it permanently chilly.
And he is talking nonsense. We have 1700-2000 hours of sunshine per year. Limerick in the centre of Ireland has 1300. That is a lot less. Limreick average 980 mm of rain per year, The Netherlands only has one or two spots topping that. Ireland has many more. Dublin is probably the sunniest spot with close to 1500 hours of sunsine which is still less. The amount of rain is 775 mm which is about the same as in The NEtherlands. Summers...daytime maxima are 3-4 colder than the Dutch average and winters 2-3 C warmer. What is he talking about? Ireland has more rain, more rainy days, clearly less sunshine, clearly cooler summers and springs especially during the daytime...Even when compared to the most continental place in Ireland, which is Dublin.
I mean temperatures above 25 C let alone above 30 C are so rare the records for Dublin, Shannon and Limerick are barely above 30 C. The record. We have that easily every year a couple of times. Our April and september records are higher than that.
@@Serenoj69 it was his perspective from an Irishman who had moved to NL. Who am I to argue with his experience?
Welkom in Nederland! It is not that difficult to make friends, you will find your way. Go downtown on saturdays, most cities and towns do have markets which attracts a lot of people, I like Saturday markets a lot. During spring and summer time we do have A LOT of festivals, always a good plan :) for the rest, well as it October and the final quarter of the business year, lot of people get a bit stressed. Targets must be secured, bonusses must be calculated 😋so we live often in rush when summer holidays ended until happy new year. You will find your way here, great advantage is that you can take a train and visit practically every city within a few hours at most. Almost in every city you can walk to see the highlights and do shopping, take a drink or whatever, it is impossible in Nederland to avoid people.
Welcome to our little country. Hopefully you will make soon some Dutch friends 😉. Dutch people can be a bit reservated but if you meet them on a festival, concert, bar, sport event or... whatever is fun they will be much more open to get in contact.
Best about Cycling is that up to 30 km an hour is that you still have eye for your surroundings.
The moment i sold my car and started to go electric Cycling helped me reduce my Stress level and made me more approachable and reasonable.
I can relate to this. I'm looking to move to the Netherlands or another country, and I realize the same things.
Go to another country. We have enough foreigners.
My youngest daughter's boyfriend is from South Africa (Johannesburg and not safe). He became Dutch six months ago. He is actually an English speaker, but now speaks Dutch quite well. Some words are still not right, but he is doing quite well. But now a fun fact. His parents love a real South African BBQ. With wood and coal. Now they bought a Gas BBQ last spring. Well, I have to tell you: that was a challenge :-) They can't get used to it yet. I laugh my head off, because I do everything on a big gas BBQ. So funny to see that difference.
He became Dutch six months ago.
I don't think so, his rights are the same tho.
@@peet4921 HIj is ruim 6 jaar in Nederland en heeft inmiddels de Nederlandse nationaliteit en een Nederlands paspoort.
big gas BBQ just he like grillen not BBQ.
Most people I know didnt have cleaners in Cape Town unless they were upper class living in Rich suburbs. We all had our household chores to perform. And garden if we had one.
Hi, I really loved your video❤ It would be so, so helpful if you could please make more videos of this kind. Especially on how to find housing as an expat and how to settle in... I'm planing to move to the Netherlands in the summer of next year all by myself, and ngl while I'm so excited, simultaneously I'm extremely anxious... Any little bit of advice is welcomed ❤❤thank you ❤❤
😂 we will complain about anything and honestly that doesn't always say much. There could have been a heat wave for weeks and at the first sign of rain we be like "***damnit this horrid rain will it ever stop".
It shouldn't be that hard to make none expat friends, but it's probably a matter of literally meeting people where they are at. Meeting new people in a bar isn't the easiest thing here, but go to a bouldering gym (as opposed to a normal gym) for instance and you'll meet people your first day there, be hanging about after climbing on week 2 and be planning a trip three months later.
That's just an example, but I guess what I want to day is the where and when of when we are open to meet new people is a bit specific.
You probably live in the randstad, in the south, Brabant and Limburg it is much less complicated to live, it's cheaper and easier to make friends with neighbours, in bars and even in the parks and streets.
Domestic chores. Having some robotised vacuum cleaner, somewhat like those automated lawn mowers, doing the job 24/7 is really a big help when living alone. The ' dust problem' could have its origin in the textiles used in your house/appartment and/or the way they are washed ( agressive powders/liquids) or dried. About friends. Relax, you have a charming personality, meeting people nearby in an activity you like ( walking clubs ?) will not be that hard and perhaps you might get a friend . It's important to like the activity because people will see through it and than you'll be cataloged as 'fake'. All changes take time to appreciate, that goes for expats and immigrants but also for the locals having new neighbours from 'the far beyond'.
What a brave story 💪🏽
Wanting Dutch friends is like doing a longterm investment, invest time and effort and in the long run you wil benefit.
Welkom! enjoy and see as much of our country as possible
Hi Marte. As a 1st year LLB student in South Africa do you have any advice on ways to maximize the opportunity of finding work abroad? This excluding the obvious notion of further studying in Europe. Besides being an attorney, are there career opportunities for South African law graduates?
Great video 🙂
Well structured and explanetory, I loved it! Have you ever thought about becoming a attorney ;-)
The weather
1. In every video about the Netherlands, people (that ARE NOT form the Netherlands) warn you about the weather. You must have stumbled upon them (videos)..
2. We (people IN the Netherlands) have only a few things to complain about. The weather is one of them.
I am glad you are back. Missed your videos, I (educated) guessed you were training and doing the Iron Man.
Flying to South Africa
Tickets (in Europe) are the most expensive in Switzerland and The Netherlands. (we are the fools that buy the tickets at almost any price).|
If you don't need a direct flight:
- Look for (single) flights in Germany or Belgium
- Fly e.g. over London or Warschau (Poland)
- Buy (return) tickets in South Africa (or any country but The Netherlands or Switzerland).
Nature in the Netherlands
Try a weekend:
- cycling in the Dutch provinces: Drenthe (heide), Gelderland (Hoge veluwe), Friesland (lakes and the islands Ameland and Terschelling), Limburg (zuid Limburgse heuvels)
- visiting the Biesbosch (near Dordrecht) walking or by boat
Nature nearby (distances compared to travel time in South Africa 🙂 )
- the Ardennes in Belgium
- the Eifel or the Black Forest in Germany
Hello! I’m so sorry for being missing in action for so long, your assumption was correct. IronMan training, a new job and having relatives visiting meant there was no time to film and edit, but I am happy to be back 🤗
I wasn’t surprised my the state of the weather here, I think it was more like a shock on the system to get used to it coming from SA. But I have bonded with a lot of people in complaining about it hahaha, it really is a national sport!
Thanks for all the tips and tricks, I really appreciate it 😊😊 fijne dag!
@@martebarnard Friends 🙂
We take making friends very seriously, it can take a while. Sports can be a great vehicle.
I hate the dust. Can't get rid of it. But we have power 24/7 to vacuum 😅
Maak je niet druk, stof loopt niet weg!
I don't want to start with a criticism, but the first thing I noticed about the video was that the echo in this room and the (unnecessary) music made listening a bit tiring...
Dust? Could be because you have much new clothes/linnen/furniture? New stuff often releases loose fibers for a while… could also be a bad vacuum cleaner 😬
I wish! All the furniture is second hand…my guess is the building is old 😵🤣
To be honest, I am also always surprised how much dust there is after a day of cleaning 😳 and my building is reasonably new…
Thank you for the nice video. I think for making friends it also depends on the person. I lived and travelled abroad a lot and I'm very open to inviting people for a drink, or hang out. Not sure where you live in the Netherlands but I would recommend Zuid Limburg, then you will see the beauty 😊 Feel free to reach out for any recommendations here
Well, since you've survived THE most depressing winter in the Netherlands since recorded history (it rained the majority of each day from September 2023 to June 2024), so I think you''l be just fine living in the Netherlands. And remember, we ALWAYS complain about the weather. Either too hot with sunburn or got too wet because of the rain, traffic was a nightmare because it was freezing. The weather is NEVER good or even fine for that matter.
About making friends....that is an issue. We tend to have only few but very deep friendships. Mostly, our friendships grow over a shared live experience, like growing up together, living in a student house together, become soccer champion together, traveling together or be in a committee of some club, organizing an event of some magnitude. I can imagine you have passed the phase in live were you have time for these things. With other expats you share such a big life experience (moving abroad), witch is a blessing, but also could be your downfall in making Dutch friends.
I wish you a pleasant home here in the Netherlands.
Yes, it is hard to make close friendships with Dutch people in Holland and this has a lot of foreigners perplexed because when they have met Dutch people they were friendly and outgoing, so what gives?
Trust me when I say that the Dutch don't mean for it to be so hard, they don't mean to be not hospital. It is too harsh to say that Dutch people put strangers through some vetting process before they decide to be friends but a Dutch person before becoming your friend often needs to feel some reference, some reason for becoming your friend. The question ""why do I need this person as a friend in my life"" needs to be answered for them. You are a nice and great person is often processed as; there are many nice and great people in this world, they are not all my friend!
The Dutch interact in friendships, as do many people in the world, in groups, a group of your old school friends, a group that you hooked into through one of your family members, a group that formed when you played sports in team fashion, a group of work colleagues. As I said this is not unique to Holland but what is unique is that The Netherlands is a small country, meaning you don't loose many friends because, like in The US for example, they end up moving far away. Many of the Dutch friends that I had when I left the country at age 22 were friends that I made when I was 6 years old and entered school. This is very common. Also family members are close not out of reasonable reach. So Dutch people have not a great need to always make new friends, they don't loose old ones. Don't under estimate the group thing power. I think that all the Dutch girlfriends that I have had as a teenager (girlfriend is a pretty close relationship I would say) I first got to know via some group that we both found ourselves part of. They, perhaps would not have dated me if meeting was some casual bumping into each other.
So work at it, purposely join groups but not in a fashion that you are used to, translate it into Dutch society. Here in The US I would say "join a bowling league" or in Texas I would say "join a square dancing night" but there's not much bowling in Holland and not too many Dutch people wear their cowboy hats once a week. If a year brings a cold winter and ponds actually freeze over go to where The Dutch ice skate, even if you are terrible at it. You seem very sporty, join a group of wind servers (not in Limburg). I hear that playing darts is now big in The Netherlands.
My last advise: DON'T TURN DOWN OPPORTUNITIES GIVEN! If a few work colleagues ask if you want to join for a "borrelje" after work, GO, even if you don't want to, even if you don't drink, even if you don't really like the 2 people asking because there may be 5 others going, some of who you really do like.
Lastly, Dutch people are very focused people, conscious people, sincere people, what they call friends are a big emotional investment, they care about their friends, it means a lot.
Focus on groups and
Good Luck!
You are welcome. I would love 2 stay in Kaapstad or Anywhere in Suid Afrika for a year or so. The Netherlands are unique and therefore beautiful. Enjoy
Hello mooi mens! We are planning on moving, the only challenge is that we have 2 teens and was wondering about the education system. Do you perhaps have any information on relocating with teenagers please?
Dutch people already have their own social circle that's often not even remotely connected with their work environment. A lot of Dutch people make a strict distinction between co-workers and friends. As one of my friends put it: "I have to work with my co-workers, I choose to be with my friends. I can't imagine inviting a co-worker to my house. Who in his right mind is bringing his work to his house?"
Nice video. Welcome in my country 🇳🇱
Dank je wel! :)
It's a fact that the better things work, the more people complain..
Dust after one day is nasty. Try 2 vacuum slower and the dust will not go up en fall down behind you.........Enjoy your channel.
Yes, so the major lesson to be learned here is: Learn to speak Dutch ! And especially for you: Afrikaans basically is derived from Dutch and objectively spoken English is the nearest language to Dutch and both English, Afrikaans, Dutch and German; they all came from 1 source language called : Proto Germanic. Go see the video of the langfocus channel, called the dutch language (not deutsch!)
The Dutch basically have a group of friends they grew up with from the same street, the same school and the same university they went to, if they did so in the first place. So with all due respect, but we do not need any "friends" from abroad, especially not when they do not speak Dutch, or/and they are here for just a brief moment of time like expats. So if you do feel the urge to try to break in such a group of Dutch friends, you better make sure you speak Dutch, since we do no like to be forced in to a foreign language we do not control the way we control our mother language: Dutch, especially amongst friends with whom you want to be able to discuss everything, especially sensitive and uncomfortable things. This is not typical Dutch, this goes for every country with their own language.
The Dutch may speak a little English, but again: English is a true foreign language to us, just like Spanish and German is, because we grew up in Dutch in a Dutch society in Dutch culture and Dutch Norms and values --> Strange...? No Obvious, this goes for you as well, being South Afrikaans, growing up in South Afrika, in the South Afrikan culture and the South Afrikan Norms and Values, right...?
Being a South African, it is not that simple. We are many cultures sharing 1 country. Marté ek dink jy doen fantasties, hou jou kop hoog, jy praat reeds twee tale en die beste manier om Nederlands te leer is om omring te wees met mense wat Nederlands praat. Hier kan jou werk dalk help (saam ekstra klasse) waar jy jouself forseer om die taal te praat. Jy weet self hoe in Suid-Afrika as jy nie Sotho byvoorbeeld praat word jy onsigbaar. As ek daar bly, is ons verseker pelle maar ons gaan heeldag Afrikaans praat😂 Ai sterkte, jy gaan nie spyt wees nie. Hou net aan en uit en leer die taal! Ons dooi hier van die hitte, 41C. Groete van Bloemfontein!
@@DesireeWilken Hey Desiree, dankie vir jou reaksie! as jy die regte ingesteldheid handhaaf, sal volledige integrasie in die Nederlandse samelewing nie 'n probleem wees nie. Om regverdig te wees; niemand, insluitend ek, sal sê dat so 'n oorgang maklik sal wees nie. Dit is regtig 'n volledige uitdaging en daar is nogal baie om aan te pak. Om so 'n internasionale skuif te onderskat lei oor die algemeen tot baie hartseer, eensaamheid en lei nie tot die beraamde resultaat nie. Om jouself te dwing om die taal, kultuur en sosiale struktuur te gebruik, is inderdaad noodsaaklik. Jy kan net ’n suksesvolle immigrant wees as jy stadig maar seker die land waarvandaan jy kom en die taal wat daar gepraat word kan los, ruimte skep in jou brein om die nuwe land en die nuwe taal te laat insink, ens. Jy kan nie met twee voete in twee lande staan as hulle duisende kilometers uitmekaar is nie. Die leuse is dus, of jy daarvan hou of nie; Keuses maak; Distansieer jou van die ou land, taal en kultuur en stel jou heeltemal oop vir die nuwe land, taal en kultuur ensovoorts. Dit is die vereistes oor die hele wêreld wat geld vir enigiemand wat na enige plek beweeg, internasionaal gesproke. Dit sal natuurlik net so goed vir my geld as ek byvoorbeeld na Suid-Afrika sou verhuis.
Terloops, ek praat nie Suid-Afrikaans nie; Google translate het my hier gehelp ;-) Ek praat bietjie Engels, maar Google translate help my ook gereeld. Moet dus nie geflous word as jy sien hoe 'n Nederlander 'n redelik goedgeskrewe stuk teks skryf nie; Daar is 'n goeie kans dat Google translate van toepassing was ;-). As jy in Nederland is en jy benodig 'n sparringmaat rakende Nederlands, kan ek jou van diens wees.
En dan nu in het Nederlands:-)
Hey Desiree, dank je voor je reactie! als je de juiste mind-setting handhaaft, zal compleet integreren in de Nederlandse samenleving geen enkel probleem zijn. Eerlijk is eerlijk; niemand, ook ik niet, zal zeggen dat een dergelijke transitie eenvoudig zal zijn. Het is echt een complete uitdaging en er komt best veel op je af. Het onderschatten van en dergelijke internationale verhuizing lijdt in het algemeen to veel verdriet, eenzaamheid en lijdt niet tot het geraamde resultaat. Jezelf forceren in het gebruik van de taal, de cultuur en se sociale structuur is inderdaad van vitaal belang. Je kunt eigenlijk pas een succesvol immigrant zijn als je het land waar je vandaan komt en de taal die men daar spreekt langzaam maar zeker los kunt laten, waardoor er in je brein ruimte komt om het nieuwe land en de nieuwe taal enzovoort te laten indalen. Je kunt namelijk niet met twee benen in twee landen staan als die duizenden kilometers uit elkaar liggen. Het devies is dus, of je dat nu leuk vindt of niet; Keuzes maken; Afstand nemen van het oude land, taal en cultuur en je volledig openstellen voor het nieuwe land, de nieuwe taal en nieuwe cultuur enzovoort. Dat zijn over de gehele wereld de eisen die gelden voor wie dan ook waar heen verhuist, internationaal gesproken. Voor mij zou dat uiteraard net zo goed gelden als ik bijvoorbeeld naar Zuid-Afrika zou verhuizen.
Overigens spreek ik geen Zuid Afrikaans; Google translate is mij hier van dienst geweest ;-) Engels spreek ik wel wat, maar ook daarbij is Google translate mij regelmatig van dienst. Laat je dus niet om de tuin leiden als je een Nederlander een redelijk goed geschreven stukje text ziet schrijven; kans is groot dat Google translate van toepassing is geweest ;-). Als je in Nederland bent en je hebt een sparringspartner nodig voor wat betreft Nederlands zou ik je van dienst kunnen zijn.
Hi ! You still need to go to the gym after cleaning your house every day😮 ?
Dutch friendships take time. But they will be solid eventually.
you answered my question (of antwoord mijn vraag) ((see, also broken dutch): how the language barrier for someone who speak afrikaan (see, also broken dutch)
Thisn summer was awful, i almost had an hypothermia in june (fun part, the year before, week for week, it almost had a heat shock)
You will make friends! Give it time😊
One source of dust we have that you might not have in South Africa is Sahara sand. But I've never heard of the Netherlands being dustier than elsewhere. 😂
How much cost hotel in Netherlands
In the wild wild east of the country you don't have dust, and less stress, and more friendly neighbours, and we have dröge worst..
I got 2 industrial electricians and the third one is coming this month, one is speaking or understanding Dutch the other one who speaks Afrikaans has more problems with it and looks like he is not really going for it. All went out of Africa for discrimination and criminality.
I would like to be your friend.And yes South Africa so different but Holland is nice 2. Beautifull nature just flat perhaps in Limburg.Don 't worry about the language we can understand you.Have a good life .❤🎉😊
Welkom in ons kleine kikkerlandje en ik wil je wel een update geven hoe het in Afrika is aangezien ik er best vaak moet zijn als kassenbouwer zijnde :)
It has got zero to do with you being a foreigner that you do not have friends. And you being Afrikaans speaker should adjust your language just a little to be fluent in Dutch. We simply keep our friends we had and rarely make new ones after college or so.
The weather was extremely wet (easily) record! rainfall the past 12 months. But he....if you had come here 30-40 years ago you would have had MUCH colder summers and MUCH colder winters. Imagine 2 months of continues snowcover, daytime temperatures between -5 and -10 C. A blizzard of an on etc. You know we are the best icespeedskaters in the world for a reason....To me these years ever since 1995 and more so after 2018 are exceptionally warm. Winters is basically one long autumn to most of us now.
About language a bit more: Danes learn fluent, impaccable Dutch in a matter of months. If they want to you cannot tell they are not Danes, I have had this a couple of times now. Of course, this is because Danish is very similar to Dutch. But surely not as similar as Afrikaans is. I feel if you still talk Afrikaans with a twist after 9 months you do not put in enough effort. If a Dane is accentless in months and the grammar is perfect, you should be able to do the same. I would not mind you talking Afrikaans btw I can understand 90% of it and it is funny.
Sorry i wanted to watch the whole video, the music (it's personal) i can't stand it. But good luck and have fun living in the Netherlands.
To be honest, the "can't find cheap domestic help" kind of rubs me the wrong way. South Africa has had a long history of 'having cheap help' alas. In the Netherlands domestic work is work like any other and as such it is rewarded like any other hard work. I am genuinely sorry to sound so negative and I totally get the culture difference in this case. For my Dutch ears your complain however is somewhat ridiculous.
To be honest, the "lack of equality in your country" kind of rubs me the wrong way. I know the Netherlands has a history of 'having a well functioning government and society'. Alas, in South Africa, governmental corruption is abound and thus it doesn't allow for a well functioning society where people are treated as equals, especially the lowest of the lower class. I am genuinely sorry to sound so negative and I totally get the culture differences in this case. For my South African ears your complaint, however, seems a bit ridiculous.
I wished people would stop putting loud music over their video's.
Nodig wat mensen uit waar je een click mee hebt voor een kop koffie en een stuk koek, je zult verbaasd zijn hoe vlug je vrienden zult hebben. 😊
The Dutch always complain, primarily about the weather. Nothing new. And I don't think the Netherlands is dusty. We just don't have cleaners who clean it up for you. Fun fact, most of the dust is from your skin, some is from traffic, and at the coastal zone, it can also be fine sand and salt. Just work at your Dutch, and Dutch friends will come. They are hard to get, but if you have one, it is for life and extremely loyal. As for the countries beauty, I agree with you, but it is in the eye of the beholder. Some people can get extremely enthousiastic about the fact that every "polder" is different. I don't see it.
Most important: learn to speak dutch.
Join a volunteer or nature or sports association.
Much greater chance to make friends.
Google: "taalmaatje". I volunteered like that and it was fun. Het Gilde in Amsterdam for instance...
News flash, you had Dust at home too, only your cleaner took it away for you 😂
Just go visit a rugby club in your city. Just barge in on a match day, enjoy the game and hook up with the locals!
accept the dust, accept the dust, accept the dust. repeat
Read some of the comments already posted. Saw that speaking Dutch is an issue for you. But, just like cleaning the house and doing rather extreme sports (my opinion), NOT EVERYTHING needs to be (near) perfect.
Immigrants from all over earth have retained or adapted some quirks in speaking Dutch. Famously ridiculed sometimes is the 'fat W' some people have from the former Surinam colony, and some repatriated from what is now Indonesia had a particular way of speaking Dutch. And don't get me started on people with heritage from around the Mediterranean. Not to forget many dialects within this country that are markedly different than standard Dutch. Point is, it does not need to be perfect -- the purpose of language is to be understood. JDI (or JFDI if you're in a bad mood). People will respond if on occasion it becomes incomprehensible, but they do it to help not to criticize!
FWIW, people from the UK often compliment on my very good English. Though it is usually meant truly positive, it feels like "nah, not like a native". Just push aside that feeling. It is something that only exists between your ears!
Hi madam .....madam Rotterdam is in Netherlands
Nice !!!!
You look so much like Petra Kvitova
je moet de muziek weg laten .dan ben je beter verstaanbaar
Find a nice church, Pentecostal , Vineyard for example.. or join a sport club, .... astronomy club etc.. Be a friend, and you will find friends..
Dust??? You live near the coast?
Welcome to the Netherlands, having a black person doing the cleaning for you is not how the Dutch are raised. People here will not do this kind of work for you unless you pay them properly and provide them an honest income.
As a Dutchy I found that part of your video kind of concerning.
Tread people with respect and theu will respect you too.
@@beeldbarista hiya! I think people are way misreading the intent of that comment. It’s just a new set of chores that needed to be added to a schedule for something we didn’t need to think about before.
I didn’t mention anything about poor pay or mistreating anyone - that you inferred yourself 😉
Haha, whining about minor inconvenience is very Dutch! 😊😂
I need job Netherland please help
Complaining is a very Dutch thing,so you're adapting rather fast.
Hello
Dear im come Netherland please help me there for job
Try to at least understand Dutch. Making friends is much easier with people who understand your language so that you can speak English and your friends can speak Dutch.
jy is welkom :)
Whole south africa is coming to the netherlands.
I think you’re running too hard. Dutch men can’t keep up with you haha 😂 But don’t give up. Love will find you when you least expect it 👍
"It's not beautiful here"?!? Then you really haven't seen much in the Netherlands yet. I guess it's a totally different kind of beauty. Of course there is way more (variation in) nature in SA. The NL is very small and has other qualities like old cities, the Waddeneilanden and much more. It's rather odd to state that "it's not beautiful here".
Please
Can u hepl me for room rent
Can u help me for job please dear
Ik denk dat het er aan ligt waar je woont. Normaal heb je zo vrienden.
As jy 'n bietjie depressief raak, neem 'n sonbed in 'n looiery-ateljee vir 20 minute en stap dan uit met 'n glimlag.
Mal oor hierdie voorstel, en gaan dit verseker onthou 😛😜
🇳🇱🧡🇿🇦
Join a club
Spreek jij geen Afrikaans? Woon je in de omgeving van Maastricht. Misschien vind me vrouw het wel leuk om eens ergens een drankje te doen. Gr van een Italiaan al 20 jaar wonend in Nederland
Ze is getrouwd.....
Je leest niet goed.@@Lilygirl283
Ik spreek Afrikaans, het is mijn moedertaal 😉
@@Lilygirl283 ik ook, de tekst goed lezen.
completly onwatcheble because of terrible background noise
Please enjoy a hobby club (sport, crochet, gym) to meet the Dutch.
most native Dutch people I know have cleaners. But only a half day each week. My grand parents had at least one helper allmost full time. Ordinary middle class.
I guess the group of people you know is really small.
@@peet4921 not so hard. 1 million (out of about 8 million) Dutch households employ a cleaner.
@@1aapmens 1 in 8. That sounds like most all right.
@@KeesBoons most "I" know. Which indeed is not at all representative. But then again, which part of society would an expat lawyer meet?
@@1aapmens Don't know, the people they get in touch with at the railways station, the people who they encounter while doing there shopping? You know, the "average" Dutch person.