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Felix has now started at the Gastouder on a Monday and a Thursday (Anke), with a different Gastouder on Fridays (Ines). He’s doing really well there. They speak exclusively dutch to him and he has no problems understanding what is happening. He plays well with the other kids and is happy when being dropped off…

Having at present time lived in the Netherlands for over two months, I realise now that a week or two of holiday does not really afford you anything resembling an authentic cultural baptism when you visit a new country. There simply isn’t enough time to establish whether what novel thing you experienced was a part…

Ariana has been doing a lot better at school the last two weeks. She hasn’t had any blackout-tantrums on the way in, she has some little friends who take care of her when she arrives in the morning, and has been very positive about her day when reporting back to us in the evening. I…

Last weekend was a really nice one. Probably my favorite so far. On Friday night I went out for dinner and drinks with two new friends we’ve made in the local area. El initially met the wives while they waited daily at the school gates. The kids of the respective families are same ages with…

For all three kids I took the same photo every week for the first year of their lives and had them laid out in a large format design. Felix’s one was completed only a week or two before we left Scotland so has never actually hung on the wall. Reubens one had a pretty ugly…

I feel like our cooking has started to exhibit some notably Dutch influences. We’ve been using some ingredients which we either didn’t have in Scotland, or just didn’t use very much. As previously mentioned, Indonesian food features heavily over here, and we’ve started using some of those flavours, like Sambal, Shawarma, Bami and others (not…

I have discovered the best way to close an account with a business or service where a call centre is the sole means of contact. They don’t make it easy for you usually, right? There is always some new offer, or something else you need to know, or a reason why it’s not as straightforward…

Trip into town The kids were off school this week for the spring holidays / Voorjaars Vakantie, and whilst they certainly found ample time to sit back and relax, that was far from the case for Eliane and I. It was a hectic week. An apt, Dutch expression which I came across recently translates to…

We moved into the Meerhoven house a week ago last Wednesday, the 8th Feb. Until that point we’d been staying in the city in the accommodation provided by the company – Bergeijkstraat 8 – and we were permitted to stay for eight weeks. When we moved out, it was week-three in the accommodation, and there…

The kids have completed their first full week of school and I, my first whole week of work (uninterrupted by appointments, moves and induction events). The general take away on all counts is that it’s been very very good. Reuben has settled into school incredibly well. There has been no bumps in the process for…

Reuben and Ariana started at Dutch school today It blows my mind that after only two and a half weeks in the country and with just a few simple words of the language available to them that they just … go. They just go to classes and play, and gesture, and hear a few scattered…

We moved into our rented house yesterday. Wow, it was something. I was given the day off to make sure it all went as planned. Something I’m very thankful for. Until now we’ve been staying in the company provided, temporary accommodation despite already having keys for the long term rental house (In Meerhoven). I’ve obtained…

Just a few quick looks in on life here The 12 and a half year Wedding anniversary is a big deal in the Netherlands. This was fitting, as on the 29th of January, two days after arriving, it was in-fact Eliane and my 12.5 y Wedding anniversary! So we got an Indonesian meal to celebrate….

Big day today. Exhausting day, but very good. We were scheduled to visit the kids soon-to-be new school, De Startbaan, Meerhoven, at 9am this morning. We would meet the teacher responsible for new starts and get a tour. As we are deciding to try life without a car for as long as is feasible, we…

ASML employs 25000+ people in the Eindhoven area alone (Eindhoven is population of ~225k so it’s pretty significant). On the first of each month is generally a pretty big influx of new starts. Apparently ~300 people and myself were scheduled to have their first day on the 1st Feb, so to get a jump on…

Hey, I’m going to trial this as a way to keep everyone sort of up to date with our progress in NL.I’m not sure if it’s the best way to do it, but it’s something. Equally I’m not sure if I’ll keep it going for very long but again, it’s something. Most people seem to…