Expats and emigrants of PH....Going out....

[RizzoTheRat]

To avoid hijacking the Expats coming home thread...

I've been doing some work for an organisation in the Netherlands and have been told several times that next time a job comes up I'd stand a good chance of getting it. I must say it's tempting but I do have reservations.

Seems there's quite a few ex-pats on here, how hard did you find moving out and what difficulties did you encounter?

• There's a couple of divorcees in the group here, how did your spouses cope with the move?
• Lots of Brits here and seems to be a big ex-pat community, do you see that as a good thing or meaning it takes longer to get used to the country?
• Obviously not that big a distance from the UK but my parents are getting on a bit, did you find you missed family?

[Jimmy Recard]

I was pretty excited to go To Russia and even more thrilled to leave it a while later.

I reckon the Netherlands would be better than that multicontinental sthole though.

[Adenauer]

RizzoTheRat said:

To avoid hijacking the Expats coming home thread...

I've been doing some work for an organisation in the Netherlands and have been told several times that next time a job comes up I'd stand a good chance of getting it. I must say it's tempting but I do have reservations.

Seems there's quite a few ex-pats on here, how hard did you find moving out and what difficulties did you encounter?

• There's a couple of divorcees in the group here, how did your spouses cope with the move?
• Lots of Brits here and seems to be a big ex-pat community, do you see that as a good thing or meaning it takes longer to get used to the country?
• Obviously not that big a distance from the UK but my parents are getting on a bit, did you find you missed family?

I found moving pretty easy as I moved over to Germany with my work at the time and my employer paid for the entire move, the fees involved with selling our house in the UK, the transport, everything.

We packed everything up and then sent it all away on a massive truck, knowing that we wouldn't see it all again until a week later, in Germany.

The wife and I, along with our then 6 month old and 1 1/2 year old daughters then crammed my Peugeot 406 full, and of we went on our big adventure.

I had previously sorted out a rented house for us, which at 270 m² floor area was quite a shock coming from our 3 bed semi-shoebox in the UK! We arrived there and then waited a few days for the lorry to arrive, it was like Christmas!!

• My wife coped very well, despite having two toddlers and not being able to speak German she somehow muddled through, and then got the kids into Kindergarten where they picked up the language very quickly.

I would say here that it is VERY important to support your partner in this, it's easy to become lost in your job and forget that she is at home, on her own, and can't talk to anyone (at least at the start), so needs your full support and care.

• We never really got involved with other Brits over here until much later and I see that as a good thing. We are fully integrated with the locals and accepted. We know a lot of Brits over here who aren't as much as they tend to keep themselves to themselves and try wherever possible to socialise with other Brits. Fine if that's your thing, but I don't think it's the right way to go about it.

• Nope.

Edited by Adenauer on Friday 18th December 10:51

[Adenauer]

Oh, the company went bust three years later

[RizzoTheRat]

No danger of this lot going under, but there is a risk the department might move to Belgium at some point

I think it's how my wife would deal with it that worries me the most, she's a teacher so could get work here easily enough, and the language isn't much of a barrier as everyone speaks English and she's already started learning a bit of Dutch, but while she's initially behind the idea the long term effect of moving away form everyone you know because of your partners job rather than your own sounds a bit daunting.

[NRS]

RizzoTheRat said:

To avoid hijacking the Expats coming home thread...

I've been doing some work for an organisation in the Netherlands and have been told several times that next time a job comes up I'd stand a good chance of getting it. I must say it's tempting but I do have reservations.

Seems there's quite a few ex-pats on here, how hard did you find moving out and what difficulties did you encounter?

• There's a couple of divorcees in the group here, how did your spouses cope with the move?
• Lots of Brits here and seems to be a big ex-pat community, do you see that as a good thing or meaning it takes longer to get used to the country?
• Obviously not that big a distance from the UK but my parents are getting on a bit, did you find you missed family?

It depends what kind of people you are/ what kind of attitude you go into it with. Some things will be better, some things will be worse. Depending on the country and culture the benefits may work in your favour. Some British people complain about Norwegians not being polite for example, whereas I view it as they don't bother saying please/thank you/ sorry all the time as they'd do the same back so it doesn't need said all the time. I view this as not a problem, as you know they mean it when they say it. However some British people seem to get a bit annoyed by it.

I think the main reasons for things not working out are if people have a partner who can't get a job/ integrate, or those who try and live a mini-Britain in the new country. If a partner is used to working but cannot get a job because of the language they usually struggle and get too bored and unhappy. So this is very important to check. You said your partner is a teacher and that since people speak English anyway then it would be ok. However it may be that they would want her to speak Dutch as well (in practice when getting a job) and so that could take time to learn/ then get a job. Ex-pat communities are ok in themselves, but it will hold you back from integrating if you spend too much time there. Also often quite a few of the people there will just complain about how the UK is much better, and that is just stupid as they should just move back if that is the case. I'd recommend trying to build up local friendships, it helps you integrate more and get into local life better.

[thainy77]

I moved to Greece at the start of the year with my wife and two girls. The girls settled in brilliantly and had made frineds by the end of their first week at school and have been on play dates and at parties nearly every week since. They are also a lot better at speaking Greek than i am .

It took my wife about three months to fully settle, which i thought was pretty good going. She now has a diverse group of friends, both expats of different nationalities as well as a lot of Greek friends.

I agree you do need to emerse yourself in the culture and not become tied down with the expat bubble otherwise you miss out on so much.

None of us are in any hurry to return to the UK at the moment.

[C70R]

My only advice, mirroring the experiences of the poster who mentioned Russia earlier, go and spend some free time in the area. Get an AirBnB, take a few days off work (weekdays and weekends) and go explore. Don't go to museums or tourist attractions (they will always be cool), but spend some time hunting out districts, shops, bars, restaurants and parks (ad nauseum), as these are the things that make the biggest difference to your lifestyle. Try and get a feel for the areas at day and night, are they safe, quite, busy, young, old?

[RizzoTheRat]

I've been working in Holland for a few months on a secondment, and the Mrs has been over for a couple of weekends, so we've done a mix of the museums and tourist attractions as well as doing some shopping and visiting bars. I'm not going to be here until mid march so will try and get a bit further afield to get a feel for the place.

I do like the place but as a farmers son I'm not that keen on urban living, so need to get a bit further out of town for a look around.

[RizzoTheRat]

Den Haag, so there's some reasonable looking countryside just east of me, and the area in general isn't anywhere near as crowded as the Amsterdam area

[RizzoTheRat]

kapiteinlangzaam said:

check out The Netherlands sub-forum here on PH.

Hadn't realised there was one, looks like plenty of reading material, thanks.