Local or Expat Friends?

Following on from a blog post I ran last week which generated numerous interesting comments, the latest A Letter from the Netherlands blog poll asks:

How much effort have you put in to making local (as opposed to expat) friends in your host country?

It was a topic that seemed to hit a nerve so it's one I intend to follow up on in future posts!

You can take part in the poll on the right hand side of the blog's home page.

The Effect of WW2 on The Netherlands: History Helping Expats?

World War II Graves in Normandy, France
Photo: (c) The Writing Well

Heinrich Boere is a former member of the Waffen SS who stood trial in October 2009 in Achen for war crimes and was convicted to life in prison in for his crimes. At the age of 89 he is likely the last Dutch war criminal who will stand trial for crimes committed in World War II against Dutch citizens.

Born to a Dutch father and a German mother, Heinrich was born in Germany but moved to the Netherlands when he was two years old. He volunteered to join the Waffen SS not long after the occupation began.

Between September 1943 and September 1944 he was allegedly part of the Waffen SS death squad (Sonderkommando) responsible for killing around fifty Dutch citizens as reprisal for resistance actions, and in particular Boere was accused of executing three Dutch men: Fritz Bicknese from Breda and Frans Kusters and Teun de Groot from Voorschoten.

Boere escaped from a Limburg prison in 1947 and fled to Germany, claiming German citizenship thanks to his mother’s German heritage. Germany does not hand over wanted criminals to other countries, hence he escaped conviction by the Dutch authorities for many years.

In 2000, the German and Dutch Justice System became once more interested in Boere when he was tracked down and interviewed for a Dutch documentary. He showed no remorse. Years later, he was captured in an interview for the AD saying,

“Orders were orders, otherwise it would have meant my skin. Later it began to bother me. Now I’m sorry.”

In January 2009, it was ruled that Boere was not fit to stand trial due to health reasons. This was overturned later in the same year and he was finally convicted in March 2010.

As a result of the German occupation, the Dutch in their homeland experienced WW2 differently to the British. The war came to the Dutch, and like the French, they lived under German rule in their own land.

Last year I watched Oorlogswinter, a hard hitting Dutch film about the German occupation in the Netherlands. It, and films like it, as well as reading the personal stories of those involved over sixty years ago, provide a real perspective on a major part of Dutch modern history. It’s a harsh, harsh history (see the Rotterdam Blitz or hongerwinter of 1944 as examples)

It’s a history that I wasn’t taught in school (though I did specialise in the French occupation and resistance for my A-level French – the Dutch occupation was mentioned in passing during this study) and a history that goes some way to understanding Dutch attitudes to some things; like why the Netherlands gave up its neutral state after WW2 and was an original member of NATO, the EU and the UN and today hosts the ICTY. It also gives more meaning to the poignant event that takes place each 4th May and the celebrations nationwide on the 5th May.

Learning something about the history, and the influences of historical events, certainly has helped me gain a little more understanding of my adopted home.

Is it something that interests you or do you think it adds no value to integrating into your adopted home?

"Day of the Park" in the Netherlands

Enjoy the Greenery in your Local Park
(c) The Writing Well

Sunday May 29th is "Dag van het Park" - it's a nationwide event to bring attention to the greenery in your town. The ANWB, local councils and volunteers work together to ensure that your local park looks its best and puts on a host of activities suitable for all.

This is the seventh year the event will take place and the theme for 2011 is "Op avontuur" and suggestions for activities include GPS walks, tree climbing, treasure hunts, survival, hut building - all things sure to get young and old interested.

To find out what is going on in your local park, visit the website. 

The Expat Unfriendly Netherlands

Hard to make friends, difficult to learn the local language, fit into the local culture and integrate into the local community. Does this sound like your expat life in the Netherlands?

According to the Expat Explorer Survey carried out for HSBC Bank International the Netherlands placed last out of 25 countries, making it the most expat unfriendly country you could hope for.

Only 36% of expats relocating to the Netherlands find it easy to make friends here and 55% have concerns about the barriers that the local language put up. According to the survey, expats find the Dutch culture hard to fit in to and integrating in to the local community is far from easy here.

The difficulty of making friends in the Netherlands, particularly with the locals, is a common expat forum topic. Learning the language is a common talking point too but for the Netherlands to score so badly on these points did surprise me.

On the other hand, I did feel like shouting  "You see!" to someone who once posted a comment on an article I wrote for the Telegraph. A reader going by the name of "Kingory" commented,

"The Netherlands is about the easiest place in the world to be an expat, the language is really easy if you can hack the pronunciation, English is widely spoken, less than an hour east of London, there are loads of expats there already, and they even have the UK BBC for God's sake!!

Kind of missing the point about trying to integrate I think, but nonetheless you would think that a move to a far flung destination would be tougher than a move to a Western European country.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Have you experienced problems getting your social life on track after moving to the Netherlands? Is the culture too much to adapt to? Do the survey results surprise you or confirm your feelings?

Learning Dutch - a Tip or Two

Gerrie Soede of Poldertaal

For my last Expats@Home newsletter I interviewed Gerrie Soede, a Dutch language tutor in The Hague, to get her viewpoint on the best way to learn a foreign language and of course she gave me some tips for those learning Dutch in particular.

The good news is that, given the right circumstances (and a bit of talent), you could be fluent in Dutch in three years. The bad news is that for some people fluency is something that will never be achieved. However, don't let that be a deterrent if you don't have a natural flair for languages. Gerrie says,

"Don’t give up trying and remember that communication is always more important than perfection. Learning the local language is important to feel at home and expand opportunities."

I asked her what the most difficult thing about learning Dutch is. Here's her response,

"That depends on your level. At each higher level you’ll meet other difficult things. The articles and verbs at level A1; structure of the sentences at level A2 and B1, combination of words later on."

In terms of good resources to learn Dutch? Gerrie is clear that you each student should have an idea about their own learning preferences and what works for them. She explains,

"You need to choose resources that meet your learning style and your goals. And that’s different for any individual. However, I like Code and De Delftse Methode for the first levels of learning Dutch."

To round up, here are some tips from Gerrie to help those of us in a constant state of Dutch language learning:

• Invest not only in reading but pay attention to listening 
• Dare to make mistakes 
• Invest in learning words and do not think that grammar is the most important
• Stop the locals talking English to you by telling them you don’t speak English..... no, seriously -  explain you want to practice
• Stop translating as fast as possible
• Meet native speakers as soon as possible

Most of all, Gerrie explains that it is vital to consider the fact that you are communicating as more important that getting it right all the time. Accept that you’re probably not perfect and you'll feel much more relaxed about learning Dutch.

What not to do on a Danish Beach

My latest article has been published on Velvet Escape (a brilliant travel blog run by Keith Jenkins). The article is part of a series about unforgettable travel memories and is about being stranded in a car on the beach - it's not something I can recommend you do as part of your next holiday but it certainly went down in the book as a "travel memory". The good news is that, as always, taking precautions can save your butt......

The full article is available on the Velvet Escape blog at http://velvetescape.com/blog/2011/04/what-not-to-do-on-a-danish-beach/

Queen's Day 2011 in The Hague

Today, I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. Last year I spent Queen's Day in my kraambed with my two day old baby. This year we hit The Hague with a one year old in tow.....

A Street Market in The Hague
Photo: L van Mulligen

Binnenhof with Spatters of Orange

The Passage in The Hague Centre Decorated for Queen's Day
Photo: L van Mulligen

The Wheels Decked Out in Honour of Queen's Day

A Spot of Orange Dipping in the
Binnenhof Fountain

Dutch Flag, complete with Orange Wimpel flying outside the Mauritshuis

The Fair on Queen's Day

Hope you all had a good one too.

All photos are copyright of The Writing Well and may not be reproduced without permission.

Raising Bilingual Children?

Running on this blog is a poll about whether you, as an expat, have chosen (or will choose) to raise your children as bilingual. If you haven't voted yet, you have three more days........ the poll is to the right of this post.

Helmet Therapy in the Netherlands

Helmet Therapy - a fairly common sight amongst babies
in the Netherlands
Photo: (C) The Writing Well

Expatica has published my latest article on a topic which will be unfamiliar to most  - but it is a process we stumbled upon last year when the Consultatiebureau referred us through to a physiotherapist because my baby had a strong positional preference.

I found it very hard to find much information on helmet therapy (or redressietherapie) in the Netherlands, particularly in English, so I decided to share our story for other expat parents out there.

It is also to enlighten others who wonder why - babies with specially designed helmets is a common sight on the streets of the Netherlands these days.

You can read the full article on http://www.expatica.com/nl/health_fitness/healthcare/Helmet-therapy-in-the-Netherlands_17323.html