by Clarissa | Nov 18, 2019 | dutch life |
It’s that time of year again, when the shops are full of kruidnoten and we have the seemingly endless consumerism approaching of Sinterklaas followed by Christmas. One of the things you need to do to a greater extent when you live abroad is to combine holiday...
by Clarissa | Mar 23, 2018 | dutch life |
Earlier this week were the elections for local Councils here in The Netherlands. A few weeks before the day we get a long list of all the candidates. These are split by party, and ordered by each party. So we had a list of 210 candidates across 10 parties for 31...
by Clarissa | Dec 8, 2014 | dutch life, libraries
I’d assumed that public libraries were something that would be the same here as in England, but that’s not the case. It’s not so much the practical details, as the underlying philosophy. Firstly there is a membership charge for those over 18 (~£50 a...
by Clarissa | Nov 30, 2014 | dutch life
It’s funny starting to learn a language as an adult; however much you can deride most language learning at schools in the UK, it’s difficult to replicate. And it takes a long time to get vocabulary and grammar to a level that’s good enough to be able...
by Clarissa | Nov 16, 2014 | dutch life
If you’d asked me before we moved I would have said the UK was a child-friendly place. But it’s nothing compared to what I’ve experienced here! For example, shopping. Taking a small child shopping is often fraught with cries, whines, complaints,...
