American Expat Experience in Netherlands, Adjusting to Dutch Life, Differences from California

American expat living in Amstelveen, Netherlands. Mother to one sweet baby boy. Registered Nurse, passionate about climate change and health disparities. My spouse, who is a Dutch citizen, convinced me to move here after a devastating wildfire season in California. My husband has always spoken of a magical childhood growing up here and we wanted to give our son the same.
01:40 Being from San Francisco Bay Area
02:45 Space difference
03:37 Nature, flat land, missing Cali hiking
04:10 Better cell phone service?
04:28 Disappointed by Dutch playgrounds, litter in parks
05:30 Better air quality, California wildfires
06:35 Dutch men as fathers
07:10 Dutch public school system, Montessori
08:05 Slower pace of life
09:42 Feeling intimidated by Dutch fashion
11:29 No homeless people
13:16 Embarrassing experience on public transportation
15:50 Immigrant challenges, feeling like a child
17:00 Positive experiences with Dutch people

[@sirquasi]

No the bus driver is in the wrong here. Yelling to people is very inappropriate especially for something minor such as entering the bus through the wrong door. Don't feel bad about it, people on the bus probably felt more vicarious shame about the bus driver than resenting you. I hope you enjoy living in the Netherlands and don't be afraid to ask help from people (colleagues, neighbors etc..), people are in general willing to help you settle in.

[@hansbroes2491]

Agreed.

[@sgrfpprmnt]

Next time tell the bus driver not to be a Nazi about making a simple mistake. Gotta go hard against these Dutch pedantics sometimes. Being nice will never work with them.

[@accidentalgenius8252]

@@sgrfpprmnt calling everyone a nazi kinda makes the word 'less valueable' so please only call nazi's nazi or it is meaningless.

[@SimonMeulenbeek]

I think normally you're allowed to enter through either door (because you can check in with the ov kaart), but due to corona, they want to separate people getting on and off. In the bus-drivers defense, if he assumed you were dutch, and you didn't respond to him calling you, I can understand it if he becomes angry in the first place. But as soon as he would have noticed that you're not Dutch, he should have been nicer.

[@Yvolve]

@@SimonMeulenbeek They changed it in the bigger cities to improve flow of passengers. It used to be that people were pushing to get on and it took forever to first clear the bus and then get people in. Now the people getting off use the rear doors and everyone getting on goes to the front (or rear on trams and extended busses). The bus driver was an absolute douche though. Telling someone they can't use that door, so they know the next time is one thing, but going off the rails that bad (pun intended) is pretty extreme.

[@arcodegraaf]

About the Homeless situation in the Netherlands, yes we have homeless people but there are some rules here Begging is highly illegal and the homeless people that are here have some self dignity so they try and dress as normal as possible on the other side the Salvation Army does great work for those people to give them a place to sleep and shower and eat. How i know this is simple me and my wife were homeless and met each other at the Salvation Army and are together now for 15 years and have the Salvation Army to thank for getting us to where we are today. Greetings form The Netherlands.

[@marlenaeva3813]

What a beautiful story.

[@Salmiak]

That's amazing. Veel succes en respect

[@henrybroekhof7273]

Totally agree....i was roofless in Alkmaar and all my thanks going to DNO Doen what is a great organization with great employees. I go from there to Indonesia and live here since 29 November 2018. There are enough people here who are sleeping outside only the most of the time the are very good hidden. And the difference is the get weekly or monthly money from the local governments

[@Lonneke264]

I live in the centre of The Hague and I see a lot of homeless People. They do bag, but I would not give money. I offer to go with me in a store to buy food, but most of the People don't want that. I am knitting scarfs the last 2 years for the homeless and take that to the Salvation Army near my home. Las summer I broke my foot and I was in a wheelchair. I was soooo tired a few times. Everybody walked along me, ut 2 timestamp a homeless person offeren to push my wheelchair. They are more willig to help you than most other People. A real eye-opener.

[@TheEvertw]

As a Dutchman, I want to apologise for this busdriver's behaviour. That was not called for.

[@harrybruijs2614]

You could go to Belgium and Germany when you want to go hike in a mountainous region. Just see Europe as California or the States. You can arrive in the Alpes in a few hours. Or go on vacation to Norway or Sweden. There are so much different landscapes in Europe.

[@johnkochen7264]

Or, you could just go to the south of Limburg and visit the hill country. The area around Vaals is very nice.

[@anthonyvasquezactor]

@@johnkochen7264 I plan on living in the Netherlands as it's the only country in the EU that makes it very easy for Americans to move there. But at least for the first two years, I'm going to live in South Limburg because I HAVE to be near mountains.

[@johnkochen7264]

@@anthonyvasquezactor Well, I do not know about mountains. South Limburg has what you would call rolling hills but it is only a small jump away from the Belgian Ardennes which are quite rugged in places. For real mountains you need to go to the Alps.

[@anthonyvasquezactor]

@@johnkochen7264 Rolling hills will do just fine. I love the scenery and landscape of South Limburg. It reminds me of a beautiful English or Irish countryside.

[@johnkochen7264]

@@anthonyvasquezactor Cool! Maybe I will run into you some day.

[@nlx78]

The litter at playgrounds is mainly caused by groups of youngsters hanging around at night. Especially during Covid they had no place to go, but very often you'd see sort of hangout containers near the larger playgrounds and while there are garbage bins right next to them, they just throw it on the floor. Even glass bottles.

[@SAMUDRAMAC]

About clothing: other Europeans think we dress extremely casual. They say that Dutch women wear whatever falls out off the closet when they open it.🤣 BTW, we do have homeless people, but not do many and not do much in your face. There are facilities and do on, but we do have people who fall out of the system.

[@SAMUDRAMAC]

Bad, bad, bus driver. That was totally uncalled for. Sorry ‘bout that.

[@marloesjanzen2015]

So true...in the rest of Europe we're not known for our efforts of dressing or grooming ourselves haha nice to get a compliment for it for once though

[@natalieb6956]

That was the first thing I thought when i heard that hehe (and not do that much bout our hair either which is pretty logical as well when you cycle to work since you have to begin all over again at that point)

[@naagly]

As a Dutch person myself I actually had a similar experience with a bus driver, I was unaware of the new rule about not entering in the back. At least there weren't any other passengers inside yet so my embarrassment was limited, haha.

[@JulesStoop]

With regards to fashion: you likely live in somewhat of a classy neighborhood and/or work with an employer that happens to adhere to some degree of dress code. I’ve been to the bay area (Palo Alto, Menlo Park, San Francisco) and in my experience people on average dress quite similarly to us. With the exception perhaps of people running an after hours errand at Walmart.

[@XxXx-Evo]

I grew up in Amstelveen a long time ago and a lot of people that lived there, tried to look wealthier than they actually were (wearing fancy clothes, but behind the front door the house was a dump). I sounds like not much has changed in the last 30 years. In most places in the Netherlands people don't wear clothing from expensive brands. Jeans and a blouse is quite normal in my workplace.

[@Hensepens64]

I already recognised my hometown Amstelveen. As the busdriver concerns.. this approach is sooo wrong. And as others already said.. welcome in the Netherlands. Nice to to see a view on our society from a non-dutch perspective.

[@jurduyn1130]

As a Dutchman I lived and worked in Paris for 3 years from 2014 to 2017 and I can tel you that it was a 3 year challenge to me, not only at work but beyond the job as well. Despite you'll find friendly and accommodating people in every country this can be quite different in France or one of its major cities. People can be very egocentrically/individual, do not want to interact with foreigners when it comes to trying to speak to someone beyond their native language. The most "funny" thing I experienced was that working for an international French energy company, with 130 nationalities occupying the headquarters in Paris, some French colleagues would insist that you'd master the French language....that says it all. Thanks for those who were helpful and accommodating during my stay! I appreciate the hurdles that you experience in The Netherlands... we can be rude at the wrong time/person as well as the French however we are MUCH more accommodating 🙂 Btw like you're openness!

[@williammccoy7127]

I agree with you France is a beautiful country , there is only one thing wrong with it, there are to many Frenchman living there .

[@CharleneDandelion]

Southern France is so much more friendlier and open to other nationalities!

[@Lostouille]

@@williammccoy7127 C'est méchant ça ò_ó

[@robertboender5816]

You'll be OK give it time and don't be afraid to make mistakes, we all do.

[@EWAMILENAP]

Highly informative!👌Loved your video! Thank you so much👼💕

[@justme9801]

You speak from your heart. This is what you observed and feel and this is perfectly all right. I am so sorry for your experience with the bus driver.

[@MichielBesseling]

I listened to your experiences with interest. I'm a little embarrassed that a Dutch bus driver reacted so rudely. That man must have had a bad day. Dutch people like efficient, but not too expensive. Dutch web shops usually deliver the next day. Faster is sometimes possible, but at an additional cost. Thanks for your story.

[@ceramicusplus3494]

Love your perspective.

[@cphcph12]

On the bus driver issue: I'm Dutch and I have used every door available when entering a bus. It's one of those rules that we obey when we feel like it. So, don't feel it's your fault. That driver was just a small man seeing a chance to act big and feel like he has some authority.

[@enricio]

Thank you. 🦚. It is joyful listening to you about living in Holland. Namasté 🙏

[@ShipSpottingNederland]

Please continue producing these wonderful/ informative videos..

[@vexisonline]

Very insightful, thanks for posting. Don't worry about the bus thing, though, he was out of line making such a big deal of it. Welcome and hope you enjoy your life here 😊

[@bartlucassen9145]

I hope you have a joyful time in Here in the Netherlands!

[@bastiaan4129]

On the elevator being fixed, because of corona most companies have huge backlogs so at the moment it could take a couple of weeks. Calling the person who's in charge of your building might still help though ;) The bus driver was unnecessarily rude though, but i've also experienced that several times in the west of the country.

[@filevikingtube]

About the elevator - It is probably just as bad in California now. There is a huge chip shortage in the world causing all kinds of unexpected delays.

[@robertwemmers8562]

I am an duth - Canadian,. Girl don 't be shy Ask anybody there what you would want most of them speak english, and do the things the same as in the states, ( the dutch are easy going ) and they do help you. The busdriver was a hole, report him. love your video.

[@hamster4618]

The bus-thing is new to me (it’s been a while since I’ve taken the bus). Might also be a local thing as the ones I took in my city could be entered through any door (otherwise people would not spread sufficiently throughout the bus), while the bus to my parents village (fewer people) would only open front door and back door only if someone pushed the button, wanting people to enter in the front.

[@gilbrook]

Super, just subscribed. Had been to Amsterdam for 2 wk AirBnB stay just before COVID outbreak. Had similar conversation today with Portuguese immigrant now living in Massachusetts. Very enjoyable to get these around the world exchanges. We’re all better for it.

[@haz4dc394]

Great video!

[@hrscrzy2012]

I completely relate to you about feeling like a child. I am an American expat that moved to The Netherlands to be with my Dutch husband. I tell him all the time about how I feel like a child learning everything over again at the age of 40!

[@emmettpickerel5016]

Seattle used to have an issue with the front/rear door issue (and does again since covid, but for different reasons). A certain part of downtown was free to ride, and the way they handled it was: if you boarded within that zone, you did so through the rear door, otherwise you boarded through the front to pay. However, alighting from the bus was the opposite. And you had to know just where the dividing line was. I have no idea how many drivers scolded or even screamed at me for not knowing exactly what the rule was for a given block!

[@edwardriphagen6396]

Welcome to the Netherlands. Find it so funny and confronting how you tell about our country and also about Calafornia. Keep doing that. I have family in Amstelveen and I was born in Amsterdam myself. Live and live in Vaassen now. Here we still have some kind of hills. Can you walk well? It is an hour's drive from Amstelveen. Hope to see more soon! One more thing we are all human and can learn a lot from each other. The bus driver can also learn from this. I would be ashamed if I had been this man. You didn't do anything wrong you just didn't know and there's nothing wrong with that

[@AppleCore360]

Haha busdrivers over here sometimes are constantly on the edge of burnout 😅 I'm Dutch and actually have been in this same situation. I used to take the bus for school, and those busses are so full in the morning, the bussdriver just wants you to go in, in the middle part. And I was so used to that, that years later as a full grown adult who never took a bus anymore, I got scolded by the driver that I was doing it wrong. Only thing I can tell you, the day after he totally forgot my face. So I kind of laugh about it now.

[@KAAP1411]

You are doing great!! I hope that you are feeling at home here in The Netherlands soon.

[@armandovanhaaren9823]

We have one mountain in limburg . They also have beautiful hiking paths there

[@NeoOnyx]

@Expat Ellen - Check out Jovana's channel, who's also an American expat, living here for over 10 years. In this video she did a collab with Staci (American expat with a Dutch husband): kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5XQhqtmna-De6M Also, all video's on Jovana's channel might be interesting for you :-)

[@arjenr.b.9317]

You are crying when you mentioned homeless people. Now I am so sad too. We have also homeless people too. I understand your feeling about te bus... sorry for his reaction. Thank you for your very informative and nice video. have a nice expad time here in the Netherlands! Arjen

[@charlescorbee9498]

Look up Sportlandgoed, Zwartemeer. A camping with Canadian Blockhouses. In the province Drenthe near the German border. Its 32ha big resort with multipal sport activities for little and big people

[@mrsaasmrsaas2742]

Welcome in the Netherlands. I hope you can feel at home here. greetz

[@jackmundo4043]

Go get ‘em girl. Rooting for you.

[@hendman4083]

Maybe the playgrounds are less elaborate then you are used to, is because of the dutch children going there on their own to play. They will walk or bike to the playground without parental supervision. So you will see more, but smaller, playgrounds dotted around the area, all within walking/biking distance.

[@blub3910]

I admire your commitment to intervene here. I am 40 years old but I am not aware that you have to enter a bus through the back, the bus driver just has to keep his mouth shut and drive the bus. The homeless problem in America is huge but what an even bigger problem is the fentanyl epidemic. The Netherlands also has its problems and dark sides and with the government we have now things are not getting any better.

[@kemaldjakman183]

Hi Ellen, how old is your son? May I suggest that you check Linnaeushof near Heemstede, or Speelpark Oud Valkeveen near Naarden? My daughter loved them very much

[@ZohraBoelhouwers]

Welcome to Holland :) I can understand you miss the mountains, so if you want to see mountains you could plan a trip to Austria to see the mountains, it's really beautiful there :) Or south germany has mountains also...

[@harrybruijs2614]

I am born in Amstelveen and that is a very affluent town. You have a a neighbourhood there called the goldcoast ( de Goudkust). There are not much homeless people in the Netherlands but they are there. Some just want to live in the street but that’s a minority. They get there allowance in a view designated towns and you will see there more of them, they are concentrated there out of financial reasons. But we try to get them of the streets at least at night in the winter. There are some designated buildings, equiped as sleepplace and they can sleep there for a view euro’s. To be fair I have been of course never there but as far as I know they can also wash and get a meal there.

[@kimthegrey]

On the playgrounds not being as elaborate: i would say it is because we expect our kids to entertain themselves with their imagination and creativity when outside. It is very common for kids just to play in the streets around the house where they live with neighbour kids. And from a certain age unsupervised(which I know is not normal in the US). I grew up with quite a large playground in front of my house, but most of the times we would just use the grass to play soccer, bike around and play games, which are all things you don't need a eleborate playground for (and I spend alot of time outside as a kid). But ofcourse it is nice the have a slide, swing or whip once in a while , especially if the child is younger and cannot yet entertain themselves

[@gijsbertuslaurensvandevooren]

Whip is een zweep je bedoeld seesaw

[@thecitywalker3824]

Very Nice video.

[@j0de0Brabander]

Don't you ever refrain from saying anything negative about the Netherlands. We like honesty (bluntness) above sugar coating.

[@Teunstah]

Nice video, and welcome to the Netherlands! It sounds like you haven't been in the Netherlands long yet, which is fine, this is your experience, but let me respond to a few things in your video: - The Netherlands are small, so indeed we live in smaller houses. We however do not have the zoning that the US has, so everything is mixed and as you noticed, everything is within walking/cycling distance. - We do not have mountains, but we do have some very nice nature that is worth exploring - The kids playparks; by law, there are requirements to have a certain amount of public playgrounds per area, so that does mean that there are a lot of small play areas scattered. usually, there are some bigger play areas in more specific areas. Aside from the public playgrounds most cities also have commercial playgrounds which are bigger and decked out. - The trash in playgrounds is typically caused by teens hanging out there at night. What I’ve heard many expas=ts say is how clean the streets and everything are, so it was interesting that you experienced this. - ‘pappa-dag’ is indeed pretty common; quite a few dads try to work 4 days a week so they have one day to take care of the kids. Often alternating with their partner who also works part-time. And then have their kids in daycare 1-2 days a week (or with grandmothers :) The Dutch, in general, value a healthy work-life balance over money and careers. - Air quality -sh00ked… - Public school is the norm for 95% of kids I’d say. Schools can follow different methodologies, and on top of that often have a religious background like catholic, protestant, or Islamic, or ‘openbaar’ (public which has no specific religious affiliation. Speaking on religion, My kids are in a Catholic school but the religion part is really light. but I’ guess you’ve noticed that the Dutch are not very religious at all in general 9dpending on the area you’re in; we do have a bible belt) - slow pace; yeah it’s more about the experience than just the food - Fashionableness of Dutch… funny you mention this, as I’ve heard other ex-pats say the opposite Italians will laugh hard at this :P. As another commenter says, sounds like you live in a quite posh area, and/or formal company. Visit more areas in the Netherlands, you’ll see :P Pretty sure you will not encounter the ‘only in Walmart’ exceptions though. Pyjama’s in the store would indeed be frowned upon. - Homelessness, yes is waaaaaay less than in the US, as there are good social services in place. This doesn’t mean that there is none; in the bigger cities there is some homelessness, but it’s often drug/alcohol/ icw. mental health-related. But even then they can often sleep in shelters at night. Begging is illegal. And every legal Dutch person has some minimum income provided. - Things like that, and affordable healthcare, vacations days, good roads and public transport etc etc have a lot to do with a different view on society and the amount of tax we pay. - Elevator.. that’s just really weird….mind be pandemic related? - Haha, the bus driver. Yeah, this is what is called the ‘conductor-effect’; people in simple jobs who will what little power they have to the extreme. Also, people scolding others, in my experience, happens more in the Amsterdam area. (there are usually 'do not enter' stickers on the doors of buses wihere this rule applies, and an arrow pointing to the front of the bus) Also follow the crowd; in rush hours when it's busy this rule doesn't always apply :P Hope you can appreciate some direct Dutch reactions, and I’d encourage you to visit different cities and areas in the Netherlands to get a taste of how much variety there is in people and nature in such a tiny country. Enjoy!

[@blairsantillana]

I disagree, there is little variety here in the Netherlands(once you've seen one city, you've practically seen all of them), and the nature you describe in the south of the Netherlands would not be sufficient. Visiting another EU country for the nature she's looking for would be advised. i will say, there are some few things to be admired about the country.

[@Teunstah]

@@blairsantillana ofc you are entitled to your opinion, but factually it’s wrong ;) And I didn’t mention or refer to nature in the south… but yes, there is more, and bigger and more varied nature in the rest of Europe obviously.

[@Soundfish555]

@@blairsantillana you probably just seen one or two places and base your opinion on that be honest you are just very fast bored … but that is just my opinion in the few sentences you said you might’ve a very interesting person but you just didn’t showed that part of you

[@Harry_PP030]

@@blairsantillana i wish you more joy in your life, and the hope for you to see the good things in the world

[@theGoogol]

What I like about this content : You seem to be uncomfortable with being as honest as you can be. Respect ... that goes a long way towards Dutch directness.

[@michellezevenaar]

There are big playgrounds but most of the time they have a small entrance fee. Just look on Google maps with satellite and street view you'll find loads of small ones and a few bigger ones.

[@SAMUDRAMAC]

Elevators must be fixed right away. It’s not Dutch to take weeks for that. My apartment had an older elevator and gives problems, usually fixed the same day.

[@bli2008]

that's not true everywhere. our elevators is also regularly broken; fortunately we have 2. The repair company does not make appointment for the next day and they regularly run out items lately (problem with just in time supplier etc..), usually takes a week to fix.

[@vanderquast]

In an Appartement Building with normal housekeeping a Lift should be repaired within a few days. Bus driver was not a normal dutchman I think. There are nice indoor playgrounds for kids, but you have to pay for it. Mountains can be found in Germany, for American Standards not very far away.

[@jeanpierreviergever1417]

Nice video! The Netherlands has ‘freedom of education’ which means that if there are sufficient parents/children wanting a school with a certain background, religion or educational vision, the school can be ste up and the government is obliged to fund that school. They do need to uphold a minimum curriculum but have the opportunity to include their own view on life in their curriculum as well. It provides for a very diverse school landscape. Middle/highschools have the same system, but there are bigger differences since some schools ask considerable financial contributions from parents to organize extra activities.

[@craftyclaira]

Many places in the USA have homes typically the same size as Europe/UK. I watch many US home make-over programmes and see many smaller foot-print properties across the states. Similarly many homes here in Europe/UK can be larger floor-plan like California but would depend upon regions (cheaper more rural areas) or price- you pay for land not bricks here- as land is premium!

[@natalieb6956]

I think you need to know where you need to go to have a hike or cycle of course. Because we're a small country you can be in a totally different area / scenery in like 2 hours by train / bus or car of course or even when you cycle for around an hour you can have a total change of scenery. There are so many choices. Go to Vlieland or Texel if you want to hike on an island. Go to the Biesbosch or the Veluwe if you want to stroll in nature for a long time but stay on land. Go to Maastricht or Giethoorn to surround yourself in a different scenery with lots of nature surrounding you. Or see the dikes and dunes on the coastline, I love Bergen to stroll or cycle with the sea next to me. Especially on a sunny but a little bit windy day. You can really clear your head. Or maybe to the harbour of Volendam and walk from there. And there are more places just ask around, people will love to help you with that. It's not the same as California of course but i think you'll like it anyway. Same goes for the children playgrounds. It's more like the government think it's important that in every neighborhood children need to be able to play at walking distance so they install those little playgrounds everywhere. Sometimes way too small. I live in a city in the east of the Netherlands and here they're tend to be bigger and more green (and less filthy) but I don't know if there are some in Amstelveen as well. Try to talk to parents if they have ideas which playgrounds are good in your area. I think there are a couple of reasons why we don't have an enormous homeless problem. First of all because of our social, educational and healthcare system here. And in America you can literally get homeless because you get sick which is unlikely here. It's not impossible, some people just are very unlucky or don't know how to get the help they need (or feel too ashamed / proud to get it) but most people won't get homeless or in serious depth because of it. Housing is the biggest problem here in this moment i think. It gets out of control, prices get really high for young people especially. They can't afford to buy a house yet but the rents are enormous and if you can afford a house someone probably beats your price and lots of people are waiting for a effordable house at this moment. If people have enormous depth for some reason you can get help from your town so you can be depth free in 3 - 5 years and start over. The only places where I see people begging are at the trainstation and in front of supermarkets sometimes. In a lot of places people can get fines because of begging but when you're in need and need to get money homeless people will do it anyway of course. And it's still very different than in America I think. Because like you said they're sleeping in tents there everywhere. You see them around every corner and not just the big cities but also the smaller once. Mostly not even begging but just sitting and hanging there with a sign and most people just ignoring them. It's so sad to see. Of course there are shelters here and most homeless people can still sleep there (except in Amsterdam and other bigger cities i think) and they mostly have social workers that can help you get out of your situation. And about the bus driver. That was uncalled for, i would have complained to the company about it. Because he had no right to talk to you that way. Yes it's not the usual to step in the bus at the back, al though stepping out of the bus happens quite a lot at the front (i do it too when nobody is at the stop). The reason they do it is because otherwise they can't see that you actually paid for it but that's no reason to scream at you. I don't know maybe he didn't have a good day or was moody but most bus drivers will just ask you nicely or ignore it if he saw that you paid for it. In some (big) cities (especially cities like Amsterdam, Utrecht or Rotterdam) it's quite usual to get on the bus at the back especially at busy stops or moments. Especially in places where there a lot of students that all needs to get in there. So no need to worry. It can happen and everybody probably was just looking at you without being judgemental about it. A little note for your information if you step on a tram or a train you can get in every door, it doesn't matter. I feel for you by the way because you excuse yourself so much for speaking your mind. Something that is so normal here, people can even be a bit rude for saying their opinions. So please for your own sake speak your mind here. People are not that often offended by it. It's one of the perks i think as long as you don't discriminate, hurt someone or call someone names people tend to be okay with it mostly (of course not everyone is like that but the majority is). Some people defend our ways but it's your opinion, it's your experience. I'm glad you feel welcome here and that you feel mostly at home. But we're not perfect, the Netherlands isn't perfect. And i think most Dutch people even complain quite a lot about the Netherlands. That's one of the reasons why (especially now i have covid) i love watching videos from expats. Because sometimes we need to realize how lucky we are to be living here. How much we take for granted. So don't excuse yourself too much because you'll fit right in. We're known for our directness and openess in giving our opinion. Sometimes maybe even a little bit too much hehe.

[@janeisalalalagirl]

Oh my god, I'm a Netherland newbie here (less than one month!) and I relate to feeling like a child so so so much. I've moved around a lot for my life but the feelings is always the same. We should probably hang out to feel like adults with each other or something!

[@Harry_PP030]

I don't know in what part of the Netherlands you live, but you can ask anyone for help. Look for a friendly face and ask your question. We love to help and advice, generally spoken off course.

[@angelavm84]

Keep in mind that life in the Randstad (the metropolitan areas of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Den Haag with everything around there) is quite different from the rest of the Netherlands. It's slower there;-) Although an elevator that's broken for weeks is not the norm anywhere here. That's bad service! Relax though, we work to live, not live to work. Enjoy everything Europe has to offer.

[@nas4apps]

Try out the different dune areas!

[@simmysims9209]

Greetings from Finland. I have been visiting Netherlands 3 times at the spring time. Nice place. It's alot like a nordic countries but spring comes a month earlier 🙂

[@bobosims1848]

Hi Ellen, welcome to the Netherlands. I hope you continue to have a mostly positive experience living among us Dutch folks. I was particularly moved by how you were almost in tears over the homeless situation back in SF. I can understand how frustrating it is to see how the well-to-do people ignore everything outside their own little circle, which often includes only themselves. There is no room for us here to exert -- or even tolerate -- that kind of behavior. We Dutch live too close together to not be touched when such things happen. Yes, boarding the bus in the back is simply not done in the Netherlands, unless you're having an infant or toddler in a stroller, which I silently assume you were. But whatever the case, in my opinion there was no good excuse for the driver to get so offensive towards you. I can imagine how that gets to any person. Very embarrassing and shocking. I'm sure that services like elevator repairs will eventually pick up speed now the lockdown is behind us.

[@mwlvranken]

Before you even realize it, you will feel much more comfortable and less anxiety in life. Give it some time (plenty of nature in the Netherlands btw. and for hills and mountains you should check out Limburg, Ardennen (Belgium) and Eiffel (Germany)

[@longbow857]

I hope that this slower/nicer pace of life will affect your stress of thinking you have to do everything correct. Do not worry about how you are dressed, about walking to the front of the bus or what people will think of you. Most people live in harmony here and the willingness to help comes without an expected respons besides a thank you.

[@nas4apps]

And of course the tulip fields, in season of course, not too far away!

[@nas4apps]

You are so open, great that you share this! Yes, bus drivers sometimes have tough times too - so they can yell out too much once in the while. You just look Dutch, makes it seem like you disrespect the driver, so different from don't understand .... Certainly during covid, rules on public transport became more strict. Hope all is ok! Good series!

[@hamster4618]

Hey, hey, we have a mountain! We also have hills.

[@samknetsch]

there are many homeless people in Netherlands, but we take care of them, we have places where therein sleep at night and get some food

[@aeiouaeiou100]

If a bus driver would start screaming at me for entering through the wrong door I'd probably just tell him to chill lol, sounds like a huge overreaction on his end. No one really cares about it that much honestly, especially when it's not that busy.

[@MarcelHuguenin]

2nd vid I watched from you. About the homeless situation... second item in today's 7 o'clock show 'M' on #npo1 was about the housing situation and it was mentioned we have 100,000 homeless people in the Netherlands. We do have a housing problem in the Netherlands. Keep making videos ;-)

[@mirjamvond1731]

I don't recognize the fashion thing at all, so that might be regional or depending on the neighbourhood 😅

[@RealConstructor]

Our elementary schools are not all public schools. Public schools are directly administered by the municipality. Special schools are administered by a foundation or association and by the municipality. For all elementary schools, the funding is partly by the municipality, they take care of a school building, partly by the government, they pay the teachers, for a small part by the parents, and partly (for special schools that is) by the foundation or association. Special schools are schools on an ideological foundation, like religious/denominational (protestant, catholic, jewish, islamic, reformed etc) or on general/neutral foundation (like Montessori, Dalton, Jenaplan, Vrije/free school etc). You can register your kid to any school you like, but most special schools ask you to underwrite or agree with their denomination or ideology. And you can even start your own special school if you can gather enough parents/kids and form a foundation or association. The municipality has to give you room for a school. That mostly starts with a few vacant classrooms in other school buildings. And if the school grows, the foundation or association can get a whole building, new or existing (vacant of course).

[@helgavanraam29]

Prima uitgelegd. Vorig jaar hebben een paar ouders een school gestart. Kwam in elk nieuws item. Hoe zou je het moeten noemen als ik een regenboog-familieschool wil opzetten? Serieus, daar denk ik over.

[@RealConstructor]

@@helgavanraam29 Ik weet niet precies wat voor school je voor ogen hebt, maar ik zou het een bijzondere school op algemene of neutrale grondslag noemen. Ik kan het regenboog-deel enigszins plaatsen, maar niet het familie-deel. Bedoel je dat alleen kinderen van een gezin van twee moeders (of twee vaders) hierop geplaatst kunnen worden? Als dat zo is, zal het een lange en hobbelige weg worden om dit te bereiken. Hier lijkt namelijk geen geloof of onderwijsmethodiek achter te zitten. Dat maakt het lastiger om de gemeente(raad) te overtuigen mee te werken. Maar als je het niet probeert zul je het nooit weten. Informeer eerst bij de gemeente hoeveel kinderen een nieuwe school nodig heeft voordat de gemeente een leslokaal ter beschikking stelt. Dan weet je waar je naar moet streven. Daarna een aantal gelijkgezinde ouders zoeken, een vereniging of stichting oprichten zodat er een startkapitaal is. Dan kan de ‘werving’ van meer ouders en kinderen van start gaan. Succes.

[@helgavanraam29]

@@RealConstructor Bedankt voor je antwoord. Het is inderdaad algemeen en neutraal. Geen godsdienst centraal, maar wetenschap, natuur en kunst. Iedereen is welkom als men het regenboog-deel ook accepteert. Het familie-deel; elk samengesteld gezin. Bijvoorbeeld; man-man/vrouw-vrouw/man-vrouw-man/vrouw-man-vrouw en een hetero-gezin. Bedankt voor je reactie en info!

[@martijnhaarman298]

Hi I’m glad you seem to enjoy living in the Netherlands. I can’t help but notice you seem to want to make sure you don’t stand out here. Dutch people usually don’t bother feeling that need so much. You might have noticed we are quite direct and that’s a blessing to me. But it also requires a bit of a thick skin because if someone is being direct that might mean they voice an opinion about you or something you do. Most times that’s just them being honest to you and not meant to insult you or make you feel insecure. So just roll with the punches and don’t let it bother you so much. The upside is that you can voice your opinions about others without them being insulted that easily

[@robinsommer]

Honesty is the best policy, so don't feel bad about saying stuff that is on your mind (and you are comfortable to share). That bus driver probably had a bad day hearing that other passengers in the bus apologized. But still, I completely understand how intense that situation must have been - whilst you are obviously trying your best to acclimate to our little country. I'm convinced nobody would blame you for something you could not have known, nobody tells you to get in the bus at the driver's door. You do now, but it is uncalled for to scold someone. The driver also could not have known you don't speak Dutch, and acted like he was talking to rowdy teenagers that might want to get on the bus unseen/without paying. Anyhow, I truly hope you will continue to like/love it here - we have an open mind and so do you. You will be fine :) All the best!

[@iedzjee]

I am vey sorry to hear from the bad experience with the bus driver. That is absolutely not normal and you can complain about that with the company. I suppose he had some (private) problems he couldn’t handle so it effected his professionalism. But regarding you sympathizing with your todler I can really understand having the same feeling after living and working in Switzerland and Australia for a while. Aftre a while you get more confident, but then of a sudden, boom! There is one coming from an absolute unexpected angle. I really hope you get used to the much less service oriented society (that has at least some of its roots in the more egalitarian social structure) and before you seriously decide to start to take part in heavy bike traffic, it might be advisable to ask a neighbor or so to get you going in the many official and unofficial rules an habits. I really hope you get at at ease and enjoy your life here and nothing is more true than that there is o perfect place.

[@palantir135]

The south of the province of Limburg is hilly; very nice to hike. Or got to Belgium in the Ardennes or Germany which has mountains: Eifel, Harz, Alps. There are homeless people here but they can sleep indoors at certain places. Learn the Dutch language to really integrate.

[@AnagramGinger]

For children’s playgrounds, it’s definitely quantity over quality. Kids don’t need extravagant parks 20 minutes away, they just want to play outside

[@albertbreetveld4872]

everybody makes mistakes but you are still in a learning process I'm sure you settled in quickly

[@Legnerps]

My daughter is living in Amersfoort and loves it !! Where do you live ?

[@geertdelange4785]

You have to take more time to discover the Netherlands. Take your time. To mension two : No not the whole country is flat. And we work less and have more free time 😉 And another example, The social system is better in the Netherlands. Yep the dutch can be very direct. Most can speak English, but speaking the language is a good suggestion, to become part of the community 👍🏻

[@annekedevries9208]

I'm Dutch and most houses are not that small that it won't fit a king size bed (= 183 x 203 cm). My bed is 180 x 210 cm with room to spare. I think you got unlucky with a small bedroom in your house. I think there are still some beautiful things for you to discover when it comes to nature in the Netherlands. They are little, mostly man made, but especially on the water, so beautiful. If you want big and grand and not flat? Drive an hour or two east, to our neighbours in Germany.

[@eggiex6297]

Beautyful Amstelveen.

[@leslypianoworld]

The bus driver didn't know that you just arrived here and don't know the rule yet , I take bus quite regularly and I can see ( also in the metro ) that some people just don't follow the rule , for a bus driver that has heavy responsibility and has to watch their time schedule , sometime is quite frustrating , misunderstanding can happen as no one is perfect . Why many homeless people in US , I heard the news that many people oppose socialism , because they believe socialism is ( beginning of } communism . I can't blame these people because many people watch only one news channel , I can't blame those news channel because that's depend on who the donators or the owners are . Anyway it's just my opinion . Cheers !!

[@pvdhaar]

I (Dutch male) visited San Francisco Bay Area a number of times (for work). Once I had a rather bad experience there, with a bus driver (public transport), who was yelling at me, apparently because I didn't pay fast enough (cash). I sat down, looked at other passengers and asked 'is this normal??'. No, no, they said, in an apologetic way. My interpretation is that these bus drivers get a very low salary, and vent their frustartion about that this way.

[@ramarkble101]

You need to go to the Veluwe or Brabant Limburg. Limburg has got hills. Playgrounds in the Netherlands you can let you kids play without a parent.

[@hermanrombouts276]

Hello Ellen,You don't have to apologize for anything.That bus driver has no business to yell at you.He should have noticed that you were from another country...There are a lot of tourist in The Netherlands ,who don't understand the Dutch language.I Live In Toronto,Canada.But I was born in the Netherlands.You might have fun watching the show Massa is Kassa .I find that very funny.Also It takes time to get adjusted to a new country. You will do well ,Don't worry. Greetings: HR.

[@bli2008]

More and more buses you must enter from the front, because they want to see you check-in. in crowded busy cities, the back door still usable, otherwise it takes too long to let people in and out. And if you carry a stroller, they definitely allow you to enter the second door. You know that Netherlands is still one of the worst air pollution in Europe. I don't know where you live, but in my area, everybody wears (fashionable) jeans and shirts (also to work). It is true that nobody wears pajama or sportswear.

[@gabiballetje]

Yeah, the parks and playgrounds are generally more boring and smaller than in the US, and we do have homeless people, but we also have quite a bit of support for them, places to stay during the day and or night, an allowance mostly, etc, but there's still a lot to do when it comes to that i feel. We do have some great playgrounds, but they're basically not free, more like small theme parks for kids, so yeah, you'd also have to pay, not so much just public. And yeah, we are a smaller and quite densely populated country, so it is also easier to get great mobile phone coverage, including internet coverage. It's not great everywhere, there are some pockets here and there, but by far most places are great really. But just think how much it would cost to do that for the long roads in the US, especially smaller roads with fewer travellers, it would be so ridiculously expensive. That said, i also do not get why even in big cities the internet is so crap and expensive for what you get, you also get more brownouts and blackouts, for one us being smaller works for us, but also, the US power system is so extremely outdated and not being maintained well enough, and the US (people) want it to be improved, but don't want to or aren't able to pay for it really.

[@martijnb5887]

There is a difference between public schools and public funded schools. In the Netherlands nearly all schools are public funded, the only condition is offering good quality education. Public schools are organised under responsibility of the municipality whereas the many schools are organised by associations organised traditionally along religious or didactic preferences. But these are public funded as well.

[@mormacil]

If you find the Dutch air quality amazing, go take a trip into the Alps. Netherlands sadly hangs at the bottom of European air pollution. It's certainly not filled with smog or anything but it's a far cry from Finland or Switzerland. Same for the hiking, there's indeed not the vast outdoors from the US. However there's decent hiking space near the coast and in the east. But for mountains you gotta hop over the border. Ardennes is really close by, Black Forest in Germany is doable and if you go for a few days, the Alps are a sight to behold.

[@jasperveldhuis3880]

I understand your challenges, but as you probably know by now is that us Dutchies are pretty direct, be direct back! My guess is the busdriver had a bad day. Hope you can see the Netherlands as your home soon and just feel relaxt. Just look people in the eyes and say what is on your mind, it's not rude at all, just efficient! Haha Cheers

[@arjanpetersen]

Problem with your lift is most probably due to lack of parts. A lot of stuff can’t be fixed or built at the moment.

[@wimschoenmakers5463]

Don't worry! I am Dutch and didn't now that you can enter a bus thru the wrong door! My last bus or train ride was over fourthy years ago. 😂 Just tell the bus driver he's a idiot yelling like that! He likes that for sure! 🤣

[@dn5239]

Hey I. Have a king size bed with a table on both sides. So don’t give up hope🙂

[@nuuwnhuus]

Nah entering the bus through the back isn't stupid seems pretty logical especially when you can check in there. Some buses have pictograms on them that show entrance and exit, but other than that you couldn't have known. I would've just gotten out after explaining I didn't know lol, I can wait a couple of minutes to have a friendly driver.

[@giselavaleazar8768]

Playgrounds should be at walkable distance. Better to have small ones around within reach then need to go by car.

[@JeroenBrosens]

I got your nice channel recommended, probably because I watch the channel called Not Just Bikes. Go look that one up, you will like it and relate. All the best!

[@dutchladylover]

Dutch are known for being direct, as you must have noticed by now. That bus driver (as I take it from your perspective) was just being rude! (I had another description in my head, but let me keep it decent) I love video's from expats and other immigrants, just to try and see things from there point of view, so I hope you keep it up. And don't worry about people getting mad, we know things can be different and may take a bit of getting used to and take some time to adapt. Just ignore the haters, as you will find them everywhere....

[@koenkeep]

You live in Amstelveen, where there are hardly any tourists. This means he did not expect you to be a tourist, which explains also why he yells at you in Dutch. He automatically assumed that you know the rule, you have to enter the bus by the driver side... so you can pay. If you enter in a different door, the driver cannot check if you pay. So he was mad at you because you were possibly not paying for your fare. It's a misunderstanding, but you could have noticed that everybody is entering through the busdriver entrance, and exiting through another.

[@user-ul7pd7vf1l]

fresh air on the approach route to Schiphol 😁

[@H1SCOTTY]

Nice to hear someone say that the air quality is that good here, in reference to our neighboring countries we have the most polluted air. 😅 It may smell better it contains more particulate matter and nitrogen. We don’t have to much forest fire (forest themselves isn’t wild or big but cultivated). Mountains we don’t have however Limburg has a hill that they are calling a mountain. 😂

[@H1SCOTTY]

There are are homeless but a lot less and many have no home but they find a roof to sleep underneath at friends or a homeless shelter (even apartments for women and children if the Salvation Army thinks that is needed). It sounds like uncalled for and traveling in Amsterdam is also come across as a peasant out of Brabant visiting a friend but could understand their complaints before they were irritated.

[@RajhHamsee]

Fantastic and active little boy who targetted very good, no, Marvelous GOAL in to the iron net - From INDIA

[@michaelkraag7835]

Don't worry you will adjust. The busdriver should have been more understandding. There are always good and bad people. The Netherlands is a great country but it is not perfect. It's good that you show te good en the Bad things you can always learn from it. Enjoy Life here the work Life balance is fantastic. And the pace is slow but you don't have to keep up with everyone here. You can always talk back to people here and stand up ffor yourself. They will respect that.

[@85Johanf]

Bus drivers can be cranky here. Also Amsterdam people are notoriously direct. Regards from a Dutchman.