Living in the Netherlands. First five impressions of an expat in Rotterdam.

[@DikWhite]

I hope you enjoy your new life in Rotterdam, such a vibrant city with so much to explore. I wondered about your time in Poland and discovered that you worked there as a football referee. Your Polish sounds very impressive, and I'm sure that eventually your Dutch will also be good. I'm half Dutch so I grew up bilingual, now living in Istanbul.... kind of trilingual now. 🤓Bol şans diliyorum sana!

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Oh thanks, that’s very nice of you! Yeah, refereeing hopefully will become my motivation to learn Dutch, it was the case in Poland. I wish you too all the best in Istanbul, her şey gönlünüzce olsun!

[@ross6883]

Such an informative video, subbed and definitely looking forward to your new videos✌️I hope Netherlands treats you well, best wishes from Istanbul

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Thanks!

[@Blackadder75]

About healthcare, there are a lot of expenses that do NOT fall under the €385 personal risk system, but are always 'free' (free as, you pay for it with your monthly fee together with all the other people)

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Thanks for the info, frankly speaking I have no clue how the system works, they simply charge me and hope I won't need the healthcare!

[@Blackadder75]

@@CemalGuzelaydin yeah, that is how it goes for most of us. I never needed it from age 18 to 40, but then I went to hospital for a few weeks and after that I had a year of treatment outside a hospital. this was for psychological issues, not surgical. I never saw a bill, I never paid a dime extra. To be honest I don;t even know to this day how the finances around that period have been organized. But I will gladly pay my 130,- a month for this care free security. My dad had some operations, he has gotten artificial knees.. And a lot of revalidation. For that sort of thing he paid the 385,- but still nothing more... Those operations cost €7000-€15,000 that's why we pay the mandatory health care fee...

[@Omerkosar]

Great video. Very informative. I wish you good luck with your new journey and hope to wish your new videos in the future.

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Many thanks! I hope to keep up the motivation

[@jeff_vh]

Very interesting video Cemal! Also helpful for people that are planning living here in my opinion.

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Thanks mate, appreciate your nice comments, hope I can grow the channel in this exciting city! 🇳🇱

[@Shokkwavez]

Hi Cemal, welcome to the Netherlands and don't let the weather get you down ;-)

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Hi, thanks! The weather has been amazing. I’ve lived in Poland for long years so the Dutch weather is tropical to me! 😀

[@vanderquast]

Great first review😊👍enjoy your stay in The Netherlands 🌷

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Dankuwell, Jacob! 🙏

[@nlx78]

I saw in the thumbnails of another video that you visited De Kuip ;) Hope you will like Feyenoord as your 2nd club, assuming you have one in Turkey already. Subscribed to your channel now, nice to see some videos later of things you noticed are different, difficult or strange. Have a nice 2023! Greets from Hellevoetsluis (near Rotterdam)

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Thanks for the sub! Hoping that in 2023, I can create more content. Well, I am a football referee so I actually do not support any concrete team, I love football in general. The experience was amazing, my company is one of the sponsor of the club so I got lucky to watch two matches from those business seats, great atmosphere in the stadium!

[@MarijnvdSterre]

Yes, if you want to practice speaking and following Dutch you should tell people. If you do not, we will switch to English indeed. It is easier in the long run to speak English but we do appreciate people trying to learn Dutch.

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Thanks for your comment, Marijn! I think i still need to spark the fire inside of me. I can text and write basic things but understanding what others speak is so difficult

[@I.Toverheks]

@@CemalGuzelaydin When my Turkish/Kurdish ex came to the Netherlands we put yellow sticky notes on everything in the house with the Dutch names. On everything. Forks, knives, curtains, doors.. you name it. We sticked a sticky on it. It was a funny sight (especially for visitors), but it worked like a charm.😁 He would learn the words subconsciously. Once he knew them he removed them. My mother 'didn't speak a word across the border', so she would continuously speak Dutch to him.. loudly. As if that would work any better.🤣 The children of my siblings did as well.. and everybody else was instructed not to switch to English to easily. Within a few months he was able to have a decent conversation in Dutch.

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

@@I.Toverheks woaw you guys seem to have a game plan! Success guaranteed! 😀

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

@@redfishswimming yes you are right, I think i still need to find my motivation to learn it

[@joop558]

your house physician is not out of your pocket, only for medicines, hospital and spiecialist the first 385 euros are on your account, also the dentist is not included at all, You can however add extra insurances for physio , dentist etc. Just investigate what your options are. And the insurance for the basic healthcost is almost the same at least for the minimum care for everybody and can not refused by the insurance company because of bad health.

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

dankuwel, Joop!

[@davutdakulcelik6099]

Nice work bro👏🏿

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

thanks bro!

[@basvanderwerff2725]

1 thing to add about the health insurance, if you dont make alot of money you can get a compensation for it to cover (up to) a very larger part of it

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Dankuwel, Bas! Good to know!

[@frits1954X2]

the Dutch don't like their bikes, but it's the easiest and cheapest way to go to work or pub or sports club !! Best regards Frits

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

thanks Frits! :)

[@FacelessJanus]

We are extremely direct. So simply ask/tell people you prefer it they speak in Dutch to you, they will. No hard feelings, just directly ask/tell them.

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Thanks! Not an easy language though, I need to admit.

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

@@redfishswimming thanks for the tips, let’s see if i will progress eventually

[@nagranoth_]

Rotterdam is actually one of the _least_ bicycle friendly Dutch cities...

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Thanks, Stefan!

[@burgerwithcheese]

Great video. As for healthcare; you only pay 385 euros maximum each year. For clarification to some: you do not pay the 385 euros with every bill received. Lets say in January you are treated worth 1000 euros, you pay 385 (eigen risico) which means own risk. After that one payment, the rest of the year you are free of costs because your own risk is already used and paid for. So when u used your own risk payment, it's better to take advantage of it. Ever wanted to check your health in the hospital, now is the time. Make use of this so you wont have to pay the 385 the next year. In my case with extra dental insurance; I got my teeth completely fixed in one year while I only had to pay my own risk (and extra health insure costs each month of course). But the next couple of years, I did not included it in my healthcare because chances are low I need it anyway. Have a great time here in the Netherlands, Rotterdam is a great city!

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Thanks for the thorough explanation! That really helps not only me but everyone who reads your comment.

[@Stadtionalist]

@@CemalGuzelaydin @burgerwithcheese I'm not sure that's entirely correct. Things that are covered with the basic insurance have this "eigen risico" part. You can choose how high that is, but the lowest is 385 euros. With most insurance companies, you can choose to have a higher "eigen risico" to get a discount on your monthly costs tho. Using healthcare that is not covered in the basic insurance (such as dental, eyewear, fysiotherapy, specialized mental care, etc) does not affect the 'eigen risico'. So for example, having the most popular type of dental care (75% covered with a maximum of 250 euros) added to your insurance and going to a dentist for 200 euros will mean you have to pay 50 euros and 150 euros is insured but that 50 euros you pay does NOT affect the "eigen risico". If your "eigen risico" is 385 euros and you end up needing (or wanting) healthcare that is covered by your basic insurance policy, you'll still have to pay (up to) 385 euros yourself. Also be careful with things that ARE covered with your basic insurance (like hospital care), as insurance companies have contracts with specific healthcare providers. So if you need to go to a clinic or hospital to, for example, get a bloodtest, check with your insurance company to see which clinics/hospitals are (fully) covered by your policy. Most insurance companies have a "zorgzoeker" or "zorgvinder" (healthcare searcher) on their website or in an app with which you can search for specific treatments or providers in your local area and will show with whom they have a contract.

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

@@Stadtionalist thanks a lot, this has been a thorough explanation so I am sure that readers will understand the system better. Bedankt!

[@robertvaneersel3741]

On learning the language, I noticed that my English coworkers started wearing buttons that said: "Spreek Nederlands met mij." Are they still available?

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Goedenavond Robert. Nee, ik heb niet seen it so far 😀

[@casvanleeuwen5280]

Hope our country is treating you well!

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Having a great time so far!

[@richardbrinkerhoff]

You need to load money on the OV chip card. You don't get an invoice at the end of the month.

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Personalised OC cards are reconciled with a monthly bill.

[@ericburbach632]

Im very interested how healthcare is organized in Poland

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Thanks for your comment, Eric. In general, there is public healthcare, which is mandatory for everyone, it is deducted from the salaries. However, in majority of cases, your employer will provide you private healthcare, it is of good quality, and you can easily access a specialist.

[@arjanpetersen]

The 385€ is only applicable for certain things.

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Thanks for your comment Stefan

[@sharif8326]

Rotterdam stad van de sbe3's

[@Jila_Tana]

Nobody wants to be called an immigrant it seems. Expat is sexy, immigrant unwanted or what is the deal here ?

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Expat means a person who lives outside of his/her native country whereas immigrant is a person who permanently settles in a foreign country. It has got nothing to do being sexy or unwanted etc.

[@Paul_C]

Nope, most are called immigrants. Only those who are here for a fixed period even deserve a term expat, though they too are immigrants. You sir, are an immigrant. You live and work legally in the Netherlands, but you hold a passport which is not Dutch, ergo immigrant.

[@nagranoth_]

You _could_ of course google the meaning of words...

[@Jila_Tana]

@@nagranoth_ No need, they mean the same thing. Just 'Immigrant' has a negative tone, where as 'expat' is something completely different or so do people want you to believe. They are in essence, both describing the same thing.

[@louiseleite3866]

@@Jila_Tana What you call a person who comes to live in your country, refuses to learn the language, only socialize with people from the same country, lives off the government and demands an interpreter when they have an appointment?

[@neefeef]

hello there. Why did you made a video and let us look for more 10 minutes to your "very attractive" face. I ask you: where is the video?? pffff

[@CemalGuzelaydin]

Hello, thanks for your feedback, much appreciated!