It was a chill and bleak Winter day in Amsterdam that found Pukeko waiting at the Rijksmuseum for his mate Rupert to turn up for a visit from Australia!
He had thought he’d watch the ice skaters while he waited … Would you like to know more?
London – Part 5
So much to do, so little time! It was up early in order to fit everything in today! It was one of the few days where we did have a timing deadline, as I had organised to meet up with friends in the evening.
In this vein we did something that I hadn’t actually planned for and wasn’t on the itinerary. We headed to Loop, the yarn shop.
I was so good! I was so strong! I made it out of there with no purchases! Hooray me! (I think Himself went into shock!) Would you like to know more?
Spring in Amsterdam
A simple post in list form. Spring in Amsterdam consists of several things.
– Tea with friends.
– Beer with friends while knitting.
A Year in Europe
Who’d have thought this day would come upon us so fast? We flew out of Sydney a year ago. It’s one of those strange sets of circumstances where it simultaneously feels like we’ve been here forever, and like we only just got here. Time has passed in the blink of an eye, yet has taken so long for some events to pass or come to fruition, that we thought they’d never arrive. We’ve learnt and grown so much, and yet, there is still so much further to go.
As my first semester of Dutch language class draws to a close, I realise there is still a long way for me to go. I try hard not to feel inundated or intimidated, and remind myself that I’m still learning and refining my use of the English language every day. Some days I’m a better self-motivational speaker than others. I plug on.
Making Friends as an Expat
This post has been brewing around in my head for a while. I guess because of the circles I travel in on the internet it comes up a bit. Since becoming a featured blog on Expats Blog I figured the universe was telling me I should chip in my two cents worth as well. Post something that would be easy to find, which sums up how we’re working at fitting in and finding friends.
As I will be mentioning in an upcoming post, we’ve been here a year now. That year has been full of adventures and unexpectedness. Some things were fun and worth the wait; Other things we knew would pass if we just gave them enough time and space. Getting up each day and living life helps.
In a lot of respects we had it easy. Well, easier than most. We moved to a country with a very similarly relaxed attitude to the one we had been living in, we moved with a job, we moved to extended family, and we moved to a country where they speak our language even though it’s not their own. We also had the support of our friends and families back home, which has been invaluable.
Making friends is still tricky though. As is purported in the NYTimes article I linked to above, we are both past the stage in our lives where we are in the circumstances to be making new “Best Friends Forever”.
It’s up to you to make the time and put the effort in to new people and friendships, in the knowledge that they don’t have to let you into their lives. They already have established friends and social circles, it’s you who have to fit in. Or not … But everyone we’ve met has been so welcoming, so friendly, so willing to accept us and make time for us. I’m very grateful that the Dutch are as easy going and friendly as they are!
ghoti industries 