People from Holland!

[ayu]

I have two questions for people from Holland

1: Is it a good country to live in?

2: Why is it that most companies seem to have entry jobs when you want to apply, rather than searching for experienced people?
Is there something special about Holland in this case that I should know? :S


Thanks in advance

[leetnigga]

I don't have experience living in other countries for extended periods of time, so I don't really have anything to compare the Netherlands to. That said, I have no complaints about the life I live here. I currently live in a small town and I go to a university in the city. I'm pretty happy with that.

I think a lot of the people here speak decent English, if only with the funny accent that identifies Dutch people (who don't know a lot about spoken English). Our own language is completely ridiculous. I think to make yourself understandable as a foreigner is not so difficult, but to master the language in speech and writing would be quite a task.

One thing I love about the Netherlands is the biking. A lot of people travel by bike. I really enjoy it myself. I don't think it's as common in other countries.

I haven't noticed the trend with entry level jobs. I don't think there's any lack of jobs that require experience. What kind of job are you looking for?

Do you have any specific questions about life in the Netherlands?

[n3rd]

1: Depends on where u want to live, some parts are better then others.
2: Holland is a country that focuses on growth of people. also entry level jobs gives the company the oppertunity to assess you without too much liability .

[ayu]

At the moment it seems that we are moving to Amsterdam, but nothing is really decided yet. It depends on where we can get jobs.

Is Amsterdam a good city?

I heard that people have a lot of free days in Netherlands and that they don't work very long days. Is this true?

Also, I know that in Amsterdam, Marihuana and prostitution is legal to some extent. Does this somehow create some kind of risk or unsafe environment?

If we are to stay in Amsterdam, I don't want my kids in the future to grow up if it's not a safe/stable city.

Input?

[n3rd]

Amsterdam is a very crowded city with alot of ethnic mixes. You will find a ton of different people there, some good, some bad.

The major problem with Amsterdam only occur within a few of the surrounding neighbourhoods. in some of these there are alot of marocs and turks so that can be a bit of a problem.

But like I said it really depends on the neighbourhood.

As for the working days: mo-fri 8 to 17:00. But this can depend on the company you work for. me myself could decide when to come in (when I was working) I had flex hours to start between 8 and 9:30 till whenever I worked 8 hours.

This is something you can discuss with your future employer imho.

Drugs are legal throughout the entire country. Though the use of drugs might be higher in Amsterdam because of the tourists (they are the major users for the substances, not the inhabitants of Amsterdam) Dont worry to much about softdrugs, they aint bad. Hard drugs ofcourse, are still illegal.

As for prostitution, there are only select area's where whores can operate. anywhere outside of that zone can get them arrested (even deported if they are foreign)

also if you want to make a quick buck. just stay there for a day with a high res camera and take pictures of people and blackmail them in to giving you money .

As for the future of your children, I personally dont find it a great place to raise kids. its too crowded. it might be better to hop in to a city/village close to amsterdam to give your future spawns some more freedom.

any more questions you know where to find meh

[ayu]

Thanks for the replies n3rd

How about free days? Are there many?
Someone told me that Netherlands have about 3 times as many free days as Sweden, which sounds fucking awesome to me x)

[bad_brain]

um, I've never been in Amsterdam, but I know people that have....and from what I heard it's not the kind of city I would like my children to grow up in. it's the #1 destination for drug tourists from all over europe, and because of that lots of dealers on the streets selling the hard stuff like heroine, cocaine and crack (weed and hash can be bought legally in coffee shops).
same applies to Venlo, which is near the german border, so loads of germans drive there for drugs. Gouda should also be avoided at all cost, seems they have a curfew there now, immigrants from morocco are not allowed to go out in the night anymore because they caused lots of violence.
you maybe should look for something in the countryside, things are usually better there than in big cities (which of course applies to pretty any country).

[ayu]

um, I've never been in Amsterdam, but I know people that have....and from what I heard it's not the kind of city I would like my children to grow up in. it's the #1 destination for drug tourists from all over europe, and because of that lots of dealers on the streets selling the hard stuff like heroine, cocaine and crack (weed and hash can be bought legally in coffee shops).
same applies to Venlo, which is near the german border, so loads of germans drive there for drugs. Gouda should also be avoided at all cost, seems they have a curfew there now, immigrants from morocco are not allowed to go out in the night anymore because they caused lots of violence.
you maybe should look for something in the countryside, things are usually better there than in big cities (which of course applies to pretty any country).

Thanks for the input b_b

Well, at the moment the plan is to get an apartment in Amsterdam, if things play out well.

I'm not planning to have children for a few years at least, so there will be a lot of time to get to know the area and decide if it's a good place to stay

[n3rd]

hmm well dutchies have weird days thats for sure but not all of em are free days.

I think we have 11 holidays of which 8 are totally free for sure.

we have something called a vrimibo, which means each friday u stop work early and just go drink with the dept. but it also depends on the company culture.

BB is right about the tourists and stuff.

[ayu]

hmm well dutchies have weird days thats for sure but not all of em are free days.

I think we have 11 holidays of which 8 are totally free for sure.

we have something called a vrimibo, which means each friday u stop work early and just go drink with the dept. but it also depends on the company culture.

BB is right about the tourists and stuff.

Alright

How are the general population when it comes to speaking English?

My Dutch is not that good x)

[n3rd]

Very good, TV shows are not dubbed so they are English and subtitled which helps every fool understanding english better.

Besides that almost every 1 here can speak and listen english, so no need to worry about that (though the pronounciation of dutchies could give you a bad impression)