30 days in Haarlem
Someone recently asked me on Instagram how I was adjusting to the move to the Netherlands? It’s now been one month and I finally can put my words down.
Our move here took 5 nerve wracking months with a lot of paperwork and immigration hurdles to jump. I was looking at the Husband the other day and laughing because I couldn’t for the life of me believe that we were now in the Netherlands. In November 2020, without my daughters passport and with a visa cancellation looming it was impossible see how we were going to be able to make a continental move. One month later, we almost have a daily routine, our dining area looks more than livable and we now are more than familiar with almost all the parks and playgrounds in North Haarlem. I told you, settling!
More than that though, I feel renewed! The Dutch lifestyle, culture and our little area in Haarlem feels like just what I needed in this season of my life. I love being able to find some green space at almost every corner, the people in Haarlem are ridiculously friendly (or maybe my Extrovert children are the reason for all the hellos and smiles we get on walks) and the simplicity of life here is such a breath of fresh air. I recently understood the word Egalitarian “believing in or based on the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities”. Dutch society is supposedly based on an Egalitarian society and of course there may be some shortcomings but it really seems to be the case that everyone is indeed equal here. I may be in the Honeymoon period of the early days of being an expat in a new country but I am absolutely in love.
In the month we have been here we quickly registered with the Local Municipality, Theo has since been enrolled into Peuterspeelzaal (playgroup), as you do I have received a letter from the municipality to book a pap smear and we are in touch with our neighbours with apology cards for all the noise from the kids.
So how am I handling the move? I am content, optimistic, gratified and enjoying this new season. The Stroopwaffel, Dutch apple pie, abundance of Weissbier and springtime blooms play a major role in the happiness too.
