What's it like living in Holland?

[MotherEarthMom]

My fiance is getting transferred to Holland to study and work with his job and wants me to come and live there with him it would be for a yr and half.I live in Florida USA now and have never been to another country,wondering if anyone can direct me to a good website about holland and also for apartment renting,he wants me to study too,so I am looking into colleges to study to be a certified clinical nutritionist.Any info would be appreciated,thanks

[rzberrymom]

It's wonderful here! A bit windy though...

Here's a website that helped me a lot when we were getting ready to move--housing, jobs, schools, forums for chit chatting, etc.
http://www.expatica.com

[bronwenclaire]

my mother is from the netherlands...amsterdam.
i have tons of family all over.
i've always considered moving there as well LOL
i'll check that out too!

[Brazilianmommy]

Is Amsterdam a good place to raise children? Its beautiful I have been there once my husband was born there but he was raised in Australia and we are currently living in Albury Australia he said its not our permanent home that maybe we will move to Amsterdam if I want of course but I really don't know I like it here I'm out of my country already far away from Brazil he has family there and they have been insisting he say that he owuld not say yes until I say yes what do you think should I do?

[sarahmck]

Is Amsterdam a good place to raise children?

I think so. My husband and I moved here a year ago, when our first baby was 3 months old, because we believe that the quality of life for families is better here than it is in the US. I don't know about raising children in Australia.

The educational system is undeniably better (other than the lack of ability to home school); people generally have a shorter working day; most errands are run via bicycle, not car, so you get really nice biking experiences together, and there are tons of bikes specialized for carrying children; they are very open about sex here. Here's an anecdote: we were at the zoo a few days ago and there was an elephant there with a GIANT penis. It was quite literally dragging on the ground. We were standing next to a family whose daughter loudly said "his willy is bigger than papa's!" and the father muttered, "yes, luckily so." It was quite funny. It's not that that conversation couldn't take place in other countries, but just that I think it's much more likely that elsewhere, the parents might shush the child or generally impose their own embarrassment on the child. Here, discussions of sex, including around children, are extremely frank.

On top of all that, the weather's great. Ha.