16-01-2012

......today marks the first anniversary of my arrival in The Netherlands. Oddly it sometimes feels an age ago, while on others seems like only yesterday. As many expats will confirm the early months of a relocation thoughts like these assail the mind as one assimilates into the daily/weekly life.

I must praise all of those that I came into contact with on my arrival and since, as they have made the settling in process feel extremely normal and natural...... and this is coming from someone who had previously lived happily in the same house for 15 years!  Coming to terms with living in a city was also a big change, I hadn't been a city dweller since living in London in the 1980's.

At this stage, apart from my stumblingly poor grasp of the language I feel entirely integrated into a new working life as a citizen of The Hague. The city has a motto ' enter the city as a stranger, leave as a friend' this is very true' as many can confirm.