A year living and working in Amsterdam.
Not so much training but working on a project and providing project management services. But for this blog less of work and more of what is it like living a in another country.
Apart from the red tape, visas immigration (a few scrapes at border control……more of that later) what was it like? What did I learn?
I live in London so living in another major European city is not such as stretch as living in other parts of the world, or of course those of us that have made a more permanent move. And I didn’t really choose to live there. I went to help with a work opportunity. But still, it’s not home and it’s an opportunity for something different and at times pushes you out of your comfort zone.
Knowing your part of town
Living in a new city it can be hard to find where to live. The first question…..Is it safe? Then…..What are the local amenities like? How far and easy is it to travel to my place of work?
A good place to start is to ask your colleagues. They have lived and know the area well. Another is to get out and explore. See what is around each area. Ultimately in a busy city like Amsterdam it may be down to what is available. I lived in various parts of Amsterdam over the course of a year (I went for three months initially and then extended and extended. So for me some areas I liked (Zuid), some I absolutely loved (Zeeheldenbuurt, Eastern Docklands) and some I hated (I’ll mention no names).
Travelling and Delays
For some of the time I travelled backwards and forwards to London (weekends etc. Amsterdam is close enough). For other periods I stayed for months at a time. Whether by plane or by train (total travel time was about the same given airport timings), and I think by train is less stressful, more enjoyable, and more practical. There were delays. The obvious flight delays. Getting stuck in Belgium for a night. A train in front breaking down. Or the one time (only one) I missed by flight by seconds (the door shut as I arrived at the gate, having run through the airport - I’ve also begged with Eurostar staff to let me through haha). It pays to be adaptable and realise these things will happen if you travel a lot. If you get stressed every time you are going to burn out. So it pays to take a pragmatical approach.
So this is a good place to start.
Too much for one blog to write about. However there is more, and I would like to post about it in upcoming blogs.
Was it fun? Yes and yes
The culture
The cultural differences and getting used to them
Meeting new people
What would I have done differently?
Confidence
The importance of friends and family
And so much more!