Netherlands

Bottle_of_Smoke

Hi

Just putting this out there to see if any other boardsies are in Netherlands. I started work placement here in September. Will be here until next September. Living in Utrecht

Have found it easy enough to meet people. Having an Irish accent seems a good conversation starter!

Fysh

According to data here, something like 3% of Boards traffic overall comes from the Netherlands, so there must be a few around...

Bottle_of_Smoke

wow. whats with the massive amount of german traffic?

dudara

I work 4-5 days a week at the moment in Amsterdam. Company pays for an apartment here as it's more cost-efficient than a hotel in the long-term.

Tuesday_Girl

I live and work in Amsterdam, been here for 12 years

denhaagenite

Myself and the fella are in Eindhoven, have been here for a year and were in Den Haag for two years before that. Unfortunately don't meet enough Irish in Eindhoven . I had canvassed here before for a meetup somewhere central enough but there wasn't any interest.

Pookah

I live in Amsterdam.

c - 13

Living in Eindhoven with about two weeks.

judas101

Good to see a few others based in Eindhoven.

I pm'd a few of you.

I wonder if there is enough people to make an Eindhoven thread?

denhaagenite

judas101 wrote: »

I wonder if there is enough people to make an Eindhoven thread?

It would be great to get a boards beers going, with a view to an Irish club or something- I know there's one in Amsterdam but we're lacking it here.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Well the public transport is pretty excellent.

I suggest Utrecht;) - very central and has a decent Irish bar

Tuesday_Girl

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Well the public transport is pretty excellent.

I suggest Utrecht;) - very central and has a decent Irish bar

Mick O Connells is it, haven't been down that way in a while so count me in if we can get a few together.

Pookah

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Well the public transport is pretty excellent.

I suggest Utrecht;) - very central and has a decent Irish bar

I'd be up for that.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Aye Mick OÇonnells in the centre I think would be most suitable, spacious, nice food too. Another place O'learys is a smaller place.

Perhaps Mid November?

Tuesday_Girl

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Aye Mick OÇonnells in the centre I think would be most suitable, spacious, nice food too. Another place O'learys is a smaller place.

Perhaps Mid November?

How about the weekend of 13/14 November?

Pookah

Razzle wrote: »

How about the weekend of 13/14 November?

I can't make it that weekend.

It would have to be the following weekend for me.

Rowley Birkin QC

I lived in Amsterdam for about 5 months, may be going back there in a few months again. Just posting here to keep track of this thread!

Bottle_of_Smoke

Anytime in nov provisionally fine with me

vinny_963

yea im over in eindhoven and theres an absolute tonne of irish here, where i work theres at least 50 of us and theres more on the way over, o sheas any night of the week will have a few in fact im going there now

denhaagenite

I've just started a Twitter account for the Eindhoven crew, if anyone is interested in joining up? We could get more organised

https://twitter.com/#!/EindhovenIrish

happypants

denhaagenite wrote: »

It would be great to get a boards beers going, with a view to an Irish club or something- I know there's one in Amsterdam but we're lacking it here.

Im heading over to Eindhoven in the new year, my boyfriend moved over to work so providing I can find work I'll be staying too. Anytime Ive been over to visit we went to O Sheas Irish bar, plenty of Irish people in there and he likes it because they show all the sports.

miss smeldon

hi there ,
i live in horst , a half hour from eindhoven and love an good ol pint of guinness in o'sheas

bread

I was wondering what are the best job sites/agencies for job searching in the netherlands. I am in Dublin hoping to move to either london or amsterdam or anywhere. I work in HR at the moment and suppose I would like to get a job in that area. Is it a big issue not speaking dutch if working there?

Setun

Wow, did not realise there were a few boardsies in the Netherlands. I've been in Den Haag since the start of september, really enjoying it

bread wrote: »

I was wondering what are the best job sites/agencies for job searching in the netherlands. I am in Dublin hoping to move to either london or amsterdam or anywhere. I work in HR at the moment and suppose I would like to get a job in that area. Is it a big issue not speaking dutch if working there?

Not speaking dutch makes it a bit more difficult to find a job, but the Netherlands is a very "international" country in terms of business, so you should still be able to find something without much difficulty if you have good experience.

keithclancy

Daddio wrote: »

Wow, did not realise there were a few boardsies in the Netherlands. I've been in Den Haag since the start of september, really enjoying it


Not speaking dutch makes it a bit more difficult to find a job, but the Netherlands is a very "international" country in terms of business, so you should still be able to find something without much difficulty if you have good experience.

Lived in Den Haag for 2 years, wierd ol spot. Invaded by Expats, De Paap and De Pijperlaan are about the only 2 late night bars
Try out legalaliens
www.legalaliens.eu good few meetups, pool nights, beer tastings etc.
Dean and John the lads that run it are great

Den Haag is not a very Dutch town, pain in the arse to learn Dutch , people always reply in English no matter what you do !

robby^5

Any other boardsies in Haarlem?

Living here til next August with 5 other Irish students on an internship. Fair few ex-pats in the company we work in and also lots of Irish in the area. The owners of the local Irish pub Tierneys have just opened a shop selling Irish goods (Irish rashers, sausages, butters, cheese and Cadburys!) so bit of an Irish invasion going on here at the moment

Setun

What are you doing in your internship as a matter of interest?

I'm working as a freelancer over here, really enjoying it but the amount of paperwork is ridiculous. Doe anyone know if there are any citizens advice bureaus around Den Haag? Everything is in dutch, and trying to understand the long lists of regulations and BTW returns etc etc is doing my head in!

henryporter

Am thinking of bailing from eire to the netherlands - whats the best job searching sites for an architect currently back in college studying software development?

Dunphus

robby^5 wrote: »

Any other boardsies in Haarlem?

Living here til next August with 5 other Irish students on an internship. Fair few ex-pats in the company we work in and also lots of Irish in the area. The owners of the local Irish pub Tierneys have just opened a shop selling Irish goods (Irish rashers, sausages, butters, cheese and Cadburys!) so bit of an Irish invasion going on here at the moment

You're joking? Deadly! Where abouts is it?

Tuesday_Girl

Dunphus wrote: »

You're joking? Deadly! Where abouts is it?

A Taste of Home (Gedempte Oude Gracht 42, Haarlem)

There's a facebook group you can join too where they post about what they're getting in and when.

keithclancy

Also, if your hanging for some proper cheddar, Jumbo Supermarkets sell Rashers (most rashers sold in Ireland come from bloody Holland in the first place) and Cathedral Cheddar, Heinz Baked beans (Witte Bonen in Dutch) although the Jumbo own brand are nearly the same.

Burts Crisps are nice too and they even sell Coolmore cakes, Scones and clotted cream, if your into that sort of thing.

http://www.jumbosupermarkten.nl/Over-Jumbo/De-Jumbo-winkels/Alle-Jumbo-winkels/

Try out some of the sausages there as well, well decent, not like the Denny Skinless though !!

The expat shops are grand for the odd bit of Bisto, but tbh they are a bit pricey to be going to the whole time.

Myself and the G/F load of 15 kilos of stuff into a checking bag when were coming back from Ireland, I brought back a load of lucozade

If your in the Hague theres Kellys:
http://www.kellys-expat-shopping.eu/

denhaagenite

Anyone out tomorrow? Thinking of heading to O Sheas or Stratum so if anyone wants to join?

Amsterdam GAA

Hi all,

There's a very big Irish community in Amsterdam and we have a mens and ladies GAA team set up here. We play in European competitions during the year in places like Brussels, Luxembourg, Copenhagen, Munich, Budapest etc so it's good fun with some great weekends away.

We're about to start training at the end of January/early February for the new season and we're looking for new mens and ladies players.

We train twice a week during the year, and we have a lot of players from Utrecht, Haarlem, and some have played from Eindhoven, Rotterdam. Obviously a lot of the lads and ladies coming from outside of Amsterdam don't train during the week (due to travel distances), but they come to the monthly tournaments instead.

Anyways if you fancy playing, or know of any other Irish (or any nationality...we have a lot of Brits, Aussies, Dutchies etc that play) who might be interested, feel free to pass on my details or get in contact with me yourself.

My email is corcoran.david@gmail.com or phone number is 06-10135761. You can check out our club website at http://www.amsterdamgac.nl or club blog at http://amsterdamgaa.blogspot.com

Cheers,
David

Rowley Birkin QC

I previously lived in Amsterdam but have applied for a few jobs in Veldhoven just outside Eindhoven this morning. Any of the Irish crowd here living in that direction?

Just wondering about rent, Irish community etc.?

Would it be in any way feasible to live in Amdam and work in Veldhoven? My girlfriend is still living and working in Amsterdam so that would be ideal but definitely not a pre-requisite to taking the position.

Cheers.

keithclancy

Rowley Birkin QC wrote: »

I previously lived in Amsterdam but have applied for a few jobs in Veldhoven just outside Eindhoven this morning. Any of the Irish crowd here living in that direction?

Just wondering about rent, Irish community etc.?

Would it be in any way feasible to live in Amdam and work in Veldhoven? My girlfriend is still living and working in Amsterdam so that would be ideal but definitely not a pre-requisite to taking the position.

Cheers.

Myself and the G/F live in Strijp.
You could get a room for around 300 / month (hard to come by) and an apartment for around 500 - 600 / month.

Example in Waalre, not too far from Veldhoven.
http://www.funda.nl/huur/waalre/appartement-47994948-gestelsestraat-10-c/

If you live close to where your working then your going to be paying more as you'll be contending with the other few hundred expats coming in every month

Commuting from Amsterdam ?
Hmm .. depends on how much patience you have, you'd probably be doing shift so its doable I'd guess, you'd be looking at 2 hours depending on which part of Amsterdam shes in.

Theres a good few Irish around the place, mainly you'd see them in the Irish bar at the weekend.

Alun

OP .. I lived for 13 years in Veldoven. Plenty of rental opportunity in Veldhoven itself, or any of the surrounding areas. Depends on what you want really. If you want to live closer to Eindhoven that's easy enough or if you prefer a quieter more rural existence then there's plenty of smaller villages / towns to the south and west of Veldhoven.

As for commuting to Amsterdam, it's doable, but the traffic coming into the Amsterdam area, or any large conurbation in the Randstad in the mornings is horrendous. If you think the M50 is bad, you ain't seen nothing yet Train is a possibility, but you have to get to Eindhoven first .. I think there's a reasonable high speed bus lane into Eindhoven centre from Veldhoven now, but when I was there the only real option was car and there was little parking near the station.

Anyway, if you want any more info on the area, or want to chat about life in the Netherlands in general just drop me a PM. BTW is it ASML you're looking at working for?

EDIT: just noticed you meant living in Amsterdam and working in Veldhoven (not the other way round) .. that would be easier as you'd be going against the flow, but you'd still be looking at a good long commute.

Rowley Birkin QC

Alun wrote: »

OP .. I lived for 13 years in Veldoven. Plenty of rental opportunity in Veldhoven itself, or any of the surrounding areas. Depends on what you want really. If you want to live closer to Eindhoven that's easy enough or if you prefer a quieter more rural existence then there's plenty of smaller villages / towns to the south and west of Veldhoven.

As for commuting to Amsterdam, it's doable, but the traffic coming into the Amsterdam area, or any large conurbation in the Randstad in the mornings is horrendous. If you think the M50 is bad, you ain't seen nothing yet Train is a possibility, but you have to get to Eindhoven first .. I think there's a reasonable high speed bus lane into Eindhoven centre from Veldhoven now, but when I was there the only real option was car and there was little parking near the station.

Anyway, if you want any more info on the area, or want to chat about life in the Netherlands in general just drop me a PM. BTW is it ASML you're looking at working for?

EDIT: just noticed you meant living in Amsterdam and working in Veldhoven (not the other way round) .. that would be easier as you'd be going against the flow, but you'd still be looking at a good long commute.

Thanks for the info. If the job came through it would be with Navteq.

I think commuting really wouldn't work long term. My experience of Dutch transport was wholly positive but commuting that distance probably wouldn't allow for any hiccups/delays whatsoever.

I flew out of Eindhoven once or twice when I lived in the Netherlands but never got to explore it much. How does it compare to say Dublin in terms of standard of living? I'm guessing it would be unfair to compare it with Amsterdam.

Restaurants, night-life, culture etc.

Alun

OK, didn't know Navteq were there now. ASML was always the biggest employer in Veldhoven when I was there, plus of course Philips and DAF in Eindhoven.

I think you're right not to consider commuting from Amsterdam. Like you say, Dutch roads and public transport are better than what we have here, but despite what people who only visit these places for day think, there are delays, cancellations, breakdowns, roadworks, traffic jams and general cock-ups quite regularly, just fewer of them, and the Dutch who are consummate whiners, complain about them just as much as we do. I commuted to Utrecht by train for a few months, and I'd say there was at least one delay a week, sometimes more. I also drove to further flung places regularly including a 3 months stint in Rotterdam, and that's something I'd never do again however much you paid me.

As far as comparing Eindhoven/Veldhoven to Dublin, well there's not really a comparison. Veldhoven is very quiet, and is largely a new 'constructed' town, built around 3 older village centres, Oerle, Zeelst and Veldhoven - Meerveldhoven. The 3 centres are still there, and there are a few pubs and cafes in those older areas, but the 'City Centrum' area of Veldhoven where the town hall etc. is all brand new. There's a pretty good shopping centre there for the everyday things though, we didn't have to venture into the 'big smoke' of Eindhoven too often for that reason. There's nothing in the way of night life there apart from a theatre / cinema in the town hall building.

Eindhoven is a little better, and there are a good few cafes and pubs, some decent ones in the market square with an 'authentic' Irish Pub not too far from there. There's also an area in Eindhoven called Stratumseind which is wall to wall pubs, mainly student oriented, but a bit too rowdy for my liking. Eindhoven itself is a bit soulless, with not much in the way of quaint architecture you might get in other older Dutch cities, mainly down to the centre having had the sh!t bombed out of it by the Germans in WWII, so is mostly rather boring post war in character.

There's some interesting enough countryside around (albeit flat as a pancacke) if you like walking, and of course cycling. We were avid cyclists when we lived there, and the area south of Veldhoven down towards Belgium is particularly nice, you can find yourself criss-crossing the border without even noticing.

All in all it depends what you want really. I like the quiet life, so living in Veldhoven suited me fine, but you might prefer living closer to or in Eindhoven if you're more of a night-owl.

keithclancy

Alun wrote: »

OK, didn't know Navteq were there now. ASML was always the biggest employer in Veldhoven when I was there, plus of course Philips and DAF in Eindhoven.

I think you're right not to consider commuting from Amsterdam. Like you say, Dutch roads and public transport are better than what we have here, but despite what people who only visit these places for day think, there are delays, cancellations, breakdowns, roadworks, traffic jams and general cock-ups quite regularly, just fewer of them, and the Dutch who are consummate whiners, complain about them just as much as we do. I commuted to Utrecht by train for a few months, and I'd say there was at least one delay a week, sometimes more. I also drove to further flung places regularly including a 3 months stint in Rotterdam, and that's something I'd never do again however much you paid me.

As far as comparing Eindhoven/Veldhoven to Dublin, well there's not really a comparison. Veldhoven is very quiet, and is largely a new 'constructed' town, built around 3 older village centres, Oerle, Zeelst and Veldhoven - Meerveldhoven. The 3 centres are still there, and there are a few pubs and cafes in those older areas, but the 'City Centrum' area of Veldhoven where the town hall etc. is all brand new. There's a pretty good shopping centre there for the everyday things though, we didn't have to venture into the 'big smoke' of Eindhoven too often for that reason. There's nothing in the way of night life there apart from a theatre / cinema in the town hall building.

Eindhoven is a little better, and there are a good few cafes and pubs, some decent ones in the market square with an 'authentic' Irish Pub not too far from there. There's also an area in Eindhoven called Stratumseind which is wall to wall pubs, mainly student oriented, but a bit too rowdy for my liking. Eindhoven itself is a bit soulless, with not much in the way of quaint architecture you might get in other older Dutch cities, mainly down to the centre having had the sh!t bombed out of it by the Germans in WWII, so is mostly rather boring post war in character.

There's some interesting enough countryside around (albeit flat as a pancacke) if you like walking, and of course cycling. We were avid cyclists when we lived there, and the area south of Veldhoven down towards Belgium is particularly nice, you can find yourself criss-crossing the border without even noticing.

All in all it depends what you want really. I like the quiet life, so living in Veldhoven suited me fine, but you might prefer living closer to or in Eindhoven if you're more of a night-owl.

Yeh theres bus lanes most of the way there now, 402 goes to the new centre and then you take the 18 to De Run.

I commute the other way to Germany so Jams etc are quite rare. Used to live in the Hague and the A4 to was THE worst road ever, you may as well just dump the car, get out and walk

Mechatronical

Ive been offered a position with ASML, wondering if anyone else on this thread has worked there and is it hard to settle in Eindhoven (regarding language and culture).

judas101

Congrats! What position have you been offered? SIE?

Its pretty easy to settle in over here, there's quite a large Irish contingent which helps.
One piece of advice I would give you is to try and live in Eindhoven and not Veldhoven, inside the ringroad if possible.

Its a nice place to live. Its not too cheap but there are nice amenities ect.
It's also pretty safe. Of course the first week or 2 will be a bit of a pain and you'll need to go to the town hall and set up bank accounts, health insurance ect. but that is no different from any other city.

I think quite a lot of people have just been offered positions so it'd be a good idea to get in contact with some other as it'll be easier to find a house (you'll want to do this asap as the temporary accommodation offered is usually crap!)

Any questions feel free to PM.

Mechatronical

Ya SIE. Are you working there yourself? Typically what price would the rent cost in Eindhoven for a month and is the commute to Veldhoven long or easy to get to using public transport.

keithclancy

Mechatronical wrote: »

Ya SIE. Are you working there yourself? Typically what price would the rent cost in Eindhoven for a month and is the commute to Veldhoven long or easy to get to using public transport.

Takes about 25 minutes from Eindhoven Station to ASML, Bus 150, 174 or 149 all go there.

You could live anywhere close to the Center on one of those bus lines.

Cost depends on what you want, do you want to share ?
If your renting i'd say you'd be looking at spending around 700 for someplace in a decent area on your own.

u140acro3xs7dm

What are the chances of getting work in The Netherlands?

Basically i have no degree and only speak English. I have a few years experience in offices and with computers etc. But I was more thinking along the lines of flower farms or such seen as I am "unskilled labour". Any info or pointers to websites would be great thanks. Also i will be happy to go to Germany or France etc either.

tomyr7

This site might help some of the people on this thread:

http://www.undutchables.nl/

It's a job recruitment company that posts jobs for people who speak languages other than dutch, but who want to work in the netherlands..

keithclancy

tomyr7 wrote: »

This site might help some of the people on this thread:

http://www.undutchables.nl/

It's a job recruitment company that posts jobs for people who speak languages other than dutch, but who want to work in the netherlands..

Undutchables
I don't know one expat thats gotten a job through them.

www.monsterboard.nl
www.xpatjobs.com(usually rubbish but some good jobs there time to time)
www.jobs.nl
Also have a look at the Amsterdam Craigslist .. sometimes theres some good jobs (and some 'escort' jobs that usually mean something else)

Theres a few jobs in NL being advertised in Ireland as well, i.e. The ASML Jobs are through Collins and McNicolas I believe.

Keep an eye on jobs.ie as well .. theres a few postings abroad on there.

Also don't expect to get paid more than you would in Ireland, in fact the minimum wage is much less here between 1.20 and 4.80 / hour depending on your age. (16 - 25)

elefant

I'm going over to A'dam to do my master's in September. Did my erasmus in Groningen last year and loved it. Seems like a no-brainer to go back out. The higher-education is a fraction of the price, and hopefully I'll have a decent standard of Dutch when I finish. I became really conscious of how desirable it is to be multi-lingual when I was in the Netherlands... Only speaking English and Irish isn't too useful!

I'm hoping they don't scrap the student grant and free transport for master's students before I start there. Word on the street is they're talking about doing away with it. Still... cannot wait to get back again. Ireland became a seriously depressing island while I was away!

David6330

I am starting a 6 month internship in June in Steenwijk. I will probably end up living in Zwolle as there is more choice in accommodation there.

shakin

Anybody ever lived or have experience of tilburg?

Ionesco

Born and raised in the Netherlands. Parents are Irish though.

charlemont

Im planning a move to Utrecht in the next two months, I lived in Bunschoten-Spakenburg over ten years ago, So hopefully I can get work and stay in Utrecht or Amersfoort.