Topic: Anyone saavy on the Netherlands?

[NickC]

If so, tell me about Roterdam.......

[silver fox]

Ok, i'll start, it's spelt Rotterdam

What do you need to know about it?

[simon#42]

and its a very large port

[NickC]

Well, just curious about living in general there.  Are there nice living areas more in the country within a commutable distance to Rotterdam?  I have the chance to get stationed there in a year or 2, and wanted to do some research now on it.

[TwoTired]

Ok, i'll start, it's spelt Rotterdam

What do you need to know about it?

Hmm, check the dictionary for the difference between spelt and spelled. 

All I know about Rotterdam is that is likely just another European city I will never get to see in person.  (Along with a most of the rest of the earth.)

Cheers, 

[Spanner 1]

If your used to differences in elevation of more than 10 feet between places, then you will not like it. !!
Also the flatness of Holland produces a very close 'vista' with no distance observible, like hills, mountains and this can be very unsettling/unusual for folks used to such ( like Oregonians ) !! I kid you not...... can be a 'deal breaker' to live in such a place  when your not used to that !...... Everyone speaks perfect English, so no prob. there and , unlike the French, will speak Eng. all day long to you if necessary. If your under 6 ft. you will feel small, lots of Dutch girls will be taller than you !
Watch out for that 'Jonge Genever' ( sp? )... unmatured gin, produces 'green face' next day easily, enjoy your stay 

[ColinMc]

I love Rotterdam...I lived in Zoetermeer for 4 years during High School and in a small town called Dieren from Kindergarten to third grade.

Rotterdam and Amsterdam in Holland, are the same distance apart as Rotterdam and Amsterdam in NY! Fun fact lol.

Holland in general is very flat, but great because you can ride your bicycle everywhere! Or get a Brommer(moped) and zip around on one of those...they are a blast. The people are generally friendly, and yes everyone speaks english quite well...you'll find you get much better help/service if you at least TRY to speak dutch. But they will instantly hear your accent and speak english back usually hehe.

Houses are generally smaller than average in the US, sales tax is crazy high but included in the price you see at most stores, other taxes in general are higher, universal healthcare works well there from what I remember about my few experiences with it in High School, and public transportation is great. You can take a train/tram/bus nearly anywhere.

Great open markets are all over the place with awesome cheeses, baked goods etc...mmm Olie Bollen.

If you can't tell I loved living in Holland both times, once in a small town, another time in a larger city. Two very different experiences but a blast. If you are an open minded person it can be great! Rotterdam has a lot of great areas! I prefer Den Haag and that area since there is a more international community and it's right near the beach areas. There are a bunch of fun small towns scattered all around between Rotterdam, Zoetermeer, and Den Haag though. If you need to be near the city for work but can commute by brommer/bicycle/public trans then i'd recommend maybe finding a nearby small town. Commuting by car can be a mess. I had a 30 minute commute by brommer in High School from Zoetermeer to Den Haag but it was fine.

Just read your other post...if you don't want to live in a big city I would most definetly recommend finding a nearby small town to commute from. There are bicycle paths connecting EVERYTHING!

Oh and it's fairly mild year round, but does rain fairly regularly from fall-spring.

[singedebile]

If your used to differences in elevation of more than 10 feet between places, then you will not like it. !!
Also the flatness of Holland produces a very close 'vista' with no distance observible, like hills, mountains and this can be very unsettling/unusual for folks used to such ( like Oregonians ) !! I kid you not...... can be a 'deal breaker' to live in such a place  when your not used to that !...... Everyone speaks perfect English, so no prob. there and , unlike the French, will speak Eng. all day long to you if necessary. If your under 6 ft. you will feel small, lots of Dutch girls will be taller than you !
Watch out for that 'Jonge Genever' ( sp? )... unmatured gin, produces 'green face' next day easily, enjoy your stay 

of course your only a couple beautiful train hours away from some pretty serious mountains... like the alps

[simon#42]

If your used to differences in elevation of more than 10 feet between places, then you will not like it. !!
Also the flatness of Holland produces a very close 'vista' with no distance observible, like hills, mountains and this can be very unsettling/unusual for folks used to such ( like Oregonians ) !! I kid you not...... can be a 'deal breaker' to live in such a place  when your not used to that !...... Everyone speaks perfect English, so no prob. there and , unlike the French, will speak Eng. all day long to you if necessary. If your under 6 ft. you will feel small, lots of Dutch girls will be taller than you !
Watch out for that 'Jonge Genever' ( sp? )... unmatured gin, produces 'green face' next day easily, enjoy your stay 

of course your only a couple beautiful train hours away from some pretty serious mountains... like the alps

that would have to be a bloody fast train

[Operator]

Ok, i'll start, it's spelt Rotterdam

What do you need to know about it?

Hmm, check the dictionary for the difference between spelt and spelled. 

All I know about Rotterdam is that is likely just another European city I will never get to see in person.  (Along with a most of the rest of the earth.)

Cheers, 

TwoTired, below is from the Oxford English Dictionary. Remember Silver Fox is located in Germany, they study King's English not American English. Not trying to stir the pot, just pointing it out.

spell,
Pronunciation:  /spɛl/
Forms:  Pa. tense and pple. spelled, spelt.

NickC, I was posted (stationed) in Germany (a few Km's from the Dutch border) for a couple of years and spent a lot of time in the Netherlands as my wife's family is from there. I say if you get the chance, take it!!

If you are military (I am assuming) there should be some info available through the mil resources. If not PM me and I can provide some info and maybe even a couple of contacts who are still over there.

[Bodi]

Rotterdam is a huge port city but you have to go off the beaten track to actually find the port itself. No reason to anyway, it's just a mess of cranes and ships. Lots of smaller boats around, a lot of the the ships' cargo goes upriver in a flotilla of craft from tiny to fairly big.
The city is a typical European place: small roads, pedestrian-only streets, trams, small stores and multi-floor malls. There are a TON of lift bridges and they're up and down all day long. Like all of Holland there's a drug culture: weed/hash is available freely in "coffeehouses" and hard stuff is available on the street or especially in train stations. Avoid the hard stuff, many ripoffs happen and you have serious police trouble if you get caught with it.
Commuting distance? The whole country is a couple hours drive across and trains go anywhere interesting. Amsterdam is pretty cool but full of tourists. Den Hague is not too exciting. The country is very agricultural with lots of small towns.
The people, in my experience, are not really friendly. English is spoken almost everywhere but it's not the Dutch language so you're an outsider.
Excellent beer and food, good coffee, legal brothels and the "coffeehouses"... hard not to like but the flatness grates after a while - unless you are looking across the river you can only see what's across the street.

[Glenn Stauffer]

The people, in my experience, are not really friendly. English is spoken almost everywhere but it's not the Dutch language so you're an outsider.
Excellent beer and food, good coffee, legal brothels and the "coffeehouses"... hard not to like but the flatness grates after a while - unless you are looking across the river you can only see what's across the street.

Maybe it is because you are from Canada where the people are generally more pleasant than I'm used to, but I found the Dutch quite friendly when I visited.  Can't say I saw more of Rotterdam than a passing glimpse from the highway as we drove through, but I enjoyed touring the countryside.  I didn't much care for Amsterdam, but that was likely due to the abundance of tourists.

Overall, I found the Netherlands an interesting and pleasant place to visit.

[Retro Rocket]

Hmm, check the dictionary for the difference between spelt and spelled.

Spelt is English, spelled is the American version.

Being an international forum i would  say that both were correct......

[silver fox]

Spelt spelt spelt spelt spelt Spelt spelt spelt spelt speltSpelt spelt spelt spelt spelt

[TwoTired]

Dinkel, dinkel, dinkel, dinkel, dinkel, dinkel, dinkel, dinkel, dinkel, dinkel, dinkel,