Oh how the turn tables.

Both. Just both.

Same happened with Hitler. We all know how that turned out. There are humorous similarities, like addiction to amphetamines and not drinking alcohol.

People who really want to do harm always find ways to bend the rules and get away with it.

In tech it’s not that hard to get it. It’s purpose is to make NL attractive to educated workers. Especially these days there are not enough employees in many sectors, so as long as you have an education or can prove you have specialized work experience you’re good.

Yeah, for sure. Mechanics are getting scarce, everyone is pushed to get “HiGhEr EdUcAtIoN” so everyone knows how to use a keyboard but never used a hammer and a screwdriver. A lot of uddy of mine is a carpenter, the money he makes is insane because there just aren’t that many skilled people put there anymore. Our bikes have a bit different design, people sit more up right as we use it as a form of transportation instead of for sports. But the mechanics work the same. Although electric bikes are taking over the market right now.

Accurate Assassinations is a nice band name.

Whaaaaaat…?

We are very multicultural, if you don’t want to adjust, that’s fine. There are enough people around who are similar to you. Only if you want to fit in you need to adjust, but that’s in any culture. Over here there’s not that much pressure to do that. Unless you live in the countryside.

Dutch and English are not similar at all. They have completely different origins. Dutch has a germanic origin and English an anglosaxon heritage.

The weather is not intense at all. It’s just humid, so 25C feels like 35C and 5C feels like -5C. But not as humid as a rainforest. Near the coast there’s some wind, but in the cities and inland not too much. Winters have become mild, summers kinda hot but compared to other regions of the world our climate is very mild. Just expect a lot of rain, but compared to the UK even that aspect is really mild too. Just prepare for us to always complain about it. And about everything else too.

Yeah, Dutch people are generally pretty blunt. When you tell something we don’t like will will tell you, politely, where a British person would say “ah that’s interesting”. For autistic people (like me) our directness is really nice. No beating around the bush.

The Netherlands has a worse housing crisis then the rest of Europe. Houses are not cheaper then in the US. Far from it. Also, the US is really big, so you can’t say that actually. San Francisco and Detroit have completely different housing markets for example. Next to that, here in NL we don’t build huizes from wood, which makes them more expensive as well. And our government extremity limited construction due to EU emission regulations because they are too scared to limit the biggest polutors, the farmers, with their massive export production. Because farmers protest with tractors and tractors are scary. So we prefer farming exports over housing apparently. Because we don’t buy fruits and vegetables produced in The Netherlands, they are too expensive. We buy cheap tasteless junk from Spain and Egypt. So most agricultural production is for export. The profits of our farmers are more important to us then being able to pay our own bills and aging a roof over our heads.

I have 3 kittens. Much better options

Unless you change the rules with the help of the supreme court of which you elected several judges. I mean, Xi and Putin did it, why can’t Trump?

You would do good here in The Netherlands. Lots of tech jobs, over here you actually have rights as an employee. No max amount of sick days for example, as no one plans a certain amount of days to be sick. The “FrEeDoM” Americans claim to have is so twisted and extremity far away from actual freedom. Here in NL I do feel I have true freedom. As in: not having to be scared when going out on the streets at night, no matter where I go. There are no guns. No crimes against humanity. Of course we do have issues, every country does. But they are tiny compared to most countries. Although we did vote for right wing parties sadly, we’re not heading in the direction I want.

Oh and EVERYONE speaks English. From child to boomer. Officially it’s not a foreign language anymore due to the high level English most speak. They are even discussing it should be a 3rd national language.

Edit: there’s also a (very unfair to us natives) 30%!!! tax cut for expats to make NL more attractive. So you will make a lot of money yet pay less taxes while having loads of benifits as an employee.

Only issue right now is finding a house. Not enough houses so insane prices. A real housing crisis.

Often they add sugar too, as a preservative. Sugar in your soup. Noo thank youuu

Here in The Netherlands the pre-made meals are getting worse and worse. Due to the price wars by the grocery stores (maaaaany stores per capita) the producers won’t get much money for their product, so they are cutting corners. It’s an inflation thing. Either things get more expensive, packaging gets smaller for the same price or they take out pricy ingredients. Over here canned soup isn’t cheap, it lacks nutrition and a 2 portion can isn’t enough to fill 1 person’s stomach.

Lol I know what a microwave is. Not the ‘concept’ I was aiming for haha

I don’t even have a microwave. I understand the concept, however I prefer home made meals. I hate cooking, so I usually cook 3 or 4 nights in a row, cooking large meals which are 4 to 5 large portions. This way I have enough food in my freezer for 2 to 3 weeks, consisting of 3 to 4 different kinds of food so not every day the same. I always have something I can warm up when I’m ill or feel down. It’s basically the same as canned soup or instant meal, but home made so much tastier and healthier.

A bag of pre-cut veggies, pre-peeled potatoes, add some beans, bake 5min with some herbs and throw in a blender with some water. Throw the blended stuff in a pan, boil with some cream and add some pasta. Super tasty soup is ready in 10 to 12 min. Enough soup for 4 days. But I don’t mind cutting some veggies, they only need some rough cutting as they go into the blender anyway. Just use easy to cut veggies. Broccoli or cauliflower for example, or courgettes like I used yesterday. Soup for 4 to 5 days costs roughly 5 to 7 euros. Add a euro for home made bread made with a bread baking machine and you have a proper meal. Just throw some baking mix and water in it and 3h later you have fresh warm bread. Honestly, making your own soup in 12min for 4 days is roughly 6min more effort then canned soup. No added sugar, conservatives and too much salt. Much better taste. Especially when you add some blue cheese.

Fair enough

Ah. I don’t eat meat. I think that’s why my soups are so cheap to make. I mostly use beans to replace meat and beans are really cheap.

Who eats canned soup in the first place. Fresh ingredients is cheaper, healthier and tastier.

That’s why the US is so obese. I don’t eat junk food. I liked the nuggets when I still ate meat and smoked weed in high school. Even with the munchies I couldn’t even eat 10. And I live in The Netherlands so they are much less unhealthy (less fat, less sugar, better quality meat) then in the US.