12 Things I’ve Learned About Living In Amsterdam

You have to stop caring what your hair and makeup looks like. By the time you’ve cycled anywhere, particularly through humidity or rain, it’s all going to look pretty disheveled anyway.

Bicycle locks are an annoying and yet necessary part of life. If you really want to protect your set of wheels, you need a heavy duty lock. And that means struggling to lock/unlock and store it every time you’re on the move.

Many foreigners will complain about Dutch service. I can’t say I find it that much worse than other parts of Europe, with the odd exception. On the whole, Dutch people are lovely, if not brutally honest. But if you don’t like it, don’t live here.

The housing market is one of the most competitive I’ve ever experienced. Although I’m sure that’s true of many major cities. I know it’s true of London and Sydney. But that still doesn’t prepare you for the dog-eat-dog nature – and expense – of it.

“Lekker” can mean a multitude of things. The dictionary definition of the Dutch word “lekker” is “nice”, however it can actually stand to mean snug, tasty, delicious, dainty, yummy, luscious, enticing, tempting….the list goes on. Basically, it means that something is good, in any sense of the word.

People will look in your apartment. All the time. Dutch people are notorious for not having curtains up at their windows, instead often opting for frosted window stickers. We live on the second floor and do, in fact, have curtains, but that doesn’t stop all of our neighbours across from us and sometimes even passers-by down on the ground from staring straight into our apartment and having a good nosy. You just have to get used to it.

The Dutch are ridiculously passionate about football. It honestly puts us English to shame.

Everyone does speak good English, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want you to learn Dutch. It’s a common misconception that because Dutch people speak English so well, they would rather speak to you in English than in their own language. Not true. They’re happy to do so, if they can, but I have heard several Dutch complain about the fact that so many expats live in the country for years and never learn the language. If you relocate to Amsterdam, and plan on living there for several years, please try and learn at least basic Dutch.

Amsterdam stereotypes are annoying. I have been living in Amsterdam for four months now and only visited the Red Light District for the first time a couple of weeks ago. And that was just to get to a restaurant located close to it. Dutch people aren’t all hooked on weed, neither are they all frequenting prostitutes every night of the week. They find those stereotypes laughable and confusing. I just find them annoying.

There is a lot of confusing red tape for everything. As someone who is new to the country and its systems and processes, I have found a few things baffling and sometimes just plain hard to understand. There is a lot of paperwork involved for things that I have done very quickly and easily before (in business and visas, for example) and sometimes you’ll get two different answers from two different people.

There is more to the food than just pancakes and cheese. As I discovered within one of my first weeks here. Although, the pancakes and cheese are pretty damn good too. (And don’t forget about the fries in Amsterdam – oft overlooked, but never regretted). 

The city really is a multicultural melting pot. One day you can meet a painter who hails from Israel, the next you’ll be introduced to a coffee roaster from New Zealand. As well as the diversity of the indigenous people of Amsterdam, the expats and visitors here are equally as diverse and interesting.