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DutchNews podcast: The Amsterdam Penis Ban Edition

Face masks are on the way out and tourists are on the way back as the end of the pandemic looms into view. But after 50 years of milking British stag parties, Amsterdam is looking to lure a different class of post-corona visitor. In other bad taste news, streets around the country are turning orange as the Dutch make a bright start to Euro 2020. Pieter Omtzigt splits with the CDA after his memo saying he has lost trust in... More >

'The Dutch don't bow down to circumstance'

Miguel Luis was born in the Philippines and lived in California before he made his way to Amsterdam to expand his career in film and entertainment. He’s the director of several short films and is the creator of So Cards, an innovative card game. How did you end up in the Netherlands? I never really expected to go to Amsterdam, but I’d always wanted to move to Europe at some point. In 2016, I sort of started plotting things out.... More >

The Groningen village being demolished

In Groningen, work is continuing to clear up the damage caused by extracting millions of cubic metres of gas from under the province. For the residents of the village of Overschild, this means demolishing and rebuilding almost every building. The eastern road into Overschild shares as much anonymity with any other in rural Groningen, lined with large trees protecting distant horizons dominated by wind turbines. Just past the village’s welcome sign, a new road on the right reaches around the... More >

Podcast: The Magnetic Teringhond Edition

The government is looking to speed up the end of lockdown as coronavirus infection rates hurtle downwards, but at the Binnenhof everything’s grinding to a halt. Wopke and Mark can’t drive a wedge between Jesse and Lilianne, Sigrid doesn’t see a future with Gert-Jan, and Pieter has served up a giant can of worms. Elsewhere, four men go on trial accused of murdering all 298 people on board flight MH17 seven years ago. The Dutch football team get ready to... More >

How to open a Dutch bank account

Make opening a Dutch bank account the least of your worries with the help of experienced expat advisors at ABN Amro. One surprise many internationals face when they arrive in the Netherlands flashing their foreign credit or debit cards is that some Dutch supermarkets and local shops won’t accept them. This is a common experience related to Ronald de Kruijf, a financial advisor for expats based in Eindhoven. He is part of a team serving around 100,000 ABN Amro expat... More >

Dutch kick of their Euro 2020 campaign

The Dutch kick off their Euro 2020 football campaign on Sunday with a match against Ukraine. Here’s what you need to know about Oranje and the European championships. Having failed to qualify for the last two major summer tournaments, the Dutch are uncharacteristically downbeat about their prospects at Euro 2020. Frank de Boer has described his team, currently 16th on FIFA’s world ranking list, as among the ‘fourth to eighth’ best contenders and has set his sights on reaching the... More >

Untangling the jargon of national politics

Outsiders often regard the Dutch political system as impenetrable, thanks to its incomprehensible jargon and closed doors. So here are 12 words you need to understand if you want to have a vague idea what is going on. Den Haag is shorthand for Dutch national politics. Amsterdam is the capital but The Hague is the seat of government where de hoge heren (the elite), decide our fates. The parliamentary complex itself is know as the Binnenhof. Het Torentje, or little... More >

Have your say about education in NL

The International Community Advisory Panel is carrying out a new survey into views of the international community on education and your input would be most welcome. This is a follow-up to a survey carried out in 2017 and ICAP aims to find out what progress has been made since then, as well as to update research into your views on schools (both Dutch and international) and special needs education. What are your experiences of the education system, whether local or... More >

New IB Academy for Rotterdam

As Nord Anglia International School Rotterdam prepares to open its new IB Academy, we find out about the strengths of the IB programme and why NAISR is a great place to study for it. Formerly the American International School of Rotterdam, this friendly community school of students aged 3-18 has undergone an exciting metamorphosis since it became Nord Anglia International School Rotterdam in 2019. The latest stage of the extensive refurbishment includes the creation of Nord Anglia IB Academy Rotterdam,... More >

Museum visits are back on the agenda

From June 5, museums, country houses and theatres can open their doors to the public again. Here’s some suggestions of what to do – and don’t forget to book your ticket online. Welcome back the Holland Festival To start the fun in a wholesale sort of way, the annual showcase of national and international performing arts the Holland Festival will be kicking off this month, with previews of what is to come, coronavirus permitting. Opera, dance, performance, theatre, film are... More >

Podcast: The Zeesluisosaurus Edition

Mark Rutte and Hugo de Jonge joined the 10 million people to be vaccinated this week, just as museums, restaurants and the Droomvlucht ride at the Efteling reopened for business. The Janssen – sorry, Johnson & Johnson vaccine was taken out of circulation over concerns about blood clots, while controversy raged about the face mask deal that netted CDA protégé Sywert van Lienden €9 million. Wopke Hoekstra spent the week tilting at windmills as he failed to prise apart the... More >

Where to pay taxes in the Covid-19 hit era

Living in the Netherlands but with income in another country? You may have to deal with several different tax deadlines. May 17 might not mean a lot to you…but if you are living in the Netherlands with an obligation to file taxes in the United States, you will know that this was ‘tax day’, an important deadline for this year. And one question all tax advisors frequently hear is: ‘where do I need to pay my tax?’ Unfortunately, there’s not... More >

'My fiancée is my favourite Dutch thing'

James Munt grew up on the Isle of Wight and originally came to the Netherlands for a long weekend to buy a boat. Now 16 years later, he’s still here. He loves to surf on the North Sea, says hello to his neighbours, and would like to meet Lurch from the Addams Family. How did you end up in the Netherlands? It was back when I was 23. How many years ago was that? It was 16 years ago now.... More >

Go Caribbean in central Amsterdam

The sun is finally back with us, so the time is right to get into that summer vibe, settle back in your easy chair and relax with a Caribbean cocktail. To help you really slip into summer, luxury hotel Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam has reopened the doors to The Grand Beach after the great success of last year’s edition. This year, The Grand’s atmospheric courtyard has been transformed into a real sandy city beach, inspired by the beauty of... More >

How to pass your inburgering exams easily

Preparing for the integration exams in the Netherlands is getting easier thanks to InburgeringOnline.nl, a new self-study course which is proving popular with international residents. If you cycle to work, sprinkle cake decorations on bread, and have a birthday calendar in your loo, you might consider yourself fully ingeburgerd (integrated), but for many newcomers, sitting official integration exams is the only way to secure residency in the Netherlands. And since inburgeringsexamens (integration exams) is already a tongue-twister, it is unsurprising... More >

How to make the best of your balcony

The sun is finally making an appearance in the Netherlands, just in time for June. So stop staring at those dead plants on your balcony, dust off your deck chairs and bring in a blast of colour with some summer flowers. If you live in a Dutch city you are likely to live in an apartment, but with any luck you will have a balcony or other outside space where you can sit and take in the sunshine with a... More >

Podcast: The Fifty Shades of Blok Edition

A mass coronavirus experiment, outrage over drugs tourists and pariah status for Belarus: this year’s Eurovision Song Contest really had it all. Museums, bars and restaurants are set to open sooner now that coronavirus is on the wane, even in Rotterdam. In a landmark judgment, global polluter-in-chief Shell is told it has an obligation under human rights law to prevent climate change. While the coalition talks grind on at glacial speed, one cabinet minister signs off work with exhaustion, raising... More >

Visiting the wreckage of MH17

This July it will be seven years since a passenger jet taking nearly 300 holidaymakers to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over eastern Ukraine. Molly Quell is covering the trial. It was my first time in the location of a mass murder. I spend most of my time covering international law, including the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, which try cases of war crimes and genocide. So I am not unfamiliar with large-scale atrocities. But standing... More >

#StopAsianHate means dropping stereotypes

Discrimination against East Asians has increased dramatically since the outbreak of Covid-19, spurring the community to action. Louise Rasmussen talked to Kevin Groen, one of the main speakers at the most recent #StopAsianHate event in Amsterdam. By trade, he helps companies create more inclusive work environments and he is also on the board of Omroep PAC, a pan Asian collective that aims to increase and change the representation of Asian people in the Dutch media. But it is his experiences... More >

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