One Year of A Letter from the Netherlands

One year ago today 'A Letter from the Netherlands' was born. It started because the business and marketing gurus were telling me I needed to blog, to create a tool to work hand in hand with The Writing Well. But 'A Letter from the Netherlands' has become so much more than this over the last year.

Not only is it a platform for sharing aspects of and opinions on life as an expat in the Netherlands, it has been the vehicle for meeting some amazing people. This blog has been the basis of some fledgling friendships and some valuable business contacts.

The expat blogging community in the Netherlands is a close one; an inspiring, supportive and enthusiastic group, which I am lucky to be a part of it.

People have different reasons to blog and write about many different topics in varied voices. I am starting to find mine and for as long as I have something to share about life amongst the Dutch A Letter from the Netherlands will be the stage to do it – and if I run out of things to say about my adopted home… well then I know it’s time to move on to a new country!

The last year has been a fascinating journey for me personally, and for me as a writer, and this blog has been a large part of that. Thanks to all of you who regularly visit these pages and to those of you that take the time to post comments and feedback; every word is appreciated.
I also particularly want to thank the willing and enthusiastic participants of the Interview with an Expat series. When it began in January I envisioned it to last a few weeks; it is still thriving thanks to people contacting me to ask to take part.

Lastly I want to say a special thanks to two other expat in the Netherlands bloggers who have been supportive and inspiring and who I know you agree are two real blogging stars; Isabella from A Touch of Dutch and Heather from A Life Abroad.

I am looking forward to the next year of A Letter from the Netherlands, and to finish off here are three of my favourite postings from the last twelve months:

• New Meaning to the Trolley Dash in the Supermarket - this is a posting that reminds me how lucky we were and always to expect the unexpected!



• The Dutch Birthday Circle - no matter how long I live in the Netherlands the Dutch Birthday Circle (aka the Death Circle) will remain a source of amusement for me



• Jo Parfitt in the Hot Seat - Interview with an Expat: the first of the interview with an expat series kicked off by a woman who has been an inspiration to me in my career