Sorry, I'm British!

Photo: Les Powell

Wheeling my trolley around Tesco in England a few weeks ago, I was struck by the number of times people said sorry to me as they bumped in to me in some form or another. Shop workers careered around the store with huge trolleys to stock shelves, intent on getting the job done rather than giving customers right of way and the room to actually get their shopping done. Much as happens in my local Albert Heijn. The difference in England is that those behind the trolleys smile and say sorry as they push their way through. 

"Oh, how polite," I thought. However, after half a dozen incidents from shop workers and customers alike it started to get a little old. Could so many people really mean that they were sorry for pushing their way through or bumping in to me? Not likely. It's a stop word. It's a way of making it all seem a little more polite than it actually is. It's false politeness.

As English people, it is a habit and quite normal to say sorry if we bump into each other - even if it's not our fault. We just say sorry. It slips out without even realising it. It's a well known phenomena. Kate Fox wrote about it in her great book, "Watching the English". Michael Harling refers to the trend in his book about living in England, "Postcards from Across the Pond". We're famous for it. 

But during my last trip back to England, I realised with a jolt - it doesn't make it right. The Dutch barge their way through but don't apologise for it. The English push through whilst apologising. False politeness? An example of Dutch directness? It's definitely a baffling cultural difference!

A Lotta Bottle - Recycling in the Netherlands

Photo: Martin Boose

Last September, expat American author Bill Bryson called on Britain to return to the bottle recycling of old to save resources and reduce littering. Until the end of the 1980s this was common practice in the UK and for every bottle of drink you bought you paid a penny or so extra and got it back when you returned the bottle. In fact, I can remember the 'pop' man coming round the streets with his lorry and we'd regularly get our bottles of drink from him in a plastic crate and the bottle deposit was a normal thing. Ach, those were the good old days of dandelion and burdock in a glass bottle delivered to your door.

And then plastic bottles and cans increased in popularity and the bottle deposit system died out in England. Instead there are kerb collections for recyclable materials such as cans, plastic and paper. Bill Bryson's comments however seem to have reopened the debate.

According to the Recycling Netwerk, 90% of beer bottles with a deposit on them are brought back by shoppers in the Netherlands. The system works here just fine, at least from a consumer point of view. One of the concerns about re-implementing such a system in the UK is that shoppers will have to pay a bit more for their drinks and not everyone will be able to get back to the shop they bought the bottle from - the Netherlands has an answer.... a universal system so you don't have to return to the exact shop you bought the bottle from. You can even turn in bottles bought in other countries in some cases - that beer you buy in the Belgian supermarket for example is often accepted in Dutch bottle recycle machines. Small beer bottles have a statiegeld (deposit) value of 0.10 cents, large beer bottles 0.25 cents and a full crate earns you back your 3.95 euro.

There has been pressure on the system over the past few years - for the same reason the system in the UK stopped - because of the increasing market share of cans and small bottles which are not subject to the statiegeld scheme. However, this may change to meet plastic recycling targets set for the Dutch government by including small plastic bottles in the scheme. Maybe that will also help the littering problems around schools.....

What has surprised me about recycling in the Netherlands is that cans are not recycled and in my area the recycling of general plastic packaging has only very recently been introduced. Both materials have been standard in the UK for many years now. Different everywhere you go it seems.

What do you think about the bottle deposit system? Is it in force where you live? Does it help the litter problem?

The Modern Day Dutch & British High Street

At the end of last year I watched a series on the BBC called "Turn Back Time; The High Street". It was a weekly series which placed modern day shopkeepers and tradespeople on business on a high street and then turned back the clock. The viewer was taken back in time to 1870 when the High Street came into being, through the Edwardian and Victorian eras, to the 1930s, to rationing during World War 2 through to the 1960s and 1970s. It was fascinating.

Photo: Jelmer Rozendal

Each shop owner was only allowed to stock what was actually available in the time period, and sell their wares in the manner of the era. From small, family, specialist businesses the high street turned into a dead, empty shells as large self-service supermarkets took over. The High Street changed in response to customer demands and trends; cheap, disposable goods. And nobody seemed too thrilled with the way it developed - yet that is the reality of our high streets in Britain - chain stores and large supermarkets.

It's not hugely different in the Netherlands. I read that up to 90% of high street stores belong to a chain and that certainly fits with how I see each new town I visit - the standard shops strewn across every town centre. International branded shops are emerging on a regular basis (like Starbucks and the Apple Store). One difference in the Netherlands though is the absence of superstores and huge out of town retail parks.

Photo: Petra Giner

I also think local shopping still plays a big role here. Within walking distance of where I live there are two bakers, three supermarkets, two newsagents/bookstores, a post office, two delicatessens, two takeaway shops and two chemists. None of the shops are very big, including the supermarkets. In fact they are barely the size of a Tesco Extra store but for many locals these supermarkets are where they do their main shopping and visit them daily.

The specialist shops nearby do tend to be independent, family businesses so whilst the average high street is dominated by chains, the local arena does seem to be open to smaller fish.

Is your local shopping area dominated by chains or is there still room for independent shopkeepers where you live? What do you think about the way High Streets have developed?

Christmas Tree Top - Dutch Style

Photo: Ugur Vidinligil

In the run up to Christmas in my first year in the Netherlands, my husband and I set out to buy decorations for the Christmas tree we would buy. I We decided on a colour and collected the necessary shiny Christmas balls, snowmen, reindeer and tinselly decorations together.

I then went on the search for a fairy for the top of the tree. Not a single winged-like woman to be seen. Instead some rather odd looking pointy thing that may well have doubled up as a lethal weapon.

"What's that?" I asked my evidently bored husband.
"It's a top," he replied.
"What?"
"A top," he clarified.
"Ok. Top of what?"I asked.
"Top for the Christmas tree," he said as if talking to a toddler.
"Right. That isn't like the 'top' of any Christmas tree I've ever seen. Where are the fairies?" I asked.
Blank look back. So off I went to resume my search of winged decorations. After a fruitless few minutes I returned to my husband.
"I can't find any fairies." I announced.
"Nope," he said.
So I picked up a silver 'top' for my future Christmas tree and mumbled all the way to the checkout about the insanity of a stupid, long pointy thing sitting on my Christmas tree, serving no decorative value whatsoever. But a Christmas tree with nothing on top is like a ballerina sans tutu. It just doesn't cut it.

So since that fateful day in 2000, this silver top (called a kerstpiek I believe) has intermittently sat on top of our Christmas tree. I say intermittently because the stupidness of the long pointy design has been proven time and time again: the top of a Christmas tree is often long and thin and it CANNOT HOLD THE WEIGHT OF THE BLOODY 'TOP'! So we either have a precariously hanging piek (and I am sure the inevitable will happen one year and someone will lose an eye) or a piek that lasts five minutes before I yank it off and put it back in the attic because it looks ridiculous.

But not this year! Finally, I have remembered the loathsome kerstpiek in good time, reminded by the Christmas decorations in Intratuin last week - so I sent an SOS text to my dad. And he has bought me a Christmas fairy. Finally, my tenth Christmas tree here in Holland will have the topping any good Christmas tree deserves.

Expat Christmas Gift Ideas (4): English Language Books

Still on the theme of Christmas presents; today all about books. Living in a country where books are not in English by default, books in English are always appreciated. My Amazon wish list plays an important role at Christmas and birthday time.

So, if you are buying a present for an expat friend or family member then consider a book. For expats buying for loved ones overseas, books work too, especially if you combine it with the idea of sharing what it is like in your host country. Here's what I mean:

• Learn more about life in the Netherlands through books such as The Undutchables, My 'Dam Life, Bicycle Mania Holland
• Learn about life in the UK with books such as Notes from a Small Island, Rules, Britiannia
• You couldn't share life as an expat in Germany any better than giving Planet Germany as a gift
• Entertain and share what expat life is like in general through musings in books like Diplomatic Incidents: The Memoirs of an (Un)diplomatic Wife, A Moving Landscape, I'm A Stranger Here Myself

You get the picture...

And great news on the subject of buying English language books - Amazon is now offering free delivery from the UK website to many European countries, including the Netherlands. Check the site for conditions.

Expat Christmas Gift Ideas (3): Expat Shops

Continuing the series about tips for Christmas gifts for expats...... Expat shops are a great port of call for present shopping for your expat and local friends and family alike.

How about making up a basket of British products for your in-laws? Or putting together a hamper of flavours from the US for your American expat friend? Christmas can be a great opportunity to introduce your local friends to the tastes of your home country - like a beer selection from home or a pudding for the Christmas meal or something special for breakfast on Boxing Day. Or just to make sure they experience the delights of crumpets at least once in their life.

Lots of expats have food parcels sent to them all year long so making up an extra special package at Christmas time will certainly go down well and your local expat shop will be able to help you.

If you are British, and want to introduce your local family and friends to something new.... try mince pies. Not only do they get to experience a new taste - but you get to have a whole conversation about minced beef as a dessert...... which of course is not what mince pies are (although to be fair in some countries ask for a mince pie and you will get a ground beef pie). The British traditionally eat mince pies in the festive period around Christmas and the New Year - and in the lead up to Christmas the shops are full of them. British expat shops are no exception.

Mince pies are sweet pastries full of mincemeat. Nothing related to a cow but instead dried fruits such as raisins and sultanas and apples with spices. They are delicious. Particularly with brandy butter or single cream. And more importantly, they are a favourite of Father Christmas, who appreciates children leaving him a mince pie along with a glass of sherry on Christmas eve.

If you have never had a mince pie, like the idea of sharing a British tradition with your friends and family here in the Netherlands, or just want to stock up on your usual treat at Christmas, then hold on to your hats....... For those of you living within a commute of The Hague there is a very special offer for readers of this blog at Kelly's Expat Shop.... A FREE BOX OF KIPLING MINCE PIES when you spend 15 euro on shopping at Kelly's. Just quote A Letter from the Netherlands blog at the till. That simple!

Kelly is actually Dutch (read a previous article of mine if you want more on the interesting tale about a Dutchie running an expat shop) but provides the expat community of The Hague and surrounding areas with goodies from Britain, America, South Africa, Australia and more. Open seven days a week, Kelly's is located at Piet Heinstraat 105 but also offers online shopping for delivery in the surrounding area. Incidentally you can also get your Christmas turkey from Kelly's. What are you waiting for?

Christmas Gift Ideas for Expats (2): Giftware with a Conscience

Christmas gifts with a conscience? Yes, if you support British expat Figen Cakir's project. Figen, who lives in Turkey, has set up a project aimed at developing local skills and ultimately selling items that have been made by local women, artisans and craftspeople. All so that they can support their families and rebuild their lives after a disastrous earthquake hit her community over a decade ago.

Figen at London crafts show showing
Turkish wares

Figen is a great example of an expat helping their local community - making their 'host' country their home and contributing to it in a big way. Figen personally helps local women with the development of their crafts and arts and ensures that the products are sourced from local or natural materials. She wants to expand the support through this 'Giftware with a Conscience' project which will help set up a small shop to develop skills and turn unique skills into unique arts and crafts. Figen explains that it is not about giving the local people charity,

"The aim is to give them a sense of enterprise."

A website offering international shipping will accompany the shop. All donators will be added to the mailing list and will receive shop discounts, updates, special offers and details of monthly or bi-monthly initiatives to help the local community - things like helping a family with clothing for their children, school books, baby items or things to help get them through the winter.

Turkish oya

VIP perks for funders include hand knitted Turkish slippers for toasty feet on cold winter days, decorative plates, hand painted gift tags, Turkish tile ware and pure Turkish cotton towels.

Cini Tilework

*CHRISTMAS TIP* - I would like to share a great idea with you that I got from Jo Parfitt. Jo sends a Christmas newsletter out instead of sending Christmas cards. The money she would have spent on cards and stamps she donates to charity. A great idea! If this appeals to you, and you like the idea of Figen's project consider donating the money you save on cards and postage to 'Giftware with a Conscience'. 

Alternatively, put this project on your own Christmas wish list so that your friends and family donate on your behalf. 

So many ways to give gifts this year with a conscience.

I will leave the last word to Figen, who sums up what this means to her, and to her community.

"I would like to express my desire to see this project come to life in the new year and finally create a 'home' for the work of artisans and craftspeople. That would be my Christmas wish, I guess." 

Expat Christmas Gift Ideas

With Sinterklaas and Christmas fast approaching I thought a few posts were in order about finding the perfect Christmas present for expats to send back home for friends and family, as well as gift ideas for the expats in your lives. Or maybe even gifts that let your local friends taste a little of your life back home.

When you live abroad, it is not always easy to find the right gift for family and friends - and then of course you need to ship it or carry it when you travel back. Often you end up spending more on postage and packing than the cost of the gift itself.

Shopping online can therefore be a great solution for Christmas shopping for expats - especially if you can get it delivered directly to your friends or family from within the same country. Over the next few days I will share some great, unique gift ideas I have found over the last few years.

For the expat in your life there are also ideas to help bring a little piece of home to their host country... and if you are an expat yourself you could use the festive period to introduce your local in-laws or friends to a little of your life back home.

Tomorrow kicks off with Name Art - gift ideas for friends and family back home, particularly those in the UK. During the week there is also a very special offer for readers of A Letter from the Netherlands!!

Expat Tastes

I was recently having a bit of a twitter with a Dutch expat in England and she was telling me that every time someone comes to visit, or she comes back to the Netherlands, she raids Albert Heijn for essential supplies to take back.

"I'm curious," I tweeted. "What type of things do you get?" She replied,

"Well half the Albert Heijn! Cheese, ontbijtkoek, hagelslag, crisps (hamkaas, bugels) and I miss all vleeswaren - osseworst etc." "Oh, and magazines," she added.

I tweeted back,

"That's hilarious!! I bring back English cheese and 'proper' flavour crisps... and magazines & books. Funny what you get used to!!"

So we agreed she would send a lorry of English supplies over, and I would send it back full of Dutch goodies.A kind of Tesco - Albert Heijn shopping exchange scheme......

The idea of a Dutch expat lugging Dutch cheese over to England at the same time I was hauling a good piece of English cheddar back to the Netherlands made me smile and as her Albert Heijn trolley is filling with hamkaas and bugles, mine is filling with prawn cocktail and worcester sauce flavour crisps.

I do bring a lot less variety of things back with me each trip than I used to but there are still staples that the local Dutch supermarket just doesn't stock, so they go on list when we pop back or someone comes over:

• jelly cubes
• Branston pickle
• Ambrosia rice pudding
• custard
• bite-size shredded wheat
• crumpets
• Bisto gravy granules

To sum it up she wrote,

"You can take the Dutch out of Holland but you can't take Holland out of the Dutch!"

Indeed, and you can certainly say the same about the English. Though it did make me wonder what foods I would miss from the Netherlands if I left..........

Guest Post: Psonia by Anneke Kamerling

This is the second in a guest blog series written by Anneke Kamerling about her expat life in Greece. If you want to find out more about Anneke and her anecdotes, take a look at Typical Greek.


Shopping in Greece is an adventure in itself.

I like to stroll about the market, where tomatoes are uglier but sweeter than at the supermarket, the fish is fresh and free-range chickens have really been free. Hungry for chicken? Then you have to kill, pluck and slaughter it yourself. For other meat there is a separate department. Here, cows and sheep hang like brothers (or should I write sisters?) together in the open air, where flies and wasps have free play. How do I get some minced meat and where is that steak, exactly? In my poor Greek, I ask for fine (ground) meat. "All meat is fine", answers the seller proudly. "Yeah but I mean ..." I try to explain with hand gestures. "For the keftedes (meatballs)," I finally get out. Ah, now he seems to understand me. He cuts off a piece of the cow. Lets it fall into a waste well, picks it back up, wipes it off on his bloody apron and puts it in a big meat grinder, which I didn't see earlier. Otherwise I would have pointed straight at it, of course. That will have to be well-done, I think, as I stare at the waste pit. The butcher captures the mince on a piece of paper, grabs it and sets the price. Should I bargain or not? I ask if he wants to repeat. "Slowly, please." It sounds different than before. Has it got cheaper or more expensive or did I really not understand just now? I pay. "Kali órexi (enjoy your meal)," he beams at me in a friendly farewell.

Photo: Pal Csonka

In the village five kilometres below the village where I live is a mini market. Here, you can get anything! Along the walls are shelves with crates full of vegetables and fruit, cans of tomatoes, and bags of chickpeas and lentils, baby milk, toilet paper, books, and soft drinks, and on the ground here and there boxes with washing powder, detergent, diapers, oil barrels, beer crates, spirit bottles and homemade wine. The outfit also serves as a cafe. A meeting place for the men of the village who sit together all day in front of the only TV for miles, watching, no matter what is broadcasted. They sip their Greek coffee or ouzo together with a glass of water, which invariably remains untouched. But why this shop is very important to me is the fact that here not only the only TV, but also the only phone for miles around is to be found. I regularly stop here on the way home, in order to do some shopping or to call my parents. Calling is expensive and so I ask my parents to call me every Tuesday at 21.00, Greek time. I make sure I'm on time. I order a beer or a soda and join the men watching some Greek soap, until promptly at 21:00 the phone rings. The owner picks up the horn and passes it on to me. After a few weeks she doesn't pick up the phone anymore, but gives me permission to do so with a friendly nod. This way I keep my parents informed about my adventures on Corfu.

Photo: Constantin Jurcut

In Corfu town, I often use the indispensable periptero (kiosk). Anyone who has been in Greece knows exactly what I mean. In every town, village or hamlet is at least one periptero. This is a sort of Makro in mini size. Within about two square meters you can find almost everything you could get at a supermarket - from chilled beer and soft drinks, snacks, tobacco, ice, books, magazines, toys and bus tickets to drugstore products, including an extensive range of condoms and aspirins. Usually you will find a public telephone as well. Amongst all this it's never easy to locate the salesperson. Wedged in the box with everything within arm's reach he or she serves customers, day and night, through a small hatch. Whenever I walk down the street, the periptero is always open. Even during siesta time. Might the clerk literally have gotten stuck in there?

As friendly as people in the market and the shops are, so stiff are the officers and bank employees. Once a Greek takes place behind a desk, he undergoes an unprecedented transformation. Women often also seem to like to use glasses on their noses, making them look even stricter. Suddenly they no longer smile, and the jovial 'no problem' is not used anymore. "Nai?" sounds a gruff voice from behind the desk, usually protected by a glass shield, and you as a customer can start a monologue, which the clerk in question is listening to with a stoic face. No response. They would excel at poker, these officials! Sometimes they go in an agonizingly slow pace into action and you get what you came for. Often they abruptly leave you, without explanation, to discuss your private matter loudly with colleagues. Privacy is out of the question. Also because all other Greeks do not wait their turn politely lined up, but prefer to eavesdrop nearby so they won't miss any of your business. Very possibly, the clerk will nod you on to the next counter, where the entire situation can start from scratch...

Eight Tips Series: Shopping in the Netherlands

If you want to come home from a shopping expedition in the Netherlands with your sanity in tact, retaining any semblance of a good mood, there are a few guidelines to follow. Whether it is a trip to the local supermarket, or some retail therapy in your local high street or shopping centre, you need to be prepared.

1. Avoid shopping on Saturdays

Regular high street shops are open from 9.00 to 5.30 (6pm if you are lucky) from Monday to Saturday. On a Monday, many shops won't open until lunchtime. In addition to this, there will be a koopavond in your town - usually a Thursday or Friday, when the shops are open until somewhere in the region of 9pm.

Sunday opening is scattered, controversial and not worth relying on. Hence, the stampede on Saturdays as the entire Dutch population descends on the local high streets; little wonder as most people are working when the shops are open the rest of the time. If you like elbow shoving, queuing and moaning, then save your shopping for a Saturday afternoon.

2. Big Supermarket Shops are for Saturdays Only

Don't think you can walk into any supermarket at anytime and load your shopping trolley up to the brim. If you do this in the evening, around the time people come out of work, you can expect sighing, tutting and catty comments about how your type should be banned from supermarkets. Evenings are for those people who do their shopping daily - those grabbing vegetables, milk and bread - and not for you to do your weekly shop.

Before you ask, no it is not the supermarket's fault that only two of the eight tills are open during the busiest period of the shopping day so queues form: it is YOUR fault because you do your weekly shop outside the legally designated times.

3. Take Carrier Bags Out with You

If you go shopping empty handed, you must either juggle your purchases under your armpits, have big pockets, or pay for bags. Some shops will give you free bags, but you take the risk of needing hospital treatment for cuts inflicted by the inappropriate handles attached to the dangerously thin bags.

4. Shop Online Around the Holidays

Shops in December are no-go. Everyone is frantically buying Sinterklaas gifts, promptly followed by Christmas presents. However, the snag is that Dutch shops offer to wrap your gifts for free..... Yes, for free... and this means the Dutch are queued out of the shop doors in their droves for their free wrapping. Unless you are partial to Bart Smit or V & D wrapping paper, do yourself a favour, shop online and wrap your own presents.

5. Smiles are not Included in the Price of your Shopping

Dutch customer service comes as a surprise to foreigners. In fact, you can spend your first few months in the Netherlands trying to find customer service. There is a rule to obey in shops - failure to comply is at your own peril.

"Thou shalt not interrupt employees whilst they are talking to each other about their weekends or homework and don't talk to employees whilst they are on a private telephone call." Accept that they clearly have better things to do than what they are actually paid to do. If you can ring up your own purchases, then all the better.

Returning your trolley is an art form in the
Netherlands

6. Strategically Return your Shopping Trolley

Always put your shopping trolley back at the end of the longest row of trolleys, even if this means returning it to a row which trails over the main road, blocks the entrance to a lift or path or crosses a motorway. Your aim is to hinder other shoppers and block the passage of cars. You need your 50 cents back right? And your legs have given up the will to live after your tiring shopping excursion? You can't possibly walk the extra few metres to the short row of trolleys.

7. Combine Supermarket Shopping with a Workout

Try to see hopping over empty boxes, careering around stock carts, and pegging it back to the shop entrance for that one elusive product they keep moving around, as exercise. Don't complain about products stacked high and out of reach - see it as a chance for a good stretch (or alternatively a way of getting into conversation with a tall Dutch person).

8. Plan the Emptying of your Shopping Trolley

Conveyor belts in the Netherlands are mini versions of those in other countries. Hence, if you place your bread anywhere but the end of the belt, you have approximately 2.3 seconds to run past the cashier to the end of the belt to save your bread before it turns prematurely into breadcrumbs. If you are planning to make breadcrumbs with your loaf, then this will save you effort and time later. However, if you want to make sandwiches with it, place it at the end of the belt when you empty your shopping, or practice your sprinting, because the employee behind the till will not rescue it for you. See tip 5.

On a similar note, do not open bottles of fizzy drinks, beer or wine directly on your return home. They will need to settle after their hazardous journey along the, albeit short, conveyor belt.

And on this subject.. don't pack your shopping into bags or crates at the end of the conveyor belt. Throw it all back in your trolley and pack it into bags whilst you hover at your car boot in the car park. It's much more efficient and you can't get your car out yet anyway because of the line of shopping trolleys across the car park......

Good luck!

Next "Swap and the City" Event - March 14 in Amsterdam

The next Swap and the City event will take place on March 14 in Amsterdam so if you are looking for a new, exciting and social way to freshen up your wardrobe then check out www.swapandthecity.com or read my article "Swap Till You Drop in Amsterdam" on Expatica.

You can also watch footage of the last Amsterdam event.

Roll with the Punches: The Little Changes Expat Life Brings

When I left the UK more than nine years ago to board a boat that would take me to a new life in the Netherlands, I never really stopped to consider how different my life would be.

I knew there was a new language to learn; one that I'd mistaken for a strange sort of German during my summer holidays in various countries. Of course, I'd heard the stereotyping of the Dutch with their clogs, windmills, cheese and tulips but I shrugged that off. Okay, so there are actually a fair few windmills in the Netherlands, some farmers wear clogs and the Dutch do happen to grow a lot of tulips.... and they like cheese. But these, along with the language, turned out to be the least of my worries. These are all the little ways my life has changed since moving from England to the land of the Dutch:

• I own a bike - before I moved here it had been decades since I owned my own personal two wheeler. Not that my bike sees the light of day every day, week or even month..... but I can assure you that had I remained in England no bike would be in my list of possessions.
• There is a birthday calendar in my downstairs loo. Never before have I owned a birthday calendar let alone displayed one in the smallest room in the house.
• I visit the supermarket every other day. I used to shop once a week, twice at most in England. Here, if I want vegetables or fruit without mould I have to shop more regularly.
• I have been subjected to the most bizarre combination of fried foods you could imagine from Dutch snacks to oliebollen at New Year.
• I have endured the Dutch birthday circle on more than one occasion. I think it has made me a stronger and more resilient person.
• I speak (as best I can) a second language on a regular basis.
• I feel like an "in-betweeny" - not Dutch but also not really feeling 100% at home in England anymore.
• I network with amazing people that I ordinarily would not have met had I stayed in England.
• My career has turned on its head from a career in Human Resources to one in writing. This is a move I would never have made had I not moved to the Netherlands.

What are the little changes that expat life has brought into your life?

Christmas Ideas for Expats

If you have run out of ideas of what to buy your expat friends, or want to prompt your own friends and families for some cool Christmas presents that fit with your expat life, then read on.

Gifts for Expat Partners Wanting to Kick Start their Career Abroad

Fun & Useful Gifts for Expats in the Netherlands

A Year's Subscription to "The Xpat Journal" - a magazine for expats in the Netherlands.

A Year's Subscription to "Family Matters" - a magazine for expat families in the Netherlands

Gifts for those who like Reading about Expat Adventures

Guides and Advice for Expat Families and Accompanying Spouses

Alternatively, if you would like to support businesses run by expat women visit Intarsia Concept's holiday gift guide - many of the ideas listed there are from expat entrepreneurs.

Making Christmas just like Christmas

Making Christmas overseas feel like it does back home takes some planning and forward thinking - and most likely a visit to your local expat shop. This weekend I headed to my local expat shop in The Hague and picked up the essentials for a traditional "British" Christmas which I will be hosting for the in-laws: crackers (the 'pulling' variety and not the 'biscuits for cheese' variety), Christmas pudding, mince pies, a big turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce. I amount to your average Brit shopping in Kelly's Expat Shop.

Kelly Kelly, the owner of the shop, told me that the British tend to buy baking products, kid's stocking fillers, mince pies, mincemeat, cakes and turkeys. Americans are also buying turkeys in their droves, along with stuffing and pumpkin pie mix. Other nationalities tend to follow the purchasing habits of the Brits, having either once lived there or just become addicted to mince pies.....

Kelly herself is Dutch but is married to an Englishman (if you want to read more about Kelly and the origins of her expat shop read my article on Hague Online) so I was curious to know what they have for a Christmas meal,

"We have a traditional Christmas dinner: turkey, stuffing, Christmas pudding, mince pies, we buy everything out of our shop for our Christmas dinner," Kelly replied.

Top sellers In Kelly's shop are unsurprisingly all the things that you are hard pushed to find in the Dutch supermarkets - mince pies, Christmas puddings, Christmas crackers and mincemeat for those making their homemade mince pies. All the things that make the Christmas meal a traditional one for me!

If you are looking for a turkey this Christmas time then you can place pre-orders with Kelly and also check the stock levels on her website at http://www.kellys-expat-shopping.eu. You can also keep posted with special offers over the festive period by signing up to Kelly's newsletter or checking out the website.

Kelly explained, "We do have some special offers in the shop at the moment (and online): Mcvities biscuit tin 7.95 euros, Jacobs biscuit tubs 900gr at 6.95 euros and Duchy mini xmas pudding over 1/2 price off, at 2.75 euros."

And if you have never had the pleasure of mince pies with brandy butter, maybe this year is the year to start a tradition.... you can't beat them. The box of mince pies I bought have been sat glaring at me now for 24 hours and I wonder if they will actually see Christmas......

A Bizarre Shopping Experience

This is a tale I feel I have to share. My husband went to do our weekly shop on Monday evening this week, as we didn't have time to do it at the weekend, and came back rather bemused. He had been the subject of a verbal attack at the till, as he stood minding his own business loading the shopping into crates.

A woman in her fifties started moaning to no one in particular that these type of people should not be allowed into the shop on a Monday evening, and they should do their BIG shop on a Saturday so that people popping into Albert Heijn on their way home from work could do so quickly. My husband did the polite thing and ignored the batty woman. However, she then asked him directly if he could hear her. He let her know in no uncertain terms there is nothing wrong with his hearing. After a mindless discussion about when he should be doing his shopping, he reminded her that they would all actually be finished and home a lot quicker if the mindless discussion had not taken place. Which she conceded was the case and huffed and puffed until it was her turn to leave the shop. The customer behind her then commented that she probably had only been let out for the day.... maybe explaining her hurry?

It is extremely common for the Dutch to visit the supermarket on a daily basis and grab a few bits and pieces (also perhaps a reason why fresh produce rots within 24 hours of taking it home) and do a big shop at the weekend (when the supermarket is at its busiest I hasten to add) but I am certainly not aware of any Dutch law..... anyone?

Are the Dutch Developing a Taste for Crisps?

Has anyone else noticed that the Dutch are getting braver with their tastes in crisps? For those of you who have been in the Netherlands for a number of years now, you may recall there was a time when the selection of crisp flavours went little beyond ready salted, paprika or cheese, and if you wanted to be really exotic then sour cream was available.

When I came to the Netherlands and discovered this rather dismal lack of flavours displayed on the crisp shelf, it really was quite a culture shock. I came from the country of scampi and lemon Nik Naks, bacon, tomato and Worcester sauce flavoured Wheat Crunchies and where a multi-pack of crisps contained prawn cocktail and chicken flavoured crisps. And no-one thought it odd.

I recently saw the introduction of a new line of snacks in the Albert Heijn; they are called Grain Waves and are available in Bombay Curry and Sour Cream or Onion and Black Pepper. In the same range, Corn Cubes are available in the flavours of Indian Spices and Rosemary Chicken.

Wonders will never cease. And now the test.. has anyone actually tried them? What flavour crisps do you miss from 'back home'?

My Expat Shopping List

Whenever I make the trip back to England, even after nearly 9 years living in the Netherlands, I arrive in the supermarket armed with a shopping list.

The list covers the things I cannot get in Dutch food shops, things that are just not the same as the English version, or items that are so much cheaper in the average Tesco than they are in Albert Heijn or the local expat shop. It makes sense of course, if you buy English (or any other international food) here in the Netherlands then you are of course paying for the import. So, when I get the chance we fill the car up with English goodies and haul it back ourselves.

So here is my typical list:

• Bisto gravy granules
• Crumpets
• Malt loaf
• Custard powder and/or Ambrosia ready made low fat Devonshire custard
• Ambrosia low-fat rice pudding
• Stuffing
• Penguin bars (for my husband who has acquired a taste for them)
• Guinness (for my husband who has acquired an obsession for it)
• Jelly
• English language kid's magazines
• English language books
• Prawn Cocktail crisps
• English cheese (like cheddar or red Leicester)
• Branston pickle (although I notice the XL Albert Heijn is now stocking it)

What do you stock up on when you pop back "home"?

Kelly's Expat Shop in The Hague

Not so long ago I caught up with Kelly Kelly, a Dutch woman running her own expat shop in The Hague. She provides the expat community in the area with British and American products, including newspapers and magazines.... and all the seasonal goods you could hope for.

Kelly is celebrating her first year in business this month.


Read the full article on The Hague Online: A Little Piece of Home Abroad