About me
Hi, I'm Tanya. I'm a South African now living in Amsterdam. I'm a mom, runner and writer, and work in content & advertising. Welcome to my blog, where I write about life here, settling in, and riding a bike. Read More
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Latest Posts
- From Knysna to Heemskerk: the expat series 5 December 2024
- Where have I been? 18 November 2024
- The 4-year Amsterdam update 14 July 2024
Categories
- Advice (1)
- Expats (9)
- In The City (21)
- Parenting (1)
- Settling In (29)
- Travel (7)
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Dutch children are the happiest in the world, according to Unicef, who published a report in 2017 on child well-being in rich countries, which ranks The Netherlands number 1 on the list. The report looks at things that contribute to a child’s wellbeing such as material wellbeing, health and safety, educational wellbeing, behaviour and risks, housing and environment and subjective…
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It’s been another great week settling into our new lives, and finding our rhythm, though that will likely change a bit once school starts next week. I feel like the new kid and quite nervous to be that parent who doesn’t really know anyone or how things work, or where to go. It feels a bit like some my angst-ridden…
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We’re only three-and-a-half weeks in, so I’m by no means “proficient” in the city or the lifestyle, but here’s what I’ve learnt: A coffee shop is where you go to smoke weed. If you ask for a coffee shop, that’s essentially what you’re asking for. If you’re looking for coffee, then rather say just that. There are sex shops all…
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And we’re official! We went to the municipality last week for our “check-in” appointment – to register and to get our BSN numbers (kind of like a social security/ID number). We had made our original appointment for a day after we arrived, but were kindly asked to come back after two weeks of self-isolation. Strictly speaking, we weren’t ever asked…
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It’s hard to believe that two weeks ago, we were lugging our eleventy pieces of luggage, meeting the apartment to which we had committed a year (and paid three months of rent), and seeing all the IKEA furniture that had been bought and assembled. In a way it feels like we’ve been here much longer – I’ve had my nails…
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We’re in week two, and on one hand, it feels surreal and like I’m not really here (like an out of body experience), and on another, it feels like I’ve never known any other life. Except when I’m riding my bike and realise what a far cry it is from driving my automatic car wherever I wanted, and whenever I…