The 4-year Amsterdam update

It didn’t surprise me that I had forgotten the logins for this blog, and that I had to reset the password. I might have had this site for four years since moving to Amsterdam, but regular posts have almost been as scarce as the sunshine this “summer”. But, buoyed by so many (three!) of you asking when next I’m writing, and our four-year Amsterversary, I decided to put the proverbial pen to paper. I was also inspired by my fellow runner/blogger Bronwynne, who I knew from back in the day when Tweet-ups were popular, who dusted off her fantastic blog, Keeping up with the Walkers, this month.

Yesterday marked four years since we touched down for a new adventure, and so many firsts – from riding a bike through a city, driving to Paris, playing in thick snow and speaking some Dutch to navigating global work culture, “foreign” grocery aisles, driving daily on the right hand side of the road, and learning new bureaucracy.

These four years seem to have gone as quickly as it takes me to scoff a packet of Dutch frites. The only moments that seemed to have moved at a glacial pace were the lockdowns that we endured when the school was closed, as we had to work and parent from home, with no support. I maintain that the school closures have been the hardest thing we’ve experienced here (and technically, they weren’t really connected to emigrating). It wasn’t the weather, it wasn’t riding in the rain, it wasn’t cleaning our apartment or folding laundry every day. Or adapting to Dutch honesty. To this day, and after all this time, I still get anxious when I see a message pop up from the school app, worried that they’re announcing that school will be closed for a few weeks. Irrational thinking, I know.

Aside from those darker lockdown days, and some horrible work moments during the time, the last four years have been smooth’ish sailing. We approached the journey like racehorses, with “blinkers” to shut out negativity and doubt. Trying not to look back, and keeping an eye on the finish line, which in our case represented being settled, content, healthy and safe.

I’m grateful that my kids are happy, and sometimes when they speak English, I realise how Dutch they’re becoming. Sometimes they’ll say things like: “We’re going to do good” (instead of well) and last week Max told me he was “making his homework”, a direct translation from the Dutch way of saying it. I laugh with them (and sometimes tease too), but it’s always followed by a “I’m so proud of you”. Yes, it’s great to maintain good grammar in their mother tongue, but what’s better right now is them integrating beautifully, chatting to Dutch friends daily and being so adaptive to this new’ish life.

All in all, I think we’ve done very good here.

Here are some of my favourite Amsterdam moments over the last four years, in no particular order. It was hard choosing just a few.