First year living in NL

Moving abroad was a huge step for me. I was always the daughter that my parents thought of as the one to stay close to home, continue at my full time job and find a little house to rent on the Isle of Wight. Back in August 2011 that changed and within a few months planning I was moving to the Netherlands for a 1 year job opportunity as an Au Pair. I sold my car, quit my job, enjoyed my leaving party with friends and had one big suitcase packed for the year. The idea of this job was to test the love of my relationship with Lennart to see if we could make it work, as well as trying new experiences in another country. Lennart and I were already in the long distance relationship for 4/5 years and so it felt right to test ourselves at the next level.

Life as an Au Pair

I stayed with a lovely family in Kralingen, Rotterdam. They had two amazing children, a boy and a girl, who at the time were aged 3 and 4. The mother was Canadian and the father was Dutch, so the children already had a very Basic English language level, so my duties included that I taught them English. My Dutch was non-existent so everything we did was in English.

I arrived to a new house, to which it was also new to the family as it was just having the final touches done and boxes still needed unpacking. Even in the first 3 days we had no hot water. So we were all in the same situation to adjusting to a new place to live.

Within the first week of working I had lots of ‘firsts’. First time riding a bike with a 3 year old on the back, first time driving their car on the right side of the road (instead of the left in the UK) and the first time I tried Sushi, which was the children’s favourite meal!!

Once I was in the routine and after a few weeks had passed, the children had adjusted with me in their lives, it felt perfect. They could really open up to me as they would with their parents, and would also test me to see what their limit was!

I helped the children get through their morning routine and got them to school. Once the school day had ended I would be picking them both up and taking them to their swimming lessons, to the park for the swings or straight back home to draw/colour/play.

I had my own room and I basically became the 3^rd child in the house. Joining them all with breakfast and dinner, helping out with the washing, ironing and cleaning, and also joining in on the family activities like seeing the grandparents and going out to dinner together. For Christmas dinner I was also invited to join the family on 25^th December at the Euromast. Delicious food at a height of 185meters.

The year passed and I had experienced an amazing time with the family. Before my time was up I was invited to join the family at their 2^nd home in Haamstede, Zeeland. They have a beautiful house close to the beach and in the nature. Here we were out of the routine and play time was all day. I am very grateful and lucky to have had this opportunity.

 

‘Me’ Time

During the one year I also focused on myself, attending Dutch lessons at the CBE Languages, with small groups of 8 and lots of interaction with each other it boosted my level of Dutch to know all the basics. If you’re looking for lessons in Rotterdam I would definitely recommended them!

At the weekends I was free, which meant I was spending most of my time with Lennart. Cinema dates, grabbing some lunch/dinner and relaxing at his place. It was also fantastic to be able to meet his whole family, though it was extremely scary in the beginning being the English newcomer!

The weekends together really taught us that we could make the relationship work, not just long distance but also with seeing each other on a regular basis. It was a good choice to become an Au Pair first though, so it wasn’t so full on that we were living together straight away. The one year as au pair was perfect to come accustomed to each other and really know what it’s like in a relationship.

One Year Completed

Before I knew it, it was my time to leave and for the next Au Pair to experience what I had. I would really recommend becoming an Au Pair if you want to travel to a new country for a set period of time. Make sure you have good contact with the parents/family before you join them and do your research of the place you want to go to. Most families give you your own time to be free, like I had with the weekends. It gives you the amazing opportunity to explore the city and country you go to, meet new people and learn who are as a person. You may also find love and never end up leave the country like me.

In the beginning I never thought of my long term plans. I was really focused on living there for 1 year. But as August 2012 came closer I moved in with Lennart (and his mum at the time) and started looking for a new job. My last studies from England graded high enough for me to enroll in university too, also in Rotterdam, for an international course that I started in 2013. Everything was going fast but I was on the right track. It seemed deep down that I couldn’t leave Lennart after one year of actually dating not long distance, and I’ve been living in Rotterdam with Lennart ever since.

“Distance means nothing when Love means everything.”

Long distance relationships are branded as a tricky thing, with most people believing that they simply do not work, but we had proved people wrong. Trust is the most important thing to have and without it, it would definitely not have worked out.