That’s right: I wanna go to Amsterdam. No, of course I’ve never been there. I’ve never been anywhere, really, but that’s not the point. Right now, I live here in Saint Louis, Missouri, working as a Java programmer for a big fat soul-less borg-like corporation. I’m pretty good at what I do and find myself under the perhaps entirely unrealistic impression that I can find a job in Europe, move there, and live happily forever after. Repeated visits to monster.com support the idea that there are jobs for American programmers in the Netherlands. Why Amsterdam? Well, I’ve heard that it’s flat-out the coolest, most liberal, most laid-back, and most utterly decadent and hedonistic city in Europe and that it’s one of the more expatriate-friendly locales to which one might consider moving.
Of course I feel some need to visit before diving in, and I plan to do so, but I’d like to know for the sake of argument how unrealistic and/or difficult this wild idea is before I dream any further. Anyone with any experience in Amsterdam, Holland, or relocating to Europe in general–your input would be appreciated. I’ve heard the key is having a would-be employer sponsor you for a work visa; I’ve also heard finding a place to live in the city is nearly impossible (yeah, I can pick 'em). So should I dare to dream or give up on the whole Europe thing and move to San Francisco instead?
From St. Louis to Amsterdam? There’d be a bit of a culture shock, to say the least.
How badly do you want to experience another culture? Would you try to integrate, or would you seek out and socialize only with other ex-pat Americans? Don’t go if you don’t want to integrate, is my advice.
I’ve been to Amsterdam several times, as both a tourist and on business, and I love the city. Why don’t you visit it first to get a taste?
Speaking of taste …
The Good:
beer
dope
pastries/chocolate
coffee
street scene
art scene
beautiful city (bike lanes, canals, architecture)
friendly natives
relatively clean politics
no sexual hang-ups like Puritan America
The Bad:
bland food*
high taxes
crazy drivers (but not as bad as Belgium)
insignificant on the world scene (despite the world court)
socialized medicine (but this has its good points, too …)
high population density (like all of Europe)
fascist police force
The Ugly:
A liberal drug policy is one thing … stepping over drug addicts lying in the street is another.
*Traditional Dutch cooking, that is. Kebabs and other foreign imports are superb, though.
Yes, I’d definitely want to integrate as much as possible; I’d definitely learn Dutch were I to settle there, even though I’m told everyone speaks fluent English. And I will definitely visit this year no matter what before making any decision.
Do it. Your profession sounds like it would work there.
Take enough money so you do not have to work for at least two months - that way you won’t have to take the first crappy job that comes along, or if you are having problems finding a job, it won’t be a cause for panic.
You might want to also consider Prague or Berlin - but language might be more of a problem there.
No, not Amsterdam! You’d have to put up with Coldfire for a neighbor.
I have no idea whether everyone in the Netherlands speaks English, but it certainly seems that way. My wife and I were in the relative boonies of the Netherlands last summer - in Margraten, which is almost as far south as you can go and still be in Holland.
Can’t tell you much about Amsterdam, though; haven’t been there.
The closest I’ve been to Amsterdam is changing planes at Schiphol airport, twice, so I can’t say anything about the city. (Or the country, for that matter. But the airport is pretty impressive.)
But… Sequent, do you have parents or grandparents from the Netherlands or another European country? If so, there’s a chance you may be entitled to citizenship in that country, or at least the right to live there. Which means that, after the paperwork, you could move there permanently.
If you can take advantage of this, I’d advise doing so fairly soon, because they seem to be tightening up the eligibility for this all the time. Apparently twenty or thirty years ago, we grandchildren of British citizens could claim a British passport, but this is true no longer. We do, however, have the right to live and work in the UK.
No such hereditary luck, Sunspace. It’s just me and the dog, I’m afraid. No, as far as I can tell, the only thing I have going for me is my skill set. Apparently, Dutch employers have to go out of their way to fill a vacant position with a citizen of the Netherlands or the EU before they can search for qualified aliens. Even at that point, I understand the process of applying for a work visa can take some time and is primarily the responsibility of the employer.
Are you near the top of some obscure technical sub-field that one particular Netherlands employer just happens to need? Say, Java programming for user-interface translations between European and US car microcontrollers?
If not, your only recourse is to go to Amsterdam on a visit, get drunk*at the Dopefest that Coldfire is sure to hold in your honour, meet some sexy European there, fall in love, and get married. Then it’s only a trivial matter of Immigration paperwork.
And moving the dog over to Europe might be interesting as well. I seem to remember mention of ‘quarantine’ in another intercontinental-relocation thread.
[sub]*Or whatever. This part may be optional.[/sub]
