Living in The Netherlands

 
 
 
 

Vocabulary

 

fellow	treat (3)	tell/told/told
claim	principal	attractive (2)
stay (2)	find out	find/found/found
region	land (2)	possibility
reality	secondary	constantly
survive	struggle	speak/spoke/spoken
arrest	encounter	break/broke/broken (3)
suffer	too much	go/went/gone
end up	too many	prostitution
end up	freezing	spend/spent/spent (2)
free (3)	case (3)	leave/left/left (2)
canal	rip off (2)	freeze/froze/frozen
annoy	principle	ride/rode/ridden
way (3)	mistreat	get out of my way
legal	commute	out of the blue
fashion	save up	old-fashioned
citizen	sustain	around (2)
railway	employer	unemployed
require	apply (2)	meet/met/met (2)
access	point (3)	say/said/said
illegal	personnel	good-looking
greedy	consider	forget/forgot/forgotten
involve	handout	give/gave/given
guess	in need	supposed to
benefit	welfare	employment
plenty	point out	read/read/read
lucky	employee	good/better/the best
exist	tough (2)	see/saw/seen
fine (2)	literally	opportunity
wage	tertiary	make/made/made
trouble	go out (2)	pay/paid/paid
stingy	wind (2)	old/older/the oldest
across	sit/sat/sat	know/knew/known
gather	primary	bring/brought/brought
honest	organize	drink/drank/drunk (3)
	high (2)	demand (2)

 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Hello fellow travelers. Today i’m going to tell you about a country that I didn’t like. Officially it is named The Netherlands but my experience was specifically in the Holland region in the city of Amsterdam.

The country of Holland is full of attractive people. Many people would like to move there to find love because the Dutch are very good-looking people. People claim that there are jobs there, and that it’s a very special country. I found out about this country online.

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When I arrived in this country with my son, the very first day was snowy. I stayed at Schiphol Airport for the first night because we landed late and security personnel mistreated us and were racist towards us.

Most people spoke Dutch, which is a very hard language to learn. Some people also spoke English as a secondary language, but it was broken English; therefore, it was very hard to communicate with them.

I struggled, as the airport was the first encounter I ever had with the Dutch.

The next day I went to my hotel, which by the way was very expensive. I did not find any cheap hotels to stay at within the city of Amsterdam. I spent too much money; after staying two months in Amsterdam, I suffered so much. I wanted to leave and I ended up completely broke.

It was freezing there. There was too much snow and many bicycles everywhere, because the Dutch culture involves riding a bike everywhere, since the country is little. The Netherlands being a car-free country, there are not many cars around.

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As I said earlier the Dutch are very attractive people physically, but they are very cold, and they will not socialize with you. They will never talk to you out of the blue, instead they just show you a fake smile.

The fact that they constantly said “Hallo Hallo Hallo” annoyed me so much and I didn’t like it at all. That’s how they communicate so you move out of their way, because they are commuting through the city using bicycles.

There are also railways for cable cars on the streets with the buses and cars and bikes; all of them using the same roads. I found it quite unorganized. It is a very small city, beautiful and old-fashioned. But it is full of canals and rivers, which I didn’t like.

I suffered so much; I became depressed, since I spent so much money.

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I never even found a job to sustain myself.

And I’ve been ripped off by two Dutch Employment Agencies. Because they demand you meet so many requirements to work, and it’s a very closed country, you can’t work or have access to basic services as a foreigner.

If you are an American (I guess the same principles applies to any non-European foreigner), you have zero possibilities of working in The Netherlands.

I lived in Amsterdam, and after doing so for a time, there’s nothing left for us.

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Let’s also not forget that the Dutch are stingy and greedy; In most cases, they will not give you a handout if you’re in need. Some people point out the greatness of the welfare that citizens of the European Union can benefit from.

But that was not so great, because I’ve met many people from Europe who still had nothing while there, as they spent all their money in that country and especially in the city of Amsterdam. They read on the internet that it is supposed to be the best country, and that there are plenty of opportunities. But it’s not true.

Forget about going there if you don’t have any money, because if you’re unlucky and end up homeless. You can’t even exist there. The police will arrest you and fine you if they see you sleeping on the streets.

I met a girl from Germany and she had a tough life in The Netherlands. She had trouble saving up money working at bars and hotels. Even with two jobs, she was not able to save enough money to survive.

It is very hard because the system is made to benefit older people. Older people’s wages are way higher than young people’s. It’s a system where the older you get, the more you get paid.

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The most important thing you need to know before moving to The Netherlands is to bring a lot of money with you, because you are going to spend a lot on hotels and going out.

This is especially true in Amsterdam, which is a very small city; you could literally walk across the city in one and a half hours.

Also consider in winter it is very cold, very windy, very snowy, and in Amsterdam, there are not many places to sit. There aren’t big shopping centers to go shopping. The only places to go are McDonald’s and Burger King, which are places most people gather and drink.

In reality this country isn’t that great. There are too many drugs. On the weekends teenagers get high, get drunk, and there’s also a lot of legal and illegal prostitution.

To be honest, I didn’t find it was the best country in the world as the internet claims.

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Questions

Job, Work, career. The speaker’s favorite country is the Netherlands. She loves Holland. True or false?

Opportunity. What do Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram say about The Netherlands?
Is Holland a rich, developing or underdeveloped country?

Rent. Did she and her son receive a warm welcome at the airport?

Cost of Living. According to the speaker, the Dutch can speak excellent English. Is this right or wrong? Is Dutch an easy language to master?

Welfare, Benefits, Public Assistance. Is Amsterdam a cheap, medium-priced or expensive place?

Health Insurance, Medical Insurance. Does the speaker think that the Dutch are very superficial? Are the Dutch double-faced? Does she think highly of Dutch society?

Sick Leave, Paid Holiday, Paid Vacation. She probably likes luxury cars and sports cars. Yes, no, maybe?

Maternity Leave, Parental Leave. Is it easy to land a good, well-paid job in Amsterdam? Does the city seem to be pro-business or pro-labor?

Public Transport. Do immigrants have the same rights and opportunities as locals?

Utilities, Water, Gas, Electricity, Internet. The speaker probably loves tropical, sub-tropical or Mediterranean climates. Is this correct or incorrect?

Living Standard, Standard of Living. Does she feel happy, free and a sense of belonging?
 
 
 
Schools, colleges, Universities. I am from the Netherlands. I live in the Netherlands. I have visited the Netherlands. Yes or no?

Health Clinic, Hospital. Have you met Dutch people? Have your friends visited Holland? How do they describe the country?

Employment Agency. What is your impression of The Netherlands? What do you associate with The Netherlands?

City Hall, Municipality. Do you agree with the speaker? I completely agree I partially agree I mostly disagree I totally disagree? Do you have a positive or negative image of The Netherlands? Or do you have mixed feelings?

Shops, Stores, Supermarkets, Marketplace. My friends and I would like to live in Amsterdam or other parts of The Netherlands. Would you like to study or work there? Would you like to visit Holland?