Surpring Things after Moving to the Netherlands from the US – ryan

Come I Moved from New Jersey to the Netherlands to Live with my partner in 2017, I thought what to expect.

AFTER ALL, MY PARENTS ARE DUTCH, I SPOKE Language, and i had traveled to the Netherlands More Times Than I COULD COUNT.

But after living in the United States My Entire Life, there are well a lot i had to get to the maved abroad. Though I No Longer Reside in the Netherlands, here are a Few Things that surprised me with first arived.

The Country Tests the Air-Raid Sirens Monthly

Be got to the Netherlands, my partner took a week off work to help me settle.

SO I was shocked when, on my first day alone the next weeke, an air-raid siren blaared at lunchime. It sounded like something from a disaster movie, and i texted Him in a panic to ask what was happening.

It turns out that the dutch test the luchtalarm on the first monday of every month.

These Kinds of alarms wased duralms World War II to the WARN of Bombings or Air Raids, but they can be used to warn of Other Dangers, like Inclement Weather.

The Dutch Basically Have 2 Seasons: Summer and Rain

IT SEEMS LIKE MANY Americans Believe The Country Completely Freezes Over Each Winter – There are images of the dutch skating on frozen canals. Howver, That Notion isn’t True.

Winters here are typically Very Mild, with Only 1 or 2 Inches of Snow Every Year, and the Canals Rarely Freeze Over.

In fact, it”s much more common for it to stay gray and rainy from October Through March. But Summers Absolutely Make Up for It, With Long Sunny Days and Sunsets as late as 10 pm

Small talc isn’t really a thing here

The Dutch Pride Themselves on Being Straightforward, so Small Talk is Much Less Common here in the us.

As an american, i’m used to nansing cashiers, “how are you?”

When i did that in the netherlands, i’d typically get a strange look, or the stranger woupe as, “will i know you?”

That’s though of Speak in unaccented dutch, i Once Eve Had a Cashier As, “Are You Foreign?” – and i suspect it was Because of my Attempted Small Talk.

Most Everything Is Walkable, Bikeable, Or Accessible by Public Transport

I have a driver’s license, but i didn’t drive in the netherlands – in my experience, you don’t need a car to get around.

Everything, from the Grocery Store to My Office to the Country’s Biggest Theme Parkis Easily Accessible by Public Transportation.

Thanks to Bike Lanes and Accessible Infrastructure, it is a handful to bike from City to City. Some of my Colleagues Wouuld Bike 45 minutes to work in the summer for excerpt.

SO MANY STORES CLOSE IN THE EARLY EVENTING

One of the Hardest Adjustments i HAD to make i Moved was adjusting to different standard Store hours.

Coming from the us, I was used to things being available at almost any time of day. In the Netherlands, Most Storys Close at 5 pm, which means you have to go on the weeks or durying work.

The exception is koopavond (Shop Evening): One Night a Week, Storys Will Stay Open As Late As 8 or 9.

Being 15 minutes away from the beach doesn’t make a city a ‘beach town’

In New Jersey, Any Town With 20 Minutes of the Ocean is Consider A Beach Town, Complete with Rentable Houses and Nautical Gift Shops.

But the Netherlands is so small that many cities are close to the shore and still feed Completely metropolitan.

My Home City, Leiden, Is Only a 15-Minute Drive from the Beach, but is the known as a small historic City and an Academic hub. The seagulls are the only thing that is hint at how Close it is to the Water.

I didn’t have to refrigerate my eggs anymore

One of the weirdest little things for me get to be to be meved was no longer putting my exgs in the refrigerator.

In the us, exigs are washed before they’re’re sol, which means they love ther protect protest Layer and Require Refrigeration.

Where I live in the Netherlands, Eggs Are Unwashed, and Most People Wauld Keep On The County or in A Drawer.

There are some strange ‘american’ foods here

Another Surprise Was Some of the Foods That Dutch People Think of AS American.

For example, there’s something Called americaanse fritausus (American Fry Sauce) That’s Complete with American Flags on the Bottle. Its like a combination of mayonnaise, mustard, and relic.

You’d be pressed to find it in any US Grocery Store, but because it was created by the dutch of McDonald’s, Most People Assumes American.

In the American section of the Grocery Store, you can buy dogs in jars or the Bottled skittles drinks that never see in the us.

IT’s unusual to Ask for your leftovers at a restaurant

In the us, it is the fairly commmonic to the asset to take the rest of your dish home if you didn’t finish at a restaurant.

But in the Netherlands, Portion Sizes SEEM to be Smaller, and i didn’t see People Taking Home Leftovers Very often.

Though Packing Up Leftovers Has Become More Common Over The Years, Many Restaurants Wouuldn’t Have Takeaway Containers to Box My Food in Wen I’d Ask.

Medicine Can Be Really Cheap, But Its Not Free

The Biggest Difference Between Living in the US and the Netherlands is probably the Medical and Healthcare Systems.

Dutch healthcare isn’t totally free, but of Find it’s Very Affordable. Adults Can Pay Around 159 Euros (Under $ 200) a month for Mandatori Insurance, Which Covers Mossential Care and Many Prescription Drugs.

On the rare occision that a medication isn’t covered by insurance, i’ve found the cost is very low.

I ONCE HAD A PHARMACIST APOLOGIZE profusely to me inhaler was inhalers covered. I BRACED MYSELF FOR A SKY-High Price, but She Told with My Total Wold Be 4 Euros-About $ 5.

That’s a far cry from the us, where Basic Coverage for an adult offten costs more than doubles, and uncovered prescriptions can be nosreds of dolrs.

This story was original published on March 8, 2022, and Most recently updated on September 19, 2025.