Posts by Kimberley Verburg
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@Paul Campbell That's good advice. But it's harder to set deadlines without kids. :) Most of the London Kiwis I know who've left did so because they wanted to have kids. As much as they love London, no one wants to raise their kids there. At best, they're prepared to stay for the first few years, but as soon as it's time for school they speed home to NZ or to Aus.
Btw, I know a few ITers who are choosing to stay in jobs in London because they don't want to risk returning to unemployment. They're hoping for a better exchange rate too.
I was part of a mostly UK-based discussion group long before I moved to London, which meant I was lucky enough to have an English social circle ready and waiting. So London felt quite different to me, culturally speaking. It was an unexpected relief to be able to hang out with the Kiwis, even if they did drag me down to Walkabout to watch the ABs play...
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A Dutch Kiwi here. I originally took off because Dutch unis were better and far cheaper. Also, I was interested in European languages. Which lead to Paris. Which was a little too close to the black hole of London and I got sucked in.
I'm glad I left, I didn't fit in too well with my bookish interests, etc. But I see that as less of a problem now I'm a bit older and things have changed. The real barrier is that my partner is Dutch. Also, his specialty would make finding a job in Wellington pretty difficult (he's a quantum physicist).
When my cousin was planning a return to NZ with her Dutch family in tow, she said that life in the Netherlands felt too settled and that, while it's harder in NZ, at least you felt like you were moving forward. That struck a chord with me. NZ's smallness might be hard to go back to, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot going on.
And I miss the land. Big old stereotype, but there it is. I miss the friendly culture, the laidback life. I miss my friends and their kids growing up. But I'd miss Europe and my people there too. So NZ might be a forever "one day".
Almost everyone I know seems to expect my return though, so maybe they know something I don't. :-)
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The uploader of the Amsterdam videos is Robbert Nieuwenhuijs, who made them with Elian Wils. They have a small production company called Big Shots. (source: various Dutch media)
One thing though, it is true that the authorities have been trying to reduce the number of brothels, etc, in the not too recent past. I can't remember the specifics but it seemed to have more to do with trying to attract richer tourists than anything else.
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Regarding J Debreceny's concern for charities with high admin costs due to providing services, you could look at the amount spent on fundraising as well. Forex, in the Netherlands there's a certification scheme where, among other things, charities can't spend more than 25% on fundraising in order to qualify.
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Another Dutch Kiwi here (hi Kirsten *g*), but living in the more prosaic city of London. I used to be a "food is fuel" kind of person but two years in Paris cured me and I'm now suitably horrified at what the English think is acceptable to feed children for school dinners.
Grandmother Range is a great concept and it's kind of embarrassing that I don't know the answer. She did make the trip out to NZ with her older sister when both were in their seventies (armed with a card saying "these ladies don't speak English, please help them"). But apart from that, I assumed that she had travelled a bit, if only because the Netherlands' size and location make it difficult not to. E.g., 3km in one direction would've put her in Germany.
Giovanni, I enjoyed your post and hope to hear more about your trip and the pane ferrarese.
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When I started volunteering at a primary school, I introduced myself to the kids with my first name, I saw no reason to do anything else. I don't know what the English think of my "informality". The staff are all <title> <surname>. There really doesn't seem to be any difference in the respect the kids show to their teachers and to me.
The kids do call me "Miss! Miss!" like they do their teachers, which is the only time I'll answer to that title. :-)
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I had problems with the latest Firefox too and had to go to Safari in order to be told that I wasn't allowed to watch the video as I was outside NZ. Complaint duly sent to TVNZ, but it sounds like this silliness has been going on for a while?