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[Deleted member 1235]

I'm moving to Amsterdam soon and my last topic on the place netted a few local replies, so here goes.....

me and my GF are having a terrible time finding a place to live. We are going to be there on ~15th of August and due to my not knowing the language and her being sans internet for about 4 weeks we are starting to get a tad nervous that the place hunt is not going so well.

If any of you locals know a guy that knows a guy or anything like that, I would love to hear.

I'm a 26 y/o kiwi (or will be by then) and my girlfriend is a 20 y/o german, shes going to be student and I'm going to be looking for work, however, I do have enough cash to pay rent for a good amount of time (my gf will have income as well) and I am also entitled to work for 3 months, which I will immediately start looking for.

help me GAF, I'm screwed. We don't really care how far away from the city it is either, ideally I would need to be able to commute to the CBD for work.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

*bump for the timezone.....*

 

[Ruzbeh]

Well, I live in Leiden (near Amsterdam). But I'm a 17 year old bum and I dunno anything in Amsterdam.

 

[Timen]

* if you're entitled to work, you're entitled to a place to live in, contact city hall and they'll be able to put you on an emergency list. It will probably give you a place to live within a week or two, once they offer a place, you can't refuse it. Generally those places (specially in amsterdam) aren't the prettiest places to live in.

* go find a place OUTSIDE of Amsterdam, you'll pay less rent and the public transport works just fine Haarlem or even Almere are good places to start.

* Does the University your girlfriend studies at have a campus? if so, i'm sure they'll have a place to live for two more people, it's also the beginning of a new school year so i guess there will be a shitload of free rooms to choose from (mabye the best solution)

i'll post some info again in 30 minutes or so..

funda.nl may help you out...

http://www.funda.nl/huur/resultaat....terdam&straal=15&sfPrijsMin=0&sfPrijsMax=1000

this search query looks for rental homes in an area within 15 kilometers of amsterdam
with an maximum rent of €1000,- per month, you can adjust the search query by your
self with the help of my little explanation.

locatie=amsterdam
obviously, fill in the city where you want to search.

straal=15
maximum distance from the city, in kilometers.

PrijsMin=0
minimum rent

PrijsMax=1000
maximum rent

hope it helps a little.
oh btw, just paste some dutch text here and i'm sure people will translate it for you, there's a shitload of dutchies on this board.

 

[Rei_Toei]

Always the helpful one, nephew

 

[warhead]

Timen is right, go somewhere outside the city. Public Transport is pretty good, and you'll have a better shot of finding a place, plus it costs less.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

thanks Timen, I'll look into it. I think the campus offers something like a room for a person, squeezing two people into it for any length of time might be a bit of a stretch (read, I don't want her getting sick of me :lol)

That is great to know about the emergency list, will probably get my gf to get on it as there is no citizenship issues at all with her, I think we have a place for 2 weeks at the when we get there if nothing turns up, so that list might save our bacon. I'll have a go with that search engine tomorrow as it's late here now.

Some questions I do have

1. When you get a place, I heard that a lot of places turn the lounge into another room to rent, so it's likely that when you rent a room you might get exactly that, just 1 room. Is that true?

2. the big businesses, I have heard they operate in english, that is the ones that deal internationally alot, I only speak english so how badly is this going to hurt my employability? I expect it to be quite a problem, but I keep hearing that it might not be.

EDIT: just had a look at that website, looks good but :lol I feel retarded, but hey, at least I can read the word month in dutch now (I think, oh god don't let that translate to week :S). this trip is going to be an experience.

 

[warhead]

1. When you get a place, I heard that a lot of places turn the lounge into another room to rent, so it's likely that when you rent a room you might get exactly that, just 1 room. Is that true?

Myeah, depends... A friend of mine actually has a room without windows (and that doesn't mean he runs OSX or Linux...) The possibility is there, especially when it's really just for students.

2. the big businesses, I have heard they operate in english, that is the ones that deal internationally alot, I only speak english so how badly is this going to hurt my employability? I expect it to be quite a problem, but I keep hearing that it might not be.

Won't be a problem, English gets you pretty far around here.

at least I can read the word month in dutch now (I think, oh god don't let that translate to week :S).

Month = Maand, Week = Week (just pronounced differently). Keep us updated on your progress and I'll buy you a beer when you're around.

 

[Timen]

2. the big businesses, I have heard they operate in english, that is the ones that deal internationally alot, I only speak english so how badly is this going to hurt my employability? I expect it to be quite a problem, but I keep hearing that it might not be.

Alltough most people speak english (some good, some crappy) i'm not sure about the entire business operating in English. I guess it depends on the kind of job you're looking for.

edit; I translated funda.nl

 

[Hitman]

I will do it.. For one night with your girlfriend when she arrives.

 

[Meier]

Wow Timen, very nice of you to do all that.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

:O

Wow Timen, thats awesome! That helps a ton, now I can make some semi informed suggestions to my girl. I take it a lot of people ride bikes over there?

warhead, might take you up on that beer applied for my visas today and my HR folks are going to give a call to our amsterdam office, hope this goes well...

Thanks dutchies!

 

[warhead]

Watch out when you go biking in Amsterdam though, a lot of people get stuck in the tram tracks with their tires.

Hope everything goes well for you Catfish!

 

[Deleted member 1235]

Watch out when you go biking in Amsterdam though, a lot of people get stuck in the tram tracks with their tires.

Hope everything goes well for you Catfish!

ha, will do, yeah, I'm looking forward to it, never even been to europe, getting to see so many different countries by train (or whatever) just seems like the biggest novelty. even getting to aussie from here is a hassle. I can't wait. Got some people to visit in London and I'll either get to Oktoberfest(sp?) or die trying... how far away / where are the nearest decent ski-able mountains?

 

[warhead]

French Alps are the closests.

 

[Kola]

ha, will do, yeah, I'm looking forward to it, never even been to europe, getting to see so many different countries by train (or whatever) just seems like the biggest novelty. even getting to aussie from here is a hassle. I can't wait. Got some people to visit in London and I'll either get to Oktoberfest(sp?) or die trying... how far away / where are the nearest decent ski-able mountains?

The Oktoberfest (which is actually swarming with Aussies and Kiwis, you will feel at home) is quite close to the German and Austrian Alps, so you could combine that.

 

[Kola]

BTW: Seems like your staying longer than just a few weeks in Holland right? Then it would really make sense to take a language course. It really helps alot, even if at first you only understand a few words, or some written phrases. But if you are part of the society, with people speaking Dutch everywhere you go, your language skills will get better way faster. Eventually you will really feel more at home, even if you don't understand much. At least that's my experience from the time I'm spending in Hong Kong/South China. Apart from that people will love you for trying to speak their language, believe me, it works wonders.

The language is the door to another culture.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

BTW: Seems like your staying longer than just a few weeks in Holland right? Then it would really make sense to take a language course.

definately will be, it's just that I'm trying to pass some work related exams before I go, so I will try this once I get there. Also have to learn german as that's my gf's first language *head explodes*

 

[Kola]

definately will be, it's just that I'm trying to pass some work related exams before I go, so I will try this once I get there. Also have to learn german as that's my gf's first language *head explodes*

Even better when you start it in Amsterdam as you will meet alot of other people this way. Regarding German: Dutch is nothing but a mix of German and English, so all three languages are related in some way, which makes it easier to study. good luck, amsterdam is great, even with a gf by your side =)

 

[Deleted member 1235]

Even better when you start it in Amsterdam as you will meet alot of other people this way. Regarding German: Dutch is nothing but a mix of German and English, so all three languages are related in some way, which makes it easier to study. good luck, amsterdam is great, even with a gf by your side =)

Thats what I heard Re the language and my girlfriend seems to have no trouble reading the dutch websites for house hunting, so which way is easier, learn german then dutch or dutch > German?

I can tell I'm just going to fumble around until I learn some phrases, but the way I would like to do it is actually take some classes...

 

[Burger]

Thats what I heard Re the language and my girlfriend seems to have no trouble reading the dutch websites for house hunting, so which way is easier, learn german then dutch or dutch > German?

I can tell I'm just going to fumble around until I learn some phrases, but the way I would like to do it is actually take some classes...

Spend a grand or so on a flash smartphone & wireless service, bookmark babelfish and translate everything on the fly. Then swear when nobody understands you.

:lol