Everyday life in the Hague

I have lived in the Netherlands already for a year and half now, but have not yet written about my life here. I have started several texts but abandoned them due to their lack of proper content and angle. This time I am just going to write something and publish it anyhow.

The Hague is a peaceful city with half a million inhabitants on the North Sea coast. My favorite thing here is running by the beach. I like it during all seasons; in the summer crowded with surfers, kids and beer drinkers, and in the winter hiding in quiet grey fog. There is plenty of pretty architecture here, and during free days I leisurely walk through my lively neighborhood to the historical centrum, just looking at little shops and cafes. Of all the Dutch cities I have seen, I prefer to live in the Hague. There is no big party scene here, but an active expat community as well as a good range of international restaurants and cosy bars. Within the city I can bike anywhere in less than half an hour, and frequent trains take me conveniently anywhere else. I have already made many city trips in the Netherlands.

The Hague has amazing sunsets!

Dutch people are cheerful/loud, tall/giant, direct/rude, confident/arrogant, pragmatic/cheap - depending on how you look at it. The longer I live here the more similarities I notice between Dutchies and Finns. Both skip small talk, make weird jokes and act tough. I like my Dutch friends but it is quite hard to find my way into their busy schedules, so it is somehow easier to befriend with other expats also new in the country. When I first moved here I took a basic Dutch language course. I pick up words quickly so I can read simple texts pretty well and even speak myself, but I have a hard time with listening understanding. Everyone speaks excellent English and has little patience to speak simple Dutch to me, so I have dropped my attempt to learn it.

Dutch people love to sit outside - both in good and bad weather

My two biggest complaints are dreadful weather and lack of nature. On average it rains here every third day, which makes especially winters depressing. Apart from small residential parks, everything is built, paved and populated. Before moving here I did not even realize how much free space and wilderness mean to me. The truth is I live in the Netherlands almost solely for my career. Despite the comfortable life here, soon I will hit the point when I want to relocate somewhere I can fully enjoy living.

Sand dunes on the long coastline