On the 28th of May 2014, I took a leap of faith and moved to Eindhoven.  I can’t believe that it has been a year already! Seriously, where has the year gone?! I can remember the day I moved over like it was yesterday!

It really sunk in when I was watching this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. It’s random, I know, but last year it was on the same weekend I came over with all my stuff.

Thinking back over the last year, I have definitely changed as a person and my relationship has developed into something beautiful.

I will be honest, when I first moved over, my immediate thought wasn’t about learning Dutch or properly looking for a job.  I have worked since leaving high school and haven’t had time off longer than 3 weeks.  I was loving getting up late and just watching tv or sitting out in the sun, having some well deserved me time.

But not looking for a job became problematic, my savings disappeared pretty quickly, which meant I then had to ask my Dutchie for help.  I have never had to rely on someone, so that really took some time getting used to… In fact, I am still trying to get used to it.

I spent my first few months just getting used to being here.  Enjoying the sun!! It is not something we often see in Scotland!  I would spend days just walking around the town centre, or sitting reading in the park.

I would say that I didn’t properly start learning Dutch till about five months after I had moved, it was once I realised that it wasn’t that easy to just get a job.  I thought living in Eindhoven, there would be plenty of companies that would be looking for English-speaking employees… I was SO wrong.

I always tried to stay positive when applying for jobs, but after each day went by and receiving several rejection emails per day, it started taking its toll on me.  Being alone all day, trying to teach myself Dutch, it all started getting too much.  I am so grateful for my Dutchie, he really made me feel loved and picked me up when I was down.  He is my rock.

Before I moved, I would say I was a very confident, chatty, outgoing person.  Happily chat the ear off of anyone.  But since moving over and spending so much of my time alone, I became a little 60’s housewife just cleaning and having dinner ready for my Dutchie coming home.

I haven’t been stuck in the apartment the whole year.  I have had the pleasure of attending a couple of festivals during the summer, there is nothing better than dancing away your blues.  I attended my first ever Oktoberfest in the south of The Netherlands and we are already talking about doing it again this year, it was that much fun!  I also got to experience my first Carnaval, I had fun watching the parade during the day and then at night I transformed into a cat and had my first night out in Eindhoven.

It wasn’t all partying though, when things were getting a bit tough or we wanted to treat ourselves, we enjoyed plenty date nights to the bioscoop (I just love the Dutch word for cinema), playing pool, eating out and cycling around in the sunshine, oh and going to see monkeys. My little sister even came over a few months after I moved, I had fun showing her around and we even ventured to Walibi and I think we should make it a yearly tradition.

My Dutch is still a work in progress, and to be honest it’s no where near where I wanted it to be.  I attend two evening classes a week and practise on Duolingo at home along with other books.  I am only at A1 level but I have slowly learnt to accept that it will take a long time before I can speak fluently.  I have to accept that I will make mistakes and if I focus a couple of hours everyday, it will eventually stick.  If you know of any fairy godmothers giving out wishes, send her my way!

I am grateful for the support and warm welcome from my Dutchie’s family.  I had spent some time with them before I moved but I have really got to know them and love them since moving over.  At first I was really nervous, scared that they didn’t like me but I think it was all to do with me feeling like I couldn’t connect as well, because I didn’t speak Dutch.  But now I laugh at my silly thoughts and jump at any opportunity to see them.

Someone said to me: if a relationship can survive the low times, it can only get better in the good times.  This actually explains our relationship, we have not struggled as much as I thought we would our first year, but it was still a struggle.  We have grown as individuals and we have learnt how to live together and bring the best out in each other. Going from hardly seeing each other to being together all the time, it was such a huge step and surviving from one wage, without any resentment or fights… We have certainly shown we have what it takes to make this work.

I am happy to say that as of the 1st June, I will be in full time employment and it has already lifted so much weight of our shoulders.  We can properly focus on our future, buy our first car, go on our first holiday and even buy our first house.  The world is now our oyster!

I totally feel at home here in Eindhoven, and now that I have a job I can’t see me moving back to Edinburgh anytime soon (sorry friends and family).  I really love the friendliness of Dutch people and the way of life here.  Eindhoven is such a lovely city, it has a small village feeling where people greet you as they pass.  I can’t forget the amazing fried food! I thought Scotland was known for their fried food but it is on another level here and I haven’t even tried everything yet!  The sunshine is a bonus too.  The Netherlands, you are stuck with me now!

And of course, we celebrated this landmark in our relationship, we had a replica of our first meal together in our new apartment and we will celebrate more at the weekend, at a festival in Wijchen… Then I start my job on Monday!! I couldn’t think of a better way to start my second year here.

Here’s to another amazing year… Proost!

N x