“Do you have any proof that you live in the Netherlands?” the border control guard asked as he looked down at me from his high desk. I was trying to board a Eurostar train...

This post Our Summer Trip Misadventure appeared first on Accidentally Dutch

Dutch is not an easy language. Sure, it’s easy enough for Dutch people but they have the unfair advantage of having being born Dutch. The rest of us have to learn it the hard...

This post Why Do The Dutch Always Reply in English? appeared first on Accidentally Dutch

My five year old son was sitting in complete silence at the kitchen table, studying the advent calendar I’d given him a few moments earlier. He’d been that way for at least a minute....

This post My Son Thinks Sinterklaas is Santa appeared first on Accidentally Dutch

As the end of November and 2001 approached I’d been in the Netherlands for around five months. Over that time I’d slowly started to understand some small parts of Dutch life but I still...

This post My Very Confusing First Encounter with the Tradition of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet appeared first on Accidentally Dutch

Back in 2001, during the first few weeks of my new life in the Netherlands I would occasionally suffer from insomnia. I’d moved into a slightly strange temporary apartment in Amsterdam (which had been...

This post How Adult Chatlines Taught Me to Count in Dutch appeared first on Accidentally Dutch

If you’ve lived in the Netherlands for any amount of time you have probably heard the Dutch phrase ‘Doe Normaal’. You might even have had it shouted at you by a passing local. If...

This post Doe Normaal – How to Be ‘Normal’ Like the Dutch appeared first on Accidentally Dutch