Unexpected Beginning – Moving From England To Holland
I spent a while trying to work out what to write as my first blog. It seemed like a good idea to just start at the beginning of the story which led to me unexpectedly moving to Holland.
EDIT: This post has since be updated and much improved in the post: How I Ended Up Accidentally Moving To The Netherlands.
It was 2001. After three years of studying theatre Design, I spent a few months working here and there at different venues, mainly as stage crew but occasionally as a designer. I was enjoying the work but I could not ignore that it was not very profitable. It was around this time that I got the idea from a friend to try using my design skills in the computer game industry. Surely it was just like doing set designs but in a computer….. Right?
So I applied to a few companies but hear much back. I was starting to think it was not going to happen….. Until I found a rather strange and cryptic job advertisement in a British gaming magazine. It had no address, no phone number. In fact it had very few details. All it really had was a dot com email address. This might sound like it could have lead to me falling victim to a gang of black market human organ dealers using a games company as a front but it some how looked interesting so I took the chance.
Imagine my surprise when I was offered an interview and I found out it was in Holland. At this point I had no plans to move to another country but they were offering to pay for my flights. I would have sometime for sight seeing while I was there so at the very least it was a free day trip to Amsterdam. I was not thinking about the fact that I might actually be offered the job….. Which I was.
Whenever there is an opportunity I know I should not pass up but I am nervous about I have the habit of thinking other people would not have a problem with doing it so neither should I. So I took the job. Most people who knew me back then would never have imagined me moving to another country. Neither would have I at the time to be honest. I used to be kind of shy and quiet compared to how I am now. Not only was I moving to an unfamiliar country but up until that point I was also still living with my parents. That made it an even bigger change in my life.
I had two months to get myself ready before moving to Holland but it was not until I got there that the full gravity of what I was doing hit me. I don’t mind admitting that on that night, alone in a hotel room with a TV that did not work I got very scared. I wanted to go home. It was the scariest thing I have ever done in my life….. It was also the best thing I have ever done in my life.
Five years on I am still living in Holland and still enjoying it. The first few months might have been very hard for me but they gave me the confidence boost I very much needed. It changed my life in a positive way and it also gave me a lot of funny stories to share.
Plus I still have both my kidney’s which is a bonus.
hi there
im looking for a job in Amsterdam. im a sound assistant looking to work
for a venue or in a stage crew.
Any advice where i can look for ?
im still in the uk right now
cheers
eric
Just wanted to say Thanx as I and my extended family are from Holland. I miss it very much. Your stories help.
Sounds a lot like my story! Arrived 4 years agoon a thursday and started working on the following day. Turning on the TV in my hotel room was surreal: what the hell was I doing in a country with such a barbaric language?
But then again, I looked outside the window and saw all these tall blonde girls and thought I might give it a try.