Adapting to the new life

How was the process? I was still living in UK, my British visa was just about to expire, all my stuff still in UK and suddenly I received this propose to move to Holland to live with him, so I didn't think twice, move from UK to Netherlands. oh didn't go back to Brazil first, no I wasn't miss Brazil, I was hungry for a new life and I was in love in a way I never felt in my life before.

Then start my surprises about my new life there, I thought my ex boy should be living in a small city, but no, it is a village, Harlingen by the time just had 10.000 people living there.

Another surprise, it is not all Dutch that speak good English, most of them can understand and speak, but depends of their educational level, mainly around the big cities, all them can speak and understand, but in Friesland, the province I've moved to live, not many people could speak and understand and I didn't speak any Dutch. Friesland is not the most developed province in Nederlands and they speak another language there, some told me it is a language, some told me it is just a dialet, it called Friesen.

OK, at least doesn't sound so different and strange like Mandarin, but still a language I couldn't speak and understand. Bit in case I got my partnership visa to be there and the government basically obliged you to go to a Dutch course to learn the language and their culture habits, what I found quite good for the people that lives there and for the immigrates to adapt to the country.

Ah, I must tell you one thing I forgot to tell, my ex boy was a maritime engineer of the biggest container shipping line in the world, so 2 weeks at home and 3 months in the sea. First time he told me, I didn't think was so bad as I could feel I wasn't so in love anymore and a lot of time alone and I love to be on my own.

But the first trip was a really bad experience; first: I was in a different world for me, second: the language issue, I still waiting for the Dutch course of the government, third: it was a simple thing, I was missing him a lot, as I was very fragile and I couldn't go somewhere to meet him for one day.

Get out Asia, goes to Europe - Netherlands

Well lets change our route to the past - 2003 to 2006 - Netherlands, some people called Holland.

I've lived there for 3 years and I know the respectable, right way to speak the country's name is Netherlands, proper Dutch way, Holland is just part of the name of 2 provinces of Netherlands, Zuid Holland and Noord Holland. And I've learned you must respect the culture of any country and in case in Netherlands they are restricted to it.

Well, my beginning of life in Netherlands, I moved there mainly because I met my Dutch ex-boyfriend in my last moments in UK, and we got madly in love and he suggested me to move there to live with him and I was so in love, I thought 'why not?'.

How did I meet him? I was in a pub with my Finnish friend Kat there and suddenly I saw this incredible good looking man coming in! I never saw such a handsome man in my life, he couldn't stop to look at me and I couldn't stop to look at him.

I've just published a picture of us in Harligen, the village we lived in Friesland, one of the provinces up north of Netherlands. This picture is a moment we were happy, because later on...

Many people told me that was a insane thing move to Netherlands to live with him, but when you are so in love is very difficult to think straight, now I think about and it was a damn insane thing to do, but I did; in a few months I was there living with him. A new life, a new country, new everything.

I need to say that is not being easy to write about these years in Netherlands, not because Netherlands, but because the relationship with this ex boyfriend.