ACCESS - Serving the needs of the International Community in the Netherlands

Meeting new people in a new city is not an easy task. Hopefully there are easy ways to build social life and make friends.

Invite your colleagues or partner's colleagues

You may have moved to a new city for your job or partner's one. Why not inviting some colleagues for a coffee, lunch or dinner? They may share interesting tips about the city and the Dutch life, and maybe a common interest on a sport or artistic activity. As well, if your company or partner's one organises events, do not hesitate to participate to network.

Join a sport team, a course or a club

Are there any hobbies such as drama play, dance, or photography you would like to do? Find out about sport, artistic clubs, even ones in English in your city by contacting your municipality (i.e. www.denhaag.nl), or expat helpdesks, talking to other expatriates at work, school or in the neighbourood, or searching on expat websites and forums (i.e.www.expatica.nl).

Join events organised by expat associations

If you have kids going to schools, discuss with parents. You might discover associations led by people of the same nationality or first language. For instance, if you have kids at the American School of The Hague, you may probably hear about the American Women's Club of The Hague. There are numerous international communities/associations in the Netherlands. You may find one that interests you. In the same way that, if you have babies, you join baby groups. These associations organise gatherings around going for a drink or a meal, group discussions and events such as fairs.

Join a Dutch or English course

Improving your English could be an option to better integrate expat communities. Also learning Dutch would be an asset to better understand Dutch habits and discuss with local inhabitants. You might also socialize with the other students of the course.