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now I have to say that it has taken me a
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while to ponder over this and finally
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decide to make this video to share my
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experience moving to the Netherlands
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wasn't a quick decision and it
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definitely hasn't been a smooth ride I
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have to say from late 2022 we started to
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with the idea of moving to the
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Netherlands and we started with
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researching visas to surviving the Dutch
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housing crisis which I was warned about
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and adjusting to the idea of starting
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over and I would say that my first 6
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months have been full of surprises and
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today I'm sharing everything that I've
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learned so far the highs the lows and
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the things that you need to know if
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you're planning or even considering this
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country and I have to say before I begin
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that I'll be diving more extensively
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into the housing bits of the relocation
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because for me that was our biggest
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challenge and if you're new to this
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channel my name is kqam so let's get
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into
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it everyone has their reason for wanting
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to relocate to join family school work
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better economic prospects or even
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culture and so on and ours had some
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layers to it my partner and I had this
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agreement that we would explore the
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different countries that we're both from
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living at one place for a period of time
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which is Ghana first and the other place
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for the next now the Netherlands so it's
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kind of like a balanc thing underneath
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this agreement was the underlying
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experiences if we thought that the
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change wasn't necessary we wouldn't move
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or if the change was necessary then we
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have to start planning and get into it
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and for my part I needed a change of
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scenery or environment to explore my
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career as a filmmaker and I thought that
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the creative scene in Ghana wasn't
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giving me what I wanted at the rate and
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speed with which I wanted it my partner
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on the other hand works in the corporate
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space and she's an awesome and
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experienced business developer so I
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guess for her it would be to consider
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whether or not she had learned enough or
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achieved enough in the space that she
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was in and how difficult it would be to
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find New Opportunities elsewhere so we
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debated went back and forth a few months
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and decided to go for
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it we started by doing extensive
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research and by extensive I mean
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researching everything the Visas work
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permits residency requirements daycare
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options for our son insurance and of
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course the almighty Financial load all
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these things would require from us the
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Netherlands offers several options for
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people who want to relocate there's the
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highly sought after highly skilled
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migrant Visa school or student visa
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family reunification which was what our
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immigration needs uh fell under and I
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would say that whatever your reason or
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route you can never ask too many
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questions even for us who were not new
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not necessarily new to go to the
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Netherlands which is something we do or
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we had been doing back and forth for a
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few times a permanent move means
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something completely different and and
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after all our research and preparations
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we ended up investing in the services of
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an immigration lawyer through the
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recommendation of a friend and this guy
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was kind enough to explain to us the
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options available to us and which route
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meant what how difficult it would be so
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if you can afford it consider the
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immigration lawyer approach for us as a
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family it was best to join my partner
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who is a Dutch citizen in the
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Netherlands all these options have
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adequate information on the indd website
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and you should definitely make that your
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first Port of Call with regards to
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moving you can find out every
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information you need you may actually
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even not need an immigration lawyer if
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you can follow the steps yourself we
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also considered the cost of living
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housing markets health care whether
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Netherlands will be a good fit
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culturally as a mixed cultural family we
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knew that preparation was the key to
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avoiding surprises even though I can
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almost guarantee you that when it comes
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to relocation in a place like
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Netherlands there will always be
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surprises now let's get to Landing in
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the Netherlands this was both exciting
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and overwhelming at the same time one
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thing I did not expect was how much
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paperwork would be involved in just
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starting your life here you need to
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register with the
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local or municipality to get your Bay
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asent now this number is essential for
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everything it's like your Dutch social
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security number from signing your lease
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to paying your taxes without it your ESS
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entially invisible in the Dutch system
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but in order to get your BSN you need a
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permanent address which brings me to the
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next topic of the housing crisis now
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here is where it gets tricky the housing
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market in the Netherlands is brutal and
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if you're coming from Ghana or maybe a
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place where the process of getting a
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home although not a walk in the park
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necessarily but it's as easy as when you
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find a place you like the landlord
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doesn't need to profile you or ass say
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your long-term Financial match and other
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things you have or other list of things
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you have to take on the boxes to look
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good as a potential renter in the
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Netherlands this process goes through
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the so-called housing corporations or
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websites or yeah corporations and there
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are a few big ones that offer housing
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based on how long you've even been
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subscribed or how lucky you are like an
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actual Lottery this means that filling
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many forms for every house that you are
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interested in from income to family
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structure to the job of your partner
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they want full transp cury and the more
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the merrier and because my wife had
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worked in Ghana for over 5 years in the
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Dutch system it didn't reflect she had a
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huge gap in her career employers abroad
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were not registered so that didn't look
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good already iide that I didn't have a
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BSN yet as we didn't have a permanent
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address you see the irony so technically
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I didn't exist in the Dutch system and
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all this made us look unattractive to
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the housing cooperatives now the story
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is even though my wife had recently
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started a job in the Netherlands when we
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arrived she had to to share at least or
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you have to share at least three pay
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lips giving us another delay of 3 months
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because she just started work aside that
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the competition is insane in the
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Netherlands you're going to jump through
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all these hoops while vying for this
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particular housing thing with over 500
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people as at 2023 I think the average
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rent for one-bedroom apartment in
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Amsterdam was around 1,500 to
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,800 per month but if you're lucky and
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you don't mind it finding something
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cheaper in smaller cities it's much
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easier that's if you even find it so
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what we did was we told a lots of our
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close Community here and everyone who
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had a lead and in the end it came from
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that a recommendation which eliminated
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having to go through the system because
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left with that alone we did not look
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good on paper now a key lesson here is
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be realistic be flexible and be patient
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because you might end up in a L than
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ideal location or situation and it's
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just part of the
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process cost of living in the
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Netherlands is on the higher side in my
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opinion and I'm not even doing that
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based on where I come from and doing
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those exchange conversions no just a
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share percentage of the cost of living
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versus your earnings which housing will
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probably be your biggest expense there
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are other cost to factor in like
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groceries Transportation health care and
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utilities on average I'd say you need to
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earn around €2,500 to €3,000 a month to
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live comfortably though also I would say
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it depends on your lifestyle us as a
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family of three and before we settled in
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properly arranging all the necessary
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documents and registrations rent and
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daycare cost took the heaviest chunks
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out of our finances even though we were
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adequately prepared with a buffer of
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savings before moving daycare prices are
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insane if you want your child to attend
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daycare for uh uh the whole week then
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you're looking up up to 2,000 and
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upwards per month and that 2,000 is even
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on the affordable side so for starters
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we did two days a week with a cost of
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€1,100 per month but the good thing is
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for taxpaying or working Dutch citizens
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there are perks which are subsidies from
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the government to help ease this burden
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but without the necessary documentation
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like your BSN your permanent address and
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having work to do these things become
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inaccessible to you and you have to be
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paying all that I just mentioned from
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your pocket groceries well groceries can
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be manageable if you stick to budget
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stores like Leo H NATO Rama Audi and so
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on eating out is something we've learned
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to do less and less of because it's not
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cheap going to eat in the city center
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will set you back around 15 to €25 per
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person transport in the Netherlands well
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there's cycling so buying a bike will be
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one of the best investments you ever
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make and unless you have a big budget I
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would say also before you buy anything
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look on Mark plots for
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secondhand but if you're taking public
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transports especially and your monthly
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cost can be around 100 to €120 per
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person depending on how often you have
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to do inter city commute and then there
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is the bit also on insurance your
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utilities and other expenses if you
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previously didn't keep an eye on your
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spending wherever you lived before
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moving to the Netherlands then you will
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be forced to do that or learn that in in
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the
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Netherlands on the side of culture shock
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I would say by virtue of the fact that
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we've been coming here since 2017 um
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most of the surface or common ones did
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not hit me as much because I was mostly
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aware of them however as they say don't
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confuse tourism with immigration and so
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with that said living fully comes with a
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few things that you notice on a deeper
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level one of them is if you're coming to
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the Netherlands alone you may have to
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consider the possibility of the
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difficulty in finding real or a real
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Community or connections with people and
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there are some reasons to that breaking
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into the Dutch friendship Bubble can be
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quite the challenge Dutch friendship
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comfort and loyalty is built from
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childhood most of the time and Friends
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often grow up together sharing the kind
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of bond that doesn't make a lot of room
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for new friendships especially with
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foreigners because there's that aspect
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of The Language and Cultural adaptation
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as well another reason is the culture of
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efficiency may also have a part to play
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in this they are so structured in their
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ways that is not very flexible so if
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you're looking at from work to making
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time to being with your friends adding
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new commitments becomes a daunting chore
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for them most people speak English yes
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but it's always easier to make
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conversation in the language you're most
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comfortable in I knew a couple of people
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before moving here people I knew from
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Ghana they live in different cities and
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you would think that hey it's exciting
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you're you're going to see each other
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often then
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no time really flies when you have that
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strong structured routine before you
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know it few months have passed on the
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other culture shock was the discovery of
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an elaborate integration program I don't
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know if other European countries do this
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but I was pleasantly surprised by it one
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has to follow a well-curated integration
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program and plan customized to your
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education level and schedules spread
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across 3 years which has written exam in
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other elements like communal
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participation and so on at the end of
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all of this you have to be fully
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certified to have completed all to be
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considered fully integrated 6 months in
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and I'm beginning to understand better
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when I was told that settling in
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realistically takes about 2 years and I
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would say this that everyone's
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experience will be different of of
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course but there are certain aspects
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like you know finding a home and
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arranging your documents that almost
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everyone will face now while I'm
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extremely proud and feel very lucky to
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be in this position at the moment
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there's so much to navigate at the
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beginning of your state that a year goes
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by so fast without you realizing it then
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before you know it you're using another
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year to now learn to move from survival
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or that Primal state to beginning to
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imagine how to thrive if you're
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considering moving here or you're just
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curious about what it's really like well
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I hope you found something useful or
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some useful Insight in this particular
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video my name is kwami and don't forget
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to subscribe and like and comment share
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your experiences with me in the comment
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section and I'll catch you in the next
00:12:48
episode
