Adapting to the pace of life in England

Hi and thanks for the question.

We moved to the UK from the Netherlands:

• Harmonise pace of life?  We moved as a family and one of the important things we looked at before and as part of our move was to be able to do the things we did in Holland.  Our daughters were both into horse riding, and our son was really into sport, we could have lived anywhere in the UK and came up with the Yorkshire Dales as being able to offer what we wanted, plus the landscape is amazing.
• Biological rhythm?  Wasn't an issue for any of us, if anything moving from a busy town in the Netherlands to the rural life of the Dales was a major step up in our life.
• Sleeping habits.  I have a sleeping disorder that was first diagnosed just after we moved to the UK; it was treated at the time by the UK National Health Service (NHS) and still is today.  If anything my sleep has improved since we moved.
• Shopping?  My wife is a shopaholic; she thought she had moved to paradise with many shops in the UK open 7 days a week which really suited her shift pattern as a nurse.  Culturally, there is not a great deal of difference between the UK and NL.
• Working hours were vastly different.  In the UK I was expected to work in line with the needs of the business, if that meant working evenings/weekends, then so be it; if you had a management role, you were expected to know and not need telling that there was work to be done.  On the plus side, if I needed time off, not a problem.  In the Netherlands, for many people, life revolves around the CAO for your profession - generally Mon > Fri, 9 till 5; if you didn't have one, then it was very similar to the UK.

We are frequent travellers to and from the Netherlands; we have family and many friends who live there.  We were going to go back when I retired, but a diminishing family, plus all our kids married/settled down in the UK and our grandkids are here, so we decided to spend our retirement pot on making our Yorkshire home our forever home.

There is a light side to this, hearing my son speak Dutch with a Yorkshire accent is hilarious, although my wife cringes.  His sisters are true dual nationals, whatever language they speak (like their Mum, they speak 3 fluently), they adapt to the local dialect.  Me, I speak Dutch like a native, of Istanbul, so I'm probably better off in Yorkshire.

If there is one thing above all the things an Expat encounters, learning the local language is always the most important aspect; if you can do that, all the other stuff becomes so much easier.

Hey Cynic,

Thank you for sharing your wonderful journey in such thorough detail, addressing each of the questions I have asked. Your willingness to provide such insight is truly appreciated. It's clear that your move from the Netherlands to the UK was driven by thoughtful consideration of various factors.

Your family's transition seems to have been well-planned, from ensuring that your children's interests to adapting to the different pace of life.

There is a light side to this, hearing my son speak Dutch with a Yorkshire accent is hilarious,

Whenever you bring this up, I consistently attempt to picture it.

Thank you again for your constant contribution to the forum.

Cheers,

Cheryl