New members of the England forum, introduce yourselves here - 2026

Hi everyone,

I’m Giza Rani Louis from India. I’m a digital marketing professional with a strong interest in technology, education, and online business growth. I enjoy working on content creation, SEO, and helping promote training programs in the IT field.

Currently, I’m exploring opportunities to connect with international communities and learn more about career possibilities and lifestyle in England. I’m especially interested in understanding the tech and education sector there.

I’m happy to be part of this forum and would love to connect with others, share experiences, and learn from your journeys.

@Julien

Hello,

I am Stephen Rutherford. My Brazilian wife (Solange) & I have relocated to the UK for our retirement after many happy years in The Netherlands.

We chose Bury St. Edmunds as it is close to countryside for my cycling off-road and the City has some good facilities that Sol values.

We are quietly establishing ourselves socially by joining clubs and volunteering. My family is not far away.

We are planning to be 'Tourists' in our own country as well as within Europe and South America.

I would like to connect with Dutch speakers so that I do not lose all of my hard earned mediocre Nederlands Taal.

Mvg,

Steve

@Julien
Hello,
I am Stephen Rutherford. My Brazilian wife (Solange) & I have relocated to the UK for our retirement after many happy years in The Netherlands.
We chose Bury St. Edmunds as it is close to countryside for my cycling off-road and the City has some good facilities that Sol values.

We are quietly establishing ourselves socially by joining clubs and volunteering. My family is not far away.
We are planning to be 'Tourists' in our own country as well as within Europe and South America.
I would like to connect with Dutch speakers so that I do not lose all of my hard earned mediocre Nederlands Taal.

Mvg,

Steve - @srsrutherg

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

It looks like you're in a similar situation to us.  I'm a Brit, my wife is Dutch, and we moved to the UK 30 years ago with my job, but before that, we lived in Holland (Enschede), we're both Dutch speakers, although mine is nowhere near my wife.  I'm now retired, my wife (NHS nurse) has a couple of years before she can hang up her stethoscope.  I'm lucky that we still have family in Holland so are there frequently to keep my Dutch up to a reasonable level and I talk to my dog in Dutch (my wife and neighbours thinks I'm nuts).

Where we differ significantly is we live in North Yorkshire (aka Gods County), which is almost 200 miles from you guys, so popping round for 'n Beetje gezelligheid is really out of the question.

However, if you have any questions about the transition to the UK, please don't hesitate to ask.  I can confirm that we have totally failed to find a reliable source of hagelslag here in the UK.

I hope this helps

Cynic

Expat Team

Hello Stephen,

Welcome to Expat.com 😊

I hope you manage to connect with some Dutch speakers here and keep your “mediocre Nederlands” alive! haha

If you want to discuss anything, feel free to start a new thread on the England forum.

Wishing you and Solange all the best with this new chapter.

Cheers,

Cheryl

Expat.com team