We have accents now!

My wife, Annike, and I moved to the Netherlands in mid-March. It was an overwhelming experience but so exciting at the same time. The Dutch culture just blew us away in terms of their friendliness and how welcome they made us feel.

We recently went to a market in our city. We tried conversing in Dutch and the community was patient with us and commented on our accents. Weird, we have accents now! 

Anyway, at the market, we were able to purchase quite a few products at a decent price, and the merchants were so happy and friendly. They patiently helped us with our purchases. We still need to learn to say "Kun je misschien iets langzamer praten". 

Also, public transport is awesome! The Netherlands makes it extremely easy for us to go to new places and it’s really nice not to sit in traffic for a change! We are looking at buying "fietsen" this month. Then we can immerse ourselves properly in the culture!

• Riaan Vorster, Software Developer