Moving to Ireland from Russia through The Netherlands
Two years have passed since I moved to Europe. I’d spent nearly two years in The Netherlands and moved to Ireland. Now, after three months in Dublin, I want share my impressions. I believe, three months is a good period after which you have something to say: it is enough time to get to know your landlord, to pay your first bills, and the city center doesn’t seem to be a tourist spot anymore—most of the tourist stereotypes get broken.
I went through a culture shock in The Netherlands first, even though I’m very open to anything new. The first thing I learned was the weather. Fast moving clouds, really strong wind, and long drizzling rain. And it is all while pedaling a bike, fortunately, wearing a raincoat. The second thing was people. Europeans are thought by Russians to be kind and smiling, and this is certainly true, but not always, especially while negotiating. There are a lot of possibilities for miscommunication, so you need to be extremely precise, determined, and polite.
Speaking of reasons to leave The Netherlands, I am an amateur trail runner, and I’d always been starving for a hilly surface with picturesque views. I never had plans to settle down there and never focused on learning Dutch. In time I got increasing feeling of being alienated, distantiated from a place where you could reach your goals. Yet, I didn’t find an interesting project the main focus of which would lie in a technology. With these thoughts I decided to move on, to the West side, either to the US or Ireland.
I remember The Netherlands as a country full of fields and canals and where there were more bikes than people, and you can easily get to anywhere by bike using a developed network of bike lanes.
Before relocating to Ireland, I dug into this website, which covers almost all possible topics including the most important: two tap sinks and immersion; so that I can’t say I experienced a tourist shock afterward.
The relocation process wasn’t complicated formally. It could be a bit simpler if I’d had a slightly longer Dutch residence permit. In my case, I had to leave The Netherlands and submit documents for a visa in Russia. First of all, we, my employer and I, made an employment permit which was sent to me by post later. Russian post is extremely slow, and we had to wait three weeks to get it delivered. Finally, I submitted my foreign passport with the original employment permit and other documents in the Irish embassy, and just after four days I got a visa. Note, after arriving, everyone has to register in Immigrations and obtain a Long Stay Visa, PPS number, GNIB and PSC card, so it is crucial to arrange appointments beforehand due to a very long queue. More information: here and here. I learned it from my experience when I wasn’t able to receive my Dutch salary for three months because I couldn’t open a bank account without a Citizen Number (BSN).
When I arrived in Dublin the first time (in fact, it was a half year ago before this moving,) it smelled like fried chicken, and I sort of thought “if Amsterdam smells like weed, Dublin must have its own smell, too.” People around spoke English, and I felt like in a motherland. Lots of parks and grass where you can sit very casually: Irish people can sit and do sit everywhere. The same weather that I got used to in The Netherlands. No need to translate ingredients in grocery shops anymore. Way more advanced online government systems, almost everywhere you can arrange an appointment online — the introvert’s paradise. I can’t say that medical services are better or worse; so far so good in my case, and I can get an MRI of my “runner” knee done finally. The magnificence of the island is beyond any description. It is a wonder of the Nature. There are so many places to relax and enjoy silence, sea waves, and the wind.
In conversations, I sometimes hear that The Netherlands might be a better place to live, but I put it this way “One never really likes it where he is” meaning there is no perfect place and country, especially if you have never been there or been only as a tourist.
Finishing my tell, I want to say the only things I miss are a) bike lanes and b) a respectful attitude to cyclists from drivers. And, of course, hot water; having to wait for immersion is the previous century!
