Relocation

The decision has been made, most everyone has been told, and now the real fun begins...actually moving a family of 5 overseas. Last time we moved to a foreign country, it was just me and Dan and 7 suitcases. We signed our rental contract from America, one week before we were scheduled to leave. I had never seen the apartment in person but hoped and prayed Dan had made a good choice(he did!). We arrived and somehow managed to stuff all of our suitcases and selves into our friend's tiny European car. We got to our beautiful, adorable apartment only to realize that Dutch apartments typically don't come with lights, so for the next three weeks we lived by candlelight and called it romance (hey, we were newlyweds!). We spent the next few months fumbling around, figuring out bikes, grocery stores, and immigration. It was a crazy time with lots of laughter and tears and great memories. Would I move abroad again like that with our current family size? Not in a million years!! So for me, this move had to be different or we were staying put and my children were just going to be raised saying y'all and wearing cowboy boots.

Things are VERY different and I thought I'd share a little about it. First of all, we have a relocation team. What does that even mean?! It means we have realtors, we have school specialists, we have an immigration firm, we have a shipping company, and we have a person assigned to us to help us through this transition. First the realtors, they help us find housing. They will take us around once we get there and show us houses and facilitate the whole leasing process, which is great because my Dutch is a little rusty, i.e. nonexistent  when it comes to legal jargon. We have 6 weeks temporary housing, which should be plenty of time to find a place. Next, the school specialist helps us find a school for the kids (because many do have waiting lists even though they are all public). She will also help the kids with basic Dutch phrases to get them started, (will you play with me? Give me that dolly. Why??...you know, all the things four-year olds need to say to play). Hopefully this will be a smooth transition for the kids and they will pick up their Dutch very quickly. We've already started watching Peppa Pig in Dutch, in preparation.

A big help is the immigration firm. They are handling all of our residency permit applications and they should all be ready for us once we arrive. This saves us from having to drag three kids, official paperwork that may or may not be correct, probably in the rain, onto a train to the immigration office, only to find out we messed it all up and have to start the process over. Immigration does not mess around.

Finally, the shipping company. Ahh the shipping company. My one non negotiable. I told Dan after we moved to Texas that the next time we moved, I was not packing a single box. I don't care if we moved next door, not gonna do it! We have moved four times in the past six years, two of those being international moves, and I am so done packing. Plus did I mention that with 3 little kids, whatever I put into the box, two items come out?? So that was my stipulation, hiring movers. Fortunately for us, that too is a part of the relocation package. movers will come and disassemble stuff and PACK MY ENTIRE HOUSE you guys!!! This is not a joke. I'm sure plenty of people have experienced this before but this is a huge deal. I literally do not have to pack a single thing. Silverware? They pack it. Bath towels? They pack it. Bookshelf? They pack it. Random junk drawer that may or may not contain stuff we've been looking for for months? PACKED!! And not only do they pack and ship it over on a boat...they unpack it and reassemble in our new place!!!!!! This has blown my mind and I just keep looking around my house thinking, "don't have to pack that. Don't have to pack that.boom!" Seriously, I hate packing, if you couldn't tell.

Everything has gone super smooth so far. We will see how it winds up on the other side but for now, this relocation is going great, which keeps my stress low and allows me to enjoy the rest of our time here and to look forward to our new adventure in Amsterdam.