Community Forums - Expatica

fayc

Feb 17 2009, 10:42 AM

hi all!
yes its me again having another rant

- looks like im fitting the english stereotype for being a winger

Anyway im living in Arnhem and not really liking it here much.
I come from newcastle and just dont think Arnhem is measuring up, but i think im suffering greatly from cultre shock - or maybe it really is just crap?
Does any1 else have experiences of arnhem? some of my husbands work mates live in ninmegen and say that ppl from Arnhem are wierd?
mine only seem to consist of bad experiences -
ppl are so unfriendly here, and even though most speak English they dont seem to want to.
There are homeless ppl everywhere
and also druggies - i live in centre of town and ppl take drugs in the doorway of my building and always hanging round looking for trouble or begging for money.
and to top it off yesterday i come home with my daughter to see some dutch guy kicking several shades of sh** out of some women - everyone just stood staring but nobody said or did anything, nobody tried to help or phone police or do anything! This upset me greatly so i just looked at these ppl staring and said "yes you are all staring and watching it happen but not one of you are willing to do something about it" - ( yes im one of those outspoken get on your nerves types) quickly ushered my daughter indoors to realise that some of the ppl i said all that too were some that lived in my building, whoops - oh well cant do anything about that now.
So then i go in the house to cry - bohoo i feel it coming on again!
i really miss England.

emilio416

Feb 17 2009, 12:21 PM

QUOTE (fayc @ Feb 17 2009, 09:42 AM)

hi all!
yes its me again having another rant

- looks like im fitting the english stereotype for being a winger

Anyway im living in Arnhem and not really liking it here much.
I come from newcastle and just dont think Arnhem is measuring up, but i think im suffering greatly from cultre shock - or maybe it really is just crap?
Does any1 else have experiences of arnhem? some of my husbands work mates live in ninmegen and say that ppl from Arnhem are wierd?
mine only seem to consist of bad experiences -
ppl are so unfriendly here, and even though most speak English they dont seem to want to.
There are homeless ppl everywhere
and also druggies - i live in centre of town and ppl take drugs in the doorway of my building and always hanging round looking for trouble or begging for money.
and to top it off yesterday i come home with my daughter to see some dutch guy kicking several shades of sh** out of some women - everyone just stood staring but nobody said or did anything, nobody tried to help or phone police or do anything! This upset me greatly so i just looked at these ppl staring and said "yes you are all staring and watching it happen but not one of you are willing to do something about it" - ( yes im one of those outspoken get on your nerves types) quickly ushered my daughter indoors to realise that some of the ppl i said all that too were some that lived in my building, whoops - oh well cant do anything about that now.
So then i go in the house to cry - bohoo i feel it coming on again!
i really miss England.

Nothing wrong with a culture shock! Certainly not coming from a lively city as Newcastle! It will take some time to adapt to the "Dutch ways" and, to be honest, you will never accept some of their weird things.
This being said, it seems you are living in the Spijkerbuurt, which has only two advantages, there are much less prostitutes then there used to be and it is in the process of being renovated. Still, I understand criminality, homeless people and druggies are still a problem. I can't advise you on that, except: try to move to another part of the city, even if it will take time.
There is nothing wrong with Arnhem. It's nice to walk along the river (rather spectacular sights), and the neighbourhood/vicinity is very green. There is a very interesting Open Air Museum where one can admire all the traditional Dutch buildings, a Museum (Bronbeek) with fine relics of the Dutch Colonial Army in what is now Indonesia (KNIL). Arnhem has just been designated as the city for the National Historic Museum of The Netherlands.
Don't believe the peeps from Nijmegen, there is a centuries old antagonism between these two cities. They accuse each other of all evils but in fact are very similar.
I wish you succes!

fayc

Feb 17 2009, 01:24 PM

cheers emilio
its good to have ppl to share things with- i have my fingers crossed for chances to move house in the futre!

stevecarver

Mar 26 2009, 04:05 PM

QUOTE (fayc @ Feb 17 2009, 09:42 AM)

hi all!
yes its me again having another rant :rolleyes: - looks like im fitting the english stereotype for being a winger :)
Anyway im living in Arnhem and not really liking it here much.
I come from newcastle and just dont think Arnhem is measuring up, but i think im suffering greatly from cultre shock - or maybe it really is just crap?
Does any1 else have experiences of arnhem? some of my husbands work mates live in ninmegen and say that ppl from Arnhem are wierd?
mine only seem to consist of bad experiences -
ppl are so unfriendly here, and even though most speak English they dont seem to want to.
There are homeless ppl everywhere
and also druggies - i live in centre of town and ppl take drugs in the doorway of my building and always hanging round looking for trouble or begging for money.
and to top it off yesterday i come home with my daughter to see some dutch guy kicking several shades of sh** out of some women - everyone just stood staring but nobody said or did anything, nobody tried to help or phone police or do anything! This upset me greatly so i just looked at these ppl staring and said "yes you are all staring and watching it happen but not one of you are willing to do something about it" - ( yes im one of those outspoken get on your nerves types) quickly ushered my daughter indoors to realise that some of the ppl i said all that too were some that lived in my building, whoops - oh well cant do anything about that now.
So then i go in the house to cry - bohoo i feel it coming on again!
i really miss England.

What an awful experience!! I have only been to Arnhem a few times..mostly to shop...and found it to be quite a charming place. That said, my main point of comparison is the city(!) of Tiel! Against Tiel, Arnhem felt like a cultural heaven!!

I was most recently in Arnhem for the Tina Turner concert (should I be embarassed to admit that?)...it took longer to get out of the car park and then the city than the length of the concert...including the 30 minute half time interval (bless her!! well she is about 120 years old!!)!!

GeekBagel

May 29 2009, 01:58 PM

Oh girl from England I SO know what you mean.

I live in Arnhem as well but not in the centure. But pretty close.

I don't find that people are in your face assholeish but more like, I wear a sense of pride for my ignorance on my face. To me it just seems like Arnhem is close but still way off from being as open-minded as Amsterdam or Rotterdam. I can't give you much insight into Niemegem because I have never really spent any substantial time there.

I'm 25 and I'm from NYC, so believe me, I know how much of a culture shock this place can be. Oh, the things we do for love...right? (moved her to be with my man)

be proud, be loud, let THEM get used to it!
~jess

mei

May 29 2009, 02:41 PM

I live in Arnhem and can see what you mean about the druggies and so on. Arnhem is one of those places with 2 quite different kinds of people and not very many in between! The well-to-do live (in general) certain areas in Arnhem Noord, the center is kind of a mix and the rest live in Arnhem Zuid (and you are probably familiar with people saying " Oh yeah, that bar is really Arnhem Zuid" and so on). So yeah, you see the well-to-do quiet sorts and the rest wear pink hoodies, have platinum blonde hair and ride annoying scooters ^^

I'm studying now so I get to meet lots of nice, 'normal' Dutch people:)

What area do you live in, fayc?

Emilio: The Spijkerbuurt is actually not a bad area now and houses there are pretty expensive (over 400 000 euro for a bovenwoning)

tareshen

May 29 2009, 04:10 PM

The only thing I know about Arnhem is their Peewee American football team is pretty good but their Cadets and Seniors teams suck. How their Senior team made it to first division, I'll never know.

emilio416

May 30 2009, 01:04 PM

QUOTE (mei @ May 29 2009, 02:41 PM)

Emilio: The Spijkerbuurt is actually not a bad area now and houses there are pretty expensive (over 400 000 euro for a bovenwoning)

Thank you for informing me.
When I visited Arnhem for the KNIL collection, the Spijkerbuurt was still in full transformation and my guide told me a lot of the problems. I'm glad this hood is now "upgraded".

fayc

Jun 16 2009, 09:52 AM

QUOTE (mei @ May 29 2009, 02:41 PM)

I live in Arnhem and can see what you mean about the druggies and so on. Arnhem is one of those places with 2 quite different kinds of people and not very many in between! The well-to-do live (in general) certain areas in Arnhem Noord, the center is kind of a mix and the rest live in Arnhem Zuid (and you are probably familiar with people saying " Oh yeah, that bar is really Arnhem Zuid" and so on). So yeah, you see the well-to-do quiet sorts and the rest wear pink hoodies, have platinum blonde hair and ride annoying scooters ^^

I'm studying now so I get to meet lots of nice, 'normal' Dutch people:)

What area do you live in, fayc?

Emilio: The Spijkerbuurt is actually not a bad area now and houses there are pretty expensive (over 400 000 euro for a bovenwoning)

central arnhem near cafe saint jan and the old post office