Moving to the US? You have a page about moving to the US? Why? Well, that’s probably what most people will be thinking when they first read this. But as you may know, my family and I are seriously going to make the move to the US in a few years. There is also a lot of stuff I have been thinking about. Not just the things we need to plan, arrange, sort out and what not. No, there’s so much more to think about. You see, I really don’t like The Netherlands that much. So, yes, I will be happy to move to the States. But I will also miss plenty of things. Truly.

Things I am looking forward to:
1. More Mexican food products
2. Amici’s (pizzeria)
3. Starbucks, frappuccinos and hazelnut hot chocolate
4. Borders (bookstore)
5. Job opportunities
6. The American language
7. Palm trees, beach and blue skies
8. Seeing old friends again (and more often)
9. Being able to enjoy American release dates for movies, books and games.
10. Thanksgiving
11. Halloween
12. Christmas with Santa
13. All kinds of Cornflakes
14. Bottles of water (Arrowhead and Spring!)
15. Wal Mart, Sears, CostCo and tons of other warehouses and supermarkets
16. The endlessly blue skies in California
17. Beach and surfing!
18. Ivy League universities
19. I no longer would have so suffer from the low Dollar. Right now, I get some income in Dollars and I have nothing left compared to a few years ago. I won’t have this problem when I actually live in the States.

Things I definitely will miss:
1. My mom, if she does not come along with us.
2. Some family members. Most of them I won’t miss at all. Probably because none of them care to visit or contact me. And I’m not even that far away from them. But I will miss some family members.
3. Some friends. I won’t miss everyone. It’s very simple. I ‘lost’ some of my friends because they just don’t try to keep in touch. So I also stopped trying. I’ve got a life of my own and I don’t think it’s all up to me to keep the friendship going. Another reason I won’t ‘miss’ my friends, is because I know most of them online.
4. I will miss being able to talk to most of my family and friends during the day. When we’ll move, the time difference will be 8-9 hours. When it’s 12am PST, it is 9pm GMT+1 (Netherlands). This makes it harder to call and chat with family and friends.
5. Dutch bread (It’s actually a good product here. It’s not sweet or anything)
6. Dutch cheese (we have a lot of cheese, I tried some in the States, they do not compare to ours)
7. Sinterklaas, mostly for my son. When he’s old enough to understand what Sinterklaas is all about, we will be moving to another culture, without Sinterklaas.
8. Being pregnant in The Netherlands. I myself don’t like the idea of giving birth at home. But in The Netherlands, people don’t stare with disbelief when you say you will give birth at home. It’s quite common.
9. Dutch Carnaval, again for my son. Carnaval in The Netherlands is nothing like carnival in the States.
10. Being able to use your normal debit card *everywhere* for every day stuff like groceries and shopping.
11. The fact that you are free to choose to go to church or not. I’m a Christian. But I really don’t want to go to church once a week. I respect all the people who do, don’t get me wrong. I just don’t want to be pushed when it comes to my religion and how I practice that certain religion.
12. Stroopwafels, Dutch syrup waffles
13. Hagelslag and other products from De Ruyter. I don’t use them often, but my family members do.
14. Salmiak and salty liquorice, we have loads of that here. And I’m going to miss that a lot.
15. Beschuit met muisjes, ‘Dutch rusks with little mice’, is something we make and pass out to visitors when a new baby is born. It’s a tradition to serve this to celebrate the baby’s birth. But we sometimes like to eat it, even if there isn’t a birth.
16. Vlaai, some sort of sweet pastry pie and filling
17. Tompouce, pastry
18. Oliebollen, deep-fryed dough we have on New Year’s Eve
19. Stamppot, Mash Pot with Rookworst
20. HEMA, Xenos, Zeeman, Wibra, Prenatal, C&A, Miss Etam - Dutch warehouses and clothing stores

My list is not finished!