Museums
and Galleries
A trip
to a museum is a popular
outing for the Dutch,
perhaps combined with
coffee and cake in the
local café afterwards.
There are over 600 museums
in the Netherlands, covering
every topic imaginable.
Art, Music, Transportation,
Nature, History, whatever
your interests, there
is bound to be a museum
to intrigue you. Many
are very child friendly.
It is possible to buy
a Museumjaarkaart
giving you free entry
to over 400 museums for
one year. It can be obtained
immediately at most major
museums and costs just
€ 35 (€15 for
anyone under 25 years
old).
Nederland Museumland
is a guide, listing over
1100 museums, castles
and other sites by area.
It gives the opening times,
prices, and whether the
museumjaarkaart or discounts
apply. It is in Dutch,
but if you know the days
of the week and a few
other words you will be
able to decipher the information
you might need.
Libraries
There
is a wide choice of public
libraries called openbare
bibliotheek. You
can become a member and
borrow books for a small
annual fee (children are
free).
The Centrale Bibliotheek
of the Gemeente Den Haag
allows you to consult
its books on the spot
for free.
Openbare Bibliotheek
: Spui 68, The Hague Tel.070
3534455 has a good selection
of English books and special
section for children.
The music departments
of the libraries may require
proof of identity.
Your town hall will provide
you with the telephone
number of the public libraries
in the city where you
live and you will often
be amazed at the wide
range of English books
on display.
The American Women’s
Club and the British Club
in The Hague have two
important private libraries.
American Women’s
Club Library: Nieuwe Duinweg
25 Tel.070 3506007
British Club Library:
Plein 24 Tel. 070 3461973
Special libraries possess
specialised collections
and can be of great value
to students conducting
research. An increasing
number of these special
libraries are making their
collections accessible
through the Internet.
For example, the Royal
Library (Koninklijke Bibliotheek
) is the national library
of the Netherlands and
has two versions of its
catalogue available on
the Internet. The Royal
Tropical Institute (Koninklijk
Instituut voor de Tropen
- KIT) in Amsterdam owns
an extensive library with
collections on the issues
and problems of developing
countries. Its public
catalogue is available
on the Internet. KIT Library
& Information Services
offer one of the world
largest collections of
scientific and popular
books, periodicals, articles
and maps concerning developing
countries.
For reference, the book
‘Here’s Holland’
by Sheila Gazaleh-Weevers
gives an extensive list
of all libraries.
Arts
and Crafts
Enhancing
creativity
The Dutch are fond of
hobbies and you will undoubtedly
find people who share
your interests. If your
activity requires a great
deal of equipment, think
carefully about bringing
it, as you might not have
the storage space in a
traditional Dutch house.
Also beware that the instructions
for locally purchased
crochet or knitting packs,
needlework patterns, craft
sets will very often be
in Dutch only! The needles
are sized in millimeters
and the fabric is measured
in the metric system.
The following craft shops
stock a good selection
of tools and supplies
for a wide variety of
arts and crafts:
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•
Artifac
• De Vulpen
• Goedman |
Noordwal
17, The Hague 070
346 1800
F. Hendricklaan 179,
The Hague: 070 355
6067
Molenstraat 43, The
Hague 070 3638303
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Facilities
Gallery Wapiti
Marconistraat 10
2562 JD Den Haag
Tel: +31 (0) 70 3107372
Opening times: Thursday,
Friday and Saturday from
11.00-18.00hrs
Clubs/Associations
The numerous
international clubs of
The Hague offer membership
of various creative activity
groups for a small fee
or for free once you have
paid your annual membership.
Sports
Starting
up a new life in a foreign
country is clearly a challenge.
We need as much help/support
as possible and we need
to “ fit in”
as soon as possible. A
really good way can be
to join a fitness/sport
club. Check the Gouden
Gids (Yellow pages) in
the blue index Onderwerpenindex
under Sport for details.
Dutch people are enthusiastic
sports players. Cycling,
swimming, tennis, hockey,
football, golf are particularly
popular. Each sport is
represented by an association
(vereniging). Contact
the association representing
the sport in order to
get all the information
you may need. For a better
orientation have a look
at the Town Hall web site:
www.denhaag.com.
There is also Sport Infoline
from A to Z that you can
call from Monday to Friday
08:00-17:00 hrs, in order
to have all kinds of information
regarding your favorite
sport: “De Sport-info-lijn:
voor sport vragen van
A - Z telefoonnummer:
Tel: (070) 353 7272. E-mail:
sportinfo@denhaag.nl
Social
Clubs and Organizations
There
is a vast choice of clubs,
associations and international
communities in and around The Hague.
They are really active
and always looking for
new members. Here some
examples:
The Hague area
The British Club
Nieuwe Duinweg 25
2587 AB Den Haag
Tel: 070 3461973
Email: office@bwclubthehague.demon.nl
Website:
http://www.bwclubthehague.demon.nl/
Canadian Women's
Club
P.O. Box 89 2240
AB Wassenaar
Tel: 070 3456096
Connecting Women
The Hague
Tel: 070 365 25 43
Website: http://www.connectingwomen.nl/
Amité Club
de la Haye
Tel: 070 3870112
Deutscher Klub in
den Niederlanden
P.O. Box 65786, 2506
EB The Hague
Tel: 070 3914107 Fax:070
354750
Website: www.deutscherklub.nl
German Library
Deutsche Bibliothek The
Hague
Witte de Withstraat 31-33
2518 CP
Tel: 070 3559762 Fax:
070 3559762
International Women's
Contact
Vierloper 10 P.O.Box:
84 404 The Hague
Tel: 070-355 8863
Petroleum Wives Club
P.O. Box 655 2240
AT Wassenaar
Tel: 070 358 8257 Fax:
070 511 6342
L'Acceuil des Francophones de La Haye
Postbus 17156
2502 CD Den Haag
www.accueillahaye.com
Alliance Française
de La Haye
Kettingstraat 2 2511
AN The Hague
Tel: 070 3621523 Fax:
070 3621743
American Women's Club
Nieuwe Duinweg 25
2578 AB The Hague
Tel: 070 3506007
Australian and New
Zealand Women's Club
anzwcnetherlands@hotmail.com
www.anzwc.nl
The Decorative & Fine Arts Society of The
Hague
The Hague Tel: 070 3246763
The Hague International
Network
Koningskade 30 2596 AA
The Hague
Tel: 070 3062211 Fax:
070 3587921
Theotherhalf
www.theotherhalf.info
Amitie-Club De La Haye
www.lahayeaccueil.com
Club Scandinavia
www.clubscandinavia.com International Cultural Exchange (ICE)
www.icenl.org
ITC Club Clingendael
www.itc-europe.org
Netherlands English Scrabble Club
www.nesc.nl
TheHagueOnLine Social Club
www.thehagueonline.com
Toastmasters of The Hague
www.toastmasters.nl
Anglo-American Theatre Group
www.aatg.nl
Images International Photography Club
www.imagephotoclub.com
South African Expats
http://www.sawcnl.com/
Legal Aliens - Expats Social Group
http://www.legalaliens.eu/
Nigeria Shell Community in The Hague (NSCH)
Contact Mr Segun Edun
E-mail: segun.edun@shell.com
Tel: 070 447 4562 Mob: 06 1097 4562
Rotterdam area
In Touch
www.intouchnl.com
Pickwick Women's Club of Rotterdam
English speaking womens club
www.welcome.to/pickwick
Leiden area
Leiden Expats Club
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Leidenexpats/
Delft area
Delft Mama - Support Group for International Mothers in Delft www.delftmama.nl
Information for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender
Generally speaking, the Dutch are very tolerant. The following websites give information about meeting, going out and support for the homosexual community in The Hague area:
www.gaydenhaag.nl
Lesbian Community in The Hague www.listening-in.com/LCthehague/
Shell Networks (available within the internal Shell network only)
Pink Pearl - The Shell Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Network (GLBTN). Website: sww.shell.com/nl/glbtn
AWARE (At Work As Responsible Employees) is a Shell employee driven network focused on stress reduction, improving self-awareness and interpersonal effectiveness by offering yoga and meditation based learning tools. The AWARE network activities are open to all Shell staff and have benefited over 300 employees in Shell so far. For more information: lise.cairns@shell.com (for Shell employees only).
Young Shell Network
sww-sn.shell.com/youngshell
Workshops and Courses
Kreative Synapses helps you find your inner spark www.kreativesynapses.nl
Need Computer or Web Courses www.megasuwito.nl
Sculpting courses www.anatratzabi.nl
Expatriate Archive Centre workshops
www.xpatarchive.com
Access Job Club Series workshops www.access-nl.org
International Art Club in The Hague www.internationalartclubdenhaag.nl
Course on International Politics at the Clingendael Institute. The course is open to anyone with a specific interest in international political developments, more specifically for spouses and partners of those who will be working in international positions. The lectures are given in Dutch. For more information see http://www.clingendael.nl/cdsp/training/cip/
Photography courses: www.thefotofactory.nl
Presentation Skills workshop: www.metamorphosisconsulting.nl
WINE FOR FUN www.wineforfun.nl
Art classes, Design classes, Birthday parties hivonck@hotmail.com / 070-364 25 45
Writing and Career workshops: www.thebookcooks.com
Writer's workshops: www.englishbookshop.nl
Parent Education workshops: passionateparenting@gmail.com
Tap dancing: olivia.parker@britishschool.nl
Communication courses: www.powertalkinternational.com
Jewellery making classes: hybridgems@hotmail.com / 06-532 62 022
Going
out
Restaurants
The international atmosphere
of The Hague is reflected
in the many restaurants
with their French, Japanese,
Italian, Mexican, Greek,
Chinese and Indonesian
cuisine. Well over twenty
nationalities, each with
their own cuisine, are
represented in The Hague.
One of the liveliest parts
of The Hague is the historic
district around Denneweg.
The small stores, galleries
and antique shops can
be visited during the
day and the many cafe’s
and restaurants offer
plenty of opportunities
for an evening out.
For a more comprehensive
list of restaurants see
the following links:
List of restaurants in
The Hague: www.denhaag.com
List of restaurants in
the Netherlands: www.iens.nl/english
Theatres
Please note that
most theatres in The Netherlands
have performances in Dutch.
The following ones are just
an example:
Cinemas
The largest cinema
chain is Pathe. Please
see their website: www.pathe.nl.
You can book a reservation
on line. Movies are shown
in the native language
and subtitled in Dutch.
Another option is Filmhuis
Den Haag (foreign language
films with Dutch sub-titles):
www.filmhuisdenhaag.nl
For the complete list
of cinemas check: www.holland.com
Night clubs
Nightclubs change regularly
therefore check: www.denhaag.com
for the latest up to date
information.
Shopping
Leidsenhage - shopping center in Leidschendam www.leidsenhage.nl
Jumbo - Big outlet in the "Kop van Zuid" (Rotterdam) open 7 days a week www.jumbosupermarkten.nl
Agency offering VAT free shopping in The Netherlands: if you are a resident outside Europe and visiting The Netherlands you can claim back the VAT: www.vatfree.nl
Online shopping service for British expats and their families living abroad: www.expatessentials.com
Dutch Promotional Gifts www.dutchheritage.eu
Portrait / Family Photographer: Jacques Studios www.jacquesstudios.com
Antique furniture: www.cachotantiek.nl (Shell employees are offered a 10% discount)
British food supplies: Thomas Green www.thomasgreen.nl (Shell employees are offered a 5% discount)
English language books on The Netherlands www.hollandbooks.nl
Products from Iran: Gazaar, Boekhorststraat 50, phone 070-380 79 80
Website for recommended shopping in The Hague: www.virtualtourist.com
International newspapers and magazines: www.bobbe-online.nl
Travel
Out and
about inThe Netherlands
Check what is on offer
within The Netherlands
by visiting the Outpost
office. A calendar of
events is available, plus
plenty of places to visit,
from quaint villages,
to museums, activity parks
and much more.
It is also useful to visit
the Dutch Tourist Association
(VVV) office. There is
one in every city:
• Stationsplein
10, 1012 AB Amsterdam
Tel: 0900 4004040
• Hofweg 1, The
Hague Tel: 0900 34035051
• Coolsingel 67,
3012 AC Rotterdam Tel:
0900 4034065
and you will find touring
maps, restaurant and theatre
guides and lots more.
Also check: www.holland.com
Children
Boarding School/University Club
For boarding school club activities during the Summer please email Jane Denby at janedenby@hotmail.com .
Bumps and Baby Group every Friday 10.30 – 12.30 hrs
Held at Church of St John & St Philip (the English Church situated on the corner of Ary van der Spuyweg and Rioustraat)
Courses for Children
Workshops for Children
Haags Kinderatelier organizes workshops around the themes: art, fashion, design and architecture for children and teenagers www.haagskinderatelier.nl
Courses for parents
Parent Education workshops: passionateparenting@gmail.com
Courses for parents and babies (3 months to walking)
Babies sing, babies dance! www.katjamaria.com
Baby signing classes: kandfcurtis@planet.nl / 070-354 75 42
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