Dutched Up! Book Review: Jo Parfitt, She Say Yes!

It's always a bit nerve wracking when you ask someone you respect to review a book. It's always a bit of a gamble when you ask someone who is a bit of a celebrity in the expat writing world to take a look at an expat anthology and then give her honest opinion. But that's what happened recently when Olga of The European Mama asked Jo Parfitt to take a peek at the Dutched Up! book.

And it's a bit like waiting for the man from Del Monte......




Luckily Jo Parfitt, she say yes too!

"I loved it. I devoured every story. They were compelling, well-written and entertaining."

Jo has more than thirty books to her name and is one of the Summertime Publishing team members. She provided me with the springboard I needed to follow my passion to become a writer when I attended one of her workshops in a beautiful farmhouse in Voorschoten many years ago - the rest, as they say, is history. And as it was with Jo that my writing career started, I felt particularly honoured to also get a mention in the review.

"I'm a grumpy and cynical old goat, jaded too, from reviewing too many mediocre books, but this one, I promise you, is a goodie."

Jo Parfitt, Dutched Up! Review

So, if you have not yet got your hands on your own copy of Dutched Up! it's really time you did. Seriously. Don't take my word for it...... read what Jo has to say over on Summertime Publishing.


 

Dutched Up! is also available on Book Depository!

Amsterdam Mamas 'Dutched Up! Rocking the Clogs Expat Style' Book Review

I am chuffed to bits that Amsterdam Mamas has published a review of our expat anthology about expat life in the Netherlands, "Dutched Up! Rocking the Clogs Expat Style".

I am even more chuffed to bits that it's the type of review that makes an author feel warm and squidgy inside.

And the icing on the cake is that my piece about welcoming kraamzorg into my home was something that Robyn Grafton, who reviewed the book, could relate to.

"..... and sentimental tears of happiness over a description of the kraamzorg service, reminding me about my first week of motherhood and my own amazing kraamverzorgster. By the time I turned over the last page, I felt I had just been enjoying a kopje koffee with some girlfriends, swapping stories about our lives in the Netherlands. Can a book feel gezellig? Zeker weten!"

So without further ado, head on over to Amsterdam Mamas and read Dutched Up! Book Review in its entirety for yourself......... and then buy the book!


               

Sinterklaas Present Tip - Get Dutched Up!

Sinterklaas is weer in het land! So it's time to get your thinking caps on and fill those shoes! Get Dutched up! for that expat or Dutchie in your life.......

"Dutched Up! is a compilation of stories from Expat Women Bloggers living in the Netherlands. The book covers a wide range of topics about everyday life as seen through the eyes of a foreigner. Some are funny. Others have a wealth of professional information. Yet other stories are sad, shocking or surprising. 

There is one thing we can guarantee about this book. If you have ever lived in the Netherlands, at least one story in it will resonate with you. In all likelihood, there are a lot of stories that will sound familiar and have you nodding your head in agreement or shaking it in shared frustration. This book will help you appreciate the many moments of beauty, learning and growing."

Get Dutched Up! for Sinterklaas

If you go down to the ABC bookshop in The Hague today you're sure to get a surprise.

If you go down to the book shop today you won't believe your eyes.

Dutched Up! is there adorning the shelves in the company of some amazing expat books.

If you can't make it to The Hague then you can also grab yourself a copy with a few strokes of your keyboard:

 

Or if you live local to Zoetermeer than you can get a copy from me.

With Sinterklaas fast approaching this book makes a great gift for the expat in your life - as well as all your Dutch friends!

Algemeen Dagblad Interview: Expats in Zoetermeer

Yesterday's edition of The Hague's Algemeen Dagblad featured an article about the growing number of expats in Zoetermeer. I was contacted on Thursday to ask if I would answer a few questions on the topic. One thing led to another and on Friday a photographer came around to take a picture. The photo session involved Colman's mustard, Marmite, English tea, a copy of Dutched Up!: Rocking the Clogs Expat Style, British teaspoons, a blanket adorned with the British flag and a plastic British. It was mind blowingly weird. 

This was the result.......

Watch this space for more on this!

Dutched Up! is Now a Real Live Book

Yes, it's a little like Gepetto waving Pinnochio around but this is more about 'e-book into real live paper hold in your hand book' than it is about 'wooden puppet into a real live boy'.

I am so excited to announce that you can now get your hands on a copy of Dutched Up! as a paperback book. Of course, reading it on your Kindle was fun but in my humble opinion nothing beats holding an actual real book in your hands.

The authors of Dutched Up! have been collectively holding their breath in anticipation over the past few months as the printing process went on behind the scenes. But we are (you'll be glad to know) all breathing once more as the books rolled hot off the presses into our grubby little hands.

And of course you'll all be wondering where on earth you can get your own grubby mitts on a copy of this wonderful book, this collaboration of literary geniuses telling expat life like it is in the Netherlands, this showpiece for expat life, this collection of...... you get the picture. Read on for a list pf places you can get hold of a copy.......

But first - who needs this book? Well, it's a book you need to have on your bookshelf if:

• you are an expat in the Netherlands
• you are soon to be an expat in the Netherlands
• you could at some point in the future be an expat in the Netherlands
• you want to be an expat in the Netherlands
• you dream of becoming an expat in the Netherlands
• you know an expat in the Netherlands
• you have a friend who knows an expat in the Netherlands
• you are Dutch and wonder how female expats experience life in the Netherlands
• you have any kind of tenuous link to the Netherlands and want to read about life in the Netherlands
• you like reading about expat life
• you life reading about the Netherlands
• you love reading funny, poignant, interesting and informational stories
• you like reading
• you like filling your bookshelves with beautiful books
• you have eyes

Convinced? Ok - here's where to head for your very own copy:

• The American Book Center in The Hague or Amsterdam

• Online at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

• Or from Bol.com

• And last but not least - if you are local to Zoetermeer then get in touch as I have a few spare copies to sell! 

Time to Really Get Dutched Up!

Dutched Up! is now available in paperback. It's a real live book! And I couldn't be more chuffed!

Oh wait, I could be more chuffed - if you actually go out and buy it!

Watch this space for more information on where you can get your hands on Dutched Up! or if you can't wait (which I could understand) check out the Expat Life with a Double Buggy Facebook page for buying options.

Why Dutch Doctors Are Stingy with the Drugs

Dutch doctors have a notorious reputation amongst expats as being a tad stingy with dishing out pills. No matter what ailment you drag yourself to the doctor with the answer to your problem is invariably paracetamol. (There is a fabulous chapter in Dutched Up!: Rocking the Clogs Expat Style on this topic written by the wonderful Lynn Morrison which you need to read!)

Until I moved to the Netherlands I really had no idea about all the different varieties you can get paracetamol in - factors pertaining to strength, format (i.e. where you can stick it) and target group. A whole new paracetamol world opened up to me when I became an expat here in the Netherlands.

I also learnt that if you want a Dutch doctor to take you serious you must have already gone down the paracetamol road. Otherwise don't dare to darken his or her doorstep with your ailments.

Photo Credit: Richard Dunstan

However, when you are in pain, really in pain, the kind of pain that leaves you hobbling in to your doctor's office in tears, your pain will be rewarded. I was recently prescribed diclofenac for the pain caused by what my doctor thought was a possible hernia - and told to take it with paracetamol three times a day. (Paracetamol is never replaced, it just gains a friend to join it along the road of pain.)

I took diclofenac and lo and behold I felt no more pain. I could walk again. However by day five I felt like a bus had side swiped me. My head throbbed, I felt like someone had blown me up like a balloon. My stomach cramped and ached. I constantly felt like I was going to vomit and I felt so damn tired.

So I stopped with the pills. And carried on with paracetamol only. And a little over twenty four hours later I felt more like myself again, and was almost pain free.

Two weeks ago my husband had keyhole surgery on his knee. He can't take the usually prescribed naproxen which is prescribed in these 'pain' situations as the side effects make him very ill, usually feeling much worse than the ailment itself so instead the surgeon prescribed him morphine based pain relief.

Which make him sleepy and irritable and which play havoc with his stomach some days. He also keeps scratching himself like a flea ridden monkey - but his post-surgery pain is considerably reduced.

If you read up about the drugs I have mentioned above you may (or may not) be alarmed to read warnings about usage and an increased risk of a stroke or heart attack, or fatal stomach or intestinal bleeding. The long list of possible common side effects for each pain relief medication leave your eyes bulging and mind boggling.

Photo Credit: Niels Rameckers

Oh! Wait a minute.... is this perhaps, maybe, possibly, why Dutch doctors don't dish out these pills like sweets? Maybe, just maybe, this is why Dutch doctors make you try everything else first......and save the strong stuff as a last resort. Maybe. Just maybe.

What is the trend with doctors where you live - pill happy or stingy with the meds?

Expat Life Means Throwing Your Plans Out the Window

It won't be news to anyone but life doesn't always turn out like you expect it to. If someone had told my seventeen year old self that I would end up living in the Netherlands with a Dutch husband and three children who are way more Dutch than they ever will be British, I would never have believed them. I would have been intrigued, but convinced? I don't think so.

Whilst I was making plans for my future, fresh out of university with a degree in European Studies, someone, somewhere was sniggering saying, "Well, I doubt you'll be needing any of that - maybe you should have tried learning Dutch. That's a language you will be using daily when you are 27." But how was I to know?

Expat life is planned for some, it sneaks up on others. Either way, it probably means life as you envisioned it doesn't quite become a reality. Expat life changes things - and sometimes that means a huge adjustment. Expat life can throw a spanner in the works. All the things you imagined for yourself in life can turn out so differently, in the blink of an expat eye.

It's a feeling I touched upon in a chapter I wrote about my Dutch wedding in the Dutched Up!: Rocking the Clogs Expat Style anthology. I had visions when I was younger of me trying on wedding dresses with my best friend at my side. I always figured my mother would also be a part of that build up to my wedding day. Together we'd be sipping bubbly while trawling through a range of dresses to find the perfect one for my big day.

My final choice of wedding dress

The reality was very different. Both my best friend and my mother were in England and I was here in the Netherlands. I actually put off looking for a dress for a while, and I guess it should have been one of the first things on my mind. At the time it wasn't a conscious decision to keep putting the visit to the bridal shop off, but looking back, I understand why I was more reluctant than I should have been to try wedding dresses on. It's the little things that suddenly slap you in the face and make you realise that expat life means sacrificing some things to gain others.

Having my first child was another reminder of how expat life changes things. In a non-expat life I had visions of my mother waiting outside the delivery room, eager to see her grandchild. I guess I figured I would have her to lean on, as the voice of experience, whilst I was pregnant in a different country. The reality was a million miles from the ideal. If I look back now I can't say whether there would have been more interest in my children from my mother had I not left England. It's a question I will never have the answer to, but I do know that my expat life changed our relationship for the worse. And I can't change that.

When you opt for an expat life things change. It is inevitable. I wouldn't change my decision to move overseas for all the tea in China, or all the fish 'n' chips back in England. But maybe, I could have been more prepared for the changes that expat life brings about. I don't mean the daily, practical things; I had envisaged those. I mean how expat life changes how the little things turn out, how it challenges the plans and visions you had for yourself, how it strains relationships with those left behind. How it puts turns in the road you hadn't seen coming.

To thrive as an expat I've needed to throw everything I saw for my future self out the window, and start with a clean slate. Make my plans from scratch. I've had to deal with the unexpected, and recover from being blindsided many times. Expat life means a pay off. That is the only certainty.

But I'm glad I've had the chance to find my way through my expat life. The journey was worth it.

Behind the Scenes of Dutched Up!

Dutched Up!: Rocking the Clogs Expat Style is the first published book I have been a part of, but I have of course read other expat anthologies (Tales from the Expat Harem: Foreign Women in Modern Turkey (Seal Women's Travel) being one of the most memorable). What I had never thought about whilst reading these anthologies was how they came to be. Until I was involved in contributing to such a book. And then I got to thinking about what happened behind the scenes when these women came together to tell their stories. Were they written in isolation? Did they remain strangers? Or did the book create a group of women who were bound by what they had written? Did they stay in touch during the years following the book's publication?

In any case, I do know a little of what happened behind the scenes when 27 expat women bloggers in the Netherlands came together to write a book. And that's the basis of my latest article for expatsHaarlem:

"In April 2013, I received an email from a stranger. The gist of the message was whether I wanted to be part of a book about expat life in the Netherlands. I, of course, said yes.

That stranger turned out to be Olga Mecking, who you may also know as The European Mama – and she was – in all seriousness, together with Lynn Morrison (aka The Nomad Mom Diary and also the brainchild behind the project), putting an expat anthology together. 

What did I want to write about? they asked. Marriage, babies and friendship, as it turned out. And coincidentally, those three themes have run through the creation of this book over the last eighteen months."

You can read the rest over at expatsHaarlem.

My Sunday Photo: Celebration

This week's photo sums up the highlight of the week - becoming a published author. My husband thought that was worth of a champagne celebration. Who was I to argue?

Dutched Up! Rocking the Clogs Expat Style

It's here! It's available! Dutched Up! Isn't it beautiful?

What is Dutched Up!? I hear you cry. Dutched Up! is the next book you should read. It's a beautifully written, heartfelt, honest anthology written by women expat bloggers in the Netherlands who have been through the ups and the downs of expat life - and lived to tell their tales. 

I'm one of those women. And I'm so excited I could burst. But I'm trying to be very British and modest about it all. I would like to fling open a window here and scream, "I'm an author. I'm in a book." But I won't because that's really not very British at all. But believe me, I am VERY excited. 

Anyway, as I was saying. This book is about expat life in the Netherlands. From giving birth to doing the shopping, from doctors to marriage, the ins and outs of expat life in the land of the Dutch are covered by those that live here, who have married here, given birth Dutch style, grown to love their kraamzorg here, made wonderful friends here and who have come to know everything there is to know about bitterballen and paracetamol.

If you're an expat in the Netherlands, you need this book. If you are thinking about becoming an expat in the Netherlands, you need this book. If you have any vague Dutch connection at all, you need this book. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and say, if you read books, you need this book.

At the moment it is available for Kindle on Amazon, and you can get your mitts on by clicking on the  lovely link below: 

 Amazon.co.uk

  Amazon.com

Watch this space for more ways to get your hands on this book in the near future - including a "hold in your hands real book".