Finding love in the Netherlands: 5 ways to meet your very own ‘schatje’

No, not really. If you are that kind of person, then (hopefully someday) you will be bitch-slapped by the merciless dating love god, Zeus’ half brother; Mike.

Now let’s get right to it. When you were a kid, making new friends or finding that cute loved one with no cooties was relatively easy peasy. There was school, sports, and a bunch of extracurricular activities where you met other kids and built relationships.

Despite those good old days, in your current adult life, starting a relationship or two is not quite so lemon squeezy. Especially if you aren’t initially from the Netherlands, loneliness can creep up on you ’cause you don’t have that special loved one you go to. Plus, work or commitments can nowadays get in your way of free time. It can also feel awkward now to ask someone you barely know, “Hey, do you want to hang out?” *queue cricket chirp*

Finding love in the Netherlands: dating apps

For the more socially inhibited ones, dating apps can help open the door to finding that special someone. Whether you are a Tinder fan or not, in today’s world meeting new friends, or dare I say ‘baes’, apps can be an essential guide for a new adventure. As it happens, there are now some dating apps in the Netherlands that can help you find your knight in shining armour or a dame in shining armour. Hey, it’s 2021, anything is possible :).

First, there is a friendly dating app called, Bumble. This is a great one to find friends, dates, even networks for career building. With Bumble, it is often more reassuring for women users since they can make the first contact with matched male or female users. Another exciting app you can give a go is the ‘private’ dating app called, Coffee Meets Bagel. It only shows you when the other person is interested in you. CMB lets you see people who have liked you, so no torturing yourself about “the one that got away.” Time effective indeed.

So, if you are interested in a new adventure, these apps can give a boost to your friend life or just smooch life.

To build relationships and to find ‘true love’, you need consistency. In our younger years, this was simple. You went to school, summer camps and played outside with the other neighbourhood kids until ‘dinner is ready!’ was yelled from the window. As grown-ups, it is unusual to have that kind of consistency outside of work. It is highly suggested joining groups that meet on a regular basis, such as associations, networking clubs, book clubs, classes, and workshops. Meetup can help you join groups or clubs based on your interest and vicinity. Talk about practicality done right…

When you join a group, the consistency will build; people will show up without you having to invite them. The purpose is to practice doing things together and piece the common puzzles in your lives together. It might take several practices with someone before you feel like you made a friend.

Finding love in the Netherlands: go to a bar

Hey, there’s nothing wrong with doing it the old fashioned way. ?? The best thing to do is to drag a friend along who can play wingman (or wingwoman) and then you have back up on hand. If you’re going it alone, this can be more difficult. If it’s in the daytime, take a book or a laptop, look like you’re clearly not hanging around to pull, then go in for the kill if the time is right. The number one thing is not appearing creepy. No. Nope. Nee.

If it’s in the evening, you got the play the game a little differently. Sitting in the corner with a book while everyone is being social and having a good time just makes you look antisocial as hell. Get talking with people and mingle and if you find someone and if you offer to buy them a drink, they may be sold.

Finding love in the Netherlands: make your intentions clear

It’s a common belief that Dutch people aren’t very good at spotting the signs. So if you do end up in a situation with a man or woman and it’s going well, make your intentions clear! (in the most non-creepy way ever of course). So if you’re really wanting to stand out, take another Dutch trait to your advantage: directness.

Again, you’ve got to be blunt to an extent, you don’t want to come bounding up to the new love of your life saying “Hi, we might get married and have six children, can we just date now?” I mean hey, it could work out, but chances are they’ll be cycling away faster than you can say “marry….me…”

Finding love in the Netherlands: check our guides to be a real pro

Hopefully, the above thoughts will help you to find that friend or loved one you can be silly with. Before you move to Facebook or probably a dating app *wink wink*, you can also find out more about moving to Amsterdam, fun videos on dating, the Netherlands and dating, that can help get you going in the love world.

Or hey, you never know, the new love of your life could have been reading the exact same guides. We even have a video to teach you the know-how: