"The art of the Brick" - Lego exhibition
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"The art of the Brick" - Lego exhibition

The Art of the Brick- Lego  museum exhibition tour  North America, Asia and Australia and now... the Netherlands! The Art of the Brick makes a stopover in Amsterdam during its international tour to allow visitors to marvel at incredible original…
Spijt! wins best European youth film
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Spijt! wins best European youth film

The Dutch youth film Spijt! has won the European Film Academy Young Audience Award on Sunday evening in Erfurt, Germany. The film by Dave Schram recorded against the Danish MGP Missionen and the German The Stormwind. Young people between 12…
Orange clothes that come with beer
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World cup 2014: Orange clothes that come with beer

On June 12th 10 pm (Dutch time) the waiting is finally over: In Arena Corinthians, Sao Paolo, home country Brazil will kick off the FIFA world cup against Croatia. With less than a month to go and orange fever slowly starting to rear its fugly…
Haarlem is Ready for Food Revolution Day tomorrow! (Photo: Katherine Strous)
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Haarlem is Ready for Food Revolution Day tomorrow!

Food Revolution Day 2014 is coming on May 16th and it’s happening here in the Netherlands. The Food Revolution Day (FRD) is an initiative organised by famous chef and food activist, Jamie Olivier to inspire people to eat more healthy and to…
expatsHaarlem living on the edge: drinking Chianti wine
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Myth busted: Red wine and chocolate don't make you live longer.

It has been common knowledge for decades: There is something in red wine that also happens to pop up in the chocolate ingredient list and is super healthy! This substance makes up for the bad effects of saturated fat and alcohol and prevents…
ETOS proclaimed best drugstore of the Netherlands by consumers (Photo: Careality.nl)
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Gfk: Etos best drugstore of the Netherlands

Etos has been named best drugstore in the Netherlands. In a yearly research project, conducted by market research agency Gfk, D.I.O. drogist came in second, followed by DA. Over 6000 consumers were consulted to rank the 6 large drugstore…
New rules for day care tax reduction in 2014 (Photo: Arianna Ardia)
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New rules for day care tax reduction in 2014

Working and having or expecting to have kids at the day care in 2014? Be aware that from 2014 there are new rules for the Childcare Payment Request to have tax reduction. If you are working and paying taxes for childcare in the Netherlands…
10 May: Nationale Molendag / National Windmill Day (Photo: Luca Guarnieri)
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10 & 11 May: Nationale Molendag / National Windmill Day

Windmills are an iconic part of the Dutch landscape.. and a visit to one is a must for visitors in the Netherlands. On Nationale Molendag (National Windmill Day), this weekend, about 950 windmills throughout Holland will be open to the public.  Every…
Granted measures against gulls nuisance (Photo: PCF Holland)
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Granted measures against gulls nuisance

In Haarlem residents of various neighborhoods experience already several years the nuisance of nesting gulls. Especially in the summer when the birds feed their young and early in the morning hindrance seems to be more difficult to tolerate.…
Nilgün Yerli shows Onbeperkt Genieten in the Philharmonie (Photo: Nilgun Yerli website)
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Nilgün Yerli shows Onbeperkt Genieten in Stadsschouwburg (7 May)

"Pooping is also a form of enjoyment, but nobody appreciates it, you take it for granted".  Tomorrow evening Nilgün Yerli shows "Onbeperkt Genieten" (Unlimited Enjoyment) in Stadsschouwburg theatre in Haarlem. In this piece Nilgün Yerli…
4 & 5 May: Remembrance Day and Liberation Day (Photo: Melanie Caitlin)
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4 & 5 May: Remembrance Day and Liberation Day

The Netherlands is unique among the other European countries in having two national ceremony days originating from the Second World War: Remembrance Day – ‘Dodenherdenking’ and Liberation Day – ‘Bevrijdingsdag’. On 4 May there…
Flower Parade Bollenstreek 2014 (Photo: Arianna Ardia)
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Flower Parade Bollenstreek 2014

The Bloemencorso Bollenstreek, or Flower Parade of the Bollenstreek (Bulbs Area) is one of the most famous parades in the world. More than a million people come to see the beautiful flower praalwagens (floats). The Flower Parade Bollenstreek…
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expatsHaarlem OPEN !

So we built this new place for you. We got cake, champagne, balloons and decorated the whole place. Now we will put some great music on, sit back and wait till the guests come in.   Welcome! expatsHaarlem team.
Nature greener and earlier than last year (Photo: Michael Hofmann)
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Nature greener and earlier than last year

We could enjoy blooming flowers earlier this year. Spring came this year a month ahead last year. Nature is also a lot greener. According to Natuurberichten (which means Nature messages) nearly 30 percent of the deciduous forests and…
World Press Photo Contest 2014: Signals from Djibouti (Photo: John Stanmeyer)
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World Press Photo Contest 2014: Signals from Djibouti

On February 14, the winners of the prestigious annual World Press Photo contest were announced in Amsterdam. John Stanmeyer from the U.S. received the prize for World Press Photo of the Year 2013 with his piece "Signal". On a dark african…
Google Glass for sale to anybody in the US. Or not? (Photo: TechCrunch)
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Google Glass for sale to anybody in the US. Or not?

From today Google Glass is for sale to anybody in the US. This is what Android Police and later Nu.nl communicated this Thursday, April 24. The article in Nu.nl mentions that earlier this month, Google Glass was available for all residents…
Transavia brings people in Italian atmospheres (Photo: Adformatie)
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Transavia brings people in Italian atmospheres

The Italianizer of Transavia: what an original way to promote flights! Promotion with fun! Well done! Transavia has two Italian sun holidays promoted in a fun way: a bus stop in Amsterdam was equipped with the so-called 'Italianizer', an…
Working atmosphere more important than money (Photo: Arianna Ardia)
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Working atmosphere more important than money

Research by Jobbird.com shows that only 14 percent of the employees consider the salary as the most important factor when choosing a new job. The working atmosphere / colleagues (36 percent) and the tasks and responsibilities of the job function…
Big fire in monumental building Haarlem (Photo: Michel van Bergen, Haarlems Dagblad)
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Big fire in monumental building Haarlem

This Saturday morning a big fire attacks a monumental building in the old centre of Haarlem. The building is completely in flames. The Haarlem fire brigade is trying to prevent the fire from spreading to surrounding properties. The inhabitant…
Dutch language required for social security: "no Dutch, no welfare" (Picture: RTL Nieuws)
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Dutch language required for social security: "no Dutch, no welfare"

Who doesn't speak and doesn't want to learn the Dutch language, will lose his welfare within a year. The law "no Dutch, no welfare" should be applied from next year. This is a bill that State Secretary Jetta Klijnsma of Social Affairs sent…
The government has extended the leave regulation (Picture: Arianna Ardia)
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The government has extended the leave regulation

If a mother dies during giving birth to her child, the father will get from now on her maternity leave. This should ensure that the newborn can count on the care of a parent in the first period of his life. This plan of the Minister of Social…
Five WWII bombs found in dunes Bloemendaal (Photo: Haarlems Dagblad)
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Five WWII bombs found in dunes Bloemendaal

In the dunes at Bloemendaal five old bombs from World War II are found. It is about four bombs of 500 kg and 1 of 250 kg, reports the municipality of Bloemendaal today. The aircraft bombs were found in a so-called investigation research for…
Downloading illegal
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Downloading from illegal sources: as of today officially forbidden

Illegal downloading didn’t exist in the Netherlands. Now it does. As a consequence of a judgement of this morning of the European Court of Justice about the unfairness of home charge copy, illegal downloading of movies, music and other…
House prices rise in the Haarlem area (Photo: NVM)
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House prices rise in the Haarlem area

For the first time in three years, house prices have increased on year basis. Houses were in the first quarter of this year 1.2% more expensive compared to the same period last year. This is what the Dutch Association of Estate Agents NVM announced…
A lot of tick bites in our dunes
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A lot of tick bites in our dunes

The amount of tick bites is increasing in the Netherlands. There is a relative big chance to be bitten. Tekenradar counted almost 9.000 tick bites. People sent 1.500 ticks to the RIVM Institute. 20% of these seemed to be transporters of…
Dutch Wingman condom makes “furore” in Germany (Picture WN)
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Dutch Wingman condom makes “furore” in Germany

The Wingman condom is presented these days at the Hannover Messe, the most important industrial fair in the world. Here the Wingman condom, also known as the one hand condom, got a lot of attention.  The Bild, the biggest German newspaper…
Still 7.4% of the Dutch use end of live Windows XP
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Still 7.4% of the Dutch use end of live Windows XP

On the last day that security updates about Windows XP were offered, 7.4% of the Dutch consumers and companies still use Windows XP, the outdated operating system of Microsoft. In the Netherlands the usage of Windows XP is however lower than…
Striptease as company outing of day care in Aalsmeer
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Striptease as company outing of day care in Aalsmeer

Day care teachers enjoying together a striptease of a tattooed male specie. Funny? Maybe, but as a mum of 3 todds my first thought was: not mine! Day care KieKeBoe in Aalsmeer held a particular company outing: a striptease. At the end of…
New Music "from Haarlem": Jacqueline Govaert, White Nose, Myriam West, The Name
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New Music "from Haarlem"

A music hit: Jacqueline Govaert, Songs To Soothe; Haarlem rock/punk: Yorick van Noorden & White Nose, The Hype; Jazz and blues: Myriam West, From now on, Haarlem metal: The Name, Unchained A hit: Jacqueline Govaert, Songs To Soothe The…
Dutch Movies - De goede dood, Plan C, Taped
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Dutch Movies - De goede dood, Plan C, Taped

A few suggestions for some new Dutch movies. No subtitles. De Goede dood Het succesvolle toneelstuk uit 2008 is nu verfilmd met dezelfde cast, onder wie Huub Stapel, Wil van Kralingen en Peter Tuinman. Een tragikomedie over het aangekondigde…