Making choices is often difficult

Making choices is often difficult. Especially when they are about important matters in life, such as health, education, career, legal and financial matters and basically everything that concerns the well-being of your family. Making good choices becomes even harder when you have to rely on third parties for quality advice and necessary services. And what if all those choices have to be made in a foreign country, when you do not speak the language (yet) and are already overwhelmed by moving, settling in and adjusting to a new culture?

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Code Orange

The Netherlands and Belgium have recorded their highest ever temperatures today. The Dutch meteorological service, KNMI, said the temperature reached 39.1C (102F) at Gilze-Rijen airbase near the southern city of Tilburg on Wednesday afternoon, exceeding the previous high of 38.6C set in August 1944. City records in Amsterdam and Brussels are also expected to fall. Cities are particularly vulnerable in heatwaves because of a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect, in which concrete buildings and asphalt roads absorb heat during the day and emit it again at night, preventing the city from cooling. KNMI has issued a code orange extreme temperature warning for everywhere except the off shore Wadden Islands and implemented its “national heat emergency” plan, while Belgium has taken the unprecedented step of placing the entire country on a code red warning.

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Useful links and information for newcomers

If you are new to the North of the Netherlands and are feeling a bit out of your depth below is a list of some useful websites where you can gain additional information (generally in English).

Connect International has worked for over 20 years with the international community in the North of the Netherlands.  Our ultimate goal is to help internationals coming to live in the provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe to feel at home as quickly as possible.

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