by Melissa Donders

My Dutch husband, my 3 teenage girls and I arrived from Australia to Tilburg in November 2015 to live for one year. Within 2 weeks, I was looking for an English speaking book club and asked at the library, but they didn’t know of any. So I started searching on google and the Tilburg International Club website with all the information about book club, social functions and general help with integration into Dutch life came up.

The first book club I attended was a cold, wet night and as my confidence in driving on the other side of the road had not yet kicked in, I decided to ride my bike. Google maps said a 20 minute ride…..took me 45 minutes battling against the rain and wind. I arrived wet, hot and sweaty to a group of about 15 ladies who were kind enough to catch my breath before allowing me to introduce myself! I believe now, if I had to make the same journey again, 1 year later, I would make that ride in 20 minutes.

Having events at TIC gave me an opportunity to meet some lovely people while trying to navigate my way in a new country. We have enjoyed attending the events as a family and also as a couple or me on my own. TIC gave us a feeling of being included while meeting new, interesting people that we might not have met otherwise.

We are now back in Australia and who knows what the future holds, but if we return to Tilburg I’ll be back at book club!