You can't get that here

There are a few things that just seem to be impossible to find here in NL. Some are just darned near impossible, and others are possible, at a high price. So, if you're going to be living in NL for an extended period of time and are extremely partial to these things, you'll need to bring them with you. I will discuss a few of them in this blog.

1) Top sheets for the bed. I have not found these ANYWHERE. I can find fitted sheets, pillow cases and duvet covers. That's it. Top sheets appear to not be a European thing, they simply use the duvet cover and wash that. Having done that a couple of times with the duvet cover in the guest bedroom, I CANNOT STAND trying to put that thing back onto the comforter. What a royal PITA! I'm sure there's some technique to doing this that I haven't mastered. Until that time, I'm glad I shipped our bed here along with it's bedding. Putting a freshly washed top sheet on the bed is extremely less time consuming.

2) Washcloths. They have things here for washing in the shower, they're just not the American version of a washcloth. These things are more like bathmitts. I cannot explain what my aversion is to these mitts, but I'm just not keen to use them. Fortunately, I shipped several washcloths here so I'm good until those become threadbare.

3) Any OTC med that contains amphetamines (e.g. cold/flu meds, sinus meds, etc). This one I found out the hard way. I had developed some sinus pain and was looking for something to alleviate it. I went to every CVS-like store I could find (Kruidvat, Etos) and I visited a couple apotheeks (actual pharmacies... pharmacists are only found in an apotheek). No such luck. I can't recall how I found out, but I learned that these things are only available via prescription. When Hubs and I went back to the US over the Christmas holidays I stocked up on cough/cold/sinus meds. My suitcase looked like Walgreens and vomited. Apparently the amount of OTC meds in my suitcase was of interest to US customs as they searched my suitcase on the way back to NL. Fortunately, everything was still in its original packaging, much of it not even opened. Dutchies seem to either be a heartier breed, or more into homeopathy. For sinus issues, use a saline nose spray. The saline spray is fine if it's something you do regularly and aren't in so much pain you want to drive an ice pick up your nose.

4) Stick deodorant. I have found roll-on and spray, but for whatever reason, the Dutch do not seem to be fans of stick deodorant.

5) Rubbing alcohol. Now, this one I don't have personal experience with but I did see a thread in an American expat group asking where to find isopropyl alcohol here in NL. This seemed to cause a rousing debate as to its availability. The upshot seemed to be that one could find it in the CVS-like stores, but it just wasn't the same as back in the US.