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Home in Leiden


Croatian, Za vise informacija na hrvatskom jeziku, molimo kontaktirajte Tamaru, tamara@homeinleiden.nl

German, Wenn Du weitere Informationen auf Deutsch brauchst, wende Dich bitte an Dorothea, dorothea@homeinleiden.nl

Danish, For mere information paa Dansk kan De kontakte Heidi. ckb.hw@wxs.nl

Hebrew, michalstup@hotmail.com

Russian, u.jurik@yahoo.com

Czech, Pro více informací v ceském jazyce kontaktujte prosím eva.pentel@seznam.cz

Japanese, mari@homeinleiden.nl

French, Pour plus d'informations en français, vous pouvez contacter Claire Caron sur clairecaron@hotmail.com

Polish, Po dodatkowe informacje w jezyku polskim kontakt d.tomkiewicz@gmail.com or lidiacichocka@op.pl

Spanish, Si quieres más información en castellano, no dudes en ponerte en contacto conmigo, Laura laura@homeinleiden.nl

Indian, Please contact Rippy at rippy@homeinleiden.nl if you'd like help in Hindi or Punjabi.

Diana Jekina, djekina@hotmail.com.

INFO

About us
Pregnancy and Birth
Childrens Health
Childcare
Schools
Learning Dutch
Previous Homepages
FAQ: Moving to Leiden
Oegstgeest

WHERE TO GO

Museums
Playgrounds
Parks
Cafes and Restaurants
Getting around
Hotels and B&Bs
The library

ALL TOGETHER NOW...

It's amazing what can be achieved when you all work together.

Getting involved!

There will be a Home in Leiden committee meeting at 8pm at my house on Tuesday 26 th (the date that suited most people) for anyone who is/would like to be involved. For directions and/or if you haven't already let me know that you are coming, email me (so I have an idea of how many brownies to make and bottles of wine to buy) on harriet@homeinleiden.nl

New contributors, new content

We have all been very busy writing new content: check out our sparkly new sections! First up Greener Leiden Living, for which Laura and I have been scouring Leiden for tips on responsible living: if you have any tips or links that you would like to add, do please let us know! Marianne Orchard of www.likeasponge.nl has written the hilarious (and helpful) Dutch Festivals and Traditions, which aims to shed some light on tricky issues such as 3 Oktober and trakteren. Jessica has written the Useful Links section, which is of course an ongoing project - do please send us your favourite links! Jessica is also doing exhaustive research for our great revamped section on Schools , especially getting reviews from international parents. If you would like to write a review of your child's school, or have any other suggestions, please email her on Jessica@homeinleiden.nl.

Community project

urban knitting
Tree cozy by Carol Hummer

Knit a tree! As part of the Leiden Textile Festival (more on this later, see www.textielfestival.nl ), Marja of www.nordicwool.nl has come up with the lovely and agreeably bonkers community craft project of knitting a 'tree cozy' for a tree in the Hortus. Inspired by Carol Hummer and the graknitti projects and Guerilla Knitting (makes me smile even thinking about it - see http://www.flickr.com/groups/guerilla-knitting/ and http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/23/guerrilla-knitting-yarn-bombing-magda-sayeg ), she is sponsoring the project whereby we all knit pieces to create a beautiful and amusing whole. You can collect a free bag of wool and instructions from the Hortus Botanicus from the 23 rd (you leave a deposit of €5, returnable when you hand in your knitting). We'll be knitting at home, but can also come together in the café at the Hortus, 14.00-16.00, on Saturday 23 rd January, Sunday 7 th February, Saturday 6 th March and Sunday 14 th March). The finished tree will be viewable during the Textile Festival, 24 th -28 th March.

New activity: Get the children dancing

We had our first session on Tuesday, which was tremendous fun but utter chaos! The children loved it, but my ears are still ringing! We've decided that as the aim of these sessions is for some actual dancing to take place, we need to remove the distractions and have a more 'workshop' feel to the group. Basically, each week will therefore be a leader, a helper, and a group of 4+ children, without parents and younger siblings. I have lots of exciting sessions lined up, including a zumba teacher, belly dancing, and hopefully some break-dancing teenagers from my neighbourhood! If you yourself have an idea for a session, or know of someone, do let me know! We can also have plenty of simple free dancing sessions: all we need then is someone good at dancing to a specific sort of music (be it drum n bass or Strauss). We have some HomeinLeiden funding, but the aim is to keep the cost to an absolute minimum (to cover costs it is at present €1 per child), so sponsors for a professional are always welcome as an alternative to leading a group yourself!

The rest of us can always go to the playground or to my house for a cup of tea.

New Expat Centre

The Leiden Expat Centre has just opened! Located in the visitor centre next to Leiden station, it provides advice and information on all the nitty-gritty of moving and living here, including things like tax, housing, benefits etc. The website www.expatcentreleiden.nl should be online shortly, and there will be someone at the desk to answer your queries in person. I will be also meeting with the organizers to discuss what we, as the international community, need and want from them, and how we can help each other. If you have any ideas/input please do email me!

Website of the week

www.instructables.com

This website is a treasure trove of ideas on how to make basically anything: from chainmail out of ringpulls (I'm collecting already) and swords out of duct tape, to jewellery out of old computer parts and edible chocolate playdough.

Shop of the week

Byoux le Nuur

The lovely make-your-own jewellery shop Byoux le Nuur has moved to gorgeous new premises next to V&D (Maarsmansteeg 4-6) - a huge roomy shop with plenty of space for pushchairs where you can choose from the most amazing array of beads. The woman who owns it is lovely, and it's a great way of helping a child make a special present for someone else (friend, sister, grandmother, aunt), thus learning thoughtfulness and enjoying yourselves at the same time! www.byouxlenur.nl

 

SOCIAL

Baby/Toddler Groups
Vogelwijk Playgroup
Oegstgeest Family Life
Classes and Sports
Photo Gallery
Vrouw Kind Centrum

USEFUL STUFF

Shops
Find a Babysitter
Dutch Etiquette, Festivals and Traditions
Greener Leiden Living
HIL Top Tips
Expat Centre Leiden
Useful Links

Recent modifications:
We have three new secions:
Greener Leiden Living
With useful information how to reduce, re-use and recycle.

Useful Links
This is a selection of links to websites that we have found useful.

Dutch Festivals and Traditions