David Negreira @dnegreira@mastodon.otherreality.net

Really enjoyed the vibe and attention - specially for a noob like me - on this gym. Went to do a tryout lesson on olympic lifting and I think I found myself a new sport! My legs are shattered but I'm feeling pretty good about the experience. Feels good that things are slowly getting back to normal as well.

I run a single userinstance federated with a couple of instances - I have currently about 80G on the media folder data. I trim data older than 2 days. Is this normal? Any tips to keep this amount of storage used by mastodon under control? #mastoadmin

Reflecting back on all of these 10(!) years, it has been quite a ride with tons of mostly good experiences, I am very thankful and honored to have been so welcomed by this country and providing me a life that I would not been able to dream of back in Portugal. Hartelijk bedankt.

Support for families.
I have never imagined starting my own family until I moved here.
Families have lot of support since the woman is pregnant until the children are 18 years old.
There is lot of social security support in terms of public services like schools and libraries are all for free.
Although each adult pays around 100 euros per month for the basic health insurance, the healthcare infrastructure are modern and efficient.

You can be you.
I never suffered any judgment from anyone for who I am and in what I believe in. People honestly don't care, as long as you treat them with respect, doesn't matter what you dress with, where did you study - if at all -, the color of your hair, your skin color or where you are from.

My only critique is the shortage of wild forests, everything looks a bit man made, and at some point I think it is a bit boring. But hey, you do a small trip to Belgium or Germany, and you can find yourself in the middle of a mountain or forest.

The Netherlands is beautiful.
Being a foreigner here, you always have the eternal tourist feeling which is great!
Look at how well is the Amsterdam city center is perserved, and all of the other cities and villages which have lots of buildings still from the golden age, and even before, well preserved, emanating a unique charm that resonates while walking or biking through them.

With all of this work atmosphere and easiness, it was fairly easy and quick to find a new job or house, which allowed me to grow professionally during these years in different companies and settings, without having to worry that my life would be super difficult in a worst case where I would be out of a job. Luckily there were always plenty of opportunities here, the difficult part was always where to chose to go and which path to take.

You can do -everything- via the Internet, and even then things are simple and efficient with clear explanations. Except taxes. They are easy if you are employed and everything is pretty muched done for you, now, if you open your own company and all of that, its a rabbit hole.

Everything is efficient.
Roads, Public services, Social security, Making appointments, buying a house, buying a car, getting an insurance and claming something, travelling and figuring out where to get somewhere, any construction or repair work that is undergoing, is finished faster than what you would expect with any construction work, setting up a new business.

The Queens (now Kings) day, Gay parade, Amsterdam Dance Event, Jazz in the VondelPark every Saturday afternoon during the spring and summer, museum night where you can visit almost every museum in Amsterdam for free, plus fun activities outside, the light festival... Discovered pirate radio station, hackerspaces, film exhibitions in squatted places, a somewhat underground gay bar, tried some drugs, and met lots of good people and friends along the way.

Amsterdam is crazy.
During the first year of living there I went to countless parties. Techno, Drum'n'bass, Trance, some in between all of that, some of them in some places that should not happen, some in some places that are destroyed right now, some in places where people were kicked out...

I was always eager for Friday, usually we would order a Kebab, Chinese, Surinamese from a nearby spot, and in the afternoon was beer and chips time.
I found that during the next years living and working here, this is all pretty normal in every Dutch company I have worked for in The Netherlands.

Lunches were weird for me in the beginning. Sandwiches, some vegetables, spreads and drinks was not the pampering I was used to, which was going to restaurants and eating a whole meal for 5 euros. This sandwich lunch was offered by the company at the time, which for someone who is living on a tight budget is a life saver, so I didn't think too much about it and kind of forced me to learn proper cooking later on in my life as well.

I felt that I could talk with any of my colleagues or superiors without being judged upon. A very different experience than what I had so far back in Portugal. Most important of all, everyone seemed relaxed and going home on time and still doing and delivering work on time.

My first job was as a support engineer for a relatively small ISP, the small office had around 20 different nationalities at the time I was working there, and I noticed that the working culture was different from what I was used to.
My ideas were taken into consideration, was being rewarded and appreciated by the effort that I was putting into my job, and pretty much a flat hierarchy.

Oh boy, what a good journey it has been.
Imagine being a young boy from Portugal, which have barely spoken, much less worked with other nationalities in real life, suddenly finding himself in a foreign country and in a small city with 180 different nationalities.

Precisely 10 years ago, 24th of June 2010, I was landing at Schiphol airport in The Netherlands with a friend, in what would be my first time living abroad.
Leaving my girlfriend back in Portugal, with a promise of a better life for us, carrying some small savings on my pocket, a very tiny appartment for both of us, and a job waiting for me, life seemed promising.