There is actually a rather large contingent from the Netherlands, I have seen several regular members from there.
Welcome! If you have been doing scripting even, Arduino as a language should present no problems. It's basically C, and given what you will most likely do as starting projects is fairly simple stuff, it should be a breeze to pick up.
As for the hardware, I have learned more from these guys in the forums than I ever knew before.. And become a full on junkie for what is IMHO one of the easiest to use platforms out there.