Margit Schmitzberger left the mountains of Austria behind to be with her Dutch partner. She hopes one day to return.

Margit Schmitzberger

Name: Margit Schmitzberger
Nationality: Austrian
City of residence: Amsterdam
Date of Birth: 25 September 1976
Civil Status: Cohabiting, 1 child
Employer:  VU hospital, Eye Department
Function: Nurse
In Netherlands since: 2004

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Love brought me to the Netherlands. I met my partner Marnix in Thailand in 2002 and it was immediately clear I would come to Amsterdam rather than him coming to Vienna. He is a photographic artist and there would be absolutely no work for him there. I am a nurse which means I can work everywhere in the world.

Moreover I was attracted to Amsterdam. I had been living in Vienna in the last few years and I find the city too big - there is too much asphalt. Salzburg, where I am from, is more like a village and I found Amsterdam to be a nice mix of both cities. You have the advantage of a big city but it is still very pleasant.

Small country

If something happens that requires the police to come, everyone stands around to look. It's so like a village.

People in the Netherlands spend a lot more time seeing what the neighbours are up to. It is really easy to stand on the street and to look into other people's homes through the big windows. And everyone talks about everyone else, with remarks such as: 'What kind of people are they?' 'What a odd bunch!'

The Netherlands has a space problem; the people live right on top of each other. Every now and then the hustle and bustle drives me crazy. The bars are tiny and shops too; it took a while for me in the beginning to get used to it. I often have to go to 10 different shops to get everything I need. In Austria, you simply go to one large shop which is handier but also has less atmosphere. The small shops have long since died out there.

Marnix will hop on his bike to go to the shops but I find it is rather a fuss, particularly with a small child: you put the child into the child seat, you take the child out of the seat...

Dutch treat

Food in the Netherlands - a subject I could talk for some time on. I think the food here is very poor. Many Dutch people come to Austria every year to ski and restaurant owners are always saying: 'You can serve anything to the Hollanders. It doesn't have to be nice as long as there is plenty of it!'

It is as if Dutch people see food in practical terms: you eat or you die. Even if you go to a person's house for dinner, you are sometimes served macaroni or something like that. Once we had people over to our home and we bought an expensive red wine for the dinner. 'What a lovely Rose,' they said. There is absolutely no wine culture here.

Incidentally, I asked once what a traditional Dutch meal consisted of. 'Potatoes, meat and vegetables,' was the answer.

There is hardly any choice in Dutch supermarkets and everyone buys the same thing. Perhaps you can get all the products you want but to do so you have again to resort to the smaller shops. There is a much broader assortment in Austrian supermarkets. I don't understand why there is such a difference. And what I absolutely don't understand is these 'ready-to-eat' meals; no one buys them in Austria.

A positive thing is the Thai and Indonesian influences on Dutch cuisine. All those sauces, soups and herb mixtures. Lovely.

Breaking rules

It is very noticeable the Dutch don't obey the rules whereas in Austria one is truly the captive of a system of rules. Here people do what they like on the roads. You can, for instance, drive into a one-way street from the wrong side. You'd better not even try it in Austria as the locals react quite forcefully if you break the rules.

Here many adults don't have a driver's licence, I have noticed. If you don't have one by the age of 22 in Austria, people think there is something wrong with you. Anyway, you generally need one for work.

Talking about work, after giving birth it is normal in Austria to stay at home for 18 months to two years to take care of the child. Then you get your old job back. Here in the Netherlands you have to get back to work after three months, which I think is way too early.

One advantage here is that there are a lot of part-time jobs, as there are crèches. There are many more activities for children in Amsterdam, such as playgrounds and play rooms. All in all, I think the Netherlands is more child-friendly.

You see a lot more children on the street in the Netherlands, whereas there are far more senior citizens out and about in Austria. What do the Dutch do with their elderly? Where are they?

Medical care in the Netherlands is not good. I get the impression you have to know precisely what you have if you go to the doctor otherwise he will not have the time to find the problem. You have to be ready to collapse before they take action.

Beautiful people

There are very many good-looking  people in the Netherlands, even when they wear old clothes. They are very creative and funny in the way they dress: you see vivid clothes combinations that really don't match. Everyone wears the same sort of attire in Vienna and you see little colour. You have to have real courage to carry off the clothes people have here.

Dutch men are very handsome but they can't flirt. Do they know how good-looking they are? There is no electricity -nothing - everyone is so proper. Where are the real men? Sexy and masculine?

One similarity between the Netherlands and Austria is the whining mentality, although the Dutch complain a lot more about money and are very open about it. Austrians don't talk about what they earn, particularly if it isn't very much. Money or your salary are not an issue.

Thinking of home

Margit and Marnix in traditional Austrian dress

As a German speaker learning Dutch wasn't a problem. It took me about a year and after that I realised while following a course how good my Dutch is. People really value that you speak Dutch and they think it's cute when I make little mistakes. If Marnix speaks German in Vienna, people always get annoyed because his German is not perfect.

Austrians are very conservative and don't like foreigners. Black people, in particular, are looked at oddly, as you come across them almost never.

The mountains in Austria help to make the people 'narrow-minded'. I know many people my age who get married immediately, have a family and never leave Austria, even for a vacation.

The photograph (above) was taken in such a conservative region of Austria. Marnix and I dressed in traditional Austrian clothes for the photo which is currently on display in my partner's exhibition.

Still, I want to return to live in Austria some day. I really miss the wild nature, the mountains and lakes with drinkable water, snowboarding and the slightly more pleasant nature of my country folk. And when all is said and done, I miss my family, which I see only twice a year.

I would also like for Maya, my little daughter, to be able to play outside without me or another adult watching over her and without 100 other children surrounding her. Next to where we live in Amsterdam there is a playground built on asphalt and next to that a coffeeshop.

So, Austria is still calling to me to come home, and if it possible one day I will leave here...and go to Austria where I can continue whining!

But for the moment, I will be hanging around here.

24 March 2006

Margit Schmitzberger told her story to Nicole van Schaijik, who owns and operates Talent Taaltrainingen (Dutch Language Courses), based in Amsterdam. (Tel: 020 420 66 59 or email: info@talent-tn.nl).

[Copyright Expatica 2006]

Subject: Expat profiles