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A ‘pioneer’ to Holland in the sixties, a reader recounts her experiences back then – in what her children call the 'middle ages'.'Why Expatica readers go abroad'
Dear editor,
I read your site with interest - having a long association with Holland. However, I feel compelled to react to your recent survey ending with the conclusion that the majority of ex-pats moving to Holland are 'driven to travel by a quest for adventure, a desire to improve their language skills and to broaden their horizons'.
You make it sound as though they've moved to Outer Mongolia, or the Caucasus region. It's Holland for goodness sake where virtually every Dutch person speaks English; a hop and a skip across the North Sea. As for improving their language skills - learning Dutch is about as useful as learning Urdu. Only other countries where it might be useful are Indonesia and Suriname. One of course could also use it in Curacao, Aruba, say - if they didn't insist on speaking Papiamento.
Photo: Beethovenstraat Amsterdam 1967.Copyright Ed van der Elsken/ Nederlands Fotomuseum, Courtesy Annet Geelink Gallery.
I moved to Holland in the 1960's as a young graduate. I got a job as an English correspondent with a large shipping company. Part of my brief was to improve their English correspondence - it was somewhat stuck in the 'Dickens' age at the time. I was the sole foreigner in this very large company. When I went every 6 months to the 'sign on' with the ‘Buitenlandse Afdeling’ of the 'Vreemdelingen Politie' I was the only female and the only Brit (they told me this). After a few years of being found OK (i.e. in steady employment and not causing a 'nuisance' I got my 'leave to remain' for, effectively ever.
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