'I've had positive experiences meeting locals'
Almost a third of the academic staff at the UvA comes from abroad. Let’s call them academic expats. At first sight they have pretty much every reason to live and stay in the Netherlands. According to a survey by expat community platform Internations, most expats feel safe and enjoy the good transportation systems and infrastructure. Local schools are good and, according to another survey – by the international bank HSBC – expats in the Netherlands enjoy a great work-life balance. But do the international academics really enter expat-paradise when they come and live in Amsterdam?
On both rankings, the Netherlands isn’t even in the top 20 when it comes to personal happiness. And there seems to be a very specifi c reason for this. In the Netherlands, unlike countries like Mexico or Ecuador or the USA, it seems very hard to befriend locals. Only 14% of the expats in the Netherlands fi nd it easy, whereas the global average is 27%, making the Netherlands bottom third in the Ease of Settling of Internationals Index: 42nd out of 61 surveyed countries. On the HSBC ranking, the Netherlands is only number 35 of the 39 surveyed countries when it comes to making friends. These low scores make it diffi cult to enjoy a sense of home and belonging both reports warn. With so many international professors and researchers at the UvA, it’s time to ask some of them what they think: are the Dutch in Amsterdam easy to befriend? And how do they feel about it?
Eric Schliesser (44)
Professor of Political Science
the Netherlands/United States of America
‘I have many friends that are expats and they all confirm that Amsterdam is a very unfriendly city when it comes to making friends amongst working or more mature, say, thirty year old locals. The Dutch are perceived to be extremely rude and not very welcoming to outsiders. When you go on holiday to Amsterdam you can have a great time. But when you work here as a professional, you can have a hard time.’
‘It has to do with the way social cohesion works here. People have to bump into you many times before acknowledging you. Social life here is not spontaneous: if you want to make a plan, you both first have to pull out your agendas. In most cosmopolitan places or cultures, welcoming strangers is socially demanded. But here [in the Netherlands, and Amsterdam] keeping strangers at arm’s length seems to be part of the culture.’
Geoffrey Underhill (56)
Professor of International Governance
Canada
‘I find Amsterdam to be a very expat-friendly city. I don’t expect it to be easy to get to know locals in any foreign city; if one is an expat in a Canadian or an English city, one would also find it takes time to get to know locals. One needs to make an eff ort and, if one has young children, the opportunities to meet locals multiply. I first lived in the Bergen-Schoorl area and my children went to an international school. Well, obviously, you don’t meet many locals there. When we sent them to a Dutch school it became easier. The faculty of Social Sciences is very international: half of the professors I meet come from abroad, the other half comes from the Netherlands.’
‘After I moved to Amsterdam I also developed good contacts with my neighbours. The people in Amsterdam are conservative in inviting you to their homes though, but I don’t think that’s any different from cities like Paris or London. In Amsterdam, when I walk through other neighbourhoods than the one I live in, people still look you in the eye and say “hello” or “good morning”. Whereas in London or New York, everybody looks the other way. In that respect it is also a difference between a big town or small town; Amsterdam is still a neighbourhood friendly city.’
Vigjilenca Abazi (27)
PhD-student/lecturer European Union Law
Macedonia
‘When I came in Amsterdam five years ago as a master’s student, I was first part of the international bubble. Later on, I either got invited to dinners where I was the only international person or to parties full of international people and just one or two Dutch. My Dutch friends and I often talk about cultural similarities or differences and we also discuss how open they are to new friendships with internationals. One of the reasons for the lack of closer bonds is pragmatic: internationals ‘come and go’. Yet two of my best friends are Dutch. People in Amsterdam are open and generally friendly. Although they speak English very well, in social settings they just want to relax.’
‘At these times, Dutch is easier to express nuance or humour. I think it also depends on your hobbies and interests; for example, I’ve met Dutch friends through my race bike class. We tend to compare places with our other experiences so for me, it seems that there’s less space for spontaneity than in Macedonia where I come from, and you’re less likely to meet people from different walks of life as in New York City, where I’ve lived. The Dutch also have a different lifestyle. For example, planning everything weeks in advance. So, I adapted my lifestyle. Now I even schedule going out for a coffee weeks in advance – otherwise it would be impossible to meet with friends.’
Jonathan Zeitlin (60)
Professor of Political Science
United States of America
‘I have experienced the city as friendly and welcoming, especially in terms of everyday interactions. My neighbours in our apartment building in Oud-West have been extremely kind and helpful, as have many service personnel with whom I have come in contact. I have personal conversations with the physiotherapist and the hairdresser for example. I also feel that I have many friends within the academic community: we go out for drinks and dinner. At the same time, however, I have not developed close personal friendships with many Dutch people, and I am rarely invited to the homes of my colleagues.’
‘The Dutch have a diff erent style of socialising than, let’s say, the Americans. I think the Dutch style could be comparable to the UK, where I have also lived for many years. The British have the tradition of socialising in public places, like pubs or restaurants. Whereas in the USA, professors are more ready to invite one another for dinner at their apartments. Some of this also has to do with my personal circumstances: my children are grown up, and my partner lives in Cologne, so I am away from Amsterdam many weekends, and have not met locals outside the university through school and children as I did in earlier phases of life. But it may also confi rm the broader picture that local Amsterdam society is not that open to expats beyond a certain surface of friendliness and cordiality.’
Giulia de Luca (28)
PhD-student microscopy development
Italy
‘As an international at a Dutch university, I think you have a privileged position compared to internationals in other industries. The academic staff is used to speaking English and you can therefore work at a university for years without speaking Dutch. Also, when you go out for drinks or dinner with colleagues, the locals easily switch between Dutch and English. It made me feel very welcome from the start. Two and a half years ago I met a Dutch guy at the gym and he is my boyfriend now. It only made it easier to meet locals, yet I feel it’s difficult to develop close bonds with Dutch people. If, for example, I would get sick, I would rather ask one of my Italian friends – besides my boyfriend – to get me something from the pharmacy.’
‘Maybe the Dutch never get so close to each other themselves, and maybe I haven’t been in the Netherlands long enough to experience that, but I think in the Italian culture it is more common to do such things for one another. I also find it funny how the Dutch deal with their agendas. “Can we have a beer tonight?” “No I’m busy, how about in two weeks?” But that doesn’t affect my feelings: since I arrived in the Netherlands, I have had positive experiences meeting locals.’
