Originally Posted by
Yomama1999
That's great!
I just want to point out that working with Dutch people outside of the Netherlands, and working as a foreigner not speaking the language in a Dutch company, are not the same.
What I'm talking about here is best descibed by the following reddit posts that may reflect what you're in for if you try to live full time in the Netherlands as an expat:
"Commendable that you are going for this. I've been in NL for nearly 13 years, moved here from Eastern Europe.
I'm fluent in Dutch, studied here, working with Dutchies everyday.
You'll get accepted into the social life much, much more easily if you speak the language, BUT, and I might be unfairly throwing everyone under the same bus, you'll never be fully treated like other Dutchies.
There will always be that look, that one little comment to remind you who you aren't and where you came from. It's part of the "Western mentality", maybe a superiority complex, hidden deep within the nation. Who knows, but it's there, and if you know then you know.
Difficult to explain it without experiencing it first hand."
and
"I dont feel like a victim, so no, no such mentality here, just plain fact.
Dutch culture, being Germanic in nature is much colder and less open than one might expect from southern Europe or even Eastern Europe, which are more community oriented.
My comment about Western Superiority still stands. It is a part of the heritage which is something not easy to shake off, but I dont hold a grudge, I have no reason to.
But even after all these years, learning the language and doing my best to adapt ro Dutch society, all that hard work will only get me so far.
And this is not me complaining, it's just the way things are. As I've said before, if you know, you know."
it's from a subreddit called 'netherlands', where expats in the Netherlands discuss.
Again, just showing the full picture for someone moving to another country.
Hi again,
What you are saying will happen at any place you go in Europe, when you move no matter how hard you try to embrace the culture, you will always be the "other". But i think there are places like in Holland where they will appreciate that you took time and effort to try to embrace their way of living. Then you will have children and they will belong to the place as much as the others.
And this happens not only in Europe, in the States happens to, somebody moving from NY to be based at Dallas or Miami or the West Coast will always be the "other", and we are talking about the same country.
Now let's be practical, the crews at KLM will have to decide to fly with foreigners or to keep cancelling flights and loose passengers in favours of other companies who do not have such issues, and keep loosing money on their pockets to the point the airline has to close. Has happened before, Sabena and the others that came after that one comes to my mind. I am sure the Dutch people will be smart enough to swallow their pride and fly with foreigners, and they will appreciate if you try to learn their language and embrace their lifestyle, but as everywhere else. Ask the Brits that went to Hong Kong to fly for Cathay long time ago, the ones who stayed and were happy where the ones who really tried to understand and adopt the culture they were going to live in.
By the way, I still think that the Dutch are friendly, professional and great people. Might be I am lucky, whenever I travelled with KLM or Transavia or worked with a Dutch partner, always had smiles, a welcoming environment and memorable times. And this experience makes me to think seriously to apply for them.