Originally Posted by
Yomama1999
Kinda sounded retorical..
But I can give an answer, it's unfortunate, because no matter how much money you earn, how shiny the jets are, it's really the people you work with that matter day to day.
If you're not included in conversation if your language is not quite up to scratch or you look a bit different, it will sting every time.
I would call that unfortunate, even if you'd call it 'normal', or is it 'normaal?'
In my first 5 months here I have yet to see someone be treated poorly because they "look a bit different". Small sample size, I know, but so is one story from another user of a bad experience. For contrast, I have flown with some expat pilots already who all seem to be respected and valued for having learned the language and 'integrated", and I have not noticed any unequal treatment of them. Make of that what you will.
However flawed Dutch people may be, a lot of us are direct to the point of being considered rude in a lot of other places. You have to be able to take some and dish it back out as well. If you come from a place where that is not normal, there may be some adjustment required or a bit of a culture clash will follow. I have worked with all kinds of nationalities and some have more of a conflict avoiding attitude. They will internalize it, sulk about it, talk to others about it, but never to the person they had the conflict with. That will likely not work well with Dutch people.
Having been an expat for roughly 15 years, for me it has always been as good as you make it yourself. If you do not adapt, you will probably have a worse time. That goes for the Netherlands and KLM as well.