Presepio Interviews...

International Almere is an English speaking organization whose aim is to connect and build essential social networks with people who understand the unique situation of being a foreigner in this modern Dutch city.

An interview with Connie Koorevaar-Goeks. (3rd Part)

- I met you in a Friday Night Drinks. Do you want to tell us where it takes place and how often?

- Friday Night Drinks is not a part of IA, but we do support the group and attend. FND takes place at Cafe Jordaaan officially 2 Fridays per month.The group leader is also there on the 3rd Friday in case anyone does want to go out. On the fifth Fridays ( which happens about 5-6 times per year ) usually that’s going out to a restaurant.

- IA also organizes Ladies Movie Nights...Will you tell us more about it?

- Ladies Movie Nights is very exciting and I love going. We started at the beginning of the year to attend Utopolis’s Ladies Movie Nights as a group because some of our members loved going, but didn’t go regularly. Five-Six times per year, Utopolis choses one movie to highlight as being “lady” friendly.What’s interesting is that the English language ones are always upbeat, romantic comedies and the Dutch language ones are usually “darker”.
We send out a notification of the upcoming movie and reserve the tickets ahead of time. Some of us meet up an hour ahead of time to have dinner and then all meet up 30 minutes beforehand to walk around the stalls that are setup especially for this event.

- IA provides a service called Almere Baby Club, is that right? What are the main activities of Almere Baby Club?

- Almere Baby Club is also not a part of IA, but we do support the group and also attend, if we have children 0-4. We hope to sponsor about two events per year with ABC as this group rarely attends our other functions. We are still searching for ways that we can support them in networking with each other and the larger community as a whole.

- And the activities schedule?

- It begins at 9:30 and goes to 11:30am on Wednesdays. There is singing and fruit eating and play and a chance for the parents to sit around, drink some coffee or tea and socialize. I think it’s so cute that they have a goodbye song.

- What are the prices of Almere Baby Club services?

- Two euro per family per visit or twenty euro per family for ten visits including coffee or tea and lastly fifteen euro per family for ten visits without coffee or tea. Most take the coffee and tea.

- How can a young mom contact Almere Baby Club?

- On our site we list the contact details for ABC.

- What are the following activities of IA? Where can we find you?

- Our upcoming event is the Family Christmas Party on December, 18.
All our events are listed on our sites, plus if one is on the mailing list they’ll receive a monthly newsletter and reminders of events.

- Is there something else you wish to say to our readers?

- They are welcome to join us at anytime.

Presepio Interviews...

International Almere is an English speaking organization whose aim is to connect and build essential social networks with people who understand the unique situation of being a foreigner in this modern Dutch city.

An interview with Connie Koorevaar-Goeks. (2nd Part)

- Do you notice more or less foreigners coming to Almere?

- Each year more and more are coming, but this year already 3 people have left. I was asked lately whether or not we see a seasonal shift and we don’t have that since ours are more family oriented and most of our companies hire with year contracts. Mostly it’s the younger group that leaves.

- Has life for expats in Almere changed the last two years?

- I really can't say life for most expats has changed much in the last two years, but it's changed immensely since 2007,  when the government enacted the new law requiring all non-EU residents to prove they're integrated. If they couldn't, they would need to take classes. This produced a frenzy for information from the expat community from those that had already been through it.  This need for information drew some expats out that had "integrated" into Dutch society but had no proof and were eager for information.  Myself being one of these.  The hot topic in the expat community since 2007 is inburgering [integration].  And probably, will remain so for many years to come, especially now, that the Dutch government is trying to pass laws to make people pay for their own inburgering [integration].

- How do expats experience the financial crisis?

- I don't think that expats are hit any differently in the financial crisis than the Dutch, however, that said, their positions are more fragile.  If a company downsizes and one or more of those employees are expats, they may end up having to leave the country, whereas a Dutch employee would just need to find a new job.  Also there's a benefit for those with the 30% ruling and that means they have that much more money to spend that could help the economy to recover.  Economies do better when money is being spent and if no one in the country is spending that will cause the economy to worsen, so in some ways, expats can actually help during a financial crisis.

- Do you think expats have trouble integrating into Dutch Society?

- Also I'd say the question should read more like: " Do the Dutch and expats have trouble with the expats integrating into Dutch Society?".

Firstly, English speaking expats have a difficult time integrating due to the Dutch's love of "practicing" their English.  If anyone speaks to a Dutch person in Dutch, then there's never a reason to change to any other language that I can see, unless one of the two are having trouble understanding each other.

Secondly, there can not be discrimination.  The Dutch government/people should not accept from their government, nor their people's, any form of discrimination towards anyone, including foreigners.  Creating a hostile environment for any one expat group is still felt by all the expats. This sort of behavior creates a blacklash which leaves no one wanting to integrate in the society and a nasty taste in ones mouth toward the country.

Thirdly, I would say that integration is a two way street, but if people would rather NOT let someone in, then integration is impossible, no matter how much the expat works at it. If people do not want to share their customs and cultures and learn new ones, then no integration can take place.

Fourthly, I think the definition of integration in the Netherlands is seen more as cloning, or making someone Dutch.  That's impossible.  What people have grown up with and that which are their cultures and customs should not be destroyed so that the Dutch ones take their place.  That's not integration.

As an expat we bring who we are with us, and trying to delete that and replace it with something else is very disheartening.  If the integration was seen more as melding or restructuring maybe, it might be more accepted by everyone.  As an American, I'm not giving up my culture and customs. I'm finding ways to still practice these important practices within the framework of my life here in the Netherlands.  If I can have both worlds successfully, then I can call myself integrated.

- IA has recently been in Expatica Fair “ I am Not a Tourist” in Amsterdam. How was the experience?
- We found our experience at the Expatica Fair to be excellent mostly because it was our first time being there as stand holders.  We were very excited about it and were not disappointed by how busy we were talking to so many people, sharing our vision of Almere and discussing our joy, International Almere. We did our share of selling Almere as the beautiful place it is to live and work. We found it to be a fantastic experience for us and we are looking forward to do it again next year.
 
- Had IA any kind of sponsorship?

- WTCAA sponsored Expatica and with that sponsorship came the stand, which they graciously shared with the two international schools (the International department of Letterland and the International School Almere) and us.

- What were the main questions you needed to answer?

- We were asked mostly about jobs, people seemed very desperate to find a job, secondly was housing and thirdly, surprisingly, some people had no idea what Almere is or where Almere is located.

(to be continued)

Presepio Interviews...

International Almere is an English speaking organization whose aim is to connect and build essential social networks with people who understand the unique situation of being a foreigner in this modern Dutch city.

An interview with Connie Koorevaar-Goeks. (1st part)

- What are the main activities of IA?

- As a social networking organization, we provide opportunities for members to get together, to meet, to have fun and an information source for those integrating into the Dutch society.
We do this by providing one day event, usually a family event – like going to the pancake boat or an adults golfing day over the Summer.
We also promote one night event per month like the social evenings at Anno.
We have too at least three major events per year like the picnic in July, the Halloween party in October and the Christmas party in December.
We maintain and update the website and a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Meetups to help with social connections.

- What were the most successful activities organized by IA?

- Zuiderzee museum visit and the summer picnic, but our social evenings at Anno are also a very big success as well as the Ladies Movie Nights.

- You are one of the committee members of IA. What are your main responsabilities there?

- I’m sort of the “everything” person. We have two official committee members, myself and Melanie Hill, who registered IA through the KvK [Kamer van Koophandel; The Chamber of Commerce] in March 2010.

- How did you and Melanie start working together as committee members and became the main responsible persons for the project?
- I first heard of IA sometime around April or so last year. Melanie joined right before I did by a month or two. At that time, IA wasn't an official organization, but mostly mothers with kids that met once a month at the bar and once a month at someone's house.
Around this time, the group had grown so big that we didn't think it was a good idea to open houses up to people we didn't know. There was a strong push for the group to be made official, so Becky -who runs the Almere Baby Club group and was the official IA person in the beginning - asked if I'd help out with the internet stuff.

- Does IA have partnerships?

- Yes, and we are always looking to add new ones. We were lucky that WTCAA [World Trade Center Almere Area] took interest in us right from the start and have worked with us to start a community that is beneficial to everyone. We are also strengthening our connections with the International schools and the International church, but we aren't officially partnered with them yet.
We believe that the international community needs to be united to make us all stronger and to share resources so that we’re able to provide better and more varied options for the internationals living in Almere and also to be able to come together and support each other by firstly using our own resources before going outside of the community.

- How many expats are members of IA?

- Currently our mailing list is sent to over 120 addresses. Most are families, a very small amount is organizations or groups that support expats.

- How do you describe the community?Are they more women than men?

- We definitely have more active female members as most are married to Dutch men. Ages range from 20’s – 50’s.

- Where are they from?

- We have over 19 countries represented: USA, Canada, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, Denmark, France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania, China, Korea, Japan.