Research by Nuffic (Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education) has revealed that foreign students in the Netherlands have trouble adapting to Dutch society.
It seems that prior to arrival here, some foreign students underestimated the difficulties of living in a country that uses a language other than English; consequently, they now have trouble reading road signs, official letters and even labels on supermarket products. As one Chinese student put it: “No one told me that there is something like the Dutch language. I just thought that since all the Dutch speak English, that’s the language over there.” Well, no one told us about all the common labels the Dutch have for us foreigners, either. Not that officialdom is wholly insensitive to this. Below is the partial text of a letter I received recently from Delft municipality.
Dear Sir, Madam:
The municipality of Delft asked us to do an inquiry with the foreign inhabitants of the municipality. In other words: the municipality of Delft wants to connect to the situation of its foreign inhabitants….If you are not available during the day you can call us for an appointment….
The nice lady on the phone explained to me that the computer sends these letters automatically to every citizen of Delft who was born outside of the Netherlands. She asked if I would kindly agree to participate in a telephone survey? My curiosity aroused, I kindly agreed:
Are you registered with a physician? Yes. Can you communicate with him/her? Sure, although I never visit him. Have you ever heard of a ‘wijkagent’? No. Do you have Dutch neighbors and do you get along with them? ‘Get along with’, how so? Generally, sir? Well…er…they’re all students, you know. Is that a yes or a no, sir? Write that I’m unable to answer. Do your Dutch neighbors accept your lifestyle? I’ll have to ask them…(shouting to my roommates) “Hey guys! Do you accept my lifestyle? Delft municipality is on the phone and wants to know how I’m doing in Delft! (roommates shout back, “Are you nuts? Of course not!”) I’m sorry to say they don’t, ma’am. Oh, it’s a shame!
So far so good, right? But in the Dutch version of the same letter, which I also received, I was labeled. It’s now official: I’m an…’allochtoon’. This filthy sounding word was introduced to the Dutch language in the 1970s as a supposedly nicer, ‘pc’ alternative to ‘buitenlander’, which began to have a very negative image. Buitenlander (meaning ‘foreigner’) was then associated with the increasing migrant population, namely the Turks and Moroccans who were (and still are) not welcomed by large parts of society. Allochtoon literally means ‘someone not from here’, and the word has since inherited the same negative connotations as its predecessor, buitenlander. Technically, an Amsterdammer living in Delft is also an allochtoon, but practically speaking. The word is now used almost exclusively in the same breath as other negative Dutch labels for foreigners, such as kutmarokkanen, domme negers and klote turken (f*^king Moroccans, dumb Negroes and damned Turks, respectively). For the past year I worked so hard to explain to my Dutch surroundings that I’m actually an ‘expatriate’; that is, one who doesn’t intend to be stuck in Holland for the rest of his life as an unemployed burden on their taxes. Now, a year’s hard work has been ruined in a millisecond by the municipality’s computer. I guess I should just accept the label I have been officially stuck with: I am Allochtoon! One of my fellow students, who is from the Dutch Antilles, has charmingly labeled himself a “relatieve allochtoon” (relative…), in humoristic protest against the possibility that he shall be confused with all those other ‘domme negers’. After all, he is studying at a Dutch university. Perhaps that’s the real answer: relativity.
Michael Afanasyev, Israel, Aerospace Engineering.
Research by Nuffic (Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education) has revealed that foreign students in the Netherlands have trouble adapting to Dutch society. It seems that prior to arrival here, some foreign students underestimated the difficulties of living in a country that uses a language other than English; consequently, they now have trouble reading road signs, official letters and even labels on supermarket products. As one Chinese student put it: “No one told me that there is something like the Dutch language. I just thought that since all the Dutch speak English, that’s the language over there.” Well, no one told us about all the common labels the Dutch have for us foreigners, either. Not that officialdom is wholly insensitive to this. Below is the partial text of a letter I received recently from Delft municipality.
Dear Sir, Madam:
The municipality of Delft asked us to do an inquiry with the foreign inhabitants of the municipality. In other words: the municipality of Delft wants to connect to the situation of its foreign inhabitants….If you are not available during the day you can call us for an appointment….
The nice lady on the phone explained to me that the computer sends these letters automatically to every citizen of Delft who was born outside of the Netherlands. She asked if I would kindly agree to participate in a telephone survey? My curiosity aroused, I kindly agreed:
Are you registered with a physician? Yes. Can you communicate with him/her? Sure, although I never visit him. Have you ever heard of a ‘wijkagent’? No. Do you have Dutch neighbors and do you get along with them? ‘Get along with’, how so? Generally, sir? Well…er…they’re all students, you know. Is that a yes or a no, sir? Write that I’m unable to answer. Do your Dutch neighbors accept your lifestyle? I’ll have to ask them…(shouting to my roommates) “Hey guys! Do you accept my lifestyle? Delft municipality is on the phone and wants to know how I’m doing in Delft! (roommates shout back, “Are you nuts? Of course not!”) I’m sorry to say they don’t, ma’am. Oh, it’s a shame!
So far so good, right? But in the Dutch version of the same letter, which I also received, I was labeled. It’s now official: I’m an…’allochtoon’. This filthy sounding word was introduced to the Dutch language in the 1970s as a supposedly nicer, ‘pc’ alternative to ‘buitenlander’, which began to have a very negative image. Buitenlander (meaning ‘foreigner’) was then associated with the increasing migrant population, namely the Turks and Moroccans who were (and still are) not welcomed by large parts of society. Allochtoon literally means ‘someone not from here’, and the word has since inherited the same negative connotations as its predecessor, buitenlander. Technically, an Amsterdammer living in Delft is also an allochtoon, but practically speaking. The word is now used almost exclusively in the same breath as other negative Dutch labels for foreigners, such as kutmarokkanen, domme negers and klote turken (f*^king Moroccans, dumb Negroes and damned Turks, respectively). For the past year I worked so hard to explain to my Dutch surroundings that I’m actually an ‘expatriate’; that is, one who doesn’t intend to be stuck in Holland for the rest of his life as an unemployed burden on their taxes. Now, a year’s hard work has been ruined in a millisecond by the municipality’s computer. I guess I should just accept the label I have been officially stuck with: I am Allochtoon! One of my fellow students, who is from the Dutch Antilles, has charmingly labeled himself a “relatieve allochtoon” (relative…), in humoristic protest against the possibility that he shall be confused with all those other ‘domme negers’. After all, he is studying at a Dutch university. Perhaps that’s the real answer: relativity.
Michael Afanasyev, Israel, Aerospace Engineering.
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