Interview with Expat Suzanna

by Susan Tredenick

I caught up with Suzanna over coffee at “La Place” in V&D Groningen. Suzanna is on her second attempt to make life work overseas and she is on a mission to experience what life has to offer in her husband’s beloved country and the rest of Europe for that matter.

How long have you lived overseas

This is my second attempt at living abroad, I first came in 1995 and lived in Huizen (Netherlands) for 7 years and now I am back in Groningen for an undefined period of time.

What was your initial reason for coming to Europe?

Initially I came to Holland on a 2 month vacation to visit a close friend. During that holiday I met my (now) partner. We travelled between countries the first year but that was tiring and expensive – so I decided to take the plunge and jump in to the expat life.

Can you tell us a bit about your life?

Originally I moved to Huizen and began to build a life with my partner. I was lucky to secure work in an International company that required English speaking personnel. At the time I thought it was lucky but looking back it was a great excuse of not having to learn Dutch. After 3 years I had children and gave up working, joined an expat group from England, and had a great time socialising with the mothers and their children (still all in English. Day to day it was easy enough to get by with my limited Dutch and most people were happy to speak English to me. I guess I was in a bit of a cocoon. When my first child started school I found it a bit more difficult to communicate with his school friends so I began Dutch lessons. Soon after my father became very ill and I was extremely homesick so we packed up the family and moved back to my country. 11 years passed and we are back in Holland, my children are now 17 and 14 and it has been a challenge this last year settling everyone in.

What are some of your challenges?

The biggest challenge I face is trying to learn Dutch so that I can feel that I am contributing to family life. I miss working, but realise that I need to improve my language to obtain work.

My other challenges have been settling the children into new schools and helping (as much as you can help teenagers) adjust to a new culture and life. It has been a long hard process but I can see that they are turning the corner and are happier now. I also feel that it is harder to make friends when you are older so overcoming this barrier is also a challenge.

What tips would you give to a newcomer to help them settle earlier?

Learn, learn, learn the language, it just makes you feel so much less isolated and gives your confidence a boost. Even if you are only here for a defined period of time it really helps alleviate a lot of stress. Also joining a group or club with people of similar interests is a godsend, it is very easy to cocoon yourself into a safe place but in the end you have a wonderful opportunity to experience a new culture and meet new people. Take risks, try new things, because you never know when you will find a new interest and, above all, smile and be able to laugh at all the mistakes.

Last words

Smile, you never know what is around the corner ……