After living for so many years in the Netherlands, we started to appreciate the idea of a community of Romanians, we started to understand that it would be very good to find out about one another, who we are, why we are here, why we feel good in this country.
And so the project Noi Rădăcini – New Roots – was born: a format based on short interviews, which will be published every week for a year. 52 interviews in total.
Who is it for? First, to say that Romanians feel good when living in the Netherlands. We can collect their stories, some different from the culture and traditions they left behind, and we can learn from them. We, Romanians, want to learn about other Romanians, to understand the different facets of living and being successful in the Netherlands.
Second, Noi Rădăcini wants to be a credible source of information for the Dutch people, focusing on the good things Romanians actually do in the Netherlands, from things that are tangible and easy to appreciate, to less tangible things that nevertheless make the Dutch society work.
There is also a third reason for Noi Rădăcini to exist, a reason perhaps only meaningful to the authors: we were and remain curious about Romanians living in the Netherlands. Who are these beautiful and courageous people?
“… after three-four years I started to feel OK again. I realised this when I was walking on the street and I looked into the window of a shop. I saw myself and thought in Dutch: “Wow, what a lovely dress!” Then I realised it was over, I am home!”
“If the community you refer to is the people who participate in the life and society in the Netherlands with all their heart and soul, I am one of them. But I want to stress again that I feel I am an international citizen.”
“I arrived during a meeting with many Philips executives from several departments. … At some point, one of the executives said loudly and convincingly: “I’ll be honest with you and I’ll tell you the truth.” I was watching astonished what was happening. … I saw a clash between Ireland, where, as I said, people would say something in a roundabout way without reaching a solution everyone agreed upon, and the Netherlands, where everything was discussed in a direct manner and an action plan was quickly drafted. This was my first cultural shock.”
“I had to go through some moments when I had to accept my cause, to understand that I would not become a world-famous soloist, that I wouldn’t be such a big name, as it is, in fact, expected of you in the schools in Romania. But success does not reside in these things, but in the perseverance with which you build something.”
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