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Africans going Dutch
Article: 'Africans going Dutch': Part 25 - Same rules for everyone?
I have moved several times while living in Holland. When I do, I always call a friend with a van to help me. One time the home I was moving from had no parking spot, and so we had no choice than park half on the sidewalk. In Africa, nobody...
Article: 'Africans going Dutch': Part 24 – Gabon in Holland
It’s quite a long time ago since I left Gabon. I was just seven in 1986 when I arrived with my family in France, the country of my father. Uprooted for the first time I discovered snow and another way of living far from the nature I...
Article: ‘Africans going Dutch’: Part Twenty-Three – Cars = rich?
In Burundi, having a car is a sign of success – mostly because most people don’t have enough money for one. People use public transport or walk whenever they go to work, shop or visit friends. But as soon as it’s...
Article: ‘Africans going Dutch’: Part Twenty-Two – Shoes
In Burundi all higher-educated people and office workers wear decent shoes. These shoes are not necessarily expensive, but they are decent and made of leather. And they’re clean, polished and shiny. During the six years I taught...
Article: ‘Africans going Dutch’: Part Twenty-One – Old age homes
I long for a beautiful end for my life, with enough food and surrounded by my family. This may sound strange to a Dutch person, but in Africa the last days of your life are considered to be very, very important. If you’ve lived your...
Article: ‘Africans going Dutch’: Part Twenty – A different kind of jail
Everybody knows what a prison is, but the meaning of the word is different in Africa, than in the Netherlands. A few weeks ago I met an African man at the train station. He had a little black bag. I think he could see that I am from Africa...
Article: ‘Africans going Dutch’: Part Nineteen – How happy are you?
When I first came to Holland, I was very happy to be safe. At the time, the war was still going on in Burundi and I was used to being scared. At last I could relax. How wonderful it was to live in a country like the Netherlands with its...
Article: ‘Africans going Dutch’: Part Eighteen – Health is relative
Ever since I first entered a supermarket in 2001, the Dutch impress me. They are an educated people who study packages before buying a product. They want to be sure the product doesn’t contain too much fat and sugar. They try to eat...
Article: 'Africans going Dutch': Part Seventeen – Buying a train
A lot of Dutch people seem to have strange ideas about Africa. Sometimes they ask me some very weird questions. For example, when I decided to follow a French teacher training course, I had to do an entrance test, which included an...
Article: 'Africans going Dutch': Part Sixteen – Timetables
The first office I visited in the Netherlands belonged to the COA, the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers. It’s an environment the Dutch call multiculti, where everybody tries their best to respect each other...
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