“Paris and London are also diverse but that’s because they have so many inhabitants. And there you have a lot of neighbourhoods with only Caribbean or Chinese people. Then it doesn’t stand out. But because Rotterdam is smaller and more mixed, you see more quickly how diverse it is.” Speaking is Shastri, from Trinidad and Tobago. This country consists of many islands and is close to our Kingdom of the Netherlands, namely Curaçao.
Welcoming and space
He came to Rotterdam from Paris in March 2022. “The flats there were very small. I didn’t like that, so I thought it was time to leave Paris.” He was able to find a job in the Netherlands and moved to Amsterdam. There he lived for nine months. “But when I visited Rotterdam once, I felt much more at home there. I found the city more cosmopolitan. I saw a different lifestyle, it felt more welcoming and real. There was also more space. In Amsterdam, everything seemed full already.” So he moved. And to this day, he has no regrets.
Diversity, being outdoors and dressing casual
“What I like about Rotterdam is the diversity and how that is incorporated into society. For instance, I have a Polish supermarket around the corner from me and a Moroccan butcher’s shop next door. That doesn’t feel crazy, it just gives me a lot of options in terms of food. I also like how organised the city is.
You can cycle everywhere but public transport is also well set up. Also, everything is made outside so you can be nice outside. In other cities, for example, the streets suddenly stop,” he laughs. For instance, he likes to chill outside by the Coolhaven. “There are a lot of boats there that never move. During summer, it’s nice to sit there, drink coffee and eat pastries and watch boats go by.”
To experience the city properly, he therefore advises other newcomers to walk around the city a lot outside, without earplugs. “That way you see and hear a lot, like how many languages are spoken in the city,” he says.
Well regulated
The organised Shastri sees outside ánd in the whole way the Netherlands works. “If I get a new job and have to apply for a visa, there is a logical process to follow. That applies to many things. I like not having to worry about bureaucratic stuff. And people don’t look at what you’re wearing, how stylish you are. I like that because I don’t want to go out of my way every day to dress myself really nice.”
Vitamin D
Still, not everything is sunshine and rainbows. “I really struggle with the weather… it’s so tricky. Vitamin D tablets are really a thing here. I had never heard of that until I came to live in the Netherlands!” laughs Shastri. That is why he is thinking about living somewhere else after all. But where, he doesn’t know yet. “Maybe something Caribbean,” he says.