“When I first visited Rotterdam, I expected small streets and street scenes from a fairy tale. Just like in Amsterdam or Utrecht. So I was a bit disappointed at first. But you have to give Rotterdam a chance. Because it’s great. So much is happening here!” Malisa from Kosovo can know, because she did not give the city a chance at first and she still regrets it.
In 2011, Malisa got a scholarship to study in the Netherlands. She was allowed to do a master’s in Rotterdam or Maastricht. “But I couldn’t choose. So I had sought advice from a friend who was already living in the Netherlands. He recommended Maastricht because he said it would be safer there. Now that makes my heart ache.” Still, she met her great love in Maastricht. But she could not stay. A condition of the scholarship she had received was to work for the government in Kosovo for a time after her master’s degree. ‘We didn’t know if a distance relationship would work out for us, but we tried,’ she says. And it worked out happily, for no less than six years.
Infrastructure, opportunities and people
In late 2017, she joined her boyfriend in Rotterdam. She thoroughly enjoyed herself. “Rotterdam is a great city in terms of infrastructure and opportunities. And in terms of people: I love that Rotterdam is multicultural. So you can make friends from different countries. That’s why I feel at home. Not right away, then you have too high an expectation. But it doesn’t take long before you feel at home here.”
Grateful
It was not easy to find a job here in her sector. “So I worked in a restaurant for six months but there I barely spoke Dutch. But I got so much understanding from my colleagues and guests… no one complained that they couldn’t speak Dutch with me. That made me feel welcome. I’m really grateful for that.”
Malisa eventually learned good Dutch in the library. “From a very nice teacher; Janet. I love her. There I got help with the language, but also with lots of other things. It is a very nice project. Everyone is welcome and you don’t have to pay anything.”