Our port city welcomed sailor Bob by boat fifty years ago, very fittingly. “When I was 24, I sailed away from the Philippines. After seven years I had a stop in Rotterdam.” That is where he found his love. Not only his wife (from Nijmegen), but also the port. He continued to work there for 25 years. “If I had not been able to find work, I might have gone back to the Philippines. But that always worked out.” He stayed, married a Dutch woman and had two children.
Drug addicts
Yet in the 0s, he still had some doubts about leaving again. “Back then, there were a lot of drug addicts around Rotterdam Central Station. That caused nuisance in my neighbourhood. That’s why I thought about leaving because I didn’t think it would be good for my children to grow up there. But we stayed anyway.” He still lives in the Proveniers neighbourhood now.
Learning Dutch
“I have found my niche now. So have my children.” Before that, he did have to learn Dutch. ‘I did a course for that and of course my wife helped me with that.’ He would also advise other newcomers to learn the language well and adopt the culture.
The Philippines
He did go back to the Philippines several times with his wife and children. “Just last year, I went with my son to the place where I was born. That was fun, I recognised all the places. But my nieces and nephews unfortunately did not.” But for tourists, he would definitely recommend the country. “Everyone speaks English easily, all though we have a different accent than Americans. But that makes it easy for tourists.”