“Now when I see a Dominican restaurant or a Dominican artist, I don’t immediately think I have to go there anymore. I used to,” says Jonathan. At the age of 20, he visited his mother, sister and brother in Rotterdam in 1998. He was actually supposed to stay here for three months, but his mother did not want him to go back to his father in the Dominican Republic. “So then I went to the immigration police with my mother. And it actually went very easily. The police helped us and then I could stay.”
It took a very long time for him to feel at home. “It was really a big change. I was used to a warm country. I came here in October, then it was very cold. and the whole day was grey. And it was so quiet. Whereas in my country there was always noise. And here there were few people from the Dominican Republic. So the first period in the Netherlands was really hard for me. I got a bit depressed… I just sat at home. I couldn’t get used to it.”
Feeling at home
Yet he did his best to find his place. That started with learning Dutch. “I learnt it outside on the street and from books. That was actually very easy. I learnt it in two years. So I could do everything on my own like going to the doctor and supermarket.” He also got to know people from the Dominican Republic and socialised with them. He mostly went to Dominican restaurants and nightclubs to feel a bit at home. And he succeeded quite well. ‘About three years later, I did feel at home,’ he says.
That’s also when he officially got his residence permit. A day later, he immediately looked for work. “My first job was as a production worker. I mainly had to pack.” A lot of foreigners like Chinese worked at his job. And they didn’t speak Dutch very well either. “And with my friends from the Dominican Republic, I spoke a lot of Spanish. So then my Dutch deteriorated.”
Not as a nationality, but as a Rotterdammer
After five years in the Netherlands, Jonathan actually felt better in the Netherlands than in his homeland. “I had a tattoo and earring and went on holiday to the Dominican Republic like that. Everyone thought I had become gay and was on drugs. That was because of all the taboos in the Dominican Republic; nothing was allowed or possible. Now things are different. But then I realised that the Netherlands was really better then. Now I feel more comfortable here than in my own country. Now I don’t even miss the culture and food from there.” He advises the same to other newcomers. “Feel at home here in Rotterdam. So don’t see yourself as another nationality, but as a Rotterdammer. That way we are all one.”
Opportunities
Jonathan has now worked his way up quite a bit. “Rotterdam has a lot of opportunities; take advantage of them!” He became a musician and travelled all over Europe with the group Ghetto Flow. “That’s how I saw many countries and realised that the Netherlands really is the best country!” Now he has worked his way up to personal trainer in various gyms. He has also now had a child. “That changes your life. I have to be there for my child. That’s why I stay here.”