“I couldn’t understand how I could be in another city with a ten-minute train ride,” says Hercilia from Brazil. She was born in …, where she also studied architecture. Her university offered an exchange program. “I initially wanted to go to Barcelona, but the internships there were only for one or two months, and I wanted to intern for at least six months. Then I saw an architectural firm in Rotterdam. I had been to Amsterdam a few years earlier, but I hadn’t heard of Rotterdam. Still, I thought it would be fun to go to an exotic country I hadn’t known before and learn an exotic language,” she laughs. “And I had such a great time that I wanted to go back. So after graduating in Brazil, I reconnected with the people I met during my internship. That’s how I found a job.”
Small
An organization found her a house in Delft. “I didn’t understand how I could work in Rotterdam. In my hometown, you can’t even get out of your neighborhood in ten minutes,” she laughs. “Now I’ve learned that everything here is very close together.” And that’s not the only thing she likes about the city. “I really enjoyed working in Rotterdam because Rotterdammers are very direct and assertive. And they stick to agreements. I like that. Then you know where you stand.”
Boxes
But she also found disadvantages in the city. “Here, just like in Brazil, you have a mix of people and many different migration backgrounds. In Brazil, you have the original inhabitants, the Native Americans, the descendants of the enslaved from Africa, and the migrants who came afterward. But nobody asks where you’re from there. Even if you have super-blonde hair and a German surname. Especially if you speak Brazilian, you don’t ask. Then you’re just Brazilian, period. In Rotterdam, people always ask where you’re from. Everyone always tries to put you in boxes. Even if people were born here and are third-generation, they’re still asked where they’re from.”
Spontaneous
Fortunately, she can now be herself in the city. “In the beginning, you adapt, but I don’t have that anymore. Luckily, we also have more or less the same holidays here from our Christian background, like Christmas and Easter. So I don’t have to adapt there anyway. I do think a lot of Brazilians are spontaneous, and I try to maintain that. I make appointments like the Dutch, but I also try to do spontaneous things.”
Conversation
That’s how she always chats with people. “That also helps with learning the language. You just have to try speaking it. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. And it’s especially easy to chat with people from Rotterdam. They always have a little commentary on everything,” she laughs. “But Rotterdam is my city. I wouldn’t want to live in any other city in the Netherlands.”