“I think it’s important that you respect our private lives here,” says Aliia from Kyrgyzstan. She was born there in a small town in the mountains. “Some people call it the Switzerland of Asia.” After high school, her family moved to Canada. She went to university in Vancouver, where she met her current husband.
Together, they wanted to explore other countries. “We chose between the Netherlands and Switzerland. I knew that the work culture in the Netherlands also values private life, which is important to me. We also celebrated our honeymoon in Aruba, where we ate Dutch bread, which reminded me of my hometown, where we also eat bread every day. So that’s another reason why we chose the Netherlands.”
Nomadic lifestyle
It doesn’t happen often, but the food culture of Kyrgyzstan is similar to that of the Netherlands. “I mainly cook red meat, potatoes, and vegetables. Sometimes pasta. We don’t use many spices, I think because of the nomadic lifestyle we grow up with at home. Our climate wasn’t very suitable for vegetables, so we mainly ate potatoes and onions.“ Aliia was therefore quite surprised when she saw the variety of vegetables available here. ”You can grow twice as much as in other countries.”
Living centrally with a friend
They chose Rotterdam, even though her husband went to work in Amsterdam. “It’s one of the best places to live because it’s so central and easily accessible from anywhere in the world. My husband had a good friend living in Rotterdam; he lives here as an architect. We visited him in the summer when we were on vacation. I was sitting on the train and heard many different languages, such as English, Russian, but also languages I had never heard of before. I liked all those different faces.”
So they went house hunting to settle down, but it wasn’t easy. “You have to prove that you’re reliable when you don’t know anyone in the housing market. Fortunately, we were able to find a site created for expats who need a first home; that helped.”
More culture, fewer kitchens
The couple now happily lives in Rotterdam Alexander and they are enjoying themselves. They like the city even more than they first thought. “The city really has a great art culture. There is so much to discover; music, museums… even more than in Vancouver!“ According to Aliia, what this large Canadian city has more of than Rotterdam is Asian cuisine. ”There is more variety in cuisines from Southeast Asia, such as Malaysian, Indian, Cambodian, Japanese…”
The couple uses bicycles to explore the city. “We really like the cycling culture. My husband even repaired bicycles for others for free.” Every weekend, Aliia and her husband cycle to a different neighborhood to explore different areas.
“Like Nesselande; there’s a nice forest there. It’s different from Canada, where you mainly have rainforests. Here you can really see the colors change every season; that has its own beauty and charm.”
Learning Dutch for the supermarket and friends in the choir
She is trying to find her place in the city by learning the language. “I find social places interesting, where I can hear and learn more Dutch and also learn about Dutch customs. For example, I discovered the Central Library. It’s huge and there are lots of things to do, such as free Dutch lessons. I’m now learning Dutch for free at Delft University of Technology. At the end of the course, I should be able to have a basic conversation, like in the supermarket or on the train. I’m looking forward to that. It will open more doors for me, allowing me to integrate more into Dutch society and people will be more open.” But Aliia isn’t waiting until she can hold such a conversation before meeting new people. She actively seeks out places to meet people, which is how she ended up in a choir. “I was also part of a choir in both Kyrgyzstan and Canada. That was really fun. It’s also a great place to meet new people.”
Aliia’s plan is to fully immerse herself in the city and stay for a long time. To that end, she is now looking for a job. “The Netherlands has a large technology sector, for example in product development, which is what I used to work in. I was interested in Philips, for example. But I would also like to learn more about your agriculture.”
Aliia also looks beyond work. “I find your approach to parenting interesting: raising children to be independent. Of course, raising them with love, but not smothering them.”