“For the first two months, I thought: what on earth have I done?” Oliver says about his start in Rotterdam. He grew up in Halat, Lebanon, a small village on the Mediterranean Sea, about 40 kilometers north of the capital Beirut. He came to the Netherlands in 2003, initially with no intention of staying. “I had won a prize at a television station in Lebanon: a trip to Paris. Through a friend in Amsterdam, I decided to take a trip to Rotterdam as well. There I visited the Piet Zwart Institute, part of the Willem de Kooning Academy. Their master’s program in Media Design really appealed to me. Within six months, I had moved.”
A difficult start
The first few months in Rotterdam were anything but easy for Oliver. “Saying goodbye was one of the saddest moments of my life. I didn’t leave Lebanon because things were bad—I had my friends, my job, and my family. But I wanted adventure.”
For Oliver, the transition was huge. “It was my first real trip outside Lebanon. In Lebanon, you live more day by day – here, everything is planned. Making friends was difficult, especially with Dutch people. My close circle of friends still consists mainly of other internationals: from Finland, Poland, Vietnam… People who are going through the same thing understand you.”
That’s why he greatly appreciates Rotterdam’s diversity. “In Lebanon, there is little cultural mixing. Here, everyone mixes, and no one immediately assumes that you’re from abroad.”
The right move
Nevertheless, he flew back to Lebanon in December to recharge his batteries. But when he met his current husband, Daniel, in the Netherlands, he knew he would stay. “He made me feel more and more at home. When I came back after Christmas, I thought: this was the right move after all.”
Returning to Lebanon was never really an option for him. “There are no gay rights there. Our relationship would never be officially recognized there. That’s a big hurdle, even if the country were economically and politically stable.”
Fun people lunch
Olivier honors one Lebanese custom: the long, elaborate Sunday lunch. “In Lebanon, it’s an experience, often with meat from the barbecue and hours of dining. We’ve translated that into the ‘Fun People Lunch’—we invite our favorite people, everyone brings something, and it can go on late into the evening.”
Directness, punctuality, and social safety net
Olivier appreciates the direct communication and punctuality of the Dutch, but also the social safety net. “In the Netherlands, people are taken care of, something that is completely lacking in Lebanon.” He sees how the city has grown: “More cultural initiatives, festivals, art projects – it has become livelier, more cosmopolitan. That has made me grow in my love for Rotterdam.”