Savanah is from the United States, like me, and talking to her keeps me from getting homesick. My roommates help me feel at home.
Two of my best friends are Vicky and Ilia; they’re from Greece. They lived in the second biggest city in Greece: Thessaloniki. Vicky and Ilia have introduced me to a whole Greek community here in Rotterdam. With my new Greek friends, I’ve eaten a lot of gyros (which is a Greek dish of meat served on a pita) and I’ve tried φραπές (which is frappé coffee, a foam-covered ice coffee). They taught me how to say thank you in Greek: it’s pronounced efcharistó and written ευχαριστώ. They showed me how to play their favorite card game Biriba. My Greek friends have exposed me to a whole new culture.
Since Rotterdam is such an international city, I’ve made friends from all over the world. There is Felix from New Zealand, Loc from Vietnam, Alexi from France, Nam from Hungary, Lucca from Italy and Eduardo from Chile. We all are learning about Dutch culture together. We have bonded over our experiences as expatriates (people living outside of their native countries).
Remarkably, a lot of the reasons I was worried about making friends actually ended up helping me befriend others. I was worried about language barriers, but laughing about each other’s accents and learning words in new languages was an icebreaker with my new friends. I was nervous about cultural differences, but I found that I related other expatriates as we try to integrate into Dutch culture together. I met Vicky because we both got lost on the metro on our first day. My experiences as an expatriate have allowed me to make friends with other internationals.
