The Welcoming International Talent project focusses on welcoming international students and expats in medium sized European cities. Aim is to improve welcoming policies of these six cities with various projects. But how do internationals themselves experience living in these welcoming cities? In this column, an international from each WIT-city will share their experiences. This time: Evi Kiorri from Groningen, the Netherlands!
This article is written by Evi Kiorri for the Northern Times: a English newspaper for internationals living in the north of the Netherlands.
From Athens to Groningen: Loving and hating my new hometown
Moving to another country is never easy, but leaving behind the city where you grew up for an unknown destination can only mean one thing: adventures!
Starting my internship at the Northern Times, my editor asked me how different it is to be in Groningen since I’m coming from Athens. Taking me back to that warm summer day when I arrived (terrified) in Groningen, two things crossed my mind. First, I was stunned by this tiny but beautiful city, which was a world apart from the concrete jungle that is Athens.
My next surprise came when I made the mistake of taking a taxi from the train station to my residence at Winchoterdiep and I heard the astronomical taxi fee. This was one of my first lessons at the beginning of my life as a “Dutchie”: never take a taxi!
My time in Groningen has been nothing but valuable lessons that will follow me for the rest of my life and that shaped who I’ve become as a person. For instance, that one time that I was standing with my bike on the painted indicators (for cyclists) on a bridge and a Dutch guy, who looked almost offended by my ignorance, pointed out that standing there is prohibited. It was one of the few times that I felt so embarrassed that my face turned the brightest shade of red.
On that warm August day that I arrived at the train station, I couldn’t stop thinking, “Why is this country so flat?” And then I saw Groningen, and that initial question was replaced with a more personal question: “What am I doing in this tiny, tiny city?” I could feel the desperation carved on my face. I was gripped by this fear of the unknown. I had left behind everything that I knew like the back of my hand in Athens, and I was suddenly feeling very lost in this foreign city. I presume most internationals in this city felt the same.
