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CNN World Report

'Expat' Magazine Helps Netherlands' International Residents Assimilate

Aired September 02, 2001 - 14:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: The Netherlands is home to about a quarter of a million patriots, many of them from the former Dutch colonies of Indonesia, Suriname and the islands of the Caribbean, but some are finding it difficult to assimilate. RNTV's Jeroen Baan reports on how one magazine is helping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEROEN BAAN, RNTV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With its 750 printed copies, the "Dutch Expatriate" magazine may be a minor publication, but the impact on its readers is a whole lot bigger. According to editor-in-chief Sam Coleman, his magazine helps out international residents in their struggle to integrate into the Dutch society.

SAM COLEMAN, EDITOR, "EXPAT" MAGAZINE: They really do want to know the Dutch personalities, they want to know the Dutch history, they want to know the complications of Dutch life, and what other expats are going through and international residents are going through. And our survey overwhelmingly told us that that's really what they wanted. They want that. They want light topics and they also want serious news.

BAAN: Like many other countries, Dutch society has got its own singularities. One of the more popular issues for patriots in the Netherlands is the policy on drugs. Many find it outrageous that marijuana is legal in the Netherlands. "Expat" magazine tries to explain the Dutch view on this topic, but few people seem to be convinced. Even Coleman has his doubts.

COLEMAN: You run the risk of becoming the Tijuana of Europe, is my opinion. The people are just going to come here to just go off, to be free, to do whatever they want that they can't do and they wouldn't do in a normal society. They are going to come here because everything is OK in Holland, right?

BAAN: Not every article tries to analyze the oddities of the Dutch national character. Another way to getting to know the country and its people is to look at old folk customs, such as the curious sport of flagpole sitting. Whoever lasts longest wins. But don't hold your breath. It may take up to three days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to say that I am the first foreigner to sit on the flag pole.

COLEMAN: I think a lot of expats and international people go through this, where they think what a wonderful place, people are nice, English is spoken by 70 percent of the population. It's modern, it's old, it's all these great things. So you go through this very high period where you really think it is the greatest place in Europe.

And then it drops a little bit. And then it gets a little more difficult. And then you start to say, it's not as fantastic as I thought it was, it's not as sweet as I thought it was. And I went through a period where I started to realize that, and then it kind of came back up again and became something more moderate and normal, because of course you can't idealize the society.

BAAN: Sam Coleman himself joins in in many of these events as a part of this integration process. And that's the message to his readers, joining the locals will help make guest stay here more fun.

Jeroen Baan, Radio Netherlands Television, for "WORLD REPORT.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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