Mini-Interview

I am introducing today a series of mini-interviews with expats who work and live for a while in the Netherlands. They all have jobs and some (many actually) have other interests or other successfull activities. That is something interesting about this country: many people decide to work part-time in other to pursue their dreams, keep studying or make some money with their hobbies.



1) Who are you ? Please introduce yourself.

My name is Tiziana Stapel.
I was born in Italy but I live in Holland since nearly 13 years. Before Holland have also lived in the UK for one year. I studied as a teacher for primary school, but later I also studied languages, marketing and import- export.
I work part time in an international company in Amsterdam for many years - it is a very good way to practice my language skills and to meet people from different countries.
I have also studied Ayurveda (traditional Indian Medicine) for 5 years so I organize courses about Ayurvedic Massage, What is Ayurveda, Ayurvedic food, Gems and colours and so on.

You can look at my website http://www.bluelotus-ayurveda.org/

2) What brought you to the Netherlands ?

15 years ago I met my actual husband Simon in Greece and after 2 years I moved to Holland to live with him. We have 2 young daughters.

3) What do you miss the most about your home country ?

I miss the nature - in Italy we have everything: mountains, sea, lakes, hills and so on.
I miss the art - we have so many monumental towns and lot of historical buildings in Italy.
I miss the food and the pleasure of eating together with family and friends. Very often I miss the warmth of many friends and family there, but luckily I have many friends here in Holland too.

4) What is the best about living in the Netherlands ? 

In Holland you can find all kind of restaurants so you get a chance to try all different kinds of food - this is a very positive point of the Dutch multicultural society. In Holland it's possible to begin a study at every age of your life - this is very important for one's self growing. It is possible to travel with reasonable prices everywhere in the world because Amsterdam is a very important airport and in this country many people are used to go abroad. Here you can meet people from different countries so you can exchange ideas and learn a lot from other cultures.

5) Would you have advice for expats who just arrived to the NL ?

I would advise expats to learn the language in order to get in touch with local people and to read newspapers, wacht TV and so on - this is very important for a good integration.
I would also advise to :
- try different restaurants;
- take lessons like Yoga, massage, cooking, dance and so on. In Amsterdam you can find some courses in English;
- travel around to get to know some nice places like The Hague, Delft, Leiden, Maastricht, Utrecht ...

Great tips Tizi, thanks so much for your answers and lots of succes with your Ayurveda therapy and courses !