My Heritage

My Heritage

    Fortunately for me, I didn’t need to look back to far to find out where I came from, because my parents are both immigrants, my Dad being born in Italy and my Mom being born in the Netherlands. However, for this presentation I’m going to be focusing on my dutch side, which is my mom, (Angelique Mylene Koomen) my aunt, (Manon Patricia Koomen) my uncle, (Ronald Gerardus Koomen) my Oma, (Bernadine Petronella VanEerden) and my Opa, (Cornelis Leonardus Koomen).

    My family came from a small town called Zandvoort, which translates to Sandcastle.

    In 1966 my mom was born, being the youngest of her two siblings, Manon (who was 4 at the time) and Ronald (who was 7). Also by this time my Opa owned a drivers training school, and my Oma rented out bedrooms during the tourist season, which was successful due to the town’s popularity with German tourists. (Koomen, 2016).

    They were living well, however my mom said that my Opa felt differently, she said “My dad always wanted the best for us. He wanted us to have everything that he didn’t get to have when he was a kid. He had a very difficult childhood, his mom died when he was three from childbirth, and his father died during World War 2, leaving him and his siblings as orphans when he was 10. When his father died he was pulled out of school, he was smart, he came from a good family, but he lost it all during the war, and he wanted to be an engineer so his dreams were shattered.” (Koomen, 2016).

    “He got the idea to move to Canada from his brother, who was already living here with his family. He kept pushing him to move It was a good time for us to leave, at this point North America in general wanted, and was accepting a lot of europeans, mainly because they worked hard and they were white. My dad was hopeful, a risk taker, and an adventurer, and even though my mom was against it, in 1967 we flew from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, to Pearson Airport in Toronto.” (Koomen 2016).

    “When we landed in Canada, we moved in with my dad’s brother in Ajax, Ontario, but with ten people living in one house was just too cramped, so we moved to an apartment in Scarborough. The apartment was alright, but my dad in particular didn’t want to rent, he wanted to own, and live in his own home, but because the housing costs were so high it didn’t really seem possible. My dad got a job working in a factory in Bolton, and we almost settled there, but they were making a new subdivision in Orangeville so we bought a semi-detached house on Belleview drive for $19,000 in 1968. But at this time, we didn’t have any money, so my dad went to the bank, and asked for a loan for appliances, but he took that money and used it as his down payment on the house, and we’ve been here ever since.” (Koomen 2016).

    

    If my family decided to stay in Zandvoort we would be living a happy, healthy, simple life. The employment rate in the Netherlands is ranked 12th in the world, at 74.80 percent as of 2017 (Trading Economics). The government is run by the Prime Minister ,Mark Rutte (Democracy) and the King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands (Monarchy), and ranked 5th on the global corruption index as of 2015 (I Am Expat).

    The health care in the Netherlands is a lot like health care in America, except health insurance is mandatory, and it’s controlled by the government (I Am Expat). A survey was published entitled Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children is an international survey concerning the welfare and health of children between 11 and 15. The survey showed that Dutch children drink less, smoke less, eat less (obesity), and have a better relationship with their families and friends then most other countries in Europe (Dutch Daily News).

    If my family never left the Netherlands I would still have a pretty good life. In terms of schooling I would start Kindergarten at age 2 and go till 4, Elementary school would be from age 4 to 12, to selective secondary education, being either VMBO (preparatory middle-level applied education 12-16) HAVO (higher general continued education 12 to 17) or VWO (preparatory scholarly education 12 to 18). After that is either MBO (middle-level applied education 16 to 19) HBO (higher professional education 17 to 21 Master is 22) or WO (scientific education 18 to 21 Master is 22), also school from 2 to 15 is paid for by the government but you pay tuition from 16 to 18. (Wikimedia). The Netherlands’ army is made up of volunteers, but they can use conscription if they have too.

    Overall, the Netherlands is a great place to live, but if I had a choice, I’d prefer living in Canada, just because I know it better, but that doesn’t mean I can’t visit.

Citations

“Dutch Teens Are the Happiest in Europe.” Dutch Daily News. Dutch Daily News, www.dutchdailynews.com/dutch-teens-are-the-happiest-in-europe/. Accessed 3 May 2012

Koomen, Angelique. Interview. 28 Dec. 2016

Zandvoort Beach. Zandvoort-Holland, www.zandvoort-holland.com/paulusloot/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/zandvoortbeach5.jpg.

“Zandvoort Map.” World Easy Guides, www.worldeasyguides.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Zandvoort-map.jpg.Map

“Education in the Netherlands: A Guide to the Dutch Education System.” Expatica, www.expatica.com/nl/education/Education-in-the-Netherlands_100816.html.

"Netherlands Employment Rate." Trading Economics, www.tradingeconomics.com/

    netherlands/employment-rate. Chart.

"The Netherlands Education System." Wikimedia, upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/

    commons/thumb/0/03/Dutch_Education_System-en.svg/

    300px-Dutch_Education_System-en.svg.png. Chart.