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Jamie Yuenger was born and spent most of her life here in the United States, including over a decade in New York City. Then a few years ago, she fell in love with a Dutch guy named Piet and decided to join him in the Netherlands. She didn’t understand the language or the culture, but really, she figured… how difficult could it be?
“Being a go-getter, I arrived and I was like, ‘I'm going to learn Dutch in six months. I'm going to have built my community. I'm going to rock this experience!’” she recalls thinking.
But the transition turned out to be way harder than she imagined. Time after time, she got the sense that her bubbly personality felt out of place in the more reserved Dutch society. In all sorts of social situations, she came to realize that she simply didn’t understand the terms of engagement. And even though most Dutch people speak English, it seemed like all sort of things were constantly getting lost in translation.
Then there were the things she missed about New York, like the faster pace of daily life, the way people back home were more expressive, and her ability to strike up a conversation with a stranger on the street who shared her cultural reference points. Also, good Mexican food, which she says is nearly impossible to find in the Netherlands!
Jamie savoring tacos on her first trip back to New York City
To the average American tourist vacationing in Amsterdam, Holland might not seem that different from the U.S., but as Jamie spent more and more time there and dug below the surface, she realized that things were a lot more complicated than they first appeared.
On the latest episode of Far From Home, I caught up with Jamie when she returned to New York for the first time in several years and struggled to figure out where she fit in.
If you enjoy this episode, check out Jamie's own podcast, “If You Knew Me” — which features personal stories of the inner lives of women — as well as her other show, “Totem,” where she told the incredible story of how she met her husband Piet.
Jamie Yuenger in New York City
Until next time, thanks for listening!