Why We Moved To The Netherlands From South Africa || Living Abroad Diaries

Hello everyone and thank you for being here! 💕
This is the first video in a little series which I wish my younger self could have had. I'll be discussing all things revolving around moving to another continent. If you have any questions, be sure to leave a comment down below and I'll answer it in the next video.
I hope you enjoy!!
My Instagram: / marte_barnard
Have a great day :)

[@martebarnard]

Hello everyone! Thanks for all the kind and welcoming comments, I really appreciate it ☺️ If anyone has some questions they’d like me to answer, please leave them down below 🩵⬇️

[@petermages9482]

Welcome back to Europe. I am German and hundreds of years ago all countries where members of the 1. Reich, or Holy Roman Reich of Germen Nations. I am glad if all white people escape before.... Anyway. Welcome back!

[@maxw7118]

Is it smart to do this but go from nl to sa . Your opinion please 🙏.

[@LeandroMuntendam]

Hoekom jy het a Nederlands paspoort. Is jou ma a Hollandse vrou? Jou lastname klink Frans. Daai Franse het ook geveg teen die Hollanders oor die mag in Suid Afrika ne? Is dit reg?

[@wimk961]

Welkom in Nederland. Bedankt voor de reality check ten aanzien van de leefomstandigheden. We vergeten hier weleens hoe goed we het hebben door het geluk in Nederland geboren te zijn.

[@kaydesign]

Feeling free isn’t measurable in a currency, it is priceless. Enjoy the Netherlands 🇳🇱

[@kaydesign]

PS My ‘top tip’ for things to experience here is a visit to the Kröller Moller park. Visit the statue garden and try the free white bikes to explore the National Park. A unique experience 😃👍

[@bertkassing8541]

My daughter's boyfriend is from South Africa. The English-speaking part, namely the Johannesburg area. But he had lessons in Afrikaans at school. He has now lived in the Netherlands for over 5 years and speaks Dutch quite well. Nowadays he also has Dutch nationality and he is very happy with that. I wonder what he thinks of this video.

[@fcassmann]

Welkom in dit kleine landje. Veel succes.

[@martebarnard]

Dank uw wel! 🇳🇱☺️

[@jasper46985]

You are more then welcome here! Nice to have you!

[@willvangaal8412]

Marte heel veel geluk voor jullie beiden in Nederland .😘

[@AccidentalExpat143]

I made the move some time ago and the last few years were the best of my life. As you said going down to Paris for a long weekend, spending a day in Antwerp or going hiking in the national parks around Utrecht is just something that was never possible a couple of years ago. It is also the first time in 25 years I really felt safe.

[@nfboogaard]

Ik hoop dat jullie het Zuid Afrikaanse zonnetje mee genomen hebben 🌞

[@snroos1860]

This is my second reaction and I must apologize for totally forgetting to welcome you to the Netherlands. My fellow Dutchmen were fortunately more hospitable. So: Welcome 😀 I love the setup of your argumentation, with the Pulls and Pushes. I am also subscribed to immigrants from the USA. There I am surprised when safety isn't the first thing on their list. They all love the freedom they find here, but for most people it takes a while to really TRUST the freedom everywhere they go. With South Africa I learned about big parts that aren't safe for everyone (especially women) but safety is seldom a thing for tourists. It makes me glad that you experienced the safety so quick. But take care, in the Netherlands, at places with many visitors, I will also take good care of my stuff. I am waiting for the video when you (two) buy your first bike(s) 🙂

[@ritaboes]

😂Marté & Jaques welkom in Nederland. I hope the transition is not to hard on you, but at least give it some months to get familiar with all we have to share.

[@jabo7763]

Welcome to our humble country and have a lot of fun when not working. As you mentioned we work to live and not live to work. Have a great time👍🥂

[@GabberPinda]

Welcome home🧡

[@onescreentwomovies254]

Welcome! I liked your video. Wil be hard as an expat even if you know some South Africans here, but spring and summer are coming and Holland will smile at you. Btw Culture shock is not a shock but will slowly (!) creep on you. Expats all had that experience but you will grow over it. Good luck and keep your sense of humor.

[@viderethevaccinatorfromhol7536]

Nice. Very welcome to the Netherlands 🇳🇱 new subscriber here. There is such an awesome journey ahead of you.

[@NicoCoetzee]

The freedom from fear of being a victim of crime is truly next level. I also think you should not be afraid of calling out BEE, which is basically just apartheid 2.0. The intention may have been good but its killing SA right now - for the reasons you mention like loosing highly skilled engineers and other professionals. Enjoy your stay and I hope to bump into you at some point 🎉

[@vanderquast]

Welkom in Nederland. We kunnen van geluk spreken dat jullie voor dit land hebben gekozen om naartoe te emigreren.

[@jacodelport]

I lived in Belgium for past 5 years as a PhD student and it was great, but I had no easy way of staying longer, can be more difficult to find a job if you don't have work permit yet. So I'm back in South Africa, loving some aspects but struggling with others, it was nice to see your views and experiences. I miss cycling everywhere the most.

[@MartinWebNatures]

Nice video. Welkom in Nederland 🇳🇱

[@realpirate]

Welcome to Kikkerland - may you be happy here

[@armanivanderwesthuizen79]

Loove dit! Kan nie wag om julle nuwe chapter op video saam julle te volg nie 😄🫶🏼

[@jaccovermeulen2762]

als Nederlander is dit Afrikaans eenvoudig te volgen

[@nfboogaard]

Dit is niet moeilijk om te verstaan niet 😊

[@Dunnstakenz]

Amazing. I’m loving the videos! I hope you enjoy your new home. What do you do now?

[@DrErikEvrard]

Lekker dat jy ook Antwerpen toe gekom het. In die somer moet jy seker ook my stad Gent besoek. En Europa is so klein, jy kan maklik baie ander lande en stede besoek, selfs per trein. Ons, Vlaminge en Nederlanders, heet julle hartlik welkom!

[@martebarnard]

In die 5 weke wat ons al in Nederland woon is ons al tenminste 10 keer vertel hoe fantasties Gent is - ons wil graag besiek! Hartelijk bedankt vir die warm verwelkoming ☺️

[@DrErikEvrard]

@@martebarnard Gent was altyd die mees Oranjegesinde stad in die Lae Lande. Ons was 'n Protestantse stad, maar die Spaanse Inkwisisie het hier verwoesting gesaai, en dit het ongelukkig gelei tot die verdeling van ons land in wat nou Vlaandere en Nederland is. In Gent vind jy 'n standbeeld van koning Willem I, die laaste koning wat ons in gemeen gehad het.

[@JacquesandMarte]

😍

[@mischapeters5204]

Ek is 'n gereelde besoeker aan jou moederland, veral Kaapstad en omgewing, wat my hart gesteel het. Die keuse wat hulle gemaak het was beslis nie maklik nie, maar die push factors is 'vire baie mense ´n harde werklikheid. Ek wens julle albei baie geluk en voorspoed toe in Nederland.

[@HolgerJakobs]

Welcome in Europe. Enjoy life in the Netherlands and visiting neighbouring countries like Belgium and Germany. Greetings from Köln (Keulen, Cologne).

[@Fabiansegara1969]

i'm very interested in the "Push-Factors", why people decided to leave their country. Because I know already, what it means to live and work in the Netherlands. Since i'm native Dutch.

[@Hensepens64]

Welkom in Nederland. En aangesien Afrikaans jou moedertaal is, hoop ek jy plaas ook meer in Afrikaans. As dit nie te vinnig gepraat word nie, is dit ook vir ons Hollanders maklik verstaanbaar. Maar vir eers. Lekker bekendstelling en weer welkom.

[@ronaldderooij1774]

I ken je man niet, maar ik heb het idee dat jullie het prima gaan redden hier. Welkom.

[@martebarnard]

Mijn Nederlands is nog niet zó goed, maar ik ga even proberen! Hartelijk bedankt Ronald ☺️🇳🇱

[@frankvanham6563]

Hi ,I'm a Dutch. 2 years ago I had a job offering at the west cape . Went there for 3 months. I was amazed by South Africa her beauty. But.. M made Friends who were from Durban, who litterly fled to Capetown as a last resort in s,.africa. All the closed and fenced communities and guns made me decide not to want to live there aswell . And the baboons were scary too

[@michelbaas5501]

Die Afrikaanse taal is so lekker-ons almal in Nederland en Vlaandere behoort oor te skakel na Afrikaans. Haha. En inderdaad, die Kaap is pragtig, maar welkom-as Afrikaners wil weggaan, vir watter rede ook al-moet hulle standaard 'n verblyfpermit of paspoort kry.

[@jean-pascalesparceil9008]

Hello! If you have some French Huguenot roots, like many Afrikaners do, it is one more reason to come and visit France, it is so quick (3 h 30 min) and convenient to take the high speed train from Amsterdam to Paris.

[@martebarnard]

Hello, I am 50% French Huguenot (my maiden surname is Roux) and I adore Paris! I’m certainly visiting again soon ☺️

[@minkhs]

Welkom in Holland :)

[@martebarnard]

Hartelijk bedankt! 🤍

[@vincentliet7995]

Hoop ook dat ze welkom zijn in Nederland

[@JaccovanSchaik]

I'm curious to know, how did your friends in South Africa react to your decision. Were they angry? Were they jealous? Were they supportive? Did they say they'd do the same if they could? En: welkom in Nederland!

[@martebarnard]

I’m very fortunate to have wonderfully supportive friends. They weren’t angry, nor jealous. Half of my friends are already living abroad and/or are planning to move in the next 24 months! Baie dankie ☺️

[@kubrabenelli9117]

You forgot to mention the weather as a reason to move to Dutchieland 😉

[@weissichnichtbre]

South Africa and Western Australia namely Albany are almost identical.

[@fryske.tynster]

aa kk wel everyone knows the real reson for moving atm.. and iam not blaming

[@daphneschuring5810]

Push factor for the Netherlands: The weather.

[@martebarnard]

🤣🤣 I am trying to stay positive about it, but I do miss the sun (everything else, like people’s friendliness is making up for the lack of sunshine!)

[@daphneschuring5810]

The grey weather time is almost over. And you see everybody located outside when the sun appears.@@martebarnard

[@dutchladylover]

@@martebarnard If it's any consolation, even for the Dutch natives the amount of rain this 'winter' is extreme! 😂🤣

[@speerboom]

The summer half of the year is fine. Lovely even with the long long nights. But from November through February it‘s too dark, gloomy and usually damp for me. I can manage November because I can still live off the summer we just had, December is also okay because of holidays. But come January… oh hell no! Single here and no kids so nothing to stop me from flying off to sunnier destinations for as long as I can (4-7 weeks usually), so by the time I get back March and spring are just around the corner. This way I have skipped many dreary winters AND I have seen so much of the world backpacking my way around. And in summer I usually have some time and money left for a short visit in Europe. Because yes, Europe is great too!

[@alfonsbuter3761]

Even though your story is very clear, it’s hard to imagine one would leave a magnificent country like SA. I am fantasizing of emigrating to south africa.

[@TuFuOfficieel]

Welcome, I hope the move works out for you. So, the best thing about the Netherlands is that you are close to Belgium! So true!

[@FOLIPE]

Always sad to have to leave your country, even when we tell ourselves we want something different it's not a neutral thing if you are moving from a poor to a rich country - no matter how much you like the destination culture you are still abandoning your home in part for material conditions/circumstances beyond your control. Anyway, I hope SA gets better and stops bleeding people. I hope the same for my country of Brazil, which is not in such a dire situation but we lost perhaps 1% of our population in the last 6y due to emigration. It isn't supposed to be like this. During almost every other time of history Brazil and South Africa were never emigration countries.

[@geertstroy]

So wise NOT to buy into New Zealand , which would NEVER offer you your smooth course of immigration. Welkom in Nederland ,!!!

[@goodbarbenie5477]

Going to a foreign country has it's ups and downs. As the grass is never greener on the other side, never. But what I know and experienced today in South Africa. O.K. shortly if I was a politician I would give everyone a passport and say go...go and travel. Travel really opens one's eyes and mind. Especially for your children and oneself. Forget about people just focus on what U can learn in a very short space of time...thru communication and interacting with people. Etc. I am afraid U don't get to that level of understanding and education in the present day South Africa...I moved out of South Africa in 1970s to study in the U.K. As which I'd used my head back then, and not having returned...to a once what was beautiful country...now here everyone is not safe is the first priority secondly no work prospects and security for family and friends...😢😮😢. Just very sad indeed... Good for young fellas go for it. U will have bo regrets...U have my Blessings hah.😊😅😂

[@buddy1155]

I can't see why south africans with Dutch heritage can't just come home to the Netherlands, they even speak 'sort of' Dutch.

[@ms-jl6dl]

They're not Europeans.

[@bertbaur3066]

@@ms-jl6dlehhh... there are a lot of non Europeans in the Netherlands

[@ochrechap]

Then they should go. It would then mean they never were South African to begin with. After all, they stole the land from people who were already there. Living peacefully. So yeah....please leave. On the other hand, things always happen for a reason. Had they not come South Africa, I would not have existed. Their blood runs through my veins. Partially. So, I am descended from the Dutch (Dutch heritage), amongst many others.

[@ochrechap]

The language they speak iis a mix of Dutch, Khoisan (indigenous people), Asian dialects (Malaysian and Indonesian), bit of French, bit of German. In summary = Afrikaans!

[@buddy1155]

@@ochrechap In 1500 the world population was less than 500M so 1/20th of the population today. Back then there was lots of land without an owner, something that is unimaginable today. Nobody had to steal land everyone could just take land as there enough readily available. The bottleneck was labour to exploit the land, no machinery so everything had to be done by hand. I speak Dutch and Afrikaans is extremely close to Dutch, it is mainly the order of words that is different. And some words that are uses are old-Dutch or have a slightly different meaning in Afrikaans. The only influence I can hear is a bit of English. Nothing else. However Indonesian has an extreme Dutch influence, as Dutch was thought at schools in Indonesia, If you hear any similarities between Indonesian and Afrikaans that is because Indonesian is influenced by Dutch.

[@ronald3921]

Most South Africans come to Australia. Similar lifestyle

[@goodbarbenie5477]

Ahem... I had the opportunity to use the taxis here in the North West...And nine times out of ten. The taxi driver only deals with small cash the taxi driver didn't give my full change and if ge did, he would past my small change along to the passengers back to me. By the time it arrived by me there was nothing left of my small change...😅 Then top of that I had just done some shopping and just because I had an empty seat near me. On which I could place my groceries, the taxi wanted more money. He wanted me to pay him extra for the empty seat...and besides there some very creepy creatures on board the taxis who watched my every move...😢😮😢. Tru story I and my sister just counted ourselves lucky at the time...but to walk thru to the taxi rank as we were the only whites there we had to get a police escort just for fews times we were there...😮... Call it madness or stupid, I don't know, but at times when one is hard up, times sometimes call for desperate measures...😅😊.

[@bertoverweel6588]

Hallo, first, welcome to the Netherlands, but, why do all people from other country's want to live jn the most expensive city, Amsterdam? Groetjes.

[@martebarnard]

Hello! I do not, I’m down South in the Brabant-area :) for educational purposes I used Amsterdam (the most well-known city) for this video. Fijne avond!

[@bertoverweel6588]

@@martebarnard Oeps, Brabant is een geweldige provincie, heel veel geluk in ons kikkerlandje.

[@ArnoutVanderMolen-fr8gi]

Dat kon ook haast niet anders anders was de reistijd naar Antwerpen aanzienlijk langer geweest

[@user-wn8cp3qf1x]

South Africa's loss, The Netherlands gain.

[@lucasrem]

The ANC, muahahahaha

[@goodbarbenie5477]

Forgive my add ons but, I have to add just for the record. 😅. In the olde days what stood out on your C.V. was Knowledge, Experience and Expertise. But nowadays it should rather read "Race" Gender and Stupidity...that things work in South Africa or how they should not work. As we can now see thirty years hence how things are not working.😊😅😂...

[@user-ut1uu1vf1d]

Suid Afrika het n hartseer land geword. Geniet wat jul nuwe land jul kan bied

[@Gnybr]

Understandable since South Africa is a failed state since apartheid went down

[@FOLIPE]

It was even poorer before but I guess that didn't affect some people

[@Gnybr]

@@FOLIPE No, during apartheid it was a first world economy and by far the most advanced economy in Africa

[@user-jy3io4iz2p]

Apartheid was abandoned too fast. The country wasn't ready. Apartheid was bad but SA (everybody) is of worse than before, not justifying Apartheid but critisizing the transition. The people were not well educated and the well educated leave (brain drain). When electricity is at random it will not attract many companies to invest in SA. SA is a downward spiral.

[@heinrici4589]

Ja maar waarom is deze video in het Engels??, doe lekker in het Afrikaans/Nederlands. Welkom terug van weggeweest!

[@martebarnard]

Mijn Nederlands is nog niet zo goed, maar ik zal even proberen! 🇳🇱🇿🇦

[@sunsetworms]

Truth is, even if unspeakable for liberal Westerners, White history in South Africa is ending. Nearly every word in your video speaks about this. Welcome back to your homeland.

[@AsscherMazzelaar]

blank

[@martebarnard]

An interesting and thought provoking comment. I think I’ve learnt during my time in the legal field that any polarizing blanket statement is likely to be met with disagreement - which is normal and fine. There are many “Westerners” who would never leave South Africa. Their families, livelihoods and friends are there. Also interesting to note that it seems that all the races living in SA are equally frustrated and fed up with government. They are genuinely a joke and should be punished for crimes against humanity. There is a lot of pressure on the upcoming elections and there have been record amounts of people registering to vote - mostly people between 18 and 30 which is very exciting! The youth wants change :)

[@lumbraci]

@@martebarnard Be aware...people who support Geert Wilders active. Populist leader.

[@goodbarbenie5477]

I hate it when people try to live by comparison...comparing us to rest of the World. Living by comparisons is problematic as it is the cause of all wars, strife and misery in the World. As everyone wants U to be a wannabe as U can't be more than what U are...this is where we must accept our uniqueness just everybody is unique in themselves this is only way we can learn from each other..."Race" and "Nationality" is irrelevant... for example there is no such thing as an African American U are either African or U are American as this Historically Incorrect. As mentioned U cannot be more than what U are. As this seemingly doesn't apply to the Religious bigots and Politicians who with their simple idealogies want to white wash everything in the World.😮...

[@bcvanrijswijk]

Van de regen in de drup.

[@PassportBachelor]

antiwhitism 101

[@hanslagewaard5083]

Maybe also lose this annoying American habit of apologising for your privilege. The default should be that you can be safe outside in the street.

[@martebarnard]

Hello! Thanks for the feedback. It’s not because of any American concepts; rather, from coming from SA which has such severe wealth and privilege disparity. I agree that it should be the default!