Guus Bosman

When I visited the Netherlands in October 2006 I bought a few Dutch books and had them shipped by mail. One of the books had the intriguing title 'Ik mis alleen de HEMA' -- 'I only miss the HEMA'. The HEMA is a Dutch low-price department store chain, a little bit like Target in the U.S.

The book is a collection of stories of people who left the Netherlands in the last 10 or 15 years. Some of the people were successful, others returned home when their plans didn't work out.

One of the lessons from the book is that it's a bad idea to change your career at the same time you're leaving the country. There were people who had been employees all their lives and when they were 50 started their own company abroad. Not only do they face all the changes associated of a new country, but also with the new type of job. A couple that bought a restaurant in the village where they spent a vacation in New Zealand and moved four months later without any restaurant experience, returned to the Netherlands in 18 months.

The book had some interesting statistics.

Top 10 of favorite destinations (NIDI emigration statistics 2005)

1. Canada
2. Australia
3. France
4. New Zealand
5. Spain
6. United States
7. South Africa
8. Sweden
9. Thailand
10. Italy

Actual emigration destinations 2004 (CBS):

1. Belgium
2. Germany
3. United Kingdom
4. Spain
5. France
6. Australia
7. Canada
8. Switserland
9. Italy
10. Turkey
11. Sweden
12. New Zealand
13. Norway
14. China
15. South Africa

There was no story about emigrants to the U.S. but I recognized a lot in some of the stories. It was nice to read a book in Dutch, and I enjoyed this book.