11.25.2007

Just Call Me Dutchie

I got a very important phone call last week...one that will literally change me, my life, and the person the world sees me as. Yes, it was the call I have been waiting for: from the consulate, welcoming me to my naturalisation ceremony. I am going to become a Dutch citizen. I have fulfilled all the obligations leading to this moment in the past 7 years...and my final step to complete in becoming a Dutch citizen arrives on Thursday when I will head to Antwerpen for the final installation...and then have every right that a true Nederlander has, including carrying a Nederlandse passport and the right to live and work at my own will in any of the European Union lands. I have this mixed up feeling running through my veins. I am completely thrilled that I will be accepted as a Dutch person, and be a true citizen of the land my heart has called home for these past years of my life. Holland is a place I have come to love and treasure, and even since we have moved to Belgium, Holland is my true European love...every time we head to the border, I truly feel as if I am home. There is so much to love about the tiny, clean, historical,flat, crowded land I first called home in 2000. But there's another side of me that feels a bit funny, in the sense of 'who am I?' When asked my citizenship, will I answer "Dutch", my adopted nationality, or "American", the born and bred blood flowing through my veins? I have patriotism to my homeland, and it feels just a teeny-tiny bit like I am cheating just a smidge. How can any one person be two, both from the inside, and on paper? It's a bit of euphoria...but also confusion.

I have been trying to find online examples of naturalisation ceremonies so I know what to expect. But I can't find much of anything, and that makes this final step a bit scary. It's a relatively new concept, but one I am required to complete. And I'm sure it will be just fine. And come Thursday, it will be me proudly wearing that Dutch-American t-shirt I purchased at Ellis Island a few years back, with the Dutch and American flags intertwined, and a pride and love of two countries which I can officially call mine. So watch out world, it's going to be the new me...the Dutch-American girl walking these European streets!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

AhhhHHh Tera's a Cloggie!!!!

Congrats!

Lis

Jade said...

Awww Tera that is so super awesome!!! I'm so happy for you! Ohh man, and to be somewhere where you truly feel as if you're at "home"...thats something one rarely finds. CONGRATULATIONS!

check this site out, you may have already seen it but it might give you a bitter idea. And if you click on the link within the site it will show you were it was held.

Congrats again my Belgian friend!

Jade said...

You'll have to excuse my absent mindedness. I just noticed that I did not paste the link I had for you on naturalization ceremonies. So, when I have time to do that search again I'll get it for you.

LOL the efforts gotta be worth something right? ;-)

Jade said...

Hey Dutchie, how's life treating you over there?