Participants
Anja
Anja was born in 1966 in The Hague. In the final years before moving to Norway, she lived in Zuid-Beijerland in the Rotterdam area and worked as a manager’s secretary. She came to Norway in 2010 with her husband and three children.
Carlos
Carlos was born in 1973 in Rotterdam. He came to Norway with his wife, Bea, in 2005. Carlos is a qualified chef and used to work as a chef in restaurants in Rotterdam. He felt that he had to change something in his life and he changed jobs. The last four years before coming to Norway, he worked as a postman. In Norway, he and his wife established a guesthouse.
Bea
Bea was born in 1973 in Nij Beets. She came to Norway with her husband, Carlos, in 2005. She used to work in Rotterdam as a group leader in a rehabilitation and retirement home. Bea is qualified in the field and has mostly worked with people who have difficulty adapting to society.
Emma
Emma was born in 1989 in Groningen in the North of the Netherlands. She first came to Vinstra in 2009 to work on a farm for seven months. The next time she came was in 2012 for work practice on another farm in the Vinstra area. After this, she got a job and decided to stay in Norway.
Hendrika
Hendrika was born in 1966 in Almelo. She used to work as an accountant in the Netherlands. Two years before she came to Norway she and her husband bought a restaurant. It was difficult to run a restaurant in the Netherlands because of the very strict regulations and it was too much of a strain to fight against them. Another problem for Hendrika was the dense population in a small country like the Netherlands.
Bertus
Bertus was born in 1949 in Ede. For many years, he worked as a bus driver and tour guide, but was also co-owner of a restaurant. Now he receives a pension. He came to Norway with his wife in 2007 to run a guesthouse. They found one in Pollfoss in Skjåk. He works there as a cook.
Hetty
Hetty was born in 1957 in Eindhoven. She came to Norway in 1997. She returned to the Netherlands several times, mainly for family reasons. She was on holiday in Norway in 1996 and had such a good impression of the country, that when she lost her job in her homeland, she moved to Norway to start a bed & breakfast.
Hubertus
Hubertus was born in 1968 in Tilburg. He came to Norway with his wife and two children in 2007. They came to Lesjaverk and bought a house in Lora. Hubertus worked at a number of places, including a furniture factory and the Bunnpris supermarket. He is a qualified saxophonist and for a time had a part-time job at a school as a music teacher and later also as a substitute teacher.
Inge
Inge was born in 1967 in Leiden. Before she moved to Norway, she lived with her family in Haarlem. She came to Norway with her husband and two children in 2006. They had spent many holidays in Norway and fallen in love with the country. Her husband was offered a job in another Dutch city, and they thought that if they were going to move, it was better to move to their dream country: Norway.
Jennifer
Jennifer was born in 1989 in Monnickendam in North Holland. Before she came to Norway, she worked at the switchboard and reception in an accounting firm in Amsterdam. She came to Norway to live in June 2011. From March 2011, she often travelled to Norway to visit her boyfriend Martejn, and to try to find a job.
Jeroen
Jeroen was born in 1968 in Amsterdam. Before moving to Norway, he lived in Haarlem. In 2006 he came to Norway with his wife and two children. They bought a house in Brøttum. The main reasons for Jeroen to settle in Norway were the beautiful scenery and the relatively sparse population.
Marion
Marion was born in 1960 in Rotterdam. She worked at a hospital as a radiologist, specialising in nuclear examinations. She then took a law degree and worked as a volunteer lawyer. Her last job in her home country was as a lawyer in a Dutch ministry. She came to Norway with her daughter in 2006.
Werner
Werner was born in 1966 in Brasschaat in Belgium and grew up in Prinsenbeek in the Netherlands. Werner was a seaman for four years, but then changed his job and was in charge of equipment maintenance for a Dutch company in Breda. When he met Marion, he moved to Dordrecht and got a job as a metal worker and welder.
Martijn
Martijn was born in 1987 in Purmerend and moved to Norway in 2011. For the first three months, he lived alone in Ringebu, and later his girlfriend joined him. Martijn had been in Norway in 2007 and 2008, when he worked in a big restaurant in Åndalsnes. He really liked the place and wanted to come back to Norway.
Patty
Patty was born in 1961 in The Hague. She came to Norway in 2006 with her husband and two children. In the Netherlands, she had worked as a painter, and her husband had his own business. Before they moved, they had been to Norway a number of times on holiday. They wanted to move to Norway because it is not as densely populated as the Netherlands.
Rene
Rene was born in 1960 in Friesland. He came to Norway on holiday several times, but did not decide to move until 2006. He sold his house and company in the Netherlands and arrived in Brøttum. He wanted to give his children a better future in a country outside the EU, with beautiful scenery, good educational opportunities and fewer people than in the Netherlands.
Tjitske
Tjitske was born in 1973 in Hoogeveen. She came to Norway in 2004 with her partner. She has a degree in hotel management and has done many different kinds of hotel work. She has also worked in outdoor recreation and in a clothes shop. It is important for her to live in Norway where there is plenty of room for everyone and people do not have to be too close to their neighbours.
Allard
Allard was born in 1970 in Zuidwolde. He came to Norway with his partner in 2004. He studied economics and worked in the banking industry for nearly 15 years. Before arriving in Norway, he was head of department in a bank. His main reasons for moving from the Netherlands to Norway were a sense of adventure and the outdoor life.
Yvette
Yvette was born in 1966 in Amsterdam. She came to Norway with her husband and two children in 2005. They settled in Ringebu and opened a shoe shop. In the Netherlands, they had both worked in a shoe shop for many years and had had positive experiences with the business.