Tweet26-03-2010 om 15:43 by Sueli Brodin

“Listen Sueli,” Lorraine Witteveen told me on the phone earlier this year, “the city of Maastricht and the Maastricht Region Branding Foundation want to nominate you for the title “Expat of the Year” and I say ‘Let’s go for it!’”



Nyenrode Business University, Breukelen, co-sponsor of the Expat Awards

I met Lorraine two years ago, when she was preparing a report for the city of Maastricht on the wishes and needs of expats living in and around Maastricht: “Yukiko mentioned your name and now that I am researching the web, all roads literally cross through you! The International Women’s Club of South Limburg, the European Journalism Centre and Crossroads..” We’ve been in touch ever since.

Lorraine was enthusiastic: “You’re a strong candidate and think of the impact for the region if you win the prize!”



Things started to become real when a few weeks later the international expat news site and service provider Expatica.com, co-initiator of the Expat Awards election, informed me by email that I had been chosen as one of the five finalists for the title “Expat of the Year”.



My friend Sam Welie and I arrive at the Expat Awards ceremony

On Tuesday, March 23, my friends Yvonne Jansen and Sam Welie accompanied me to the Expat Awards ceremony at Nyenrode Business Universiteit, one of the main sponsors of the initiative.



Maastricht delegation at the Expat Awards ceremony

There we met up with several Maastricht city officials who had come to support their nominees: the Maastricht Region Branding Foundation, one of the five finalists for the category “Best Service Provider”, and myself.



Each finalist had been invited to submit a short promotion video portrait, which was posted online on the website: www.expatoftheyear.nl. The public was then invited to vote for their favourite candidate.

A short extract of each video film was shown again during the Awards ceremony and I greatly enjoyed the moment of spontaneous laughter and bonding that my portrait provoked among the audience, especially when I was heard saying: “I’m interested in knowing what it is to be Dutch, and to be a Limburger, but it doesn’t mean that I want to be one.. I like to be able to be myself.”

People left and right turned to me with large smiles and tapped me on the shoulder, as if my words described a feeling they identified with.

Finally… the highly anticipated words were pronounced: “And the award goes to…”



Julie E. Ruterbories, US Consul General to the Netherlands

I was very moved when Julie E. Ruterbories, US Consul General to the Netherlands and jury member, said that I had received “the unanimous vote of the jury and of the public.” Aside from the title itself, I was awarded a Nyenrode Business Universiteit Scholarship valued at € 10,000.



Dr. Désirée van Gorp, Nyenrode associate professor of International Business and chairwoman of the jury, said in her speech: “Sueli Brodin has been awarded the title Expat of the Year because of the tremendous dedication she shows to the expat community as well as the Dutch community, and her unique talent to bridge the gaps between these two worlds.”



Expat Awards host Paul Brown

The friendly and good humoured Paul Brown, who hosted the ceremony, made everyone in the audience laugh when he said: “My name is Paul, not James.”

We both liked the design of the globe on the prize: “It represents how we feel. We are citizens of the world!”



The winners of the Expat Awards 2010

Amsterdam based trader Optiver (left) was elected Expat Employer of the Year and the non-profit organisation Access (right) was awarded the title Expat Service Provider of the Year.



My heartfelt gratitude goes to Expatica Communications, NFIA, Nyenrode Business Universiteit and Undutchables Recruitment Agency for creating the new Expat of the Year Awards, to the city of Maastricht and the Maastricht Region Branding Foundation for nominating me, and to all the people who supported and voted for me.



Interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide

A journalist from Radio Netherlands Worldwide asked me what the title “Expat of the Year” meant to me. I told her that the word “expat” didn’t really cover how I saw myself, as a member of the wider international community. “The word expat lays the accent on the fact that a person is away from his or her home country, whereas more and more people in this globalised world are a mixture of nationalities, have gathered experiences in various places in the world and assimilated the languages and cultures of many different countries… which then all become part of their identity.”



Interview with The Hague Expats.tv

The video journalists of The Hague Expats.tv were very interested in knowing more about the activities of the international community in the Maastricht region and I was more than happy to satisfy their curiosity.



Dutch-Brazilian watchdesigner Alfredo Silva came to congratulate me in Portuguese and told me how much my video portrait had reminded him of his mother: “She always says exactly the same, she loves living in the Netherlands, she loves the Dutch people, she is very happy here, but she doesn’t feel the need to be Dutch.”



Dr. Pablo Collazzo, director of the Executive MBA programme at Nyenrode, has an impressive international background and a very good opinion of Maastricht: “It’s a lovely city and its cross-border location is an asset!”

Among the overwhelming number of warm messages of congratulations I have received since last Tuesday, one in particular touched me deeply, because it expresses what the title “Expat of the Year” symbolises for me. Michiel van Zuijlen from the Maastricht Theatre Group, who frequently draws my attention to shows and performances which can be of interest to the international community in Maastricht, sent me the following words:
“You have managed to make up a very interesting daily e-magazine. For expats, but also for the locals, like me. It gives new insights in my own society and the way people can look at it. Thank you and keep up the good work!”



As the Dutch say, “Daar doen we het voor!” Thank you Michiel, and thank you all for your support.


Photos by Yvonne Jansen

Video report by The Hague Expats.tv: Expat of the Year Awards - The Hague Expats.tv
News articles and press releases: Expatica.com, Nyenrode Business Universiteit, Nyenrode International Business, The Hague Online, Radio Netherlands International, Undutchables, Expatoftheyear.nl, Maastricht Region, Dagblad De Limburger, L1, T36 Media

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