To see the world through a lens

When someone asks me why I moved to the Netherlands, I smile and tell them: ‘for work’. No need to go into details at this small-talk type of conversation. If I started to tell you the real story, it would take hours (and some of your brain cells might die in the process). To me it’s a deeply fascinating topic. Some people go away from oppressive governments. Some people go towards opportunities they didn’t have in their native land.

Yenchi, our guest of the day, moved to Enschede to study lens-based media.

‘I always knew I didn’t want to live in Germany,’ she said. ‘I had a feeling I didn’t fit there. People were xenophobic. I wanted to see the world outside of my small closed-minded town. But I had no clue where to find a better place. Thanks to a lucky star I was born under, I found that multimedia art programme. That was the only search criteria I had—something connected to art. But then what exactly and how to make a living out of it… But the student community in Enschede was great. We all spoke English and came from different backgrounds. It felt nice to join a diverse social group.’

‘Speaking about diversity. I know that you met your partner in Enschede too and that you are a mixed-race couple. How did your family take the news?’

‘It was a drama at first. I mean, they were strictly against it. My parents hoped and planned and suggested that I should look for a Vietnamese boy. But I didn’t follow that path. Plus, I was very young when we moved in together—only nineteen-year-old. In a traditional family like ours, you need to be married to live together. Yeah. Scandalous teenagers, haha.’

‘Did your family learn to accept your decision?’

‘Yes, they got used to the idea of us being a couple. It took a considerable amount of time though. Overall, I am very different from my parents. They are first generation migrants. They speak Vietnamese and German (not English), value connections within the Vietnamese diaspora, and a stable future. My idea of studying art was bizarre to the point of insanity to them. I understand why. It’s extremely difficult to make a career out of it. But for their generation it was normal to sacrifice your true calling for a paid job, and for my generation it isn’t.’

‘Tell me more. What did you do after getting a bachelor degree?’

‘First of all, we decided to move to a bigger city. Enschede is just a small town, remote, and with few job opportunities. Then I got a side job… just to get by. I didn’t like working in retail but they took me without Dutch language skills, which was great. There were some awkward situations with the clients, who were surprised that a shop employee didn’t speak Dutch. But The Hague is a touristic place, English was enough most of the time. Next to the side job, I tried some volunteer work, participated in a film-making project, worked as an assistant at a photo studio. You see, my bachelor programme didn’t offer any internships at the time and I felt the lack of practical skills. I wanted to get some experience with a camera. Then, one day, I lost my paid job and instead of finding another short-term solution, I took a break and enrolled in an intense Dutch language course. My idea was to learn the spoken language and close the biggest gap in my CV. That worked. A few months later, I got a job as a real estate photographer and I’m the only expat (not-native speaker) in the whole company. My efforts paid back. Though I cannot say I’m fluent yet. Talking to locals is a nerve racking experience every time. And the terrible brain freezes. Do you know the feeling when your thoughts get lost in the middle of a sentence? When your unhelpful mind offers you words in German and English but not in Dutch. Embarrassing. But this is just a phase, I hope.’

‘Does the Netherlands feel like home to you now?’

‘More or less. Recently, I started to notice regional differences. In The Hague, for instance, the crowd is mostly diverse and international, but outside of the Randstad? Not so much. I was invited to the Brabant carnaval. And even though most people there were friendly, I noticed they actually wished I’d leave. I was, after all, an outsider. That didn’t feel nice. I wonder if there’s a place on the planet where the discrimination between us and them (as social groups) doesn’t exist.’

‘I wonder about this too. On the positive side. What are you looking forward to?’

‘I’m looking forward to unlocking my full potential, to future opportunities. It’s crazy to think how much my life has changed just in the last couple of months. I’m eager to discover what awaits me tomorrow.’

‘You also mentioned how much you like museums and galleries. Do you have some favourite artists or art works that influenced your personal and professional development?’

‘From my early years, I remember being fascinated by moving pictures. I wanted to dissect them, to know how every frame is composed, made, shot, what kind of magical spells are used. A creative combination of images, music, and stories struck my imagination. That was a eureka moment for me. I knew I wanted to enter that world. About specific examples? Yes, I have plenty. Princess Mononoke is one of them. It’s an animated movie made by Studio Ghibli. I was obsessed with it. It just speaks to my soul. I even ended up performing the beautiful Princess Mononoke's score (composed by Joe Hisaishi) on stage. I played the organ. Another big movie was 127 Hours (2010, Directed by Danny Boyle). It shocked and dazzled me with its emotional power, by the way it makes you live, feel, and experience the events that happened to the main character. Just think about it. You sit in a dark room of a cinema munching on pop-corn and suddenly, all your senses are occupied by visions and sounds of fictional (or not) stories that become your reality for a couple of hours. Filmmakers are wizards.’

‘Wonderful. Thank you for the interview.’

✻

For those who are new here. At Foreign Tales, we take interviews with real people and fictional characters. How is it possible? The same way you feel sadness reading about Othello killing his beautiful young wife Desdemona. Those characters are fictional but the emotion is real. It’s fascinating to observe how fictional might feel real and how true life events might feel fictional. What do you think you have read today? Please, vote below. An update with a right answer will follow in two weeks time.

Is Yenchi a real person or a fictional character?

• Yenchi is real
• Yenchi is fictional

An update:

Yenchi is a real person :)