From the Springbokvlakte to Friesland

Dear Friends,

My favourite place in the Netherlands is Friesland. There is something about the wide-open spaces that makes me feel right at home. You can see for miles, the sky seems enormous and there is that lovely feeling of absolutely nothing getting in your way.

It reminds me of the Springbokvlakte where I grew up. There is just one small difference.

In Friesland, it is GREEN.

On the Springbokvlakte, the earth was red.

When the wind blew, that red earth would turn into giant dust clouds that you could see for miles. Very dramatic. Very African. And definitely something you would not find in Friesland.

But here is the funny part. Growing up on the Springbokvlakte sometimes felt a little bit like growing up in Friesland.

We had Dutch neighbours. Lots of them.

As a child, I was fascinated by the Dykema's, the Groothof's, the Wierenga's, the Daling's and many more. Their names, their accents and, of course, their very Dutch ways were simply part of our childhood.

And as their surnames might suggest, many of them came from Friesland. You could almost spot a Frisian by that unmistakable “-a” at the end of their surname.

After the Second World War ended in 1945, the Netherlands had a huge challenge ahead. The country was rebuilding, there were housing shortages, economic difficulties and concerns about population growth.

So, during the late 1940s and especially the 1950s, emigration was actively encouraged. Thousands of Dutch people left the Netherlands looking for a new future, and South Africa was one of the countries they chose.

And just imagine that journey.

You leave the Netherlands, cross the ocean and arrive in South Africa, where suddenly the weather is a lot warmer, the landscape is bigger and the soil is... well, RED.

Dutch farming and farming on the Springbokvlakte were certainly not the same ball game. They had to learn about the African sun, droughts, different farming conditions and a completely different way of life.

And they got on with it.

Many years later, we did the same thing.

We packed up our lives in South Africa and came to the Netherlands to start a new chapter.

A South African, standing in Friesland, looking across endless green fields and feeling strangely at home.

Life has a funny way of bringing things full circle.

And maybe that is also what KuierKos is about.

A little taste of home when you are far from it.

But honestly, packing up your life and leaving your family behind is not for sissies.

Those Dutch families did it.

And now we have done it too.

Perhaps that is why Friesland feels so special to me.

 with Love,
Marnella & Andreas