Eric Zoetmulder was born in the Netherlands in the small town of Aerdenhout on December 23, 1970. He now lives in North Carolina with an American wife and three kids.
Eric first left the Netherlands for Canada, living in Toronto for an internship for about 11 months. He then moved back to the Netherlands for graduation and found work at a consulting firm named Anderson Consulting. In his words, Anderson Consulting sent him and his coworkers to a “brainwashing course” in Saint Charles, a small town outside of Chicago.
It was at this training camp where he met Juliann Zoetmulder, his future wife. They attempted a cross-nation long distance relationship, but quickly felt dissatisfied and they began making plans to live closer to one and other. Juliann moved to Holland in February of 1998 and found a job, in a funny coincidence, at Anderson Consulting. For three years they lived together, traveling across Europe and eventually getting married in Amsterdam.
Soon, however, they were both ready for a change, and after a lot of discussion, they took the first major job in the United States and ended up in North Carolina. Eric says he had an easy time immigrating, his marriage to an American citizen allowing him to skip a lot of the hassle. They had three kids and after five years, Eric became an official American citizen.
Eric says the most difficult part of immigration was culture related. He had to learn who the famous people were, what music people listened to, and what the classics where. His example for this is “Sixteen Candles”, a U.S. classic that never made it over the Netherlands. He still thinks of himself as a Dutchman, citing his formative years in Aerdenhout as the cause, but he admits that mature learning around family and domestic life has a larger association with America.
In the end, Eric’s journey to U.S. was easier and less necessary than that of other people, but that does not mean its story is without value, as was hopefully illustrated for you today.
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