“DUTCH SHOULD MIX WITH NEIGHBOURS”

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28793, 14 January 1959, Page 7

“DUTCH SHOULD MIX WITH NEIGHBOURS”

patch settlers should not form tight little “national” communi, ties in New Zealand, but should jdix freely into the Dominion’s life. This is the view of Mr Piet jlopman, aged 77, more than half o f whose 11 children have emigrated since the war. Mr and Mrs Hopman, who are nO w nearing the end of a fourmonth visit with two of their sons and their families in Christchurch. have another married son in South Africa, two married sons an d a single daughter in the United States, and five more sons a t home in Holland. “Our boys came here to live; they should be prepared to be New Zealanders,” said Mrs Hopman. Her husband, an Amsterdam art shop proprietor, said: “It is often difficult for the first year or so. People get homesick. But they have got to make themselves fit in, sooner or later.”

“Must Make Effort” Both Mr and Mrs Hopman are sure that, if they are prepared to make the effort, most of New Zealand’s several thousand Dutch settlers can be much better off here materially than if they had stayed in Holland. “If they really get stuck into it, they can be much better off.” said Mr Hopman. Culturally, however, most Dutch people were finding New Zealand lacked the opportunities offering in Holland and other European countries. But the Dominion made up for thi r in part by greater material prosperity and her outdoor life. “A nature-lover never misses a thing in New Zealand—you have everything here.” They admire parks, children’s playgrounds and gardens and

hills, but would themselves miss television, concerts, art galleries and museums such as they are used .to in Amsterdam. The lack of .ares such as those which grace Europe’s cities is a disappointment, and they also said: “Your pubs are dreadful.” If it were not that they were too old to adapt themselves easily to a new language, and that they still have five of their sons living m Holland, Mr and Mrs Hopinan would love to settle in New Zealand.

If they had to name one special place, of those they have seen—mainly in Canterbury—in their four months here, they would chose Wainui, on Akaroa harbour, where they spent Christmas. They found it “absolutely wonderful.”