Friends in a Cold Climate: Schiedam-5

Although not part of the hippie movement, he was influenced by the spirit of the times that sought change and a better world. The idea was that if people learned about other cultures, there would be no war. He had acquired this feeling strongly from home, both from my grandparents and parents.

That's why Anton was open to the idea of going to another country and living with a local family. His first experience with this was near Esslingen, where he stayed with a family and got to know their way of life. Anton's father played a role in the youth exchange.

He was chairman of the royal choir Orpeus and was on the executive board of the Schiedam Community, an organization that was then active with, among other things, the youth exchange. At the time, Esslingen had exchanges with Vienne in France, Udine in Italy, and possibly already with Neath in Wales. Schiedam was added to this and Anton was part of the first group to go to Esslingen as part of this exchange.

He has often participated in exchanges. Getting to know different cultures through youth exchanges had a big impact on him. Each place, such as Esslingen, Neath in Wales, Udine in Italy, and Norrköping in Sweden, offered unique experiences and diverse ways of thinking, unlike Schiedam.

These experiences strengthened his conviction of the importance of a united Europe and his opposition to nationalistic ideas. In the 1960s, after the war, the Germans viewed exchanges differently than other countries. Esslingen was the main initiator.

Many people involved had consciously experienced the war, which influenced the atmosphere. Anton's grandfather was one of the first socialist mayors of the Netherlands, just before and after the war, and had a strong aversion to Germany. His grandparents even avoided Germany on their way to Switzerland.

Although he was consciously given this, he never had that negative feeling towards Germany. He understood it and I read a lot about it, but it did not influence my experiences in Esslingen or my interactions with Germans. During Anton's student days he had to gain practical experience for Tropical Forestry.

This led to a self-organized world trip of two months in Nigeria, four months in New Zealand, and two months in Fiji, between my candidates and my engineering studies. This adventurous trip partly arose from his previous experiences with youth exchanges from Schiedam to different places in Europe.