About two years ago, Elfi Glissen (the travel writer from Germany whose parents are Belgian and Dutch) founded the group in an effort to make friends. `The story of the 'International Women's Contact in Enschede' is quite simple. I moved to Enschede in 2000 for my Australian partner. Soon I found that it was difficult to meet people in Enschede. Since I am also a freelancer and work from home, I had no work colleagues and my partner seemed to meet notoriously single men. The frustration over the difficulty to find friends grew over the years. I became unhappy, which strained my relationship. Eventually Andrew understood that maybe he could help me by inviting international colleagues from his work, because he thought I might get on with their wives. It was a great success. By that time those wives and I had been in Enschede for a more than four years and were desperate to meet any woman interested in building new friendships. I started organizing get-togethers at Le Monde and invited these women to bring along acquaintances.'
Next, Glissen posted the international girls' night out on the Internet. `I posted the 'International Women's Contact in Enschede' on Expatica, which then also got printed in their annual Holland handbook. Soon I started getting emails from women all over the Netherlands. It became clear that there seems to be an issue in all of the Netherlands, not just Enschede. Something in the Dutch way of life does not seem to allow for making friends easily.'
Currently the group comprises about 40 women, though only 10-20 might appear at a given occasion. Glissen adds, `There is no agenda on those nights. It's all about being curious, meeting new people, and chatting to those you have not seen in a while. It is informal, casual and simply fun. The beauty is there is no cost involved, no fixed agenda, people can come and go freely for drinks and everyone is made felt welcome.'
`What began as a search for friends for me turned into something bigger. I still wanted to find friends for myself, but at the same time I wanted to give this opportunity to every female with an international background.'
The group's participants are grateful for Glissen's efforts. Angie MacMillan from Scotland enthuses, `You have fun. There are no kids wanting something. It's nice getting out to relax.' Gina Hattingh, on a one-year stay from South Africa, emphasizes, `It is important to me that I can speak to someone in English. It's such a great group of women - interesting and diverse. The stories that you hear are fascinating.' Mandy de Bruijn, who moved to Borne seven months ago from Scotland, claims, `I was going crazy - I needed to meet some people, so I trolled the Internet and found this group. I never imagined there was a group like this in Twente. It has just lifted my world.'
Glissen is moving to Eindhoven with her partner (and baby, whose arrival is imminent), where she intends to found a new international women's group. In her stead, Eleni Antonakou and Valerie Heskins will continue the group.
Antonakou explains the specifics: `We meet officially once a month. All activities are always out of the house: drinks at Le Monde, dinners at various local restaurants, movies, dancing. Sometimes people suggest get-togethers spontaneously via email, like going to a movie or meeting for a cup of coffee.'
She further defines the group, `This is a not a group with members per se. It is an occasion for meeting people, for finding other foreigners. Most people find out about the group `via via,' but it is also listed on www.expatica.com/netherlands/ under international women's groups.'
By the way, what is the group called? It doesn't actually have a name. According Heskins, `We don't have a name because we'd rather remain as open and culturally unbiased as possible.'
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