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- My Russian door
- Dasha van Amsterdam
- 2.05min
Being from two places can be confusing, but enriching at the same time. Dasha takes a step through her Russian door! "I have lived in Holland for fourteen years. I was twelve when I moved here. Since then I have learned about a new culture, language, made new friends, got a new family with a new surname. I spent my teenage years here, became a Dutch woman with a Dutch life. I'm also Russian, but I only feel it in Russia, or so it was until some time ago. During an international theatre festival in Amsterdam I was asked to translate for a famous Russian theatre group. I spent a week with this theatre group: artists, technicians, dressmakers, lightmen and the director from morning till night. It was a homecoming. It was an opportunity to open up my Russian side in Holland. This experience is very confusing and very enriching at the same time. I felt at home with people I'd met for the first time. I had no difficulty to explain myself or need to create an understanding. It was just there. This natural and instant trusting feeling. This week I was not only translating language, but translating cultures and habits. It was not only for others, but also for myself. I was able, for the first time, to look at my Dutch life from a Russian point of view. This was a liberating experience. I feel that my Russian door is open now. I'm not sure what entering this door will bring me. I just know that I have got hold of a part of me, that I've been missing for a long time, without really knowing it. No matter what the outcome, I feel myself at home."