Instead of going to school last Friday Oct. 6, senior Sydney Carlier spent her day in the Consulate General of the Netherlands, the Dutch embassy where she renewed her dual citizenship.
Carlier’s Dutch blood allows her to call Holland her second home.
In order to become a citizen in Holland, at least one parent must be born there, Carlier’s father in her case.
A dual citizenship, also known as dual nationality, is someone who is a citizen in two countries.
After becoming a citizen to a country, obligations, and rights are given to Carlier such as voting and paying taxes.
“I got a citizenship because I wanted the ability to go to school and work in the Netherlands if I was ever to decide to move there either temporarily or permanently,” said Carlier.
Just this weekend, Carlier’s father left to the Netherlands for a month.
Carlier travels to the Netherlands once a year for a month or longer to stay in beach front apartments in Scheveningen.
“I love being on the beach in Holland. It’s different in that, it gets so packed with people that you can’t even see the sand. The whole beach is lined with clubs and restaurants,” said Carlier.
Carlier has taken Dutch classes since she was in third grade to become fluent in the language. This allows her to travel around the country without getting lost because of her ability to talk with the people.
“Everyone seems to be more social with other groups of people they don’t know,” said Carlier.
Carlier has been to the Hague, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Delft, Maastricht, Leiden, and many other cities.
“My favorite thing to do is sit at a sidewalk cafe on the beach in Scheveningen and enjoy the view because culturally Dutch people do that at least twice a day,” said Carlier.
Senior Lev Gamely visited Scheveningen with Carlier two summers ago and said, “It was different from here. People care less about your everyday tasks, and are more focused on what they’re doing.”
Carlier’s friend Lexi Jenkins said, “It’s really cool having a friend that speaks a foreign language and is a citizen in a different country. I’m hoping to visit Holland with Sydney this summer.”
“Being from Ukraine and having a friend who is also foreign really shows how diverse everyone at Carlmont is,” said Toni Lupilin.
