By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

The sky begins to turn a grayish black and just as the acknowledgment that a storm is coming, it begins to rain. Not a light, gentle rain, but harsh sheets as if someone is unloading dump trucks full of water from the sky.

However, when asked if they would like a ride back to their apartment from the WKTV station, Lukas Alofs and Niels van Duin, nicely, but firmly, say no.

“We are used to this type of weather,” Lukas said with a laugh. “We ride in all types of weather back home.”

Back home is the Netherlands. Both Niels and Lukas visited the United States last fall to intern for Alan Headbloom’s “Feel Like You Belong” television program. The show, which shares the life stories of immigrants, expatriates, and refugees to the United States, is filmed at the WKTV studio in Wyoming. 

“There really was not any formal internship program,” Alan said, adding that the internship came about through a friendship. “Niels’ mother is a dear friend with my Dutch business partner Sandra Wormgoor.”

Alan and Sandra created a web app called English a Day (www.englishaday.com) for English language learners. A few years ago, Sandra was in the Grand Rapids area and came by to watch a taping of one of Alan’s shows, falling in love with the “Feel Like You Belong” program.

 

Fast forward to last year and Niels’ and Lukas’ school, Kandinsky College in Nijmegen, Netherlands, (which according to the boys is more like a high school), requires the students to do an internship outside of the Netherlands. This is part of the school’s International Baccalaureate program.

“When Sandra learned of this, she proposed the fellows come work for ‘Feel Like You Belong’,” Alan said. “I had fond memories of living abroad in my teen years; in fact, I’d say those early exposures influenced by future studies and ultimately my career choice.”

Niels, who had never been to the United States, admitted it was pretty exciting to have the opportunity to see and experience life in America.

“I expected the internship to be a lot of fun,” Niels said. “I did not expect a big ‘culture shock’ when coming to the United States because what I’d seen of American culture (on the internet, TV, etc.) was quite similar to our own customs.”

The biggest challenge? Well for Alan, it was changing his American cultural mindset to consider the needs of Europeans living in Grand Rapids — especially two young men who could not drive.

“In our country, you can only get your driver’s licenses when you’re around the age of 18, so neither of us were allowed to drive,” Niels said. “That along with the fact that public transportation was not great (at least not what we were used to) made it pretty difficult to go from A to B.”

Alan was able to get a couple of bikes for Niels and Lukas to get around, go shopping, and get to and from WKTV. He also said when securing a place for them to stay, he considered if it was a walkable neighborhood as well. Along with that, Alan said he looked for opportunities for Niels and Lukas “to see the area through their own lenses.” This included a tour of Grand Valley State University and a chance to attend a Lakers football game.

“Of course a terrific experience for any student, local or international, is the chance to work on set at a real television station,” Alan said, and Niels agreed. 

“I learned a lot about communication and working together as a team,” Niels said, adding he and Lukas spent time recording and cataloging several of the “Feel Like You Belong” shows. “Our colleagues, the other interns and the staff at WKTV, were incredibly fun and nice to work with.”

And while he enjoyed the opportunity, Niels said he probably will do film and video more as a hobby. Recently he enrolled at Utrecht Conservatory in hopes of becoming a music teacher. He also hopes to one day come back to Grand Rapids, perhaps with his family to show them some of things he did.

Alan, who has been involved in international and intercultural communications his whole life, said the international internship opportunity reminded him of the importance of travel and meeting new people, referring to a quote from Mark Twain: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

“I know how significant it has been to my life to have lived, worked, traveled, and studied across the globe,” Alan said. “ The only way for Americans to lose their xenophobia and fears is to go someplace else and live in someone else’s world. Lukas and Niels refreshed that appreciation for me.”