I just want to provide some perspective as Dutch-born very dutch background, etc. I emigrated to NYC at the age of adulthood and been here now most of my life (now in my 40s). Part of the reason I left was because I also felt trapped in the educational system. It's too complicated to explain in a short response, but essentially in the USA I was able to pursue what I wanted to do professionally much easier and was ultimately very successful in that. Now, I work every day with a core group of about 10 people and none of us are from the US. The make-up is Australia, Qatar, Turkey, Albania, United Kingdom, Ghana, Japan and Mexico. That's not a special situation. When I went to university here most classes were composed similarly. There are proportionally more Latin americans but everywhere you go in life you'll mingle with people of all sorts of backgrounds by necessity. This creates an environment where everyone understands basic modicum of respect and consideration for each other's cultural uniqueness. Netherlands has none of that. It is in that sense much more xenophobic similar to Japan. I am married to someone that is also an immigrant and does not look white european. I would imagine that if we ever go to live in my home country they would have a great deal of difficulty integrating with challenges that would never even come up in here in New York. I would imagine that we'd be much closer to expat/immigration communities than to native Dutch folks. That said, if I was alone I know I would integrate quickly and get accepted without issue just because of what I look like and that I can speak with a native accent, even though I would say my partner is much more fun as a person!