The Gallic village, IJmuiden
When you think of IJmuiden, what do you say? Ask this question to ten people, and you'll get ten different replies. That was proven once more this week when this question was asked at our own company.
With a businesslike attitude, we tried to determine what "IJmuiden" means for us. This is where our roots are, and that's something we're proud of. "If you look closely, you'll learn to love IJmuiden". The living proof of that statement was among us. She moved to IJmuiden for love five years ago. At the time, the first date became a debacle due to the horrifying character of the date's place of residence "You can't live here, right?". Now, she has fully embraced IJmuiden (and love).
A true IJmuidenaar, born and raised in Oud-IJmuiden, tells us how the blast furnaces make his heart beat faster and how they instil a heartening sense of home in him.
A colleague living outside of IJmuiden, outside of the Randstad, in fact, observes us with disbelief. "Right, I may not see much of IJmuiden except the little I see from my car, but isn't IJmuiden just a really ugly town?!"
In response, we recount the natural beauty and the raw character of the fishery and industry, the wonderful estates and the blast furnace skyline. "Sure," that colleague from outside the Randstad says, "but that's cheating! That's not IJmuiden at all! That's Velsen-Zuid, Velsen-Noord, Santpoort, Driehuis..." Well, to us, that is IJmuiden. To us, it's an evident fact: IJmuiden is grand, it's Velsen, it's potentially even the Metropolitan Area of Amsterdam. To us, IJmuiden is as ambitious, rugged, strong and rebellious as the Gallic town of Asterix and Obelix.
I considered myself lucky to have my administrative role in Citymarketing .IJmuiden. Once more, it was proven how much this is really needed. I will show my colleague the parts of IJmuiden he wasn't familiar with.