November 12, 2012

• A Trip to the Netherlands.

  Q&A Sessions from around the world.

  The Netherlands and Holland are known for their tulips, odd wooden shoes, and notorious red light district. But did you know they love--and I mean love--sprinkles? I find the Netherlands to be a bit quirky, along with its unusual inhabitants. If you've never been to Europe or the Netherlands, but always wanted to visit, here's random facts and very interesting tidbits a my friend from the Netherlands, Marloes, shared about her home land.

  

  Marloes, being stalked by Sinterklaas, which is their variant of Santa.

  1. What's with the Dutch and Holland? Don't ever say to a Dutchie that they're from Holland, it's the Netherlands unless the person is actually from North-Holland or South-Holland (which are two provinces of the NLs). I suppose this is like calling all Americans the same?
  
  2. How much do you love sprinkles? The Dutch love sprinkles on toast. I’m talking the sprinkles kids put on ice cream, but Dutch adults put it on bread. My breakfast consists of two slices of bread with milk-chocolate sprinkles (there are tons of flavours and sizes sprinkels).
  

  
  I love these delicious ants!
  
  

  3. The Dutch will only eat one hot meal a day? Yes, true. We only have one hot meal and it usually is the one called dinner. Lunch is usually just more bread with sprinkels. I didn't know this was unique to the Netherlands!
  
  4. The Dutch love speaking English. How's yours? You have heard me speak English, judge for yourself (it's actually not that bad)! Also, most of the Dutchies are multilingual speakers!
  
  5. Is there a rivalry between you guys and Germans? Partly true. There's still lots of stereotyping towards Germans but personally, I don't do it. Especially since I live near the border and my dialect has a Germanic-heritage so lots of words are the same between us. Germans [enjoy] digging holes on the beach is true! No one understands why, but they do this a lot. They also place sticks everywhere to 'mark their territory'. Insert World War II joke here.
  
  6. How is the weather there? The country is drenched with rain year round, but the Dutch never use umbrellas. Umbrellas are super dangerous whilst riding a bike because your view is completely blocked. Not to mention the wind coming underneath and essentially breaking the umbrella because it's thrown backwards. Much safer riding a bike with our wet suits (mine is fireman-red so I'm visible at all time). The part about 'raining every day' is an exaggeration. It's no wetter than Germany/Belgium/whatever. It's just that Dutchies like to moan and complain more so it sounds as if we have the worst to deal with.
  
  7. The Dutch have strange snacking habits. TRUE! Frikandellen, kroketten, bami-bal, nasi-bal and bitterballen, they're all yummy and delicious. Especially with fritessaus (a less fatty form of mayonaise), curry, ketchup, mustard, applemousse and pindasaus. Febo delivers the before-mentioned stuff in little slots in walls and are best eaten during rush-hours.

  
  Why yes, I'm happy to see you.
  

  
  8. There's a lot of bikers there. I hear bike theft rate is high? True, research showed that on average, a Dutchie's bicycles will get stolen at least 3-4 times in their life. That's happened to me only once and the feeling is horrible. I now use at least two locks when I leave my bike.
  
  9. So are the Dutch big potheads? Not true. I honestly know only a few people who use drugs. It's just the tourist who get high etc. because it's illegal in their own countries and well, here it's okay. Not the best way to spend a holiday though.
  
  10. You guys are known for tulips. So does your front yard look anything like this?
  

  
  

  Remember, we parked in the violet section.
  

  
  Her: No, my front yard does not look like that. My view is a vineyard The tulips are mostly found in the western part of the country, near Rotterdam for example.
  Me: Now I don't know if I want to visit now.
  Her: If you do come over next summer, I'll explain what the phrase 'Een beschuitje delen' means!

  That's all the time we have for this session. Hopefully you found these answers informative and perhaps interest you to look into vacationing here. Next time, I have a Q&A with a friend from Japan. GOJIRRA!

  • 6:56 pm
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