About the Netherlands

We're planning to
create a "dictionary"
of necessary phrases together.
If you can help, email us
at jeetje@yahoo.com.

Okay, I'll put some info on the Netherlands down and then give you Diana's writings about the Netherlands. :)

The Netherlands -- also known as Holland
     The names are pretty much interchangeable, but there are actually two provinces of the Netherlands called North Holland and South Holland.
Here's some Holland Links. Included in these links is a map of the Netherlands.
     Be warned, it's a big map, but it's nice map. Even Meppel is on the map! ;) (Diana lived in the semi-small town of Meppel.)
Population: approximately 15 million
Country color: Orange
     The royalty of the Netherlands is from Oranje with means Orange in English.

Diana's writings:

Before we left for Holland, we hardly know things about this this country, except that this small and flat country has plenty of cheese, windmills, milk, tulips, wooden shoes which are called klompen, and (Indonesians know this ) that Indonesia had been under the Dutch imperialism for +/- 350 years until Indonesia proclamated independence on 17 August 1945.

One thing we never thought about before we went to Holland, is that the people also have "normal life" like we all have. The kids have to go to school 5 days a week, packing their lunchbox every morning (many schools have no cafeteria/canteen). The teachers give lessons and plenty of homework. Many Dutch watch soap operas in the evening, not only the American ones, but also the Dutch ones, the most popular are : Goede tijden, slechte tijden (Good times, Bad times),

Onderweg naar morgen (Journey to Tomorrow), and Goud kust (Gold coast). Most Dutch have dinner quite early, like 6 o'clock in the evening, together with the family, as a matter of fact, family is very important for them. After dinner, they usually get lekkere toetje (Yummy desserts) like vla, youghurt, or other goods. We also love their habits of drinking tea and eating a cookie in the afternoon, drinking coffee or another tea (also with snacks aside) later in the evening (few hours after dinner ). Most Dutch like liquors too, some adults drinks wine at dinner time.

We had to go to school (and everywhere) on our bikes, like other Dutch people (some of them even have to bike 40 kms a day ). It was very irritating at first, especially for those who are not used to bike, but later in the year, we truly love our bikes. We went everywhere with them, it's so easy, cheap (no gas is needed!) and healthy too.

Talking about health, The Dutch think a lot about healthy living. Low fat and diet stuffs are loved. Soft drinks, candies, sugar in your tea ?....... not too much please. And vegetables must be eaten with every dinner. If you still think that typical Dutch are like the big Dutch lady you saw in your childhood books, then you can forget it, because not many of them are left. Most of the Dutch are in a good shape, more like thin actually, and they're also quite tall.

As we mentioned before, family (and the dog) is very important to them. You can find many parents biking with one kid in front and another on the backseat of their bike, or when the kid is big enough, they'll bike next to the parents on small tricycle or a bike, marked with a little flag. You'll find many people walk with their dogs in the park or just around the neighborhood in the late afternoon.

The Dutch also looooove vacation. Schools have a week off after 8 weeks of classes, plus about 10 days X-mas holiday and 8 to 9 weeks summer vacation. They go abroad a lot, especially to Germany, Belgium Germany, France, Austria, and Italy. They'll go by car (with bikes on the top of the car) or bytrain. They can spend nights in their caravan, tents, or sometimes in a hotel. Dutch people who loves sailing would rather sleep in their sailboat, on the harbours if they are sailing (sometimes they can sail to England or Skandinavian countries).

The shops are closed at 6 P M every weekday, at 5 PM on Saturday, and from Saturday to Monday noon. But there's one evening in a week when they close at 9 PM. This kind of evening is 'koop avond' or shopping evening. Different cities have different koopavonds.

Going to the cinema and eating pop corn with friends in the weekend is not a custom there, although some might do that. The entrance ticket costs about 15 guilders (about 10 USD). They go to cafe's instead of the movies. Teenagers starting the age of 15 are going out starting at 11 PM, then come home at 2 AM; when the are older, they can stay out later. When the cafe's closed at 3 AM, those who are left and want to, can go to the discoteque untill morning. In Amsterdam there is a discoteque where you have to dressed in something unusual and cool.

Let us tell you about the MUSIC. . Do you remember the song 'no limit' from the '2 unlimited' which was popular in the early 90's ? Well, the band has fallen apart now, but that kind of music, spesificly house or techno music known as Hardcore or Hakker are still popular there. Those who really really love that music shave their head bald, or left a bound of it in the middle line, they call themselves 'gabbers', and wear training suits. But alto (alternative) music is also popular there. There are ones who calls themself 'skaters'. This people listening to hard music, and often seen on their skateboard. In some cities they have underground disco. It's not actually a discoteque because they play alternative music instead of techno.

Okay, we'll have more info later. Dag!

Thanks for making our exchange experiences possible, Rotary!

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