The Netherlands
All posts from The Netherlands
About Us Europeans
Posted 16 May 2007:Welcome to my new PhotoLogiX project! Fascinated by differences between European cultures and languages, I have grown curious to understand `what the European Union is actually about`. Not so much in reference to the political structure of it: I much rather want to find out what daily life is like for young people living in the EU. What is on their minds, what they expect of Europe, and how they spend their time, in short: who they are and how different they all really are.... Read more
In The Netherlands
Posted 23 Dec 2007:Many of the people I met during the past few months said they would impatiently wait for the reports about my home country. Well, I am back in The Netherlands, trying to find out what is going on at the moment. ... Read more
Christmas 2007
Posted 24 Dec 2007:In many European countries, the celebration of Christmas is spread out over two days. Some countries choose to include Christmas Eve (24 December) or Boxing Day (26 December). The Netherlands has some midway alternative. Read on and learn more about this year`s Christmas trends in The Netherlands.... Read more
With compliments
Posted 25 Dec 2007:Look up the word `Dutch` in an English dictionary and the explanation `inhabitant of The Netherlands` will be followed by a list of unflattering proverbs. Most of them refer to the Dutch being rude, which is a well-established stereotype about the Dutch in adjacent countries. The Dutch prefer to see themselves as honest and direct, and allergic to differences hierarchical positions. Anybody differing from the average is singled out and usually made fun of - regardless of his or her social status, achievements or pretensions. The Dutch use a subtle combination of compliments, criticism and sarcasm to `level the playing field` between themselves and everybody they deal with.... Read more
FF Chille
Posted 27 Dec 2007:The Netherlands is a crowded and busy country. The love for planning allows people to make the most of their time, resulting in a labour productivity that ranks among the highest in the world. But how much time do the Dutch allow themselves for relaxation? And how do they spend their spare time?... Read more
Freedom tourism
Posted 28 Dec 2007:Windmills, wooden shoes and marihuana leaves: many people would be quick to associate those with The Netherlands. They may be surprised that they actually need to search for windmills should they want to see one. The same for people wearing wooden shoes. And even though marihuana can be easily obtained, it`s especially the tourists who openly consume it in the streets of Amsterdam.... Read more
Pumping or drowning
Posted 29 Dec 2007:Global warming poses different threats to different areas in Europe. Portugal and Spain are faced with drought and heat, the Alps with melting glaciers and all of Europe with more extreme weather. The Netherlands is touched in a particular way. Half the country is situated below sea level, and this is coincidentally the part of the country where 75% of the population resides. How do the Dutch feel about the threat of a rising sea level? I`m doing a round up in Almere, one of the cities constructed from scratch in the 1960s. Almere is located in the reclaimed province of Flevoland, where nothing natural dates back more than 50 years.... Read more
Fryslan Boppe
Posted 30 Dec 2007:The Netherlands is too small a country to have different languages on its territory - one would say. There is one province where people would certainly disagree with that. Friesland, in the north of The Netherlands and the local language is known as Frisian. Calling Frisian a dialect would a straightforward offence to most Frisians. The language has been officially recognised and most names of villages are marked in Frisian first, then followed by Dutch. What`s worth knowing about this curious language and province?... Read more
Looking back
Posted 31 Dec 2007:31 December 2007, another year gone by. While newspapers and TV summarise last year`s wars, disasters and scandals, I prefer to spend my time finding out about people`s positive memories of 2007.... Read more
Fresh start
Posted 1 Jan 2008:A fresh start of the new year.. A few thousand Dutch people are taking that phrase literally. Today, on the first day of 2008, they gather for a collective dive into the North Sea. The summer beach resort of Scheveningen used to be the only official location for the New Year`s Dive. A number of alternative dives have been approved by sponsor Unox, but I selected the original Scheveningen one to ask people how they made it through the change of years.... Read more
Cycling pleasure
Posted 2 Jan 2008:The Netherlands is internationally known as a country where everybody cycles, whatever the weather or time of day. It doesn`t take a long time for visitors to verify this stereotype and find out that it`s almost true. There are few people in The Netherlands who never cycle and very few who are technically unable to. Still, weekday rush hours see motorways full of traffic jams, and people have a hard time emphasizing how poorly the public transportation network functions.... Read more
Early birds
Posted 3 Jan 2008:During my two-week stay in Sweden, I learnt how reaching personal independence was the main purpose of parents raising Swedish kids. Children in The Netherlands are brought up with the same idea. At an average age of 18 to 20, Dutch children are expected or sometimes encouraged to leave their parental home. In the meantime, they are supposed to have learnt how to support themselves. Sideline jobs, known as `bijbaantjes` are an important stage of growing up. A good reason to ask some young Dutch people about their first jobs.... Read more
Multicultural NL
Posted 4 Jan 2008:From the 1960s until present time, The Netherlands have been proud of their proverbial tolerance towards unconventional living styles. Outsiders may even think that just about anything is allowed in The Netherlands, oftentimes even by law: abortion, euthanasia, gay rights, legalized drugs and the existence of a political party protecting the rights of pedophiles. The first article of the Dutch constitution prescribes that all inhabitants of The Netherlands, when faced with the same circumstances, have right to equal treatment. The same article explicitly prohibits `discrimination based on religion, convictions, political orientation, race, gender, or whatever other difference may apply`. But how tolerant are Dutch people in everyday life?... Read more
Below the rivers
Posted 5 Jan 2008:Apart from the border between Friesland and the rest of The Netherlands, there`s another dividing line that crosses The Netherlands. The `big rivers` separate the traditionally catholic provinces Noord-Brabant and Zuid-Limburg in the South from the protestant ones in the North. Over the last 40 years, the influence of both religions has decreased, but differences remain. The three-day celebration of Carnival is one of the ways for the southern provinces to honour their distinctively different mentality.... Read more
Religion and ideology
Posted 6 Jan 2008:`God created the world, but the Dutch created The Netherlands` - Even though big shares of The Netherlands would not have existed without physical effort of Dutch human beings, this saying at least marks how much they believe in their own influence on the course of life. While official religions collectively praise God, many Dutch prefer to individually honour something. Believing in `something` has even been allocated the corresponding term `something-ism`. Here`s an overview of what `something-ism` sounds like in the streets of The Hague:... Read more
Mission completed
Posted 1 Aug 2008:After one year of seemingly endless travelling, I am proud to be able to say just that: mission completed. I am happy about how I have been able to put this project together, excited about how I made it come true and grateful to the people and circumstances that allowed me to fulfill this dream. What else is there to say, looking back on one entire year of travelling?... Read more
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