Those crazy Dutch… random stories and a fitting end 3 comments

So, a week has come and passed and every day I’ve written about a small part of what I’ve seen during my months in Holland, the land of the crazy Dutch, but what I’ve written is just a spec of dust in a sand storm of impressions gained in this strange and yet wonderful country with depressing weather and crazy inhabitants.

I feel that it is fitting to end the week of crazy Dutch stories with a few of the stories I’ve considered writing but which didn’t made it in this weeks stories. In no particular order I’ll just mention facts, impressions and thoughts.

The crazy Dutch have something against wearing hats… Only when the weather is so cold that you get frost bites on your brain they would think about covering their heads with something. It’s true, it’s strange, it’s Dutch.

The girls wear boots a lot. Yup, don’t know if it’s just a passing fashion thing or it has always been so, but if you walk around you will see a lot of girls wearing boots. It’s true, it’s not that strange but it’s still Dutch.

There are a lot of people that do sports on regular basis, all kind of sports. Being  a person that likes sports and considering that in Romania the biggest sport is football and it’s practiced by sitting on the couch and drinking beer this seems as a breath of fresh air. It’s true, it’s the way it should be and it’s Dutch.

Above – Crazy Dutch goat at the Open Air Museum in Arnhem.

There are a lot of petting farms for kids, so the kids can see that milk does not come from a factory, produced, like soda, but from a cow. It’s true, it’s good and it’s Dutch.

 Above – Windmill at the Open Air Museum in Arnhem used by the crazy Dutch for pumping water

There seems to be an obsession with how to build dams and use pumps to control the flow of water. Well, for a country with so much land below the sea level it’s not that unexpected, but it’s still strange when you see how this obsession manifests itself. I’ve see in at lest two museums (The Water Museum in Arnhem and NEMO in Amsterdam) a sort of a water slide you could build dams on. I also saw at the Open air Museum in Arnhem a sort of a crane toy in the middle of a puddle with which children could build dams. It’s true, it’s strange and it’s Dutch.

There also seems to be some obsession with swimming. Kids have to pass some swimming tests where they show they know they can swim and that they can also swim with their clothes on and in difficult conditions. It also has to do with the country being under the sea level. It’s true, it’s cute, it’s useful and it’s Dutch.

When you go to a cinema you might be amazed that instead of pop corn and soda people drink beer and eat… beer. I was taken by surprise. As far as I understood going to the cinema is considered the same as meeting your friends in the city, which seems right, therefore it’s like going to the pub, so having a beer is normal. Also, some cinemas have a pause right in the middle of the movie, like at the theater. It probably has something to do with unloading all that beer :). It’s true, it’s weird, it has some logic to it, it’s Dutch.

The beer doesn’t come in the half a litter bottles but in 0.33ml bottles, which, sometimes, makes more sense, if you drink all night. It’s true, it’s different and it’s Dutch.

And I probably can go on like this for a few more pages (actually I ran out of good ideas but there are some other things which I might remember).

Now is the time to write a conclusion… And what comes to mind, my dear reader, is that I’ve been surprised by how friendly the Dutch are, I’ve been amazed by how things seem to just work in Holland, and I’ve been amazed by how many interesting things such a small country manages to hide. I feel that the whole Dutch experience was, is and will be a privilege and I’m very happy to have had the opportunity to meet and get to know a little bit how the crazy Dutch are and I’m very happy to be able to call some of the craziest Dutch I’ve met, my friends.

And thus, my dear reader, I choose to end the week of crazy Dutch stories, hope you enjoyed it, hope to hear from you and hope you will read on!

Those crazy Dutch… and their strange food Comments Off

I couldn’t write about the Dutch, my dear reader, and not write about their food. Mainly because food is such an important part of our lives and partly because I like to eat and am not indifferent to what I eat and also because the crazy Dutch have a crazy relation with their food.

First let’s start this culinary introspection by going to the very stereotypes I ranted about in my first post. Stay with me, this has a purpose. What food comes to mind when you think about Italy? For me it’s pasta, fish and wine. France? All kind of fancy and useless dishes. America? A big, greasy, unhealthy burger. Holland??? Four months ago – nothing, maybe the cheese, but that’s not a real dish. Today the first thing that comes to mind – fries with mayonnaise :). Yup, that’s the strongest association. The crazy Dutch love their friets mayo.

Above – a place where you can buy all things fried, right in the center of the town at the market.

But wait, there’s more, there seems to be a real love for deep fried things. from all kind of fish nuggets to the very typical croquette, bitterbal and of course frikandel. All deep fried and server with either bread or the all present fries. Unhealthy as it is these are, the crazy Dutch know how to make these heart-stoppers very well. I mean, a croquette might be like a heart attack in a bun but it still tastes good…

Supposedly, there is such a thing as traditional Dutch food like stampott or hutspot, which is a sort of a mash potato, onions and carrots combination, but I yet have to see it eaten on a large scale.

Therefore, with all regret, I must say that Holland doesn’t have the greatest culinary tradition. And there is more! There is something I can’t put my finger on, dear reader, about how the crazy Dutch consume their food. There are many nice restaurants, many fancy places with very good food but, in the same time, people don’t seem to care that much about food, on a daily basis. Eating some “bread” (which is a way of saying a sandwich with some cheese and maybe some other stuff on it) is the most common thing I’ve seen. And people seem to think that what I cook is strange, Which either means that I’m a really bad cook or that when it comes to food most of the crazy Dutch are not so eager to try new things. And there seems to be something about noodle soup… Don’t know what but the crazy Dutch seem to love that stuff… Wonder if there is some secret organization which identifies itself by eating noodle soup… must investigate.

OK, back to the subject. So, what you, my dear reader, learned so far. The crazy Dutch love all things fried, especially fries and especially with mayo. There are some traditional dishes but you have to look for them. They eat a lot of sandwiches and most of them don’t really like new food. And there is something about noodle soup…

But what about the famous cheese? It’s good, that’s what’s about it. And there is a lot of it and as far as I can tell you can divide it into 2 categories – new and old cheese. And I’ve also see green cheese, which is not only edible but also good. But there is a catch. You see, in Romania you have the 2 basic types of dairy products – cheese (brânz?) and… cheese (ca?caval). Brânz? differs from ca?caval in the way it’s made. Anyway, long story short, brânz? is usually white and can be very fresh (a few weeks) and you can’t find it in Holland. The closest thing I’ve found is the feta cheese but that’s not quite it.

Anyway, in Holland you have the second type of cheese, and a lot of it, and did I mentioned that it was good? These crazy Dutch really know how to make their cheese, that’s for sure.

Above – The last moments of a piece of herring, if eaten traditionally. the white stuff is pieces of onions.

Last but not least there is one more thing… the herring. That’s basically, a raw piece of slime fish you eat with chopped onion, and, if you can, by holding it by its tail, throwing your head back and biting that thing with fury. Well, I don’t do it that way. Because the fish is good but incredibly slimy and fatty. What I do is I take it, put it on a plate, slice it up in bite-sized pieces, put a ton of onions on it, some lemon and than enjoy. And that fish is probably the only healthy thing from the crazy Dutch diet and it only seems fittingly that it’s a slimy fish :).

Oh boy, these crazy Dutch and their food. For me a vey Important part of what has defined my experience in Holland.

So, my dear reader, the crazy Dutch stories are almost over, a week has come and gone, there is only one more day. Read on! And be amazed!

Those crazy Dutch… and their crazy homes Comments Off

The Dutch pride themselves as being a very open culture and, my dear reader, they are. And it’s not too hard to see that this is so. The only thing you need to do is take a walk down a street with houses and you’ll be amazed by how many of them have no curtains.

Above – unrelated photo of a crazy Dutch bird. I mean, common, I couldn’t go that far as making pictures of people eating dinner inside their homes, right?

You might ask, no curtains, so what? Well, paired with the fact that the windows are, in many cases, just a tiny little bit smaller than the whole wall and that you can see from one side of the house to the other, than you could ask yourself what’s wrong with these crazy Dutch, don’t they know the meaning of the word privacy? I mean, really, whenever I come home I can see what my neighbor is watching on TV. And I’m not even interested in seeing what he’s watching. I bet I could tell what mail he got if i fancied to do so.

But you know what? You get used to it. My apartment, although lacks the huge  windows, still offers a remarkable view on the office building next door and vice-versa, I would expect. Every morning when going into the kitchen felt strange knowing that, potentially, somebody could look at me making breakfast. And of course I could see perfectly people sipping coffee and reading their e-mails.

Guess what? I stopped giving a damn. And guess what else? Nobody gives a damn. Probably the only people that walk down the street and look in other peoples homes are those who are not used to it.  Yup, the crazy Dutch have some crazy homes…

Above – some crazy narrow Dutch houses in Amsterdam

And talking about houses I already wrote about the magnificent stairs they have. And you have to keep in mind that a lot of homes are so small or narrow that would make a claustrophobic person go crazy by just looking at them.

Yup, the crazy Dutch have some crazy homes…

But you know what? After some time they start to feel just right. The big curtenless windows make sense, since there is so little sunlight, the narrow staircases don’t seem so weird anymore and the narrow houses seem in the right place. And what can you do? It’s just the way the crazy Dutch like them…

So, my dear reader, Read on!

Those crazy Dutch… and their bicycles Comments Off

There is one thing you can’t miss, if you ever come to Holland, and that thing or things, better said, are bicycles. There are bikes everywhere, on every street corner, before every pub and especially in front of every train station.

Above – the biggest bicycle parking in Holland, in Amsterdam, Look at the platforms on the right of the picture – those are all bicycles,

Yes, my dear reader, the crazy Dutch people and bikes go together like peanut butter and jelly. For me it’s impossible to think about Holland and not to think about bicycles. It’s such a specific and wonderful thing. I, for one, would kill a few people (I have a list somewhere) to see the same thing in Bucharest, it just makes sense.

Above – My banged-up Gazelle bike in the Veluwe national park

Therefore meet my not-in-such-a-good-shape-but-still-wonderful-typical-Dutch bike with the help of which I have travelled many roads, mostly to work and back, that is. I love this bike, mostly because the wheals still turn. And I love the bike lanes the crazy Dutch have put everywhere and I love that you can ride you bike everywhere. I love bikes.

Above – Check the wooden baskets on the bike, there is a young crazy Dutch inside. Picture taken last year in Amsterdam

And the Dutch love their bikes too. And you can see some weird contraptions which, for some reason, are still called bicycles. Bikes with big wooden baskets for carrying the young members of the family, bikes with smaller baskets for carrying groceries, other stuff and occasionally a dog or two (I’ve seen a dog in a bicycle basket with my own two eyes), bikes with some sort of a second, smaller bicycle attached to them, bikes with some sort of a one-wheeled trailer, tandem bikes, bikes with a small gas engine, bikes with an eclectic engine, big bikes, small bikes, all kind of bikes, there is something for everybody.

There is one thing you should keep on mind when thinking about Holland – it rains, a lot, I mean like a lot. Or, let me put it this way. When I see the sun for me it’s almost a party. It’s that bad. Therefore the crazy Dutch had to develop some crazy way to ride their bikes when it rains, or, with other words, daily. I’ve noticed 3 approaches to this:

• The “Umbrella” method: keep one hand on the handle and with the other balance the umbrella and pray the wind doesn’t blow too hard. My least favorite method due to it’s inefficiency as it’s uncomfortable and usually the wind blows, so you get wet anyway but you also punish yourself with a grueling balancing act
• The method called “Don’t care and just let the rain do it’s job, after all, a little water never killed nobody, right?”. Wrong! People who say this (Simon) probably forgot about a little thing called pneumonia – which involves getting very sick and becoming very familiar with your own bodily fluids. And you wouldn’t believe how many people use this method. Sure, it’s convenient, but it still sucks to get wet all the way to your underpants and a little further.
• The “Rain pants” method: make use of a rain coat plus the fabulous invention of rain paints. This is my favorite method and I gladly use it. To use it you have to put any drop of pride you might have away and dress to something that resembles a clown with baggy pants or some sort of lost poncho-wearing Mexican on a bike. But it works!

I can go on for hours and hours about the Dutch and their bikes, it’s such a Dutch thing and I love it so much. Therefore tomorrow I’ll hop on my very Dutch and somewhat shaky Gazelle bike and hit the road and while pedaling up and down I’ll be watching those crazy Dutch. Read on.

P.S. Unrelated to the Dutch but related to bicycles I included a clip about driver awareness when it comes to cyclists.

Those crazy Dutch… And their crazy stairs Comments Off

if the first two posts were on the positive side today, my dear reader, you are going to find out about a dark place in Dutch culture – stairs. I don’t know what’s wrong with this people… Why do the stairs in most of the older buildings need to be like a corkscrew is beyond me. My own apartment is blessed with a perfect example of just that kind of stairs.

Above – The crazy stairs to my apartment

Going up and down is not that much of a challenge, when you get used to it, but God help that you don’t have to carry something upstairs. I still hear horror stories from my friends Simon and Levi about the task of carrying a couch up those same stairs and something tells me that they still have nightmares about carrying it down. Sorry guys, but it’s not my fault, I didn’t make the stairs, your crazy Dutch architects and builders did. And don’t even get me started about the time I wanted to take my bike upstairs. I almost didn’t make it…

And you know, you can find a lot of excuses for having this kind of masochistic stairs, like the land is expensive, there is not much space but, in reality, I think that there is just something wrong with the Dutch when it comes to stairs.

Above – Check out the winches on these houses in Amsterdam

Now, really, who in his right mind would build a warehouse and make such small stairs that you would need a winch to get anything in or out. Yup, an warehouse. A building built for the sole purpose of putting things in and taking them out.

And if you ever wondered what those typical winches on a lot of the houses in Amsterdam are for, now you know. Those are either old warehouses or homes with stairs so small that you can only crawl on them.

Yes, my eager minded reader, there are a lot of strange things in Holland and stairs is one of them. Read on!

Those crazy Dutch… Love music Comments Off

I bet this is a little known fact but it’s true. The Dutch love music and you can hear it! All you need to do is take a walk to the city and, sooner or later, you will find somebody whistling a tune. Yup, walking, in the middle of the city and whistling a tune. Or cycling and whistling. Or working and whistling.

Above – Picture of sheep on Texel which has nothing to do with this post.

And sometimes not even whistling, but singing. Oh yes, singing a tune is not uncommon. But, my eager and bright reader, by now your capable mind is probably asking how do I know the crazy Dutch don’t just like to whistle and don’t really care about music? And here is my turn to say – “I’ll tell you how I know”.

Let’s brake it down:

• To whistle something you need to know the tune, so you must know the song
• If you know the song it means you paid enough attention to it and heard it enough times that you know how the song goes
• And, unless you are some sort of masochist, you most likely enjoyed listening to that particular song to learn it

Hence if you whistle a song / some songs on a regular basis you must know love music. q.e.d, rest my case, etc.

And there is one more thing, some of the crazy Dutch told me they like music a lot. So the above was a useless waste of space with the sole purpose to show you my superior analytical skills, but anyway…

I love music myself, it’s one of my passions, up there with eating, therefore I admire, a lot, the crazy Dutch for being, so many of them, so musical. Hats off.

And as a proof that I’m not bullshitting you, my reader, I can tell you that the whistling thing was so contagious for me that I’m now doing it myself, although, as any Romanian knows, if you whistle inside a house you will bring upon yourself and that house all the worst imaginable forms of bad luck. Be amazed by my bravery!!!

Yup, the crazy Dutch love their music and I love that about them.

Tomorrow come back for yet another eye-opening revelation about the Dutch, keep on reading ;)

Those crazy Dutch… part 1 2 comments

I’ve had the chance to live for many years outside the borders of my own country, Romania, in fact I’ve lived more than half of my life in contact with different cultures, habits, having to speak in a tongue that is not my own. An experience I consider to be a privilege. And what all of these years have thought me is never, ever, take “what they say” for granted, you know, the stereotypes. It’s stupid and it’s always wrong.

So there I was, around 4 months ago, armed with the knowledge that I don’t know shit about Holland, in the middle of Holland, at an elevation of no more than 13 meters and surrounded by Dutch people and a lot of ducks and other water creatures. Time to open my eyes and learn something. And so I did, walked around Arnhem, almost staring at people, a bad habit of mine, and there was the first cultural lesson. If you make eye contact, while walking in the park or on a quiet street more likely than not people will say hi to you. Time for a quick note, we’re talking about Arnhem here, not Amsterdam or another bigish city. Note ended. So, the Dutch are friendly…, what else…

And so I walked and keep on walking and learning and being amazed. And while I am still walking around the crazy Dutch people I wanted to write some of the things that catch my eye. I do this for myself, so I won’t forget and I do this for my friends who might be interested to see things through my eyes.

And as I mentioned my friends, I want to make it crystal clear that by crazy Dutch I mean crazy in the best possible way. Just that we are clear and I don’t get beaten to death at work tomorrow with a keyboard or strangled with a mouse cord. If they used a wireless mouse that would be something to see, though..:).

Anyway, this week, each day, I will write about one thing I find strange, different, cool and so on. Keep on reading.