Thursday, February 1, 2007

Life with the Dutch




The Netherlands and its Dutch people certainly have a defining culture which I've noticed after barely two weeks. I've tried to describe some of these:

St. Joseph's church in the centrum of Tilburg

Greenery

I haven't even seen Holland in the springtime, and already the love of flowers and plant life is so clear. They do the coolest things with even the smallest spaces. It doesn't matter how small their front yards are, but there will be a garden. Even if the front yard maybe has 6 square feet of space - there will be a garden.The windows are large because they love to let lots of light in for the flowers growing on their large window sills. Bouquets of tulips, roses, and every springtime type of flower are quite cheap and readily available. Feeling inspired, I even purchased some potted plants for my window sill, but being the girl who's cactus died due to a lack of water - I fear for their survival. I forgot to water them before leaving for the Introduction Camp. I arrived back to discover the poor wilted flowers barely alive - in a panic - I grabbed the nearest liquid - my Sprite!! And by the next morning - they were back to full life!

Food
In an attempt to embrace the Dutch way of eating - every week I go to the kaaswinkel just down the road to get some delicious Dutch cheese - it is everywhere and it is cheap! Also, I usually make a soup similar to my grandma's and it lasts about 5 days for me. Fries do not come with ketchup here: it is automatically served with mayonnaise - mmmm.
There isn't much fast food - the easiest thing to do is just go to the grocery store. I have a discount card for Albert Hein, or 'a&h'. It can be a bit tricky with the Dutch labels though. I accidentally bought 'added pulp' orange juice instead of the 'pulp-free' orange juice I had wanted. A few people on my floor have been unpleasantly surprised when they discovered their milk was 'karne melk' (sour milk).
The other day on campus there were free poffertjes - they are tiny little pancakes that are served with butter and icing sugar. With all of this - you'd think my jeans would be feeling tighter - but with all the biking Dutch people don't put on many pounds. Above, man making poffertjes

The Weather
Arriving in the wintery months of Holland leave much to be anticipated when spring finally arrives in March. So far, there has been a fair amount of light drizzle - but it is not constant and not bothersome. There have been several clear and crisp days as well. The air here is different too - it smells really fresh and moist all the time.

The People
So far, I have not run into a rude Dutch person. Everyone here (even the bus drivers) have been so helpful and welcoming. I notice that they really appreciate any sort of effort a foreigner makes with Dutch. In my attempts to speak Dutch while out in town, the cashiers have helped me fill in my sentences and then tell me how to pronounce it better. Not to be rude, but to be helpful. You see, people here are blunt. They say it like it is (ahhhh.... NOW I understand where my dad gets this!) Westerners tend to really sugar coat things but to the Dutch people - that is not being honest, that is not being helpful. For example, if you go shopping for jeans with a Dutch person, they will tell the second pair made your legs look fat so get the first pair. Some people here have to get used to this - luckily I have already been exposed back home.

Also, Dutch people as Florence discussed with me, like their privacy, like their space. One of the most evident examples of this is their washrooms. Back in Canada, a public rest room is lined with stalls. You go in, you sit down, and hope no bratty kid looks under the door. You won't find that in Holland. Every toilet in every washroom is in it's own little room where full walls and a full locking door offer you the kind of privacy North Americans long for. It doesn't matter if it is a classy restroom or dirty pub, you will have a private toilet room!

As I've also mentioned in an earlier blog, Dutch people like to sing. It is a marvelous sight to see Dutch people link arms and sway to the tune of "Brabant" by Guus Meeuvis. I will be terribly disappointed in myself if I don't learn that by the end of these four months. There is a certain Dutch word that is used to described warm, friendly, non-stressful and no tension good times. Where everybody is enjoying every one's company - there is no similar word in English - gezellighied.

Final Thoughts
Basically, my first impressions of Holland have been everything positive. I am realy enjoying this experience. Although I do miss people back home, there is so much to do and see that I keep very busy. Now that most of the paperwork and administrative stuff is out of the way - I can really settle into a pattern now. One of the things I am looking most forward to is when my good friend from back at Waterloo comes to visit me. Loretta is coming on Feb. 18th just in time for Carnivale. I can't wait to show her around. She has to be in London by the 25th to start her Contiki tour of Holland so we decided to make a little trip out of it and arrive in London a few days prior to check out some sights and perhaps visit a few Harry Potter landmarks??

(To answer my cousin Cameron's question about what game was my favorite to play: I like the game where you have to hammer a nail into the big logs.)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to get there and experience all these things for myself girl! Wehoo - it's all happening in only 17 days! You sound like you are in the perfect place right now, and I am so glad you get to have this experience!

TiNa said...

cheryl... you sound like you are having an absolute blast!!! i'm so glad to hear it. and you have made me really want to travel to holland now. it really is too bad that as i already am travelling to costa rica and out east this year that i can't make it up to visit you (b/c that would have been soo much fun)
ta ta for now :)

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