Archive for July, 2014
Record-High Rainfalls in the Netherlands Posted by Sten on Jul 29, 2014
Yesterday, the Netherlands was hit by a huge storm with severe rainfall. A weeralarm (weather alert) in the stage code oranje (code orange) was announced in the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Noord-Brabant and Utrecht. This means that there is a chance of extraordinary weather coming with a greater chance of schade en ongevallen (damage and accidents). This turned out to be more than…
The Netherlands and Human Development Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 29, 2014
A recent study by the United Nations program for Development ranked the Netherlands as number four among the top ten countries with the best index of sociale ontwikkeling or social development. This study measured factors such as the development and progress of people in gezondheidszorg (health care), onderwijs (education), veiligheid (security) and inkomen (income), as…
Zeeland: The Flood and the Delta Works Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 28, 2014
I remember learning to swim when I was young and hearing that in a fight between man and water, water always win. Because of this, I was always very respectful of water as I swam. As natural disasters related to water surged, this idea was reaffirmed. Water would always win. As I made plans to…
Spreekwoorden en Uitdrukkingen (Sayings and Expressions) 1 – The Calf and The Stone Posted by Sten on Jul 24, 2014
Spreekwoorden (sayings) and uitdrukkingen (expressions) are very useful in everyday language and knowing them makes things easier to understand when you hear them. In this series, I will try to explain the origin of the sayings and expressions, explain its use and give examples of possible ways of using them. This week we will start off with a…
Traveling by Train in the Netherlands Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 24, 2014
One of the novelties I have enjoyed the most in the Netherlands is to travel with the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (or NS for short). My only train memory prior to Europe is a very old one from the last times there was a passenger train in Mexico (before 1992). We took the overnight trip and played…
The Worst Disaster Since 1953 – The King’s Reaction Posted by Sten on Jul 22, 2014
In 1953, the Netherlands was hit by a terrible flooding, which gave way to great improvement of the Dutch water defense. After the flooding, the sad result were 1836 deaths and tens of thousands of people that lost their home and all their belongings. Families ripped apart, friends lost and colleagues gone forever. Last Thursday…
Fietsen Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 15, 2014
They say you never forget how to ride a bike. I, like any other kid, learned to ride a fiets (bike) at a young age. I started with a tricycle, then a regular fiets with training wheels, and, finally, one Christmas morning a big kid bike appeared under the Christmas tree. Slowly but surely, I…