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Mushroom Season in the Netherlands Posted by Karoly Molina on Nov 6, 2019
Fall is here and we can enjoy the season of mushroom picking or plukken. I have spotted different kinds in parks, fields and in the forest. Yesterday while I was walking my dog Lisa, I found this beautiful fairytale-like mushroom. Perhaps a kaboutertje or gnome was hiding in there! In Dutch, mushrooms are customarily called paddenstoelen or champignon like…
The Dutch Ministry of Defence: Who are they and what do they do? Posted by Karoly Molina on Oct 16, 2019
During the yearly Prinsjesdag or the day when the King presents the government’s plan for the upcoming year, the Koning Willem-Alexander announced that the military would receive about €3 billion (about $3.3 billion US dollars) money for updating and modernising. This project of herstellen en moderniseren 2020 which began in 2014, has so far cost € 11,035…
150 Years of Fries in the Netherlands Posted by Karoly Molina on Oct 1, 2019
This week marked 150 years of the delicious and crispy fries in the Netherlands. 150 years ago, a kermis or fair in Breda introduced the Dutch to fries and life was never the same! Patat of friet? There is an ongoing debate in the Netherlands as to what is the right name for fries. Boven de rivieren or the…
Dutch Limburg Celebrates 75 years of Liberation Posted by Karoly Molina on Sep 18, 2019
Belgium and the southern provinces of the Netherlands are celebrating 75 years of Liberation. In Dutch Limburg, there have been events in several towns and cities celebrating on the exact day they were liberated with parades, concerts and more. Geschiedenis On May 10th, 1940, despite staying neutral in the war, the Netherlands was invaded by…
Dutch Movie on Netflix: Black Book Posted by Karoly Molina on Sep 11, 2019
This past weekend at home, we came across a very popular Dutch film called Zwartboek or Black Book. This movie was released in 2006 and tells the story of survival of a Dutch-Jewish singer by the name of Rachel Stein during the last year of the Nazi occupation. Background Zwartboek was written by Paul Verhoeven and Gerard Soeteman…
Mother’s cookie, children’s heads and other silly words in Dutch Posted by Karoly Molina on Aug 28, 2019
Those who speak Dutch have a funny habit of stacking words together, creating very long and sometimes confusing for learners. These be as simple as kortingkaart (discount card), hondenbelasting (dog tax), and verkeersboete (traffic fine). Unfortunately, there are other words that might seem are part of these compounding nouns and make you wonder what the heck could they…
Honking in the Netherlands? I Don’t Think So Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 10, 2019
Those of us who have lived in a big city know very well that one annoying sound – honking! The disproven theory is that if you honk, traffic will magically move! However, in the Netherlands, honking is rare. What are the reasons behind the lovely silence that envelopes everyone while driving? Verkeersregels There are two…