Archive for 'Culture'
What is a Fietssnelweg? Posted by Sten on Nov 28, 2017
That the Dutch love their bikes is no news. The country is full of bikes – but also bike lanes. The video below nicely shows how the Dutch got the network of bike lanes that they have now. The Dutch continuously strive to make the system faster, more efficient and easier to use, so that…
Curious Words in Dutch: Opdat Posted by Sten on Nov 20, 2017
There are many strange words in a language. Words that are just not used much, words that are pronounced in a weird way… Just words that have something curious about them! And those are the ones we look at in this series. Starting today with opdat. Voegwoorden Opdat is a voegwoord (conjunction). This means that its purpose is…
Famous Children’s Dutch TV Show is Coming Back Posted by Karoly Molina on Nov 8, 2017
The TV show Fabeltjeskrant or The Daily Fable as it was called in the UK brings back childhood memories to many. It was recently announced that a remake of the show will be televised once again. De Fabeltjeskrant was first aired in 1969 and was created by Lee Valkenier. The tv show was aired until…
De Speld – The Dutch Onion Posted by Sten on Nov 7, 2017
Well-known for its satirical take on reality, The Onion has established itself all as a source of highly unreliable but very funny “news”. It is not the only outlet of its kind, however. There are numerous others, including in the Netherlands. Here, we have De Speld (The Pin). In 2007, just before the kredietcrisis (credit crisis), the satirical…
A Russian Revolution… Designed by a Dutchman! Posted by Sten on Oct 26, 2017
100 years ago, the Oktoberrevolutie (October revolution) of 1917 had just broken out in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was still the hoofdstad (capital) of Russia at the time. Communisten (communists) took the Winterpaleis (Winter Palace) in the city, which led to an important turn of events for the entire country. Nowadays, this Winterpaleis is the world-famous Hermitage. This state museum displays national history and…
Music in Dutch: André van Duin Posted by Karoly Molina on Sep 22, 2017
Fall has begun and we are enjoying some unusual sunny days in the Netherlands! Temperatures are expected to reach 19 degrees Celsius (67 degrees Fahrenheit) this weekend which means lots of terrace time! In light of this lovely weather, I have chosen a song in Dutch by André van Duin that made it back to…
What happens with burn out in the Netherlands? Posted by Karoly Molina on Aug 30, 2017
According to the Rijksoverheid website, 1 million people in the Netherlands suffer burn-out related symptoms. The Netherlands is one of the countries with the most burn-out related complaints in Europe. But what is burn out and what happens when you are burned out and live in the Netherlands? What is it? The website Gezondheidsplein.nl defines…