Archive for 'Culture'
The Joke’s on You: How to Make Funnies in Dutch Posted by tiffany on May 9, 2014
They may have a reputation for being conservative and straight-laced, but the Dutch like to laugh just as much as anyone else. Lachen is het beste medicijn, as they say. Here are some jokes you can tickle your Dutch friends’ funny bones with. Let the laughter (or eye rolling) begin! Advocaat tijdens een rechtszitting: ‘Tenslotte…
Cinco de Mayo in the Netherlands Posted by Sten on May 8, 2014
You may think of tacos, corn, Spanish guitars and a lot of celebration when you hear Cinco de Mayo, but in the Netherlands the 5th of May has a different meaning. It has much more to do with the official capitulation of the Nazis on this day exactly 69 years ago. Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day) on May…
Food With Alessia: Dutch Breakfast (with video) Posted by Sten on Apr 21, 2014
The purpose of these “Food with Alessia” posts is to demonstrate and try some Dutch foods! Together with my Italian friend Alessia, who does not know so much about Dutch food yet, I will post a video every two weeks with an accompanying post. So get ready to enjoy some very delicious minutes of Dutch…
Game of Thrones and Language Development Posted by Sten on Apr 14, 2014
I bet you have heard of Game of Thrones – the HBO Series that became so popular. I am again and again stunned by the great performance of the actors in it. And their accents. It is interesting that in certain American series all actors speak another accent, mostly the English one. That is also…
April Fools!!! – But why? Posted by Sten on Apr 1, 2014
Op 1 april verloor Alva zijn bril – with this phrase, the watergeuzen made fun of general Alva of Spain when they took his city Den Briel (therefore zijn bril) on April 1, 1572. Watergeuzen are what you could call “Water Beggars”. “Water”, because they came by their ships in the North Sea. They basically were Dutch civilians fighting…
Grondwet Festival – 200 years Posted by Sten on Mar 30, 2014
Yesterday, it was the Grondwet Festival (The (Dutch) Constitution Festival), because on March 29, it existed exactly 200 years. In 1814, 474 vooraanstaande Nederlanders (prominent Dutch citizens) were invited for the Vergadering der Notabelen (Congress of Notables) where they were to accept the draft for the Grondwet. After singing the Wilhelmus, the Dutch National Anthem, they voted in favor with an overwhelming majority of…
Indispensible – treinen! Posted by Sten on Mar 23, 2014
I think it is time for me to clear some things up about traveling in Dutch treinen (trains, singular trein). In everyday speech, the Dutch also introduced the verb treinen (literally ‘training’) to describe traveling by train. So just the word treinen can mean trains or ‘training’/traveling by train. To describe how treinen usually…