Football In The Netherlands Posted by Sten on Jun 26, 2018
I don’t know if you missed it, but there is a huge sportevenement (sports event) happening right now: The Wereldkampioenschap Voetbal (The Football World Cup) in Rusland (Russia). And while the Dutch elftal did not qualify, all Dutch eyes are on this Wereldkampioenschap. Who will win it? Learn here some vocabulary and how the Dutch follow this World Cup! Voetbal in Nederland…
Who is Mark Rutte? Posted by Karoly Molina on Jun 8, 2018
There has been a video going around about Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister, cleaning up after spilling some coffee while entering a building. After the video went viral, The Washington Post has named him a symbol of etiquette while other news sources have called the bluff on his publicity stunt. Regardless of the reasons…
3 things to AVOID in an onweer Posted by Sten on Jun 7, 2018
Here in the Netherlands, we frequently experience onweer (thunderstorms) between the hot days. Just last Friday, we experienced heavy regenbuien (rain showers) and onweer in some areas. And it often hits quite plotseling (suddenly). So what to do in an onweer – or, perhaps more apt, what to avoid? Here are 3 things to avoid in a Dutch onweer. 1. Buiten zijn The ANWB (the “Royal Dutch Touring…
The Heiligdomsvaart of Maastricht Posted by Sten on May 31, 2018
Processions through the streets of Maastricht, people coming into the city from all over, and it all has a very religious feel. What’s going on in this city? Well, it is actually a quite special, long-standing tradition! De Heiligdomsvaart The Heiligdomsvaart is an event that currently runs in Maastricht for 10 days in honor of the stadsheilige (“city…
What are these mailbox stickers? Posted by Sten on May 29, 2018
If you go to the Netherlands and you walk through any residential area, you cannot really escape them: The super-obvious NEE-NEE-sticker or the NEE-JA-sticker on people’s brievenbussen (mailboxes). What are these for? Let’s dive in. Folders, folders, folders… As we have discussed before, many places in the Netherlands distribute a load of folders (ad brochures) from supermarkets and local stores every single day…
The Fountains of Friesland Posted by Karoly Molina on May 23, 2018
This year, Leeuwarden is the Culturele Hoofdstad or cultural capital. Several events have been set up by the local and regional governments, as well as by the private sector, to promote the rich historical and cultural heritage of the region. One of the planned events were 11 fountains by world-renowned artists. The idea of fountains stems from…
The Oostvaardersplassen – What went wrong? Posted by Sten on May 22, 2018
You might remember our post on Flevoland, a Dutch province that was created from scratch – literally. The land did not exist before. Part of that creation of land was also the the creation of a natuurgebied (nature reserve), called the Oostvaardersplassen. With a size of 5600 hectares (about 14,000 acres), it is an important natuurgebied not just for the Netherlands…