{"id":975,"date":"2010-11-14T16:07:28","date_gmt":"2010-11-14T16:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=975"},"modified":"2010-11-14T16:21:06","modified_gmt":"2010-11-14T16:21:06","slug":"slaap-je-niet-lekker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/slaap-je-niet-lekker\/","title":{"rendered":"Slaap je niet lekker?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t think it is going too far to observe that, in general, the Dutch are a people of strong, often inflexible opinions.\u00a0 The imposition of those opinions on friends, family and casual bystanders is not uncommon.\u00a0 In my experience, a subject that consistently draws expressions from that staunch Dutch well of opinion is sleep.\u00a0 Slaap<\/em>, that is.\u00a0 Before bed, it\u2019s customary, here, to say \u201cslaap lekker\u201d<\/em> (\u201csleep well,\u201d though the translation of lekker <\/em>is ever-elusive and not at all sufficiently captured by a word as nonspecific as \u201cwell\u201d) or \u201cwelterusten,\u201d<\/em> which loosely means that you wish someone a good rest.<\/p>\n

But I wonder sometimes whether such wishes are sincerely meant, since any appearance or suggestion of sleepiness in public seems to strike a nerve with many Dutch people.\u00a0 In late August of this year, I stopped my bike at an intersection on the way to an appointment for which I had nearly slept too late:\u00a0 my hair was uncombed, my eyes were, I\u2019m sure, still tired.\u00a0 It was a moment at which I possessed many of the telltale signs of deep slumber.\u00a0 A man who was doing some kind of construction work called to me, \u201cAl lang wakker<\/em>?\u201d\u00a0 In this way and others, my sleepiness has been pointed out to me countless times by the Dutch.<\/p>\n

More pronounced yet is the Dutch distaste for undisguised yawns (geeuws<\/em>).\u00a0 Every time I have ever yawned without covering my mouth, in Holland, the yawn has been met with a sharp \u201chand voor je mond!\u201d <\/em>An extreme version of this scenario happened once in 2008 when, walking out of a bookstore in Maastricht, I happened to yawn without lifting one of my hands \u2013 both laden with shopping bags \u2013 to my mouth in time.\u00a0 A man twice my size stopped in front of me and, without saying a word, covered my mouth with his own hand.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VefIoxJ-Ssg&feature=related<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

I don\u2019t think it is going too far to observe that, in general, the Dutch are a people of strong, often inflexible opinions.\u00a0 The imposition of those opinions on friends, family and casual bystanders is not uncommon.\u00a0 In my experience, a subject that consistently draws expressions from that staunch Dutch well of opinion is sleep.\u00a0…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3590,1],"tags":[12417,6366,12414,12415,12416],"class_list":["post-975","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dutch-language","category-uncategorized","tag-hand-voor-je-mond","tag-opinions","tag-slaap","tag-slaap-kindje-slaap","tag-slaap-lekker"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t