ralph schmitz

Going Dutch You made HAN University your new home, at least for a few months, but how about the Netherlands? Do you have a deep passion for the colour orange? Can you belt out all fifteen verses of the Wilhelmus (our national anthem) and do you start your day with a nice fresh herring fish? Not yet? Well then, let’s go and get Dutch!

B-LQ\WZQIT;\INN sensor #17, volume 13 13 How Dutch ou? e y re and see r ultu a utch c Test your knowledge of the D utchy. if you can call yourself a true D

cord for scoring the most goals for 1. Which soccer player holds the re the national team? A. Patrick Kluivert B. C.

ocated? 2. Where is the Dutch parliament l A. B. The Hague C. Nijmegen

3. Which drug is legal in Holland? A. Cocaine B. Marihuana C. Both ends? o the Dutch give when greeting fri 4. How many kisses on the cheek d A .None, they hug. B. Two C. Three

he rest of the world? 5. What did the Dutch do prior to t A. Legalise gay marriage B. Abolish slavery C. Wear clogs

ch Colony? 6. Which country used to be a Dut A. Mexico B. The Bahamas C.

he fifth of May? 7. What do the Dutch celebrate on t A. Birthday of the Queen B. Labour Day ation C. Liberation from German occup

igh trees catch a lot of wind’? 8. What does this saying mean: ‘H uld plant trees A. To stay out of the wind, you sho

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14 How Dutch are they?

lm hey are. Mai and Christa from Indonesia, Han from Vietnam and Pa Four Life Science students were the first to find out just how Dutch t Basten, so he could very well be the top scorer. test together. Christa: ‘The only soccer player I heard of is Marco van from Thailand took the ck s.’ Not only Christa answered wrong, all of them didn’t guess Patri Oh, he’s the former national coach? That’s why I know him, I gues n that the Dutch parliament is not located in coring soccer player. The next question was easier: it seems well know Kluivert to be the best s rls e Ducth way? Palm: ‘They don’t hug each other? Ah, too bad.’ The gi the Dutch capital, but in The Hague. What about greeting friends th hrown in for good luck. What they do know is three kisses. But none of them knew that the third kiss is actually t seem to know about the oo he right answer must be legalising gay marriage. Wearing clogs is t that the Dutch were not the first ones to abolish slavery. Han: ‘No, t obvious.’ hbouring countries celebrate Labour Day on nswering the question about the fifth of May. Because a lot of neig The Asians had trouble a s e right answer. ‘I just guessed, because it’s the same day the Mexican the first of May, all but one chose that answer. Only Christa picked th celebrate their freedom.’ e scored four points. The girls did pretty well. check the scores. Palm still needs some lessons in Dutch culture: h After the test it’s time to at ons right. Han isn’t surprised: ‘I like it here in Holland. The flowers Mai and Christa both scored six points. Han answered seven questi on’t like? That it gets so boring after five o’clock.’ the Keukenhof is what I actually dig most about this country. What I d

Results

0 - 3 points Y ou were probably surprised to see that there’ s not a windmill on every corner of the street and that almost nobody actually w ears clogs in the Netherlands. You are as D Japanes utch as a e tourist in line for the Anne Frank museum.

4 – 6 points Y ou can explain to your friends at home what Neuken in de keuken means and you probably eat an occasional patatje mét. You don’t deser ve the title ‘Integrated’ yet, but are well on you way. Give it a few m r onths and you’ll surely grow an orange heart.

7 – 8 point Y ou can probably name all of Queen Beatrix’ s grandchildren and are the first to cheer for the Dutch team during a soccer match. Why don’t you change your name to K beca ees or Miep, use you are as Dutch as it can get, my friend!

sensor #17, volume 13 15 Overwhelmed by orange an Queen’s Day. That’s why There’s nothing more Dutch th eece wants to experience this twenty-year-old Marina from Gr emester, studying at the Pabo. special day. She’s only here for a s turn out as festive and cheerful Unfortunatley, Queen’s Day didn’t e horrible events in Apeldoorn, as it should have been because of th attempted assault on the Royal where seven people died after an itely got to experience the true family. Nevertheless, Marina defin essence of Queen’s Day.

to Amsterdam, which was an The day began with the train ride ving in Utrecht, the train was adventure on its own. Upon arri dn’t discourage the hundreds already jam packed. But that di : they started squeezing and of people waiting on the platform re was no tomorrow. ‘I can’t pushing themselves in like the following thirty minutes were breathe’, Marina screeched. The ell of armpits and beer. Finally, spend with no fresh air and the sm The doors openend and Marina Amsterdam Central was reached. in a sea of orange. Following and her fellow travellers blended dam, Marina was stunned by the flow to the centre of Amster , we have nothing like this in the dressed up Dutch people. ‘Wow ccasion Marina herself dressed Greece, this is amazing.’ For the o e a little crown. Nothing too in an orange shirt, and she wor erfectly. Off to the Vondelpark, extraordinary, but she blended in p as held. Surrounded by people where the traditional vrijmarkt w aying music for cash, Marina’s selling their junk and children pl were selling ‘stroopwafels’. ‘I eye caught a stand were two girls ents!’ Enjoying her big cookie, love these, and they’re only fifty c gantly dressed lady. ‘She looks the Greek girl spotted an extrava r crown and pretty dress. Now just like the Dutch queen, with he n’s Day!’ that’s giving real meaning to Quee n the canals, the place to be on After watching a stream of boats o eached: Museum Square. Over Queen’s Day, the final stop was r e beats of 2Unlimited. Marina 60.000 people were partying to th J Tiësto would be playing later got excited when she found out D ened the Olympics in Athens. that evening. ‘I know him; he op ueen’s Day eating a big bag of He’s very good.’ Marina ended Q orld’s best DJ. patat, dancing to the sounds of the w

W as ... That Queen B W ... Why orange is our national colour? It h O eatrix’s birthday is n ot on the O N 30th of Apr o do with the colours of our flag. It il, but on t N nothing t he 31st of January? We celebrate it in Ap originates from the family name of the Royal U K ril because the form er queen K U O Juliana ( Beatr family. The word orange is part of the name: ix’s m O other) was born on the Y 30th o f April. Y Orange Nassau.

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DI DI 16 Gone Dutch erlands to be with her husband. Vonai Shumba (36) is from the United States. She moved to The Neth ion in Nijmegen. She is currently in her second year of the Higher Laboratory Educat dscape is: very bright and fresh. ‘The first thing I noticed about The Netherlands, is how green the lan ally in the little town of Nijkerk, I thought everyone was extremely nice and interested in me, especi n take it overboard and will ask where my husband is from. Although I have to say that the Dutch ca be invasive or rude, it’s just in you very personal questions. I’ve come to learn they don’t mean to ch as drugs and prostitution is their nature to be curious and direct. Their approach to matters su e the open mindedness here in one I can appreciate. Personally, I’m not into those things, but I lik Holland. I like making ‘stamppot’ (stew) Being here for a while, I took over some Dutch habits. For instance, someone. I also love stroopwafels, and have gotten used to the three kisses on the cheek when greeting like is Koninginnedag (Queen’s but I’m not so fond of haring (herring). A typically Dutch holiday I hey party together in the streets Day). Everyone is equal because of the wonderful orange dress up. T ig.’ in a way that is uncommon in the United States. I love it, very gezell Herring and Hungarian girls ‘Stroopwafels; they are the best’, says Krirsztina from Hungary. She and two other Hungarian students of Dietetics are visiting the market of Hatert, a neighbourhood in southern Nijmegen. Sensor just asked the girls which Dutch food they like best. ‘Roze cake’, ‘vanillevla’, ‘rijstpudding’, ‘kroket’, ‘krentenbol’ and ‘stamppot’ appear to be favourites. Eszter, Krisztina and Kati are following an international course at the HAN. They like their student apartment at Vossenveld and enjoy studying with people from , Holland and Portugal. Eszter: ‘The minor on health and poverty in the third world is very interesting.’ Before they leave Holland next week, they have to taste our most famous fish: herring. It has to be eaten raw, with onions. Once at the fish stand they become very quiet. The fish smell is entering the girls’ noses. ‘Oh my God’, says Kati, while watching a boy cleaning the herrings. ‘Do I really have to?’ Only Eszter wants to taste them. After some hesitation Krisztina decides she also wants to be brave and try it. And then, giggle, giggle, they both try the fat fish. ‘It’s not so bad’, Eszter says while fat is dripping from her chin. Kati looks at her friends with disapproval: ‘It’s cat food!’ According to Krisztina the herring could easily be part of a salad. It’s not as suitable for an early morning snack, though. After three or four bites they have had enough. To rid the salty taste in their mouths, they all get stroopwafels, which they happily eat in spite of their fishy fingers.

W ... That there ar O e mo re than sixteen million N bikes in Holland? T hat’s enough bikes for each person in t U K his country. O The Dutch parliame nt even has its own bik Y e repairman.

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DI sensor #17, volume 13 17 Swinging among

f’ ‘(farmer’s golf). The utch are famous for is ‘boerengol One thing the D s n a stick, a small football and lot ingredients you need are a clog o only hallenged two the cows grassland. Two Sensor reporters c e, preferably of open spac t their stina, for a friendly game. And go German students, Sonja and Chri butts kicked. n’t know what to expect of hristina, both IBMS students, do Sonja and C f, but n that the rules are the same as gol ‘famer’s golf’. As soon as we explai nd a small football, they ormal club we use a clog on a stick a instead of a n h the be too hard’, Sonja shrugs. We reac appear more confident. ‘Shouldn’t unding grassland. After a ’ll all go down: a farm and its surro place where it onja e of ten holes. With a huge swing S short introduction we start the gam problem, we learn. You just ame. Getting near the hole is no opens the g ushes. ’t end up in the water or in the b have to make sure the ball doesn s fight our battles around the hole is the trick. The four of u Putting it in a ball -3. Each time they manage to put the flag. Pretty soon the score is 3 us: ‘You can’t beat German wo girls look at each other, telling in hole, the t s, the g balls and avoiding curious cow tactics!’ True: after dodging flyin ladies. The men of Sensor, ter ten holes is 6-4 in favour of the final score af ng of g subjected to the innocent teasi ashamed and depressed, are bein cal Dutch activity. We never . All we wanted was to show a typi the winners an be . Sometimes cultural exchange c expected to get our butts kicked very hard. The Dutch and their bicycles

‘In Congo only children ride bikes, adults take the bus,’ Mireine Londja says. The twenty-six-year-old Life Science student from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is learning how to ride a bike in the Netherlands. ‘For me bicycling is hard to do, but I’m definitely progressing.’ Still a bit insecure, but with a bright smile on her face, Mireine passes the HAN on her bike. While crossing the campus she says: ‘I don’t want to ride a standard bike, because then I will fall for sure and get injured. That’s why I have this little fold up bike’, she explains. Mireine has already become pretty good at cycling: she has to thank her sister for that. ‘She lives in Leeuwarden and taught me the basics of riding a bike. Sadly I fell too often, so she refuses to teach me now.’ That’s why Mireine decided to turn to her roommate. ‘She helped me out and after five lessons I was able to cycle well enough to hit the streets by myself.‘ The large quantity of bikes in Dutch traffic was something Mireine had to get used to. ‘Everybody just rides along the crowds. I even saw pregnant women and grandmothers on a bike, that’s very weird.’ Nobody in Congo cycles, she explains. ‘Everybody takes the bus, that’s what is common for the Congolese people. It would be extremely dangerous to cycle there since there are no special bicycle paths.‘ The bike as a form of transportation definitely has Mireine’s preference in Holland. ‘I live in Neerbosch-Oost in Nijmegen. That’s just a fifteen minute bike ride away from the HAN campus. With public transportation it would take me thirty minutes, so I save a lot of time! And cycling is goo W … That T d for my health, so I O ulip s are not even f enjoy it ev N rom en more!’ Holland? The y originated in T arrived i urkey and U K n Belgi um before the O our na y became tional flower. Y

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18 DI Tha t is sooo t D Now that you’ve learned a little bit about Holland, it’s time to see wha u international students think. Sensor asked them what they find tc other h typically Dutch.

Maria from Spain: ‘Broodjes, you can find them everywhere!’

Triumf from Germany: ‘The sentence Hey, lekker ding. I hear that a lot, ha ha.’

‘Kroket or Kaassoufflé, and they’re gooood, ‘says Alejandro from Mexico.

Anh from Vietnam: ‘Dutch people are very tall, and they like the colour orange very much.’

Mexican Alan: ‘Sinterklaas, of course. This year I got a chocolate letter.’

‘Before I came to Holland I thought about cows and tulips. But now I know they are just very friendly people’, says Wang Hali from China.

Nikita form India: ‘They are very, very open people. And I really like French fries. Especially the ‘patatje speciaal’.

Find these people and others on www.snsr.nl and see them struggle with the sentence ‘Alle gekheid op een stokje.’

we W … That Saint Nicholas’ (who’s birthday O on the fifth of December) helpers N celebrate are ‘black Pete’s’? While it may seem U K U scriminating, it’s not. They are black because W di … That four hu O O ndred years ago t epers. he Dutch Y of their work as chimney swe N boug ht the city of New Y D ork from the original inhabitants? An DI U K d that i f we didn’t trade it for O Suriname (to the B ritish), it would still be Y New Amsterdam D .

DI W ... The Dutch are obsessed with coffee. A O n

N average Dutch person drinks 165 litres each year.

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