Comments on: Notes from Nederland, week #3

By: Martijn Oostra

Martijn Oostra — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 22:49:05 +0000

‘Een Nederlander is onafscheidelijk van zijn fiets. Waarom, wilde de BBC weten’: http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2013/08/08/een-nederlander-is-onafscheidelijk-van-zijn-fiets-waarom-wilde-de-bbc-weten

By: Martijn Oostra

Martijn Oostra — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 22:48:27 +0000

‘Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?’: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23587916

By: Martijn Oostra

Martijn Oostra — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 22:28:49 +0000

‘Zontomaatje’ ( http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4324/Nieuws/archief/article/detail/1774456/2003/08/27/Goudappeltje-legt-het-af-tegen-Appelsientje.dhtml )

By: sonja knecht

sonja knecht — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 20:53:21 +0000

Dank je wel, Nina! That helps ;)

Plus one thing somebody told me (who has been married to a Dutch) to always bear in mind when visiting the Netherlands: Pirates! They are all pirates. Watch out.

By: nina

nina — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 18:58:19 +0000

Sounds good, Jens – someone mentioned that bird on Facebook too so it is becoming quite a theory. I keep thinking of the Swiss German word «Stirzel» too but not sure if that has anything to do with it (see here).

By: Jens Kutílek

Jens Kutílek — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 18:25:11 +0000

Re. «staart», in my home town the old folks called a certain bird «Wippsteert», appropriately its English name is «White wagtail». That may be the Dutch — Low German connection.

By: nina

nina — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 18:07:26 +0000

Wow, that’s great, I hadn’t seen that yet :-)
I forgot the umbrellas too. Can’t believe people can be so cool and relaxed holding an *umbrella* while cycling through the rain.

By: Marjolein

Marjolein — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 18:03:16 +0000

Haha I love this! As a dutchie, I do feel superior to any foreigner on a bike :P I actually do almost all those things you describe, without even thinking about it haha. You forgot the carrying a ‘kratje bier’ on the back of your bike though. Especially common among students ;)

By: Eddie

Eddie — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 17:51:10 +0000

Nina to confuse you a little more , there’s also a dutch slang where people call an orange appelsien (apfelsine)
I love the way you bring humor into stuff that is so obvious to us.

By: nina

nina — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 17:22:43 +0000

Hey, thanks all for the lovely comments. Good to learn about moving – my building doesn’t have a hoist thing so I guess the Dutch thing to do would be to rent a ladderlift? Although that traploper thing looks like a really good idea too (and presumably cheaper ;) ). To be honest though I really don’t want to think about moving out right now, I like it too much here.

Just FYI to new readers: I will surely write a little more about my general experiences in The Netherlands in the coming week; when my school year starts in mid-September, I expect the focus here (and in my head ;) ) to shift quite strongly to design and type.