All Things Holland

The snow is falling and every year around this time (it seems it is starting sooner and sooner) people begin to see pictures of a fat man with a white beard in a red suit. The Netherlands too have such a man but he is slightly different than the one we are thinking of. Sinterklaas is a traditional Winter holiday figure in the Netherlands . He is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve (5 December). Originally, the feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas , patron saint of Amsterdam , children and sailors. Today, since celebrating saints' feast days is an uncommon phenomenon in the traditionally Protestant Netherlands, the Dutch celebrate at the 5th of December, his reputed birthday. He is the basis of the mythical holiday figure of Santa Claus in the United States. Sinterklaas is his usual name. The more formal name is Sint Nicolaas or Sint Nikolaas. He is also known as Goedheiligman or simply Sint. The Dutch write Sinterklaas. (looks alot like Santa Claus doesn

I'm BACK! Allow me to extend my sincere apologies to my one reader (wink) but I have been very very bad in keeping this updated like I said I would. I've been going to lots of basketball games and many new happenings have kept me from my promise to keep the world updated to all things Dutch..... Today, since I'm in a basketball mood and I saw a video of him on my favorite teams website; I thought I would introduce to you, Rik Smits - ( picture ) otherwise known as the Dunkin' Dutchman. Measuring in at 7 foot 4 inches tall he was born August 1966 in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Rik attended Marist college (located near Poughkeepsie NY I had to look it up) and was drafted by the Indiana Pacers with the 2nd pick in the 1988 draft. He spent his whole career (12 seasons) at Indiana. He retired due to foot problems that had plagued him throughout his career after the Pacers lost in the Finals to the Lakers in 2000. Rik likes to collect and race vintage cars and motorcycles. In the

Ok, so i've been slacking. I haven't been looking into Dutch things for a week or two and haven't posted anything in the meantime. So today I thought I would go into the Dutch "tolerance" idea. When people say Amsterdam, we think Red light district and legal marijuana. But... Despite it being legal there, you almost never see a Dutch person getting high. You see TONS of foreigners smoking out in Dutch “coffee shops” (“coffee shop” means marijuana; “cafe” means coffee) but it’s pretty rare to see a Dutch person there. The legalization is tied to a very Dutch concept called “gedoogbeleid” which is difficult to translate but means permissiveness-because-there-are-bigger-fish-to-fry. (Or don't sweat the small stuff when something bigger is out there.) The Dutch live below sea level, so they have plenty of dams & dikes keeping the water out. To relieve pressure on this system, a little water always trickles through – that’s okay as long as they can keep the flo

Depending on where you are from, people make automatic assumptions about you. I've been thinking about this and it is true with countries as well, maybe more so. So are unfounded, most are out of date but they are there non the less. Canada = maple syrup, hockey, "ay?" Britain = bad teeth, drive on the wrong side of the road, BBC, Queen France = arrogant, "french girls", fancy food Russia = vodka, cold, supermodels, communism USA = "everyone should speak english", fast food, sports Germany = Hitler, blonde haired blue eyed Why am I doing this article? Here is the tag line. Netherlands = accepting (look the other way), tulips, wooden shoes, windmills, color orange, (recently) soccer. Here are a few facts about the Netherlands. 1) You already know they are known form their Beer. Heineken and Amstel. 2) Cheese. A county full of cows has good cheese. They are known for Gouda cheese. The cheese is named after the region it was made in, hence Gouda. 3) Flowe

I'm trying to only post pictures or videos of things that I personally have taken or know I am allowed to post, so from now on I'll be linking you to things. Apeldoorn is the name of a Dutch town that is the home to Centraal Beheer the largest Insurance firm in the Netherlands. Sometimes it is just refered to as Apeldoorn. I found them the other day because of this photo . What you are looking at is the back of a bus. Imagine dozing off for a second only to awake seeing that! Their advertisment "Even Apeldoorn Bellen" translates to Just call Apeldoorn or Let's call Apeldoorn. There advertising campaign has been going on for the last 15 years. Almost all of their commercials are quick humorous spots followed by their catch phrase. Here are two that I enjoyed. This one isn't in Dutch but has Dutch subtitles and it's about two cleaning ladies. Click . The other one doesn't have any words and is about a dog and a boat. You'll see what I mean. Click . T

I've finally gotten around to posting some pictures from my Blauvelt NY trip. This first couple of shots are from the Baylor Massacre historical site that I posted a couple of weeks ago. Just thought I would prove that I know what I'm talking about and not making this stuff up. Notice Cornelius Blauvelt in the center! This site was where the soldiers were buried with the mill stone on top of their grave. It's located right of the road in a small little park. I found it interesting that people walk their dogs or drive past this daily without thinking of the terrible thing that happened to these men and that this area in effect is a graveyard.

My parents went on a trip to California recently. They talked to people about my interest in Dutch things and the man they were talking to mentioned that I should look up Holambra, Brazil. So I did. This is an excerpt from a website I found ( http://www.v-brazil.com/tourism/foreigner/holambra.html ). Add this to the list of places that speak Dutch outside of the Netherlands and places I would like to visit. The town is on the South-East side of Brazil near Sao Paulo. Holland, in Portuguese, is Holanda. A city built jointly by Holland and Brazil should, then, be called Holan + Bra = Holanbra. However, Portuguese orthography requires that, before a "b", an "m" must be used. Hence, Holambra, a piece of Holland in Brazil. Or Hol land- Am erica- Bra zil. In 1948, after World War II, Holland was not so rich as today; many families, particularly from the countryside, didn't have bright perspectives in their country, and wanted to emigrate. Brazil was the option for som

Yesterday I was made aware that I need to be careful putting pictures up here due to copyrights and all that stuff. Thankfully, blogger has some websites that it claims are safe so here it goes. The Dutch have trucked out some serious artists, most during the 19th century. I'm not much of an art connoisseur, so thank you internet. Vincent van Gogh - Born in 1853 in southern Netherlands. He was a Post-Impressionist painter who battled mental illness his whole life. Famously cutting of his ear and mailing it. The story goes that he cut off a portion of his left ear lobe and put it in an envelope which he gave to a brothel wench and told her to "Guard this object carefully." To the left is his most famous painting entitled Starry Night. He also painted many self-portaits. Again, I'm no expert, but he seems to have a very distinct style. An expert described it as blots of colorful paints when placed next to each other trick the eye into seeing movement. He painted th

Today I thought I would start an ongoing portion where I tell you about semi-famous to famous people who are Dutch. Some you wouldn't have guessed and others you already know. First off are Movies..... ( Her picture here ) I could only find one big name. Famke Janssen - Born in Holland. Best known for her roles as Xenia Onatopp in Goldeneye and Jean Grey in X-Men. She recently appeared as Liam Neeson's wife in Taken. Interestingly, her first name means little girl in West Frisian and she speaks (besides Dutch) English and French. All the rest of the Dutch actors and actresses are not main stream enough to be recognizable.

( Map ) Both. Kinda. The country is known as the Netherlands (Nederland in Dutch). Holland is the name of the name of two of the twelve provinces that make up the Netherlands. North Holland (Noord Holland) is the home to Amsterdam while South Holland (Zuid Holland) is home to The Hague (Den Haag). The Hague is the "political" capital of the Netherlands while Amsterdam is the "real" capital. You have probably heard on the news about The Hague. It is in a way the political capital wester Europe. The European Union Courts are located there. I guess in a way the next powerful political establishment outside the UN. So the Dutch are Nederlanders but translated into english it is just Dutch. The reason that Holland is used interchangeably as the name of the country is that that is the most influential province of the country. We really don't have an example here in America. It would be like if the United States would be called Texas or something. I'm sure Texans w

I've found some more words in the English language that have Dutch origins. How about I call them Loan Words. I tried to put either the meaning or more information in parenthesis. booze - busen boss - baas (master) bundle - bundel cruise - kruisen (to cross) dock - docke duffel - cloth named after Duffel, a Belgian town freight - vrecht (load) landscape - landskip (based on landscap which means region) mannequin - manneken (little man) pickle - pekel pump - pumpe (pipe) sketch - schets skipper - schipper (shipper) slurp - slorpen (to sip) smuggle - smokkelen snoop - snoepen (to eat furtively) splinter - splinter/splinte (splint) split - splitten (to cleave) spook - spook (ghost) tub - tubbe waffle - wafel (waefel) wagon - wagen (wain, car)

So posting something every weekday is a little harder than I thought. I think I'm just going to shoot for at least 2 a week. Sorry folks. Today I thought it would be neat to read about some companies that were founded in the Netherlands. Some you already know and others that may make you say, "really?" I picked just the ones that we here in America would recognize. First off the beer companies. Just 2 BIG ones. Amstel Brewery - 1870 in Amsterdam. Bought by the next company in 1968. Heineken International - 1864 in Amsterdam. As of 2007 they own 119 breweries in 65 countries. They claim their recipe hasn't changed in 150 years and Heineken is the worlds 3rd largest brewer. Now others. Endemol - 1994 merger of television companies. They have produced shows like Fear Factor and Wipeout based in the Netherlands. ING Group - Financial institution full name is Internationale Nederlanden Groep (International Netherlands Group). You remember the commercials. ING with the ora

Here it is, a little bit belated, of why I went to NY this last weekend. Sorry it took so long. Where I stayed didn't have internet access and besides, I only have one regular reader so I figured that you one person could wait a bit until I got back. New York City wasn't always called New York. The area, as everyone knows, was originally explored by Henry Hudson in 1609 but actually settled in 1613 with Ford Amsterdam being erected in the area now known as Manhattan in 1625 by the Dutch. The British conquered the area in 1664 from the Dutch. The Dutch later retook the island renaming it New Orange only to trade it in a treaty for Suriname in 1674. Thus giving up their foothold in the North America. At this time in history the Dutch were fading as a world power and the British were rising. The new world area including the 13 colonies were not very profitable yet while Suriname area in South America was. Today, located about and hour northeast of the City is a small hamlet known

So I've been called out. I had my first comment yesterday stating that during their fight for independence in the Netherlands, Protestants were under oppression in England. I love reading about history but am no History major myself or professional so I appriciate the comment. I remember that happening but I focus on items that interest me. Which is why I've focused on the Netherlands area. So I guess I'll go into it a little more. The Netherlands have always been a very open and free society to live. Think Amsterdam today. In a way I guess you could compare it to Las Vegas or New Orleans. So I have no doubt that some Protestants moved to the Netherlands to escape the oppression and help fuel the independence. People or all walks of life, races, and religions were welcomed. This accepting attitude helped to fuel the competition between England and the Dutch in the 17 and 18th centuries as they raced to gain a trade monopoly over each other. This ties in nice with why I'

Today I'll give a very brief overview of how the Netherlands became an independent country. Only the high points. I'll go into more details on each of these events later. 1519. Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain originally ruled the area. Then it was known as the 17 provinces and included not just the Netherlands but Belgium, Luxembourg, and some land in France and Germany. 1568. The start of the 80 years war of independence from Spain. In 1579 the northern provinces formed the Union of Utrecht in which the agreed to support one another in their war against Phillip II of Spain. War continued until 1648 when Phillip IV finally recognised the independence of the 7 northern provinces in the Treaty of Munster. Those northern provnices were; Holland, Zeeland, Groningen, Friesland, Utrecht, Overijssel, and Gelre. They formed a confederation that came to be known as teh Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. All these provinces were autonomous and had their own gove

Today I only have time for a short one. Here are two Dutch sayings that you may even use regularly. Going Dutch - Originates from Dutch etiquette. In the Netherlands it is not unusual to pay separately when dating. The rise of this saying is attributed to the English to promote stereotypes that the Dutch are selfish or greedy. In layman's terms it means to split the bill or not have one person pay for the group. Dutch Oven - This is kinda a joke and maybe only guys use it. Dutch oven is the act of farting under the covers and keeping it there, like in a oven (to cook). Then when the other person gets into the bed, you pin the covers over their head, locking them in the "oven". In looking up these, I've found a few more but I'll put them up another day. So this is the end of my first week. Now you get to see my format and style. My goal is to post things every weekday if I can, taking the weekends off. I will only write up to Wednesday next week since I've got

( There was a picture of a orange shirt here but now it doesn't seem to be working ) Have you ever wondered why the Dutch National Soccer team wears the color orange when the colors on their flag are red, white, and blue? The simple answer is that orange is the color of the Dutch Royal Family which hails from the House of Orange. The original orange (William I of Orange also know as William the Silent) organized the Dutch revolt from Spain. Unlike other Royal houses that were eliminated or viewed with contempt by the populace; The Dutch Royal House are still very popular in the Netherlands. The color orange has come to signify the country and therefore a national pride. On royal birthdays the tricolor flag is flown with an orange pennant above. Each year on April 30th, Amsterdam and the entire country turn orange. Revelers sing "Oranje boven, orangje boven. Leve the koningin!" (Orange on top, Orange on top. Long live the Queen!) The Soccer team's nickname is Oranje wh

September 27, 1778 After 4 days of assisting the local militia in driving cattle out of reach of British foragers, Colonel george Baylor moved his troops north and located quarters for them throughout barns and homesteads in what is now River Vale, NJ near Tappan. To keep their position secure in such proximity to the enemy, Colonel Baylor positioned 12 men on the only bridge across the river, so as to provide sufficient alarm of an approaching enemy. According to Blauvelt tradition, this guard near the bridge was stationed at the Cornelius Blauvelt farm just above the bridge with the officers stationed in the house itself. The Blauvelts recalled later that the men positioned on the bridge left their positions early on the evening of the massacre to rejoin their companions in the barn saying that it was useless for them to keep watch as the night was so dark that the enemy could never find their way about. The captain upon hearing this ordered them back to their posts only to have them

Dutch influence is all around us. Some we even use everyday. I recently read a book ( The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto ) and it included a couple of English words that have Dutch origins. Which got me thinking...there must be others. And yes, there are many others. Here are some of my favorites or ones that we use commonly in English. For obvious reasons most are nautical terms. Ahoy - from hoi (hello, hi) Coleslaw - koolsla (literally cabbage salad) Cookie - koekje or koekie (biscuit, little cake) Gherkin - gurk (cucumber) Hooky - hoekje (corner, like to go around the corner) Iceberg - ijsberg (literally ice mountain) Leak - lekken (to drip, to leak) Maelstrom - maalstroom (grinding current, stirring current) Buoy - boei (buoy, shackle) Deck - dek (covering) Brandy - brandewijn (burnt wine) And there are many more. My favorite is koekje. I've found a neat website about etymology here where I found most of this. I included only the neatest ones. Maybe I'

I've never blogged before so bear with me folks. I can count on one hand how many people would read this regularly so, why am I doing this? I think that writing whenever I feel like it will help me in writing my book. Said book uses my family history as the main idea that drives the plot. In so researching my family there are just too many neat things to make people wait to read about when I finally finish my book. I am attempting to learn Dutch. And lastly, I find the country of the Netherlands to be a very interesting place and I would love to visit. So, what kind of things are going to be shown here? 1. Interesting things about the county of the Netherlands. 2. Info about my family that has relevance to history. 3. Anything Dutch related. For starters I'm planning a trip to a village that has my surname as it's name October 8-12 and will be posting then. Americans in general don't think much about where they came from or question where names or areas or customs have